Beach Love

When I was in 9th grade I had this cool dirt head Geometry teacher. I actually had him as a math teacher for 3 years so I got to know him pretty well, and he was a big time skier. One time I missed a day of his class to go skiing and anticipating the grief that he would give me for missing class and happy to have the opportunity to rub it in, I boldly walked in to class and told him I missed class to take a ski day. Without missing a beat he took the wind out of my sails by saying, "Yesterday? It was so cold and windy yesterday. I have gone skiing enough that I can pass on bad weather days." I wish I was witty enough to retort, "Hey, the worse day of skiing is better than the best day of Geometry!"

I have come to share his sentiments about beach days. We live close enough to slip in and out on weekdays and evenings, that I happily pass on scorching weekends when the parking lot is busting and you barely have a piece of sand to yourself. That (long explanation) being said, we did something out of the ordinary last Saturday. We braved a 90° Saturday at the beach, and you know what? It was absolutely pleasant. The weather was warm and breezy and we met up with friends who have lots of kids to entertain us. Seriously, it was the perfect day.

Of course, the parking lots were full by 9:30, so we parked at our friend's house and shuffled down to the beach.

Superkid was a huge fan of the cave under the rocks. His little buddy is just coming out of the club house.
The rocks were awesome. Not only was it fun to have a club house underneath, and fun to climb for the sake of climbing, but they offered us refuge when the tide came in. We had bets going if the tent would be taken down by the waves, but in the end the tide only came half way into the tent.

Tadpole found the perfect place to take it easy. I would have booted him out for a turn myself, but was too busy counting 4 children over and over again.
Jenn, made my counting job easier by rocking Lil' Chief down for a nap...
...and depositing him into the baby hammock. Lucky baby...
Abz, thought it looked like fun too, so she took the top bunk of the hammock...
The best part was having lots of friends to play with.
Thanks for inviting us, let's do it again soon!

Angry Birds

It's the MOST wonderful time of the year! BLUEBERRY picking season.
As soon as we got back into town, I could smell it in the air. I called my friend Holly and we had a very fruitful sunrise picking session. But for me it is NEVER enough. I simply cannot have enough of these juicy little gems. So I let it slip out that I went blueberry picking without the kids. Superkid was indignant and insisted that we head to the fields, walking straight into my blueberry picking scheme.

We all got outfitted for a plentiful bounty of goodness...
Tadpole is definitely my biggest blueberry fan. He eats them by the bowl-full. But they captured his attention immediately as his old friend the, "Angry Bird". I have to admit they do kinda look like them. So pretty much every berry he picked and didn't eat got hucked across the blueberry field at some naughty little imaginary pig. He had a great time, but his net blueberry contribution was zero.
Abizella hates blueberries. She makes no bones about it. But instead of complaining, she pitched right in and said that she was happy to pick some for her brothers to eat. And this is the first year she actually brought some in, however she preferred the "prettier" brighter less ripe colored berries to the deeper fully ripe version. No worries, I'm sure they will make excellent blueberry buckle!
Superkid was on fire. He LOVES fruit picking, and blueberry picking is only second to apple picking in his book. He pretends to actually like them too, occasionally daring himself to try one out. He would timidly pop one in and munch it up and say something like, "Hmmmm... that one was a little sour, maybe I need to find a fatter one." He is full of advice on where to find the best berries (tops of bushes where only tall kids can reach have the juiciest berries).

This little munch did nothing but munch.

It was the perfect night for a harvest.



We were all so awesome that we earned a little ice cream treat.
Lil' Chief informed me that we can still share an ice cream, but he gets to hold it.

Scary Hook

Tadpole has this little friend. It's his, "Scary Hook." He told me I've got one too. We use it for all kinds of things, mostly eating each other. The scary hook greets me almost every day with its hungry little claw mouth. Actually the Scary Hook is handy to have around. Sometimes we use them to stack blocks like a crane or scratch our heads. Sometimes they "transform" into spiders and run up the other's arm to tickle the other's "Scary Hook".

Bad news. I came home from work to see a sad little Tadpole face. He held up his "Scary Hook" and said, "Mom, my Scary Hook has a bloody tooth." Seems like the scissors fought back. Pops helped piece the Scary Hook up with a bandage. He is feeling much better now.

Is Your Wife HOT?!!!

Is Your Wife HOT?!!!
And your kids too?!!!
Then FIX the AC! ... and when THAT costs more than the van is worth, and the weather is 97° with dripping humidity then BUY A NEW VAN! This is what the sweaty crew looked like after 2.5 hrs. in the van with no AC when we stumbled into the car dealership. They took one look at us and knew we would buy WHATEVER for HOWEVER much, so long as it had AC.

Abz, did try to step it up a notch and arrive in high heeled boot style. She loves a good entrance.
Seriously, I love this van. We went and picked it out while I was in labor with Abizella 6 years ago. The salesman asked when the baby was due and I said I was having contractions right then. That expedited the process. The first ride I took in it (besides the test drive) was when Pops and Superkid picked Abz and I up from the hospital. I felt like a queen, riding along with my new baby in my sweet new ride. Nothing makes me happier than cramming the little purple van full of friends and car seats and taking off on an adventure. Oh how I want to do it again. She has been a trusty friend. I want to give her a squeeze.
I had to say good-bye to my badge of honor too. Seemed a little pathetic to scrape it off and tape it on the new van. Pops suggested finding a new 2008 Boston Marathon sticker... but that seems even more pathetic.
I have a feeling we are going to LOVE our new family friend as well. We owe a BIG thanks to Dana. I stopped by Pop's old office to pick up some mail and chatted with Dana, who is the Boston area's foremost expert on where to buy a used Honda Odyssey, always has his eye on the market. He asked what I was looking for in a van. I said, "Air conditioning... and it has to start every time." He flexed his Odyssey knowledge, listing the features of each model. I said, "Why don't you just tell me what van to buy." He said, "Okay." He walked to his computer and in about 3 clicks showed me 2 vans and said, "Buy this one or that one." So we did. We got a great deal on a great low mileage van. Awesome.
Now it is time to take her out and PLAY!

Get Your Pioneer ON!

(Yes, the bonnet and the boots made it to church today)

And haul yourselves down to the beach to CELEBRATE Pioneer Day
New England style!

Boat Movies

Here is the movie Aunt Mindurs shot of Uncle Naters, Abz and Tad. They actually ended up going a lot faster later in the ride and so fast in a subsequent ride that Abz and Ashy got dunked. I just like the spunk Abz has for the sport in this movie.


This one is of Ashy, Tad, Superkid and myself. I love a white knuckle ride.

Riding the Wildest Wave in the West

What family reunion is complete without a trip to the lake? Wahooo!
These bathing beauties could not be held back from the fun...

Just pull up the closest little snugly muffin or two and let the good times roll...
Little Chief was a huge fan of the attention that he was bathed in...
He was also good for pulling in the boat...
While Glama and Cousin Tuzie cheered him on...
The little Phrogbottoms were all about the water...
And were talking some serious trash about showing this wild ride who was boss...

While there was fun to be had floating on the boat...


While being strangled by a life jacket...


And catching bugs in your teeth...

And playing gargoyle...
The real action was found being drug behind the boat...
Wahooo!!!!

It was a scary ride with this guy driving...
Super scary with this guy driving...
But hold onto your skin when Uncle Dave takes the wheel!!!
He is the master dumper. As Bampa told Superkid, "Uncle Dave has had it out for your mom for years." Seriously, it is the stuff legends are made of. I don't know how he managed it, but he kept the 3 darling grand babies safely afloat while dunking me in the drink.
Like I said, he is the master.

I think Uncle D liked Abizella's style. She simply could not go fast enough, giving the thumbs up sign every chance she dared take her white knuckle grip from the tube handle.

Tadpole just had one message. When the big boys cowarded at the front of the boat he confidently stepped on the raft after saying,
"My name is Tadpole, and Tadpole's aren't afraid of anything!"

Awesome!

Cabin Time

It is pretty much paradise.
It was fun to meet Mindurs little bat boy. Our new little nephew prefers life upside down. He's on the list of ones that I am planning a last minute scoop and run on the way to the airport.
Uncle James was tireless when it came to motorcycle rides. Although he never could go fast enough for our little Abizella.
Of course Tadpole wanted in on the fun...
Almost as much fun as the motorcycle ride was mud pie making while waiting for our turn...
Abz is seriously considering a career down at the Bonneville speedway
Aunt Mindurs seized a rare quiet moment and pulled out the rock crafts...
There was even wigwam time...
And a final spin on the motorcycle...
Superkid has relented on his requests to move to Utah, now he simply wants us to build a log cabin. Who can argue with all of this?