Summer Vacation 2018

This summer has been filled with the most wonderful moments. I so often think about stopping to write a blog or take more pictures but more often I think - just treasure this moment right now. Yesterday we went to State Fair and a stranger complimented us on our kids' good behavior. Archer was carrying Eli, they pressed their cheeks together cuddling and loving as can be. Tonight all three of them were crawling around on the ground, animal noises and made-up noises and cuddles and a little bit of wrestling. Eli told me at supper he couldn't eat anymore because his stomach was sore from laughing so much. He laughed so hard that he cried!! I keep treasuring more and more of these moments, closing my eyes and picturing all of them having the time of their lives and I get to see it all. What a blessing. What sweet sweet moments. I cannot imagine how life could be any better than this.

So - quick recap.

Archer and I took a bus trip with his school to Washington DC in May. I met some of the kids he hangs out with, we spent SO MANY HOURS on a bus and never quite got enough sleep. I don't know about him, but I learned a lot. I hope our family can visit there someday. I'm glad I got to spend so much time with him. It was the opportunity of a lifetime for both of us, and I'll treasure it forever.

June. 8th grade graduation. (I may have shed a tear. I'll never be back to that school, he's a high schooler now! He's so much more mature than when he started 6th grade, etc. etc.) 5th grade transition. (I may have shed another tear. She's getting so grown up!) Last day of First Grade. (I loved Mrs. Powell! E has grown so much!) Many thoughts about transition and change and moving on/up.

Visit to Nana, dragged her around to all the antique shops we could find just for the fun of looking at old stuff. It was great spending the day with her and talking about times old and new.

Archer attended National Youth Leadership Training for Scouts. Sounds like it was lots of work and lots of fun, he came home with a few stories to share. We're still hearing the stories 2 months later. Also, maybe he'll be staff next year? Something to consider. It rained every day, they ended up in a cabin when their tents were all soaked. But he looked happy when we showed up on the last day, and I'm proud of him for completing it.

July. Our most laid back 4th in many years - no attempt to make it up to HC for a run, just hang out at home till we go to the lakefront to stake out our spot for the fireworks. And someone stole our spot!!! Wait! They moved! We got our spot! Mary and her family joined us for yet another great night at the fireworks. I almost forgot - before that we hung out at Rachel's house with her boys for a cookout (where David kindly grilled all the food while the girls sat around chatting (gossiping?)). That was enjoyable for all of us, except maybe David who looked awfully hot once the 20 pounds of chicken was all cooked.

David and Eli went to Day Camp where they had many wonderful Scout activities for 4 days. By the last day, Eli was seeming more and more run down and David took him home early. We worried that he had heat exhaustion but that night, both Archer and Shelly went to bed early. They had either contracted heat exhaustion from Eli, or all 3 of them were sick. I think there was a little sickness running through our house , and within 24 hours everyone was back to normal.

Archer went to Scout Camp with his Troop. He was kept busy working on merit badges and cooking dinner and whatever else Boy Scouts do at camp. They all came home exhausted and smelling like... well, actually, Boy Scouts don't smell that bad! Part of the Scout Law, a Scout is Clean!

Shelly was at Anokijig again this year. Photography, games and HORSES! Shelly read lots (borrowed a book from a friend she knew from last year, and read instead of slept during quiet time), read some more (hid inside her sleeping bag with a flashlight, why does that not surprise me?), hid some more inside her sleeping bag when a big storm rolled through camp one night... But the best part was the horses, she enjoyed it all.

Let's not forget Camp Snoopy, where Eli hung out while Archer and Shelly were at their camps. So much to do - fishing, kayaking, swim swim swim! Eli actually stayed at Camp Snoopy for most of the week while the older kids were away, so he had his own version of camp and being away from home. I don't think he missed home at all, the Camp Snoopy Counselors (Grandma and Grandpa) kept him WAY too busy to think about missing home.

More stuff
Kingfish Baseball game with F5
Walk with friends at the lakefront
Brewers Baseball game with work peeps
Pool party sleepover with friends
Pool party with Nana
Making windchimes with Shelly
Beach pizza picnic with the kids

There have been a few more days here and there for more Camp Snoopy (kids trying to escape via kayaks), fishing, lefse making, so much swimming, and I forget everything else.

And now I store up these moments in my heart. What a wonderful summer. Time with family, time for the kids to find adventure on their own, so much good. It's winding down and we're starting to think about school supplies and school schedules but we've got a couple more weeks to go. Let's enjoy all the days of summer to their very last minute and find joy in each and every one we come across.

Last Moments of Summer

School year has started, but the warm weather is sticking around and I couldn't resist picking up a dozen ears of corn from the roadside stand this weekend.

First, there was the kayaking. Thanks so much to Dad for inviting me out, it was very nice to spend some time on the water telling fishing tales and enjoying the sunshine. Feels like it's been way too long since I had a day like that.

I picked up the corn on the way home - I've driven past that stand at least a dozen times in the last month or two and always think I should stop. Finally I stopped.

We picked up a saxophone for Shelly. Every single one of us tried it out. This is going to be a great new thing in our house this year, more music, I can't wait to see where she takes it...

We came upon a movie night solution that made everyone happy. Some of us watched on the small screen with headphones, the rest watched the big screen. Thanks to wi-fi movie streaming and a headphone jack splitter, we all got our way. I'm sure glad that Archer was sitting close so I could grab his arm at every scary moment as we watched, there were more than a few of those!

Archer helped host a Court of Honor where all the scouts in his troop were presented with the merit badges they've earned over the last few months. He had no trouble standing in front of the crowd and telling about his camp experiences, along with performing in a couple of skits for the parents' entertainment.Way to go Archer, you've got 4 more badges to your name!

Finally, we got around to that corn. Eli and I went after that sweet corn and I just listened while he told me his strategy for the best way to get the leaves off. And identified the good ears and the bad. And talked about every single thing that came into his head during those 20 minutes that we sat out on the porch together. Priceless.

The kids finished out the day with tons of chasing around outside. They came in hot and hungry and tired. So summer continues, even as the school year marches on.

Off to Camp They Go!

Last week David and Elijah went to day camp at Ohdakota. Four days of Scouting including the standard swimming, crafts, knot tying, camp food, shooting BB guns, archery, fishing, bug hunting and slushies. Ok wait, the slushie thing was the story of this year…. Every year there’s something that kind of sets things apart. (Bee Hive Disaster the most famous so far.) This year, the camp counselors started really drumming up excitement for the slushie machine, and the boys could get commemorative Camp Lyle cups for half price (or something). (Mom commentary - Lyle is now closed, they’re trying to get rid of those cups that have the wrong camp name on them but make it sound like it's a very special deal - Mom commentary now complete.) An hour after getting the kids all excited for slushies, the kids go to the Trading Post and the sign on the door reads “Slushie Macine Broken.” I wonder if anyone cried? Anyway, there was so much disappointment that David took E to the gas station after camp to get him a slushie. Tuesday. NEW slushie machine has been installed (or the old one was fixed?) BUT nothing’s frozen yet. No slushies at camp. Wednesday, finally working, E got his slushie. Sadly(?), the special Lyle cups ran out right before E got to the front of the line so he got a regular cup. But whatever, he got his slushie finally.

The best part of the week was the end, where Eli told David that next year he wants to do camp for two weeks. He was so very sad that the week went so fast. It was so very wonderful that the two of them had four days together to enjoy the sunshine and meeting new friends together. I don’t know if they’ll do two weeks next year, but I hope they get to enjoy at least one week of adventures once again next summer.

{Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the adventures. If I come across any, I'll try to add them someday.}

This morning we met up with Archer’s group and waved them off as they headed out to Scout Camp once again. This has been going on for so long that it almost feels routine at this point. Archer packed everything himself with very little input from us. They had already loaded all the gear into the trucks and trailers yesterday, so this morning it truly was just enjoying some powdered donuts and deciding who was riding with which drivers. Enough hugs and kisses to embarrass Archer and then, “Have fun, seeya next week!” And the caravan was gone. And all the parents went home to go back to bed. Except not us, not this time, not back to bed.

This time, a new event. Definitely not routine. Shelly is going off to her own camp adventure for the very first time. At ten years old, she’s finally been able to join the campers’ world and we dropped her off at Camp Anokijig for her very first week away from home. She’s super excited (horses!), a little nervous (new place, new people, what to expect?) but I’m really happy that she gets to have this experience. I’m confident she’s going to have the best week ever and hopefully she’ll share a few stories with us when she gets home. We’ve given her postcards so perhaps we’ll hear from her. But I’m not holding my breath for that, she’ll probably be too busy to take time for writing. I will admit… I may have almost cried when we walked away from her. She did not bat an eye, she was too busy looking forward to getting started.

And now, we have a week with Eli, maybe this is the first time in his life that he’s an only child? I wonder how often he’ll end up in our bed, since he doesn’t have anyone in his room to protect him from monsters, or pester him with talking, or steal his pillow and blankets when they share a bed. I often think that he gets a little lost in the shuffle and no one hears him because there are too many other voices in the crowd. Hopefully we hear everything he as to say this week. And I’m confident that Shelly and Archer will come back with some wonderful stories to share.

Let the Summer Begin!

We’ve got summer started off right. Archer is gone on vacation with someone else’s family. Shelly and Eli are constantly running around without shoes and the bottoms of their feet have turned black. Grandma and Grandpa have treated the kids to programs at the library, fishin’ in the creek and kayak practice in the pool. What a great beginning!

Great Big Fishing Trip

This isn't really my trip to tell about, ask Archer when you see him.
Here are a few pics shared with me, enjoy!

          

Quick Love Note

Archer went off to his bedroom the morning we were packing up to send him off to camp. He came back with a folded up piece of paper, "To: family". He told me not to open it until everyone was awake and could read it together. Awww!

Thanks dad for the wallet (David made a very nice duct tape wallet and surprised Archer with it.)
I love you mom
I love you Shelly
and eli I'll miss cuddleing with you
Love you aallll
from, Archer

Because No One

Wants to be left off the Injured list... 

Eli fell down in the driveway and scraped his foot and shin. That wasn't dramatic enough so he tried again an hour later. Another Two for One! (Two scraped knees with one fall.) Much more blood, this time he was awarded a big bandage. Congratulations son!

Only one more kid to go, let's see if we can get them out of the house soon so the next injury is on someone else's watch. Any takers?

Shelly Says

Shelly says she thinks her injury might be the Worst of the Month in our family. I'll give her that. In fact, I'll give her Worst of the Summer. The boys come in a close ties for second place with Most Mosquito Bites and the Two for One Skinned Knees awards.

Shelly was helping to put away dishes when I heard a clatter and then a scream. I'll spare you the gory (and scary) details, but as the story came out, I learned that she had dropped a cereal bowl and it hit her big toe JUST RIGHT. Just WRONG. I spent the rest of the evening reading to her, adjusting the ice pack, and bringing her whatever she asked for. I slept in her bed with her and called the doctor first thing the next morning.

Dr. T recommend we see a podiatrist. Great. Que phone calls to the health insurance people, doctors office people, and finally we found someone who could see us right NOW. Hurry out the door, poor Shelly hopping along on one foot. Wearing my shoe, because hers fell apart the day before in an unrelated incident.

After filling out lots of forms and waiting forever we were in. X-Rays. Exam. Secret conference with the very kind doctor in the hallway. (Do what you have to do to her foot, but please don't talk about it in front of Shelly.) And the verdict? Broken toe. From a stupid cereal bowl!!

The good news is that she'll probably only need the boot for two weeks. Also she probably won't lose her toenail. The bad news is no swimming. She'll have it for the first week of school and ballet. And after only the second day with it, I think she's sick of people asking what happened. 

Shelly, you're a trooper, just a little bit longer and the whole thing will be a distant memory! And you just might overcome your fear of ever touching another cereal bowl!

Museum

Just a little afternoon trip to the musseum, thanks to the summer reading program and some free tickets the kids earned with all their time reading. Good job kids!

We learned new things (did you know that the mamoth skeleton in the museum was found just 20 miles from where we live??). We visited old favorites (Streets of Milwaukee/Villages of Europe). Some of us got a little more up close and personal with the exhibits than we may have wanted...

See that butterfly with wings the size of David's hand? Imagine how big that thing really is... We visited the butterfly exhibit where we could walk among hundreds of butterflies, see them up close and personal and maybe one would even land on your hand! How exciting! Until... until one lands on your FACE! That giant butterfly flew right up to me and landed on my MOUTH! Keep in mind, we'd been warned not to touch the butterflies because we could so easily damage their fragile wings and legs. Do I brush it off? I can't really talk - if I open my mouth what will happen? Don't panic, there are 50 other people in the room that will witness me having a meltdown, including my kids... HELP! I could feel its feet grabbing on tight. I could feel its tongue (that's a "proboscis" for those you who want the technical term) touching my lip. (Butterfly kisses?) It WOULD NOT GET OFF. David suggested I blow on it, he tried, I tried, it hung on tighter. Finally he used the museum map, snuck the paper under each of its legs until it was on the map and off my face. Whew!

Favorite Exhibits

Shelly - Villages of Europe, what would it have been like to live there?

David - Dinosaur Fossils

Archer - Butterfly Room

Elijah - Butterfly Room. And the Escalator. We took every possible opportunity to ride the escalator. We talked a lot about the escalator on the way home, and at dinner, and the next day... David and Eli drew diagrams of the escalator and talked about how it works... Everything's an adventure!

Beach Day

We met up with some friends for a beach day, and when we got there, there were MORE friends, bonus! 

We had planned on just staying for the mornng because the weather elves in my phone said there would be stoms in the afternoon. But then... the elves were wrong, the storms never came, we stayed too long and all ended up sunburned. 

I hadn't brought much food because, you know, we were only going to stay a little while. So... My starving children stood with their sad puppy eyes in front of Willie's mom until she offered up some chips - Shelly snatched them up and retreated with her friend Sarah down the beach. Once those were gone, Sarah must have turned her sad puppy eyes on her own mom because the next thing I know, the two girls are sharing some other treat with some other family... Does that qualify as "beach bum"? Begging food off the next family down the line? 

Anyway, we finally went home where I decided we should ge a picture of the four of us together and we broke out the selfie stick. Seriously, why do I even own one of these things? And if I'm going to own it, I should probably practice a little more... I don't think you're supposed to SEE the selfie stick in the selfie picture. Oh well, we had fun with it!

Other notes:

1. The water was like ICE which didn't stop the kids but I mostly sat on the beach and roasted rather than freeze my feet off in the water.

2. We saw a BALD EAGLE! WOW! Pretty rare and unexpected for our neck of the woods. Except there are no woods here - our neck of the city?

Running All Summer

My obsession with running continues to seep into every single part of my life. Every little twinge is a question - is that an injury? Every possible variable weighed - what's the best outfit? Do I have the wrong kind of socks? Are my songs in the right order? Go to bed early so I can wake up early and run before it gets too hot. Eat spaghetti and not pizza. Eggs for breakfast, not yogurt.

 

This blog is supposed to be for and about the kids. Every extra second that I have on the computer is spent reading about the best training plans, diet, shoes. No time for writing about the kids. And yet I'm constantly thinking about how I can get them to come with me on the next run, drag them along when I look for better running sunglasses.

 

Run. Run. Run. Tomorrow I run 12. (I've never run that far before. One year ago I would have sworn I'd NEVER do it.) I just added new music to my playlist. As I listen to it, I'm about jumping out of my skin to get out there and run it NOW. In two weeks I will run 13.1 with my best running partner, advisor, encourager. He's started calling me Coach as I lecture him about not lifting heavy stuff because I don't want him to claim injury in two weeks.

 

Let's go! Let's go! I CANNOT WAIT to see that finish line, to cross that line with Dad, to know that we ran it together and NOTHING can match that experience - training together, achieving that goal together. Something we never thought we'd do. And here we are. LET'S DO THIS THING!!

 

P.S. Thanks to Mom for sending me the inspirational posters and always telling us we're doing great. Thanks to David for listening to my never ending discussion on every stupid little detail. Thanks to Archer and Shelly and Elijah for cheering us on, EVEN when you're biking alongside me and I KNOW you don't want to be there. Thank you to EVERYONE. You sure help make the journey more fun. I love you guys!!

Dear Archer,

Today is your fifth day away from us. I miss you a lot. Before you left, we talked about how this will be your longest trip away from home. Nerves, excitement, planning, packing and finally loading up and driving away. I hope you're having a fantastic time!

Now it's 11:46 p.m. and I can't sleep so I checked WeatherBug. I hope you're sleeping well now. I hope your tent doesn't have holes. It looks like in an hour or two it will start raining. It looks like it will rain on you tonight and all day tomorrow. I'm sorry. I hope you can have fun even in the rain, maybe that will keep the bugs away. Maybe you'll have lots of great stories and come home covered in mud.

Last Saturday, when you were working at a car wash to raise money for this trip, Shelly and Eli and I snuck over to the post office and mailed  you a camera. Did you get it? On Monday we mailed you three postcards and a letter. Did you get more mail than anyone else? On Tuesday I mailed you a card with some jokes, did you share them with your friends? Did you have to sing a song to get your mail from the camp leaders? After that we didn't mail anything - by the time the letters get to camp you'll already be on your way home.

Eli has started sleeping in your bed. You might have to bribe him to get your spot back. You've missed out on pulling Eli in the trailer with your bike while I go running. Fourteen miles this week. We'll make up for lost time next week, what do you think? Shelly says, "Its just not the same without Archer here." 

I'm so glad for you to have this opportunity to go out into the world and explore. I miss hearing your jokes and stories and I'm looking forward to having you home. I can't wait to see your muddy shoes and dirty face and give you a great big hug and ALL my kisses the moment you step out of the truck. We'll make an Archer sandwich with all our hugs and we don't even care how much you squirm to get away because all your friends are watching. 

Can't wait to see you soon!

Love,

Mom

P.S.  You'd better start planning for a way to bribe your brother so you can get your bed back. Good luck!

Chock Full O Fun

We FINALLY went to the library to check out their summer programs. There was supposed to be something about amphibians and reptiles. Turns out the guy was sick and the program was cancelled. BUT as we all know, that wasn't even the reason we were there. BOOKS!!!

 

We loaded up on lots of books and even bought a bunch of old magazines they had for sale. Jackpot!

 

 

Then, because the reptile thing was cancelled we had a little extra time and found a beach to play at.

 

1. It is completely hidden from view and you have to go down the steepest dirt path ever. I was wearing flip flops, not great. E just sat down to slide down the path.

2. Shelly said, "It's sad. People leave all this trash here." She's right, that part was sad.

3. Eli said (as we watched Shelly race on ahead of us when it was time to leave), "Shelly's a mountain climber!"

4. Mostly the kids just threw rocks in the water while I goaded them to try to find a BIGGER rock to throw in.

5. Eli dressed himself, which is why he's wearing a sweatshirt on the hottest day of the year. I'm so proud!

 

 

Time for afternoon activities. Archer's STEM group made AquaBots or something (AquaBoats? SeaSomething? Can't remember the name...). They walked to the lake to try out their robots and we joined Archer to see how it all worked. It worked very well, nice job, Archer!! E got to try for 30 seconds too. Then he played in the water.

 

Shelly finished up her first week of art class, her horse drawings are all very impressive and I can't wait for you to see them!

 

 

And then, the finale for the day. The Run. As usual, E is in his trailer, Archer is pulling him along and Shelly's riding alongside. It was super hot and we were just going on a trail, no roads, so I let the kids go without helmets. Archer's last words before we turned and started down the path, "Now let's ride off into the sunset!"

 

 

 

It turned out to be one of the hardest four miles I've run yet with the kids. Two days ago when we were on this trail (going south instead of north), we saw at least a dozen bunnies. I decided to count the bunnies to distract myself from sore legs and any other gripes I could think of. This time, going north, there were NO BUNNIES. Instead, there were FOUR hills. I did each of them twice - first push Shelly's bike up the hill. Then push Archer's bike plus the trailer plus the boy in the trailer. There were three water breaks for the kids to fight over who was drinking all the water. There was one potty stop for a kid to pee in the grass while I shouted "chop chop someone's coming hurry up!" and (sorry kid, I do feel bad about this) pee ended up all over their leg. There was the moment when I came up behind Archer and the trailer and gave it a push to help boost him along, but instead he tipped over into the gravel (again, sorry!). Then in the last mile, as my head was down and all I could think was, "WHEN will this nightmare be over?" I saw, not BUNNIES hopping along the trail, but a dead mouse and a few feet later a bird's wing.

When we finally got back to the van, I just had to sit on the bumper for awhile and recover. My average pace was 13:52, which is pretty disappointing. But I'm surprised it wasn't worse, since it took me over 16 minutes to do mile 2, and almost 15 minutes for mile 3.

Anyway, that was
1. Maybe the worst run ever, but also
2. Maybe the best one for laughing at ourselves later? Hopefully?

After that we picked up some fried chicken and went home to recover in the air conditioned house. So. Until next time...

Happy Trails!

Swim Update

News from Shelly

Swimming Update
Eli is coming off the step at times and is trosting me agin & got him to take off the life jacket too he was touching the bottom of the pool! AMAZING!!!

Mini Golfing

No children fell in the water, only three golf balls got wet and only one got lost. Ball, not child. Fun! (But waaay too hot. All the golfers were sweating by the end. And then complaining that they were freezing when we went out for pizza later. 😉)

Another Fourth

Over the years we've fallen into what's becme a family tradition - Firecracker Four run in HC, picnic and pool time with Grandma and Grandpa. Fireworks on the lakefront with the cousins. And this year, a cookout with the family at Scott and Kim's house.

This year we also added the part where Archer and Shelly run the Firecracker Four - I ran the 1.7 mile route with them and was impressed with their finish times. Archer finished in 17 minutes, Shelly and I 20 minutes. David and Eli cheered us on and it was a great start to the day. We had an early start with the run, a late finish with the fireworks, and today has started off pretty slowly with everyone sleeping in to recover from yesterday's fun.

The weather was perfect for our run, kids were worn out on the way home, only half way through the day's adventures!

As we were killing time waiting for the sun to set and fireworks to begin, the soccer ball ended up in the lake twice and the football three times. I'm just glad the KIDS never ended up in the water!

Aww, time with the cousins. That's the BEST!

P.S. Happy 12th Anniversary, David! It's been another great year!

Sum Sum Summerfest

We dropped the kids off with Grandma Sue and had a grown ups only day with a visit to Summerfest. What a treat! Good food, good music, and a fantastic time together. Thanks David!

Summer Stories

We had Shelly's friend and cousins come over for a pool party and sleepover. They spent a bunch of time fixated on a spider they found at the edge of the pool, paddling their raft a little closer, little closer, then screaming and paddling away as fast as they could. Then, of course, edging closer and closer until they could see where it was again. Screaming and squealing all the while. They kept splashing water at it to flood it in the hopes that it would wash farther away from the pool. Finally, I went over to investigate. Closer and closer I crept, I saw it curled up and dead on the cement and in a moment of bravery, I reached down, with the intention of picking it up to throw at them. Or maybe not REALLY throw it, maybe just THREATEN to throw it. Closer and closer my fingers got, I reached out to grab it and then NO!! SCREAM! Its STILL ALIVE! I almost picked up a LIVING SPIDER!! I leaped into the air, screaming like the rest of the girls, they all screamed and laughed at me as I retreated back to the safety of the deck. Bampa of course had observed the whole spectacle and laughed along with me about my reaction. Brave Mom turned out to be just as much of a scaredy cat as the girls. Oh what an adventure!

We stopped off for a movie on the way home, then nail painting, movie and snacks, finally bedtime.

I've been dragging the kids along with me for my runs, they ride bikes, I run. Sometimes there are some antics. Like Archer getting stuck in the van. Mostly I have fun and they try not to complain too much. Sometimes I get really scared that Archer's going to flip over the trailer that Eli is riding in, Archer just whips around corners, off-roads up and down hills, weaves back and forth across the trail. Eli loves it. I hold my breath and wait for disaster. Shelly just tries to stay out of the way.

Eli had a minor meltdown the other day over his shoes and I sat him up on the washer to put his shoes on for him, then understood his problem. Two sizes too small!! What! Two days of shoelessness. We went to the store with him in only socks and found the BEST pair of shoes ever. Minions. He's in love. New Minion Shoes for Eli. (And Shelly too. New shoes, not minion.) New summer haircut for Archer. And a taxi ride in the grocery store.

And that's been our summer fun for the last few days!

Extras

Last night E put his expert chef skills to good use and helped me with dinner. Yummmm.

Today we brought home a couple of hitch hikers from soccer camp. They couldn't find a ride home so I guess we'll have to keep them till soccer camp tomorrow, and return them back to where we found them. 

Hopefully some other kind soul will take them home, cause if I have to bring them back with us I'm afraid we'll run out of crackers and cookies. Although, Annika is pretty good at putting together mac and cheese for the crowd, so maybe I should keep her around!

Day ??

Like all Summer Vacations, this one started off with big plans. I'll post something every day. The kids will learn something. We'll all get along and no one will fight over who got more cookies. Ahhh OPTIMISM. I'll learn my lesson soon. I've completely lost track of the days. And who cares about learning, as long as we're not at each other's throats with cabin fever.

So...
On a trip home from HC or something, the boys were wiped out and Shelly was the only one hanging on. But not too cheerfully.

Shelly and E have invented a new game involving plastic bats and a beach ball.

My family was so wonderful and supported Grandpa and I on our Lighthouse Run last weekend. We even had a couple of friends come out with a sign for us!! So much thanks to David, Archer, Shelly, Elijah, Mary and Willie for your encouragement! I love you guys!

And general silliness because they just can't resist when they get their hands on a camera!