4th of July 2008

We love spending long weekends in WV with our friends Charlie and Ruth! This weekend their son Sam turned 16, and Ruth made a cake for him. The rain stopped long enough for us to set off some awesome fireworks. Wish we had gotten pictures of Blizzard attacking the blazing fountains! He actually knocked one down and was trying to bite it! We joked later about his whiskers being singed off, but they weren't really. He didn't seem affected at all, and we determined that he only attacked the ones that whistle and screech. Maybe they hurt his ears? At one point he tried to hide under Lon's arm, you can see his head is under the arm of the camp chair, and Lon is reassuring him. How cute...

Deck-orated!

Our deck was a mess, and we didn't have the time or the inclination to do what needed to be done. Too hot out for people our age to be doing labor-intensive work! So while Lon was out of town I surprised him by hiring a company to power wash and then seal the deck. I laid down a new outdoor rug and a Kokopelli welcome mat. (Blizzard already has hair all over it!) Kip and I put together a new patio table and chairs all by ourselves, and I put the finishing touches (for now) today: A bushel basket of red impatiens as a centerpiece, and over in the corner of the bench, white impatiens in Kip's old beach pail, and red begonias in a gold foil-wrapped pot. There's also a small terracotta pot full of seashells. Just need some windchimes now, and some flowers in the other corner that you can't see here... I'm up for other suggestions! (Like get rid of the trash can? ha ha)

Grillin'!

While Lon is away, the "man chores" fall to Kip. We all know outdoor cooking is man's work, ha ha! So here's Kip flippin' the chicken and veggies on the grill. He proclaimed it the best chicken he ever ate. It really WAS delicious, good job, buddy! :) We've been grilling all week, since I can't stand to heat up the kitchen. Last night it was shrimp. Again, the best Kip ever tasted! There's just something about cooking out...maybe it's the lines on the food, ha ha.

(Hey, what's Blizzard sniffing at in the background?!)

Memorial Day 2008

Here we are again at Charlie & Ruth's place in West By God Virginia! Ralph and his daughters Emylee & Devon, and Devon's friend Bethany came too. It was freezing cold the first night, but the weather warmed up as the weekend progressed, and was darned hot on Monday! On Sunday the kids went on a kayaking/tubing trip down the river by themselves. Lon was a bit leery about there being no adult along, but they had a great time. Ruth and I took a shorter trip on Monday, and although the water was freezing at first, it was refreshing as the sun got hotter. Because we've had so much rain this spring, the water was the highest I've ever seen it there, and going over the rapids was fun, rather than bumpy! Blizzard was absolutely ecstatic at being allowed to run around completely free for 3 whole days, but he never wandered far.

Field Trip to Philadelphia

Since I had never been to Philadelphia before, I called in sick to chaperone Kip's 7th grade class. I had the best time! An adult had to sit in the front seat of the bus and be in control of the TV screens, so I made the kids laugh by drawing and writing funny things over the videos they were watching. (I'm the cool mom now, yay! ha ha)

Here we have (l to r) Anthony, Austin, Hunter, Scott, Luis and Kip. They were a cooperative and well-behaved group of boys, and I wrote a note to the school the next day, complimenting them and saying I would do this again in a heartbeat! Anthony and Kip posed in the Hall of Statues, with a signer of the U.S. Constitution, then Kip decided he looked better on the $5 bill than Abraham Lincoln did. I have to agree he's way cuter! And he actually stood with his mom in front of the Liberty Bell. Man, he's taller here than in the photos from a couple months ago! He said he was glad I came; that really made my day... :)

Toe Surgery

Don't his big toes look like in a cartoon, when someone hits them with a hammer? ha ha. Kip had ingrown toenails repaired this past Monday. He was very brave, and got to rest then in front of the - new! - TV for the evening. He was able to go to school the next day, but I had to write him a note excusing him from PE. I was worried that they would hurt too much for him to enjoy his field trip coming up, but by the next day, he said they were fine. What a trooper!

It's Spring!

Ahhhhh, Spring...

My favorite season! All the flowers and trees are blooming after a cold, bare winter. My front garden is full of hyacinths, and the tulips are coming up now, too. I love driving down our street and seeing the row of white trees. The pond at my job is lined with pale pink trees, and the crabapple tree in our front yard is bright pink. It looks so cool when all the petals fall and the ground is carpeted in pink and white, like a dusting of pastel snow. And everything smells so sweet! I wish Spring lasted longer than winter...