We're Back!

Ok, so life does not usually provide time for blogging. I have to make it and as you can see, I have not done so since August.

This month we have lots of fun things happening. Noah was in his first big chess tournament. He played with his school at the Queen City Classic Chess Tournament at Paul Brown Stadium. It was a great event. I went as a driver and chape
ron. Noah did a very good job. He placed in the top 20 of about 70 kids in the 5th grade unrated division.

The kids and Josh are working on a tree house in the backyard and I will show pictures as they move along on the blog. It is really great seeing them all work on a project together.

The Farm

Two weekends ago we went to the our friend Andrew's family farm with he and his wife Rachel. We also went to the Ohio State Fair. I must say I didn't know what to expect and was really surprised at how much fun it was. The kids milked a cow at the fair, saw hogs that weigh as much as a car, pet rabbits, saw a lumber jack show, and even talked with smokey the bear. The fair was a blast we didn't even have to ride a single ride. Andrew and Rachel new just where to take us for fun.

We then set up camp at the farm. I was thinking a big farm how cute, but no this was a gigantic farm that was absolutely amazing. It was the best play ground for the kids and I am pretty sure Josiah has farmer blood in him. We played with animals, the horses loved Josiah especially how his head smelled. The kids got to climb in tractors that are almost as big as my house and swim in a huge trailer full of wheat. They played in the hayloft and in the woods. It was amazing. We were only there for about 24 hours, but it was a packed 24 hours. I can't wait to do it again. The funniest part was that while we were all sleeping on Saturday morning, me in the van with Eve (long story) Josh in the tent with the kids, Providence decided to get up at 6am and go have breakfast with Andrew's uncle Keith. He and his lovely wife Delynn left their doors unlocked so we could use the restroom and such. Well, Providence climbed out of the tent and walked right in their house. She plopped down in the kitchen and started talking to Keith. They at cereal together and had a great talk. The talk included Providence telling him he was "to old to run." She then got back in the tent and woke Josh up. We had no idea about this breakfast until later that afternoon when Keith called us laughing about being to old. I guess next time we will have to put some big bells on the tent zipper.

Weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's

The kids and I headed to Cleveland this past weekend and spent some quality time with Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Linda. I unfortunately forgot my camera, so I will have to describe the events. We went on the boat and went tubing. It was a blast watching the kids jump off the boat and do flips off the tubes. We also were able to fish, that was fun, but the kids really do not get the whole delayed gratification. They want a fish now and there is no leaving the worm still. Those poor worms not only got ripped in half and hooked, they also got sea sick from all the movement of the casting and reeling in and out. We also checked out the science museum by the lake in downtown. It was really cool, the kids did not stop moving for about 3 hours straight. I think we started a new tradition for every time we go up there too. The A&W restaurant. It's a for real drive up and eat in your car place. The food was really good and the experience was cool too. The kids loved it.

Our trip was a blast. The kids can't wait to go back and I am sure grandma and grandpa are currently catching up on sleep and just being still and quiet for a few days...

The pictures attached are from today. I found some tattoo markers and let the kids go to town. It wasn't until after they were completely covered that I thought about making sure it actually washes off. We'll see!

More Vacation Photos

We went on a Kiddie Cruise where the entire cruise was all about showing the kids how to fish with nets, crabbing, and then fishing for sharks. The girls both caught sharks at the same time. Eve's shark puked and Providence's shark was bleeding. It was fun and graphic all at the same time. The boys were having a blast until they realized the girls were going to catch fish and they weren't. Once Josiah saw the sharks bleeding he wanted to know why and that led to a conversation about how fish get hurt when you catch them, then on to how all the meat he eats comes from animals that have to die so we can eat them. He thinks he is going to be a vegetarian now. It's pretty funny.

Family Vacation

We weren't planning on going on vacation this year until we got a phone call on July 9th from one of our friends saying we could have a free condo in Hilton Head for the next week. Heck yeah, I told her we will definitely go. It was a total blessing. Providence was having her tonsils out on the 11th and we left on the 13th. The kids had a blast on the beach and just hanging out as a family. Here are some pictures from the trip.

More vacation pictures to come...

Noah's First Overnight Camp

It's Wednesday afternoon. Josiah, Providence and Eve are having "quiet time" in the basement. I am a little worried about what they are actually doing because they are getting along and I keep hearing money jingling... I am looking on line at Noah's pictures from his first overnight camp experience. We dropped him off on Sunday evening and pick him up on Friday evening. I can't wait to hear about it from him. The camp offers a really cool option for parents to check on the kids by looking at pictures on line. They are updating them daily and I found a few pictures of Noah. I guess my worries about him being homesick are unfounded. I am the one with the problem I guess. They grow up far to fast...

One thing that I find really funny is that in the top picture he is eating skittles and drinking mountain dew. I am so glad he did that on their watch and not mine because he was probably bouncing off the ground for a few hours. I can't wait to email him and ask him how they tasted and have him wonder how I knew he was eating it.

What happened to the lazy days of summer?

I seem to recall that summer for me as a kid was relaxing and fun. Somehow in the past 12 years that has seriously changed. I have to look at summer through completely different lenses. It's amazing how busy and not relaxing summer can really be for parents.

I have spent the past week or so watching some friends kids along with my four and sometimes it was a blessing because they entertained each other, but by the last day it was pretty much a three ring circus. Eve spent the entire last day making it her call in life to irritate one of the little girls to the point of exhaustion for me and I was only listening and refereeing it. Here is the gist of how it looked. It started in the car because their car seats were next to one another. Eve decided she didn't want to listen to Dixie Chicks, but Lydia was enjoying it. So, Eve sang her ABC's as loud as she could. Then Lydia kept saying, "Eve be quiet, I can't here." Eve sang louder and grinned. Lydia yelled again, then Eve kept looking at her and grinning and swinging her hand in the air at her. Lydia of course yelled "Eve stop looking at me, don't swing your hand at me." Eve just grinned and continued on with her torture. This sort of interaction continued on throughout the day and ended with a big bang. Literally it was a slap, Lydia had had enough of Eve's torture she was tired of Eve taking her toys and laughing and tired of Eve teasing her. So, she did what any four-year-old would do and slapped her. It was quite genius because Eve finally left her alone. If only she had slapped her at 10am instead of 3pm the house would have been much more peaceful all day.

Swimming is our staple activity and we have all become fish. Every time I go somewhere besides the pool people ask if we've been on vacation because we are all so tan. Nope, we are pool rats and proud of it. No vacation here, just the daily visit to the pool to tire us out.

The other day we went to Parky's Ark, it was a lot of fun. The kids got to play in the great vegetable garden and this great park worker let us know we could pick some veggies and water the garden using a big trough and old time pump and some watering cans. The kids had a blast and we got a great fresh salad out of it. Check out the pictures to see some of there picks.