Wood County Fair 2015 roundup

*We interrupt the beach vacation broadcast to bring you a blog post about life that is happening between blog posts. *gasp!* The horror! Carry on.* 

"Thaaaaat doesn't belong with the fair. What is he doing!?"

That would be Miss Carrie, commentating on the cicada picture below. True, he doesn't belong with the fair photos, but he was taken today as well. I went to hang out laundry and there he was, almost ready in his shiny new skin!

 

"BEE DOH BEE DOH BEE DOH!"

 

Yes, those are our children on the sheriff golf cart. Half of you will be relieved to know that they had permission first. The other half of you will wonder, "well, where's the fun in THAT!?"

 

One can find all kinds of things at the fair. Like friendly goats and carven giraffes,

 

and Marine Corps "big things" with wheels the size of the kids, and alpacas with attitude!

 

And reeeeeally hot chicken noodle soup, and handsome Liams. Hey, waitaminute, the fair doesn't get to keep him!

 

Cotton candy was devoured, whether or not children with braces are allowed to have sugar. Eh, it's the fair.

 

Skee ball! Liam would have played all. Night. Week. Long. Damon might have gotten one in if he played all week.

 

This climb-the-ladder game let Carrie get halfway and then politely dumped her off, much to our delight.

 

Damon was infatuated with the carousel, despite the petrified look on his face in many of the pictures. I told him to stop making the same face his horse was making:

 

I had to untwist myself clockwise several times when I climbed off.

 

The boys went from "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times" about five times. Every ride or game they finished was elating. Every ride or game they didn't get to do was devastating.

 

It's hard to be patient when you're five.

 

And when you're nine and a half.

 

But then, you get to bounce on a trampoline and end up in the clouds. Way better than the bouncy house you didn't get to go in last night...

 

And you can ride a firetruck in the sky!

 

And make cheesy smiles in line for a bumpy ride which whips around in circles really fast AND then goes backwards really fast over bumps! Wahoooooo!

 

You can be the shortest person in line for the tallest slide!

 

And then you'll have to sit and wait patiently again while your  sister decides to do the bouncy harness thing which your parents will tell you that you're too short for... 

 

...and that we'll come back next year even though you want to come back tomorrow. No, you never, ever want to leave and you never, ever, ever, ever want to sleep. And you do absolutely not want a bath even though you're covered in sunscreen, bug spray, dirt, grilled cheese, ketchup, chocolate milk, and perhaps chocolate milkshake. And maybe even elephant ear dust. And most likely sawdust.

 

Sweet dreams, fairgoers. Sleep tight.

Wet your whistle

 

Hello, Atlantic Ocean. It's been awhile. We missed you! Thanks for providing so much wet, sandy fun, new friends, and plenty of summertime photo ops!

 

How I wish I was there right now as the dishwasher is chugging away and the boys are bickering in the basement. *sigh*

 

Anyway, here are Care Bear and her Hinrew doin' their thing:

 

She eventually abandoned him and was doing her own thing, which is jumping waves. We liked this one because it looks like she's kneeling on a wave. To a kid who is obsessed with all things Percy Jackson and Poseidon, that's pretty cool.

 

There were tons of adorable crabs popping in and out of the sand. I had a great time just sitting in the sun and admiring the puffs of sand and how they scuttle. Dada got pretty crispy early on in the trip, unfortunately, so he tried to stay out of the rays as much as he could. He did have a good time in the water later on in the week, and I'll get to those pictures later.

 

These are especially for Aunt Sherri, who requested them specially. Which do you like better- fronts or backs?

 

And then, where else would Liam be but in a sandy hole? He found them or made them on every single beach we visited. Carrie dug a lot, and he snuck in, just like a crab!

OBX Trip 6

 

We're back!

 

We spent a week in the Outer Banks- did you miss us?

 

We knew we didn't want to get stuck in DC traffic on our way there like in previous years, so we left Thursday afternoon and made it the first four hours without stopping. Dada took over the driving at that point and did the next two hours to Breezewood.

 

From there, it was only two more hours to Uncle Rob and Aunt Jana's, where we crashed really late and then had some cousin time in the morning before hitting the road again.  

 

*REMIND ME TO UPLOAD PICTURES FROM MY PHONE*

 

Believe me, you'll want to see them. There are pictures of the cousins in dress up costumes having breakfast together. Priceless.

 

Anyhow, since we weren't in a huge rush, we left midmorning and putzed our way down the coast. We stopped at Assateague Island to see the wild horses: 

 

 

That's right, you're seeing as many in the above photo as we saw. Zip. Zero. They must be really good at hiding. We did hear some but the dense foliage between the path and the giggling, shy horsies was too thick for us to find them. They were a few days away from the annual pony swim and roundup, so maybe that's why they were being extra cautious.

 

We made it to the beach house Friday evening and were greeted by my aunt and uncle's mixed breed puppy, Hacker, who is all brindled wiggles and kisses and powerful tail. We were sorely tempted to bring him home with us. Annie, their German Shepherd, needs more time to warm up to people but remembered us and allowed us to love on her even when she'd broken a tooth and wasn't feeling her best. We missed Dutch, who'd passed away last fall, but we had lots of puppy love while we were there.

 

We goofed off a lot at the ocean this year as the temps were just about perfect and the kids were less afraid of the waves. There are plenty of pictures to come, but here are some taken at the pool: 

 

Dada and I even got our annual dinner date at the Black Pelican sans kids. He had an amazing halibut dinner with sour cherry butter sauce and a tasty veggie medley involving Swiss chard, red onions, and some others. I had Chef's Pasta, which is penne in roasted red peppery cream cheese sauce with humungous scallops and shrimp. I delighted in my leftovers later on. And we got a walk on the beach in the almost full moonlight.

 

Aunt Lainie has been decking out her deck in teal and a soft green, so naturally we had to get a picture mid-act.

 

 

We clean up pretty well. And Dada's in snazzy white pants. And no, you may not have the cute, sleeping urchin. He's ours.

 

Miss Maudie had her 86th birthday while we were there, so of course we had to celebrate. She brought glow sticks for the kids, which ranked her even higher in their esteem, if that's possible. I called in to Damon to tell him she was there, and he hollered, "Miss Maudie's here? I LOVE Maudie!" He couldn't get out the door fast enough.

 

Here she is on the phone with Nana, who helped us sing "Happy Birthday" to her. And somehow Maudie got one trick candle, to everyone's amusement and the kids' wonderment:

 

Lainie's friend Linda came for the birthday party, too, and cheerfully took a million pictures of us. Here's one with everyone's eyes open and smiling!

 

Birthdays at the beach are exhausting.

 

I have probably 100 ocean pictures but I hear beds being jumped on so I must go parent awhile.

 

*REMIND ME TO BLOG ABOUT THE TRIP BACK*

 

Robotics and bookworms

Grandmama is here and we've been goofing off. She's been reading books to our bookworms:

 

And, if you have been following the newsfeeds, you'll know that Monroeville has been overtaken by zombies. However, we have a different issue here- robots:

 

The big kids have been busy in the basement for HOURS with duct tape, sharpies, and cardboard boxes. They've emerged a few times to show off their robotic moves and outfits. I love their creativity!

Why I Haven't Been Blogging, Excuse #983754

 

Well, frankly, some of us have been a little twisted up:

 

 

While some of us have been dumped at a new-to-us camp in another state:

 

And we've been inundated with family and the corresponding shenanigans one would expect from said family:

 

I guess in short we've been carpe diem-ing. ;)

 

We've been busy living life in the summertime. More karate lessons, walks with friends, watching movies like The Neverending Story and The Fellowship of the Ring, having popsicles and way too much ice cream, smashing even more mosquitoes but not as many as have been sipping off of us, and tons of laundry.

 

Care Bear spent 4 gloriously brother-free days at Camp Michindoh with about 400 other middle school kids from our church (yes, that's 400, not 40) and says the best part was Gold Rush, like Capture the Flag but harder. She had a good girlfriend in her cabin with her and it sounds like the whole week was amazing. We're glad she had the opportunity to try something new. Ask her all about camp!

 

The kids have been into the Legos, the squirt guns, the bristle blocks, the Transformers, the stapler and staple remover, the Smart Links, the comic books, and the pool.

 

We took the extended family to the pool and had the most exciting time yet. A man fell victim to a seizure, which caught Uncle Kelly's attention and help. The pool was cleared and the EMTs got him more stable and out of there. A little while later a storm headed in so it was everyone out of the pool again. We left just as really big drips started splattering the cars and were in a total downpour by the time we got home. Nobody seemed to mind too much, and the cousins were off and running again in no time.

 

The guys mixed up two batches of homemade ice cream, chocolate and vanilla, and special thanks goes to Aunt Evelyn for being our phone-a-friend help in regards to recipe discrepancies. Both turned out excellently. Both are probably almost gone.

 

Grandmama is on her way here now after visiting with Nana. Tomorrow the kids have orthodontist appointments and karate. Today is sheet day. I'm stalling on lunch.

 

*sigh* Time to go. Happy Monday!

 

It's the End of the World as We Know It...

How did it get to be July already? This year is flying by. We've been out of school for a month now, and the house looks like there are three kids living here. Oh wait...

Yesterday we had a day. I could have sworn it was Monday. We had karate at 10, which means getting Carrie out of bed at 9 (we need to leave at 9:30ish) since she's turned into a teenager this summer. She staggers downstairs, dumps Cheerios into and out of her bowl so that they're all over the counter, didn't hear/ignored the caution that, "it's raining today, so wear your flip flops instead of your good sandals", and makes it into the car...

We make it to karate. Damon puts his flip flops in the locker room, they have class, he goes to find his shoes and- lo and behold- he can only find one flip flop. I know that he wore both of them in there, so I send him back to hunt for it. He comes out again wearing just one. I send him back again, and this time one of the instructors goes along to help him find it. Apparently, it has been tossed over the storage closet. Interesting. And the poor instructor relays the following message: I can get it for you, but it is going to take awhile. It's pretty crowded back there. I said, "we'll be back Thursday. Thank you."

So we leave with the One-Footed Wonder.

Good thing there's a Once Upon A Child right across the street. We found a new-to-us pair of sturdy sandals that strap over the top of his foot and around his ankle, and he loves them.

Proceed to the library. And lunch at Bob Evans with Dada. Then to Kroger. Then to Aldi. Then finally home.

Last night Dada was singing R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)", which you could youtube if you are unfamiliar with the tune, when Damon retorted with much indignation, "you don't know that!" Even though the kids don't know the song, it cracked all of us up. I didn't even know he had been paying attention to what was going on, but he sure mustered up his disgust about the possibility of the end of the world. Yes, it's on the new quote board.

I realize that's all just Carrie and Damon. Let's just say that Thing Two has been out of sorts recently, but it hasn't been his fault as there's been no structure or routine this summer and that's on me. Throw in a holiday weekend to lose any remaining sense I had of "what day is it, anyway?" and a deck that desperately needed stained before the rains began again and the overdue library books because, again, "what day is it, anyway?" ... you get the picture. It ain't pretty.

But hey, it's summer! We're staying up too late and sleeping in (well, Carrie is, anyway. Little Miss slept until noon on Monday) and goofing off. We're reading books, swatting mosquitoes, chasing frogs, rescuing toads*, scratching mosquito bites, running the dishwasher every single day since almost all of us are eating 3 meals here daily, moving from one mess to another to another, getting band aids on our bloody mosquito bites, doing karate, watching movies, finishing The Return of the King, using our pool pass, and arguing with each other while we reopen scabs from mosquito bites.

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine. Except for the mosquito bites.

Is it just me, or are they terrible this summer!?

*We've named the toad "Abre" because it means "open" in Spanish. We've found him sitting in the kennel, sitting in front of the inside of the garage door, hiding behind the recycling bin, and sliding across the newly stained deck because the water now puddles on top the way it's supposed to. He always looks like, "someone please let me out. Please? Abre! I don't have opposable thumbs!"