Boys Go To Camp

We had the extreme privilege to send the boys to Strong Rock for a 2-week session. It's the last session of the summer and they had some empty spots... so Friday when we went to pick Bennett up from his first session they made an announcement about the spots. We tried to talk Seth & Leslie into sending Micah. I didn't think it was going to work... but in the end they decided it was ok. Leslie had a hard time having him gone for 2 weeks but the reports we were getting from camp was that Micah was non-stop running... sheer joy!

We also talked Lara into sending Jared as they were driving down from Pennsylvania for this same time frame. It worked out perfectly. The opportunity would never come again.

Then we managed to figure out a way to get Rob & Stacy's Adam to camp as well. 4 cousins. All in the same cabin. All at the same lunch table. All having the time of their lives. Jared and Adam are on the opposing tribe from Bennett and Micah. It worked out! We'll certainly have some tribal cheers and songs to hear once they return home. A little competition is a healthy thing.

Here are the boys one lunchtime... after having read some mail from family back home.

Jared (9) Micah (8) Bennett (8) Adam (9)... all within 18 months of each other.

It's been a long 2 weeks (3 for Bennett) and the mother's are counting down the days until they return. I'm sure the boys are all counting down the days too... but for different reasons.
I'm going to camp on Tuesday and will work as the camp nurse for the rest of the week. It will be fun to see how they're doing instead of just hearing stories. I hope there are no major health issues. These are big kids! :)

A Week at the Grandfolks

Living close to Grandparents has both pros and cons. Well, everything does for that matter (almost). We are close enough that they can drive up for birthday parties and soccer games, Mother's day luncheons and camp ceremonies. But they are far enough away they can't stop by on a whim. Can't join us for dinner without some planning and phone calls. They can't provide child care for date night (whatever that is!). :) But they are almost too close to send the kids away for any length of time. Both of my sets of Grandparents were in different states... and not even local states. Indiana and Arizona. While making visiting them difficult, it did make the visits that much more special and memorable and special! Did I say that already? Going to Phoenix meant we had "won" against the siblings. Sometimes, two of us went together... but never all four. So, our trips were savored. We GOT things. We DID things. We WENT places. Going to Indiana meant we learned things. We picked strawberries, played in the cornfeed, hayloft, chicken house, corn field. Saw cousins, Aunts and Uncles, ate like pigs! Grandparents can do things parents can't... or won't. And even though my own mother goes WAY overboard with my kids... I won't complain. At least not for long. Because I know that it will make memories for the kids that they too will savor years from now... when the grandparents are just memories and pictures.

That being said... we sent the two little girls to Grandpa and Grandma's house for a week! They did fun stuff every day. Played hard. Ran around and visited old friends. Picked veggies from a garden. Picked blueberries with Grandpa. Ate at Mr. Cathy's restaraunt. Oh, and Grandma and Ruth made Cheerio treats multiple times. I think because they kept eating them all... they just kept making more. And as soon as they returned home, she made another batch. I don't think Grandma made them nap twice while they were there. I wish she would tell some of the stories. Ruthie and Grandpa did everything together... for they are buddies. Lydia stuck to Grandma, probably by default. Ruth even went to the dentist and entertained the hygentist while he got his teeth cleaned. There were lots of stories from the week. I finally got pictures from Grandma... so I can share. I hope one day my kids can tell stories of visiting their Grandparents' home... even though we live in the same state.

Ruthie at the piano I grew up playing... and some of the same songbooks! :)

Breakfast with Grandpa's eggs... a tradition! The BEST eggs ever!

Ruthie and Grandpa with their matching shades. The girl is not spoiled!

Lydia's peach milkshake mustache from Mr. Cathy's place.

Picking Grandpa's blueberries. These were just knee-high bushes a few years ago.

Showing off the loot! Picking in their pj's? :)

The Quiet Days of Summer Camp

This week has been unusually quiet around our home. We're just 3 days in and we've already said how weird it is several times. The big kids are off at CAMP... and the little girls are off to Grandfolks "camp".

One of the good things about being "on staff" at camp and knowing the photographer is being able to get pictures to put here. All the camp photos go to some far off website and you can't use them. You can buy them. But you can't share them, like this.

It does a Mother good to see these smiles.

Thanks SNAPS!

Summer Time... Lydia is FOUR!

Ok... I'm attempting to post again. Things have happened. School is out. Work is work. We still play all week and I never have time to finish the laundry. The dishes wait to be returned to their proper places. The bathrooms need cleaning. The beds need changing. But the kids play. Mom plays. We still have fun and ignore the work. How do you tell these kids they have to sit in front of a movie or video game just so you can clean or put away? :) Ok, I know it has to be done. Eventually. And now, at 11pm I'm posting stories and pictures instead of going to bed. I know that 5am comes very quickly. I know that my 4 hours of sleep last night just wasn't quite enough. I know these things. But these stories and pictures won't last forever in my head. In fact, they may not last beyond tonight. So I blog.

Lydia turned 4 last week. We had a sort of impromptu party for her and another friend on our usual Thursday night dinner. We had a pool party and some friends joined us... as well as both sets of Grandfolk! Corie made the requested Princess cake and did a fabulous job. Lydia and Ruth both made HUGE steps in the pool. Ruth has finally eased off the steps and braved the edge of the pool. I bought character arm floaties at the local dollar store and both girls deemed them acceptable for social wear. Lydia wanted to go all over the pool BY MYSELF while drinking large volumes of chemically treated water. I had to stay within arms reach because she just doesn't get the fact that face full of water and breathing doesn't go together. But she did stay afloat and she did maneuver the entire length and width of the pool. Ruth also put on the arm floats for brief periods but still isn't quite ready to leave the comfort of the edge of the pool. I'm just glad she's actually IN the water! It's only been 3 years since her infamous near-drowning episode that she still remembers. Argh!

I've been working at camp for their registration dates. It's fun, entertaining and also helps knock off a few pennies from the kids' final bill. I always enjoy meeting the campers and harassing them for a few minutes before they set off for their week(s) of adventures. B&M will go next session while it's extremely h-o-t here. I hope it wasn't a mistake to not go the first session this year. I'll work a few full days the last session in July. I'll get to eat camp food, play games, treat minor injuries (maybe), and make sure all is well. The potential responsibility is a little scary sometimes... but generally all is well. I just hope there are no stomach issues. I don't do that!

This week is VBS at church. It's a long week and tiring days. I work pretty much every day so I can get off early and make it to church in time. Curtis failed to make them nap today. Not so good for the parent/teachers with the evening shift. There were tears when things didn't go the right way for the 5 year olds... who had TWENTY kids in their class tonight. Eeek! Lydia had a difficult time with obedience according to her teen helper. I inquired as to the issues once we got home and, of course, she denied any guilt. She was just playing. She did "nothing". Then she decided it might be good to blame someone else... so "AJ made me not to obey". I called her bluff and reminded her that AJ is not even IN her class. So, she tells me "he looked at me... in the hall". ha! Already blaming her boyfriend for her errors in judgement.

Maggie got to go to a friend's birthday party this past weekend. Another pool party. She has become quite the swimmer. No real form, but able to stay afloat so I don't have to be in the water with her. Ruth and Lydia and I were going to go have a day doing something fun... like walk around Helen?!?! But, Gracie's mom convinced us to stay and join in the party. There was a 1 foot kiddie pool that Lydia and Ruth enjoyed since I didn't join in the water fun. It was a fun day... and very non-productive as far as the normal weekend housework. Like I mentioned before... swim and play with my girls or laundry?? Hmmm... I will never pick laundry over watching my child jump into 8 feet of water and paddle her heart out to get to the ladder. She was so proud of herself... and so was I!

We also had a family wedding to attend the other weekend. We dressed up the kids and drove to the other side of Georgia. It was actually a fun trip, a nice wedding, and good to see the family we don't see very often.

Here's Auntie Linda with the kids. :)

Field Day - Field Trips - End of School

I started this post a month ago. That's really sad. I guess I've been otherwise occupied around here. So the words will be brief.
We had AWANA awards night. Maggie and Bennett both finished their books and got the ribbons and plaques to hang on the walls. Ruth and Lydia also finished their Cubbie book... but with a little less fanfare and hanging stuff.


Soccer season ended mid-May. As brief as it is, it's nice to be finished. B&M were the Strykers... these are the kids and coaches. A good year. B will graduate up to the next level in the fall so they won't play together again for a year... if ever. :( This is Jaelen trying to escape having her green face captured for all to see. :) Ha! I won.
I'll have to check and see what other pictures I intended to post and never did.
Argh... my mind....

Enter to Win Edy's Ice Cream!

This is a link to win Edy's Ice Cream. Everyone needs ice cream... but especially the people who live near me in the hot Georgia summertime heat and would invite me to their party. Those are the people who need to click this link and add their name! Then... I'm watching the winners list to make sure I don't miss out on anyone's block party! I'm watching!

Countdown is on!

The kids are bringing home lots of goodies from school. We're down to 7 days. They do very little work this time of year... what with field trips and parties and celebrations for accomplishments and field day. But they do bring home the work they've done during the year that the teacher keeps until now. I don't know if they hide it away so it'll be more special by the time we see it or if it gets lots in the piles on their desks. Or maybe they keep a pile of the "I've got to keep this one" stories (like me) and then when they go through it the last 2 weeks of school they realize it really wasn't worth keeping after all. Of course, I haven't come to that realization yet on any of my stories yet. So, with that in mind... here's Bennett's recount of Christmas at Grandma's house. I like how he gives the play by play of almost everything he did. :) But the ending seems a little abrupt... maybe he ran out of time. Maybe it was the last thing he remembered from the trip. Maybe he was awed by his mother's card shark like playing abilities and forgot everything else. Yea, that must have been it!

Jan. 21, 2009
I went to Grandma's house in December for Christmas in '08. I was happy to be able to go. We got there by car. When we got there I saw Grandma on the porch with Grandpa. I went up to the porch and huged them. I went inside and talked. Then I went back outside and rode bikes with Maggie. After I rode bikes I went and played with some toys. After a while we ate dinner. After dinner we wanted to open presents. What I got was a telescope, some oddesy dics, a book, a gun shooting thing-a-mi-jig, an oniment and a bunch of candy. That night we wacthed a movie when we were in bed. After I woke up and Grandpa was makeing breakfast I went to play and when breakfast was ready we all ate. After we ate I went and got dressed. Later in the day when Grandma and mommy were not busey we all went and flew kites. After that me and Maggie rode on the tire swing. Then we sat on the porch and played. After that I went inside and Mommy and G-ma were playing cards.

See... surely he was awed! So, before I head off to bed to ready myself for Field Day in the morning... I shall post a few of the most recent Bennett pics.

This is from the park... he had a field trip with his fellow 2nd graders for those who read and tested on more than 150 books this year.

Here's Bennett with his 2 best soccer coaches! Sami and Katie. I hope they come back in the fall.

Here he is during the last soccer game where he rocked the goal! Defense!

And here he is doing some crazy Bennett dance. :)

Kid's Musical Production - CBC 2009

The school aged kids had their musical performance this past weekend. They've practiced for several months for the big day. A ton of work went into it... by the kids, the teachers, and the artistry team. I'm pretty sure that team was mostly my friend Anne. She's an amazing painter girl.


In the group shots... Maggie is front row to the right. Bennett is almost directly behind the microphone. The thing about these kid's plays... the production of it all is good, but the production of it all also takes away from capturing the moments on film. The lighting is always difficult for good camera shots (too much spotlight, not enough good light) and there are microphones in front of all their little faces. It's important to hear them... but difficult to see them. But I digress...

Maggie is the performer and is the whole reason we take them to Wednesday night practice. It ends up being a late night in the middle of the school week, but she loves to sing too much to squelch that joy. So, we go. And by default, Bennett goes as well. He isn't much for the class or the singing or the attention. In fact, it took many weeks to even get him to go into the class. Our friend, Brian, encouraged him to participate and pretty soon he was willing to go. He ended up enjoying the time and belted out every song. He even learned the parts that weren't his... along with many of the other kids. Now he likes singing in the choir and thinks he may do it forever. :) We'll see!

This is one of our friends, Jaelen. (See previous post) She had a solo while the boys were surfin'... and did a great job. Isn't she beautiful?!?! I'm trying to keep her in our friend loop until Bennett gets old enough to care about girls and all. Then he better keep her in the friend loop! :) Not that I'm trying to set him up or anything...

This is Jaelen's brother, Thomas - far left. He and the oldest choir boys were the marimba players. It was all for looks... and they looked good.

This is my favorite Carruth, Carrie - well, right after her Mom! We played some sort of broom hockey in AWANA a few years back. It was wicked! We'll keep Carrie in our friend loop too... just in case! :)

I'm not trying to set anyone up here! Just so you know. This is my girl Anna. She's in my S.S. class each week. She comes from a stellar family too.

Here's the crab of the show. Or maybe she was a lobster? Nicole - singing her solo. I remember when she was 3 or 4 and sang "Happy Birthday Jesus" at one of our Christmas productions. It was fantastic. She's still fantastic... and has a beautiful inside to match this outside.

These are the main characters... Destini (whose Mom works with me), Anna, Courtney, Mr Woody, Blake, Austin, and Nicole.

This is Blake at the end of the play. He really did a great job. His dad is the Brian who encouraged Bennett so much at the beginning. This year, Blake was one of the stars of the show. So, maybe Bennett will be in front of a crowd one day without too much anxiety.

A Blog Post

A = Alexander


It's funny what the kids can come up with to entertain themselves.

The Alexander's came over Saturday for dinner and some playtime for the kids. We haven't had dinner together in probably 2 years. It's crazy. But the kids had a great time and managed to come up with some fun bike games. Here are a couple shots. Diedre promises next time she's jumping the ramp too!

Thomas

Jaelen.




Leah... also known as the AWANA Grand Prix Champion, previously mentioned in earlier posts.

Jaelen had a solo in the children's musical today. Her Momma was a little proud (and teary) but her Dad is on a firefighting trip in Texas and had to miss the show. Hopefully, he'll have internet access at some point and be able to hear his girl sing. :) Maybe?

Quick Trip to Kentucky

I wanted to post some pictures.

I'm trying to think of a good reason.
Don't you think these are a couple of good reasons to make a post?

Ruth's favorite headstone at the Wallace Family Cemetary... her great-great-Grandma Ruth.
The headstone of my Grandpa and Grandma Wallace.

Great-Grandpa King Henry Wallace (who was married to Ruth).

Great-Great Grandpa King Solomon Wallace (who was married to Nancy).

All the cousins gathered together. It's been a while since we were ALL together.

Trying to get a good picture of Grandma's children.

My cousin Justin and his baby Shannon. I think Mommy, Denise was stuck in the car with a sleeping child.

Cousins Gretchen and Katrina.

Cousin Krista. Don't we have a good looking family?? :)

My brother Rob and his beautiful wife Stacy.


Grandma... as taken by Emily.

Pages from Great-Great Aunt Etta May's Bible... this is Great Grandma Ruth and King Henry Wallace. Ok, maybe they didn't call him King... but it was his given name!

Births of Ruth Emma O'Daniel as well as Etta May O'Daniel (owner of the Bible).

This was really neat for me to see. I took pictures of pages and pages of births, deaths and marriages.
So, our trip to Kentucky was quick and it wasn't for a fun time but the family time together was fun. Lots of memories. Lots of visiting. And a few pictures to prove we were there.

I can't stop. Here are just a few more of my favorite family who let me take their picture. :) I'll make them smaller.

Uncle Dan and Uncle Dan.

Tim... taking a quick rest.

Clint... yes, he's always this confused!

Katrina and Juan Carlos, or Jesse James, or Jose Cuervo, or Rico Suave! Yeah, that's it! Rico! :)

Seriously, it's Jesse.





Poppy and Tom. Tom wasn't really eating but posed for the "surprise mouthful of food" photo.Poppy was our generous host while we were in KY. The kids all fell for him and Nanna.

Bennett's Big News

Gloom, Despair, and Agony on me. Woooah! Deep dark depression, excessive misery. Woooah! If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all... Gloom, Despair and Agony on me! So, the words might not be exact from the old Buck and Roy's Hee Haw song, but it's how he feels. Easter Sunday night we were playing Wii Guitar Hero with our favorite Guitar Hero owner who shares with little people... the kids, me, her. It was great fun and actually entertaining... I have video and pictures I may load too! Bennett was complaining that his tooth hurt so Rebecca convinced him to let her attempt ONE time at pulling it out. It worked. Then (don't tell his friends) he cried and cried from the pain, agony, misery and blood loss. We laughed secretly while he was tending to his despair in the bathroom. He survived and we played on. Then... a week-ish later he was playing in the basement with his sisters. The pain, agony and misery was coming up the stairs. He had fallen face first into a toy and knocked the front tooth out. Now, this tooth was very loose and almost ready to be removed anyway. There was very little knockage. But the mouth full of toilet paper to catch the blood was making me laugh. He wouldn't listen that a quick rinse with water would be better than the quick dissolving paper. I made him stand still for a picture of his toothless face. He was unhappy. Afraid he might look silly. He didn't want to smile. This is his attempt at obedience.

And speaking of obedience... the Holy Spirit has been working in his sinful little heart for 8 years... but especially in the past year. He knows all the right answers... he's a sinner, he needs a savior, Jesus died to cover his sins. But he said he was too scared and wasn't ready to give his heart over to God. He complained at night about his heart hurting and he was scared he would die in his sleep. This actually started when he was 6 and we took him to see the doctor to have his physical heart checked. It was (and is) fine. His spiritual heart was where the pain was coming. On April 13th he told me again he was scared he was going to die. I told him that was no reason to be scared if he was in the right place with God. Dying is not a bad thing if it means eternity with Jesus. He told me he didn't want to go to hell. That's a real fear in an 8 year old who spends several hours each week in a Bible teaching church. He's heard the stories of God's wrath in the Old Testament too. Those who obey and follow God's commandments did well... and those who did not obey? Well, the stories are plenty of the demise of many kings and nations. Some are pretty graphic and actually fun to teach to little boys. :) Anyway, he decided THAT night was the right night to settle things for eternity. We had Daddy come in and explain a little more in depth theology and he prayed and asked Jesus to save his little heart from the penalty of sin, which is death. He sleeps much better now.

And... he was able to give a little more effort at a real smile for me.

WARNING: Post Influx is Finished... lots of pictures too. Sorry!

I'm motivated! At least for the moment. I have a months worth of blogging to do and I'm doing as much as my brain will allow tonight! By golly... of course, I'm also at the mercy of this extremely slow and worn out box called a computer. It has been locking up and shutting down on a regular basis. I wanted to load up an audio clip of my eldest nephew, Zack, who recited Psalm 32 and Jude 1:24-25 at church last week. I can't figure it out but if Seth ever responds to my email cry for help... I'll put it up right away.

I've been sitting here for an hour already. The posts I need to complete... soccer, AWANA Grand Prix, Spring Break trip to DC/VA, and Bennett's Big Decision. I'm sure there are more... but it'll be 2am soon. :)

So... keep reading the month of April... it'll be here soon!

P.S. Does this face scare anyone else but me??

Work at Strong Rock

This post isn't so much about the hard work we did... but more about the family time we had together. After our car racing times at the AWANA Grand Prix (see previous post) we grabbed some lunch and headed north to our FAVORITE CAMP IN ALL THE WORLD... and volunteered our time and muscles to helping split and stack and clean up a big 'ole pile of wood. The kids led the way to the campfire area between the lakes. I had no idea where we were supposed to go, but they new exactly... for they are WAYA! This is where they do their nightly tribal things... unknown to the questioning parent. (by the way, these piles did not exist when we started. We did the whole thing)

The kids were really good sports about the whole "work day" idea. I tried to explain to them that camp just isn't free. In fact, it's far from free. I have to work several days as a nurse to knock off a few dollars just so it's approved by the father. So, when the idea of a work day came up... I thought it would be a great idea for them to help in their own cause. Bennett worked hard and listened to instruction. The girls... well, camp is a very distracting place and sticks are dirty and there are ants and bugs! A few minutes into the splitting process our friends (and camp owners) drove up on the golf cart. So much for attention to the wood. Corie didn't know we were there. So, as they rounded the bend into the clearing and saw us... the kids were excited. It was also nap time so she was on her way home. I convinced her to take Lydia with her and leave Amelia with us. Sounded like a great deal to me. I get another stick picker-upper and she takes the whiny 3 year old in need of rest! So off the drove in to the woods. Close your eyes and imagine the image of the golf cart driving away with Avery and Lydia strapped in securely to the back seat... now imagine them smiling ear to ear and waving with all their might. Curtis even stopped working to watch them drive away and said "it just doesn't get any cuter than that!"... So, at this point I decided the camera might be a good thing to have. I took the kids on a hike back to the van, which was parked up at the lodge. Not only did it give us a back-breaking break from picking up logs, but it gave Curtis a chance to catch up to our fast and furious stacking pace! :) He split for almost 4 hours straight... and we stacked it all.

We also took a break to walk up to the Himstedt Home for Amelia's water bottle, water refills, and surprise popsicles. Both Himstedt kids were sleeping but the whiny Davidson in need of rest was playing dress up in Cinderella clothes and keeping Corie from napping as well. Hmmm... let's run back down the hill quick before she changes her mind!! They sure do have a STEEEEEEEP driveway!

Curtis was a good teacher and let all the kids "run" the log splitter and show how strong they are. Ruth was so excited she made up a song and dance "I'm the strongest of victory!".

He also took time to let Shannon help when he drove up with James... they had been helping at the shooting range with a group.

Up.

Down.

Up.

Down.

UP.... wait... you'll cut off my hand!!

Down

We were finishing up when Corie came driving up with Lydia aboard. Time to go. It was getting close to starvation time anyway. But wait... let's go gather 100 large rocks to throw into the lake and splash. We're not too tired to play... ever!!

Then we limped home, shoveled in some dinner and climbed in bed. They got Tylenol before bed for the soreness. They ate like they hadn't eaten all week. And the slept like logs... and late on Sunday morning.

It was a fun, fun time working together. And now, Bennett should be able to tell you how to stack wood so the water runs off the top of the wood pile. Should.

P.S. as a fun ending to the day... here's a video of Ruth after her attention span had reached its limit.

AWANA Grand Prix

I've decided NOT to blog about spring soccer until I can purchase my own zoom lens or borrow Corie's again. I need good pictures!
So, assuming I can post date this post and make it say Saturday... I'll speak present tense.


Today (Saturday) was the AWANA Grand Prix. For those who don't do or know AWANA... the Grand Prix is the equivalent to the Boy Scout's Pinewood Derby. The kids get a block of wood and 4 wheels... then they design and build their car for race day. Many fathers get as much joy out of building the cars as the kids... and some will even enter their own version in the adult race. There are many who also do the work FOR their kids. Bennett and Maggie try to do it all themselves, except for the dangerous cutting part. Curtis cut out the general shape of choice... drawn on the side of the block-o-wood and then the kids do the rest. All of it was pretty much done while I was at work so I missed out on watching, helping, or documenting with photos. Saturday morning we got up early to put the final coats of decor on to give them time to dry before our 10am arrival to the race track. Bennett ended up with a plain chrome colored car with a Lego helmet glued in for the driver. He put stickers on... that was about it. Maggie opted for a little more exciting theme and went like a soccer ball. Curtis drew the pentagons and Maggie's colored them in and added in a smiley face and tongue. It could have passed for a puppy dog car too... spotted like Freckles.

So, the kids are proud of their half-creations and off we went to church.





Mr. Shawn Alexander had to drill the holes in the bottom of the car to allow for the weight to be poured in. It was a very stressful job position. I'm glad he didn't slip and break any cars in half! :) He's also the father of the fastest cars... could be coincidence... could be talent... could be something... I'm just sayin'!
The kids enjoyed watching each heat. They also got snacks... which are always a big hit. Somehow, the only picture I have of Lydia is with a mouthful of popcorn.
Ruth watches with our friends... Carrie, Ansleigh, and Josiah (who also had a very fast car).
Here are Ruth and our friends Alex Anne and Meggie Beth.
Each car got 4 heats, one in each lane. Then the top scores raced in the finals. It's sort of like the World Series... Bennett got in as a Wild Card and ended up beating his own division leader. Therefore, earning himself a 3rd place trophy. He's 3 for 3 now... zero pressure, eh?!

At the end of the races... Maggie and Jaelen reflect on their own positions. It's very hard to have your siblings win trophies and you don't get one. I think they both were ok with it after having shed a few "it's not fair" tears. Jaelen's mom tried to convince them both that they were the better soccer players and their brothers could be the better car racers... but I think it was lost in the moment. When we got home tonight Bennett gave Maggie their soccer team picture so she can keep it in her room... since he has a new trophy for his room. Wasn't that just so thoughtful?! :)
And then there is Josh - the "expert" car designer, who uses computer programs to build his car, spends 3 weeks perfecting it, brings it in a padded box, talks smack and then has to swallow hard when his sleek model is beat out by the big, boxy pick-up of little Leah Alexander. :)
She beat ALL the adult models! Go Leah!!!

Spring Break 2009 - finished... with too many pictures!

This year for spring break we headed north... again... did you guess? This year it was COLD... again. This year we packed big, heavy winter coats... again. Will we ever learn? Everyone else heads to the beach. We head to the cold.
But it was an even better spring break trip than we could have planned for. I have 400 pictures from our trip and I can't decide where to put them. If I put them in this post it will take forever to load up. So... I'm still deciding which ones to pick. I couldn't narrow it down, so I used the smaller format for several pics. You can still click to enlarge, if you want. :)
We started off Friday night with a campfire hotdog roast and s'mores makin' good time at Rebecca's house. She was a great host and we had a great time visiting with our friends and eating and watching small fireworks and playing with sparklers. That was a very stressful time for me... watching certain boys running around, in the dark, in the woods, with a handful (10) of sparklers all lit and spraying little sparks of fire into everything that was near. I just knew we would either have someone stabbed or burned or have a wildfire by the end of the night. To my knowledge, none of that happened! :)
Saturday morning we loaded up and headed to Roanoke, VA to see our friends Bobby and Michelle Hartman - who have Andrew and Alex. The kids always have such a fun time together even though we only see each other once or twice a year. The adults have a good time too.
We were very thankful for warm beautiful weather that allowed us to be outside enjoying their neighborhood. We took a walk around the block to see the monkey and elephant (yard decor) and played on their new tree house, which is really a really large tree deck.
We also made s'mores on their Urban Campfire! It was fun. And we all smelled like smoke again.
Meal time all together.
We left Sunday afternoon and headed on up to Baltimore, where we were staying with Uncle Bob (my Mom's favorite little brother). Aunt Fran was on a trip out of the country, Luke was away at school so it was just U.Bob, Katie (on spring break) and 13 of their favorite extended family members. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Lara and her family also met us at Uncle Bob's to play together a couple of days. We love Uncle Bob. He's the best. He even cooked for us and pretended we didn't get in his way. We played with Charlie and Elsa, his long legged companions. The kids loved the dogs and it was fun to watch Lydia blow in Charlie's nose to get him to back up... Charlie is as tall as she is. He likes attention. This is Charlie carrying his bowl... just because he likes to. Elsa likes shoes. She doesn't chew them... just moves them. One of mine went missing from our room very early in the morning while Charlie was distracting Curtis by licking his hand that was hanging off the bed. We later found it downstairs, ready to go by the door.

While in Baltimore we visited the children's museum, Port Discovery. It was really cool and had a bunch of things geared toward older kids to make them think... like Miss Perception's house and an Egyptian tomb where they had to solve a puzzle of clues in order to unlock a certain tomb. We also had drum time right before we left. It was raining that day so it was a good inside day. It stopped long enough for us to walk to lunch then we had to wait briefly to leave... but eventually it was done.
This is one of the few pictures of me since I was behind the camera most of the time. We were watching Titus build a cabin with 4 rooms, no bathroom because "they can just go outside"! That was actually opening night of the Orioles and they were playing the Yankees. We saw (and heard) a lot of interesting people going to the game. We got to see the fighter jets do their flyover too. You can see the stadium lights just to the right of Danielson. Uncle Dan presented his version of the Karate Kid 8, the senior years. :) We love Uncle Dan. He's always a source of laughter and fun tricks. He's daring and always available to teach a lesson about something... like balance, boundaries, and boats. Ok, I just made that up, but it sounds better than lessons about obeying the rules.
We took a trip into D.C. the next day. This was Tuesday. It was snowing in Georgia. It was COLD in DC and very windy. We were thankful for our winter coats! We walked a ton. We saw the important sites that meant something to the kids. We ran out of time. DC isn't something you can do in a day, or a week for that matter. We visited the Air and Space Museum and only had about an hour in there. Bennett was looking for a Gold Airplane he had read about in his homework. So, he and Jared and Curtis went searching while the girls mosied around in the present day airplanes. We did get to spend some time reading about the Apollo missions and other space missions. I just can't remember all the details. It was too quick! And it was difficult for me to keep up with Lydia in the midst of the other thousands of people. I can't begin to imagine how many times I counted 9 heads to make sure all the kids were there. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8... who's missing? Where's Lydia? Oh yeah, Marci's carrying her. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,... where did she go this time??? Oh, now Emily's got her. Thank goodness for responsible teenage cousins!!!!!!!!! We made it to the White House. I think Mr. Obama was in Baghdad with Aunt Fran so we didn't get to see him but Curtis thinks the girls may have been at the Library of Congress as we were leaving. Somebody who they thought was important came speeding up in a secret service covered suburban. A man in the street said "everybody is important... ". We spent some time running around the Washington Monument and laid on the ground, looked up at the clouds moving by and it felt like the whole thing was going to fall over on top of us. This was Ruth's favorite part of the trip... seeing the monument. She drew a really cute picture too that I'll save forever. Aunt Lara snuggled the little Lydia and she actually fell asleep in the middle of the grass there. We walked on down to the Lincoln Memorial and she slept in Uncle Dan's lap while the rest of the kids went on up to see President Lincoln. This is my favorite place to visit. We briefly visited the Vietnam wall but didn't have time to look for the name we wanted to see. We rode the METRO (DC's version of MARTA, only nicer) on our all-day pass (highly recommended!). It gave our feet and legs a much needed break. We got to eat dinner at Union Station and saw a train going somewhere. I was too tired to look. By the time we got back to U.Bob's house it was after 9pm and the kids were beat! But Wednesday morning we got up all happy and went at it again.

This time we went back to Baltimore to hit the Science Center. I'm still sad we didn't get to do the Aquarium, but I guess that leaves a reason to go back sometime. The Science center was pretty neat. We all enjoyed the night sky at the planetarium and learned a lot too. Ruth was told she would go to Harvard because she answered a question about the sun correctly... then she asked me if she really had to go to Harvard. It was funny. They had tons of hands-on things to do and even had a kid room where Lydia and Titus felt more at home. Water!! That's always a hit! We also watched a 3-D movie "Under the Sea" and had big things of popcorn as a treat. Uncle Dan and Emily got to ride the hoveround wheelie things like the policemen at the airport. I don't even know what they're called, but it was fun to watch. Em crashed hers once so we could make fun of her. I'm sure that's the only reason she did it.
Here's Aunt Lara on a bed of nails while Ruth, Titus, Briella and Maggie watch to make sure she does it correctly.
We said goodbye to the Baltimore skyline on our way home and Bennett wanted to know if we would really never come back. I wish we could visit more often... it really is a fun place to play. They also have cruise ships that leave the Baltimore Harbor... and go to Bermuda.... but I digress!

We got up Thursday morning and had everything packed and ready to go by 9am. Uncle Bob had the cleaning lady coming at 9 so we had to be gone. I think he planned it that way! :) Katie was a big help while we were there too. The kids love her. She even fixed eggs for breakfast and entertained us while we played Phase 10.
On our drive home we stooped in Richmond, VA and played at another kid's museum for a couple hours (the Children's Museum of Richmond). It breaks the drive up a bit and gives the kids some fun things to do at new places. This one was pretty neat too. They had a "backyard" set up with sand, hula hoops, musical things, a kayak (no water) and inside was all the usual stuff. My favorite was the shadows...

SUPER

STAR

We drove on for a couple more hours while the kids napped and then stopped for supper and found a hotel with a pool. Dinner took FOREVER at the Cracker Barrel and smelled so full of smoke I vowed never to eat in another North Carolina eatery like that. Of course, I'll forget in time for our next trip but I'm so very thankful for Georgia's no smoking law!! It was not a good meal. We made it back to the hotel in time for 5 minutes of pool time, but the lady said she would leave it open for the kids until 1030 so they could swim a few minutes. Curtis played with them and Lydia and I went back to the room to warm up the beds. She was tired too and didn't want to swim. Friday morning, however... they all swam for a good hour before we packed up and headed south again. We played at the Children's Museum in Greensboro for a few hours. They have a beanstalk to climb. Curtis went to the store for dinner-to-go food and made our supper while we played. It ended up being a good idea because it was NOT the day to stop and eat a picnic! This was Good Friday and if you were anywhere in the south that day you know it really wasn't a good day at all. It was probably very much like the Good Friday when Jesus was crucified. The skies were black. The clouds opened and the rain fell and fell. It also hailed several times on us. Never of any size I though our windshield would be damaged, but significant noise! There were terrific winds and the many, many tractor trailors next to us swayed left and right. I am thoroughly convinced that we drove through a tornado while in South Carolina very near the Georgia border. I was praying as we crossed the bridges over Lake Hartwell, Jesus please keep us safe... and the kids were all asleep. They had NO idea I was actually shedding tears for their safety... and we both agree that we have never driven in a storm so fierce. I pray we never have to again.
As we crossed into Georgia and got off I-85 there was an ever so small break in the blackest of black clouds. The lights streamed through and it was a Glorious sight. I told Curtis Jesus was returning on Good Friday... it would have made a good story. :) By the time I got the camera out and found a place in the road where you could see it well, it was about gone. But this is what we had.
We made it home after a brief stop at Wal-Mart and Sonic... and fell into bed. What an exciting end to a great week. Our Spring Break trips are like no other. Some of our favorite times were playing in Andrew and Alex's tree deck (some game they made up about who has the frog) and riding on their scooters, playing with our cousins at Port Discovery, seeing the Washington Monument, and playing at the kid's museums on the way home.

Someone Stole My Camera...

well, borrowed without permission is probably a more correct accusation since it was returned without incident.

Here are a few of the pictures I found on the card...

The little thief!