Six hours at the park

Note:  that is NOT my back...

Mine doesn't look that bad, but it feels that bad, actually - it's the back of my knees which are currently unbent and sticking out to the side of the computer armoire so that they won't be pained!  Why is it that I cannot remember that the first time I spend an extended day at the park that SPF 50 is not too much.  The kids all had it on and only Porter looks reddish.  I broke down and put some on after the first hour and a half... alas, that was too late! 

Sunburn aside, it was fun - we had friends coming and going from the park the entire day - the water features were all on and there was a cooler full of good food (and junk food) to keep the kids happy.  Speaking of junk food - I picked up some interesting flavors of pringles - Cheeseburger, Mac 'n Cheese, and Pizza...  I was only willing to take a portion of a chip per flavor - and though one of Trevor's friends claimed to be able to taste the pickle in the cheeseburger I just tasted the cheese and mustard.  Mac 'n Cheese was just a cheddar chip and Pizza... well, I had one a few years ago and it didn't bear revisiting... I happily munched my fat free original flavored pringles and read my book (thus the back of the knee problem!)

All in all the kids happily entertained themselves for hours with just the water features, a few butterfly nets, and food - we're going to do this more often... for about half that time and double the sunscreen!

Summertime...

and the livin' is...

Easy:  yes, there are no more morning carpools involving the passing of booster seats - no more babysitting of extra 6-yr olds after kindergarten - no more PTA meetings - no more nagging my children to complete their homework before they start to read - no more dance classes and baseball games to run to - 

Not so easy after all:  now begins the days of scout camps, friends until I want to choke someone, and late nights...

Lazy:  okay, today being the first day I stayed in bed 'til 8:00... I don't think that will last.  

Messy:  even though they aren't packing lunches in the morning they've already made a mess of the house just because they know they have all day to play and so we must get out everything we own and decide which is first up!

Expensive:  between lunches and the prizes we give for reading, in addition to the occasional cheap movie we will run to see, and not even figuring in the gas prices - this summer is going to be a budgeter's nightmare.

Disorganized:  hopefully this will change, I need more ideas for things to do with the kids... should I give each week a theme?  Plan more park days?  I'm up for ideas here folks - what do you do with your kids to keep them entertained during the long hot days?

Obsessed Lately?

Okay - When Quinn and I saw this movie in the theatre (which is a rare treat for us) I wasn't sure it would live up to the first...  I actually enjoyed it quite a bit and was really excited at the end when the credits rolled -- you see, through the whole movie they're trying to prove that Thomas Gates wasn't an accomplice in the Lincoln Assassination - having been accused based on a partial journal entry with his name and the following: "artifix ae..." - here in the end credits they reveal the remainder of the words and I didn't have anything to write on in the theatre and had forgotten them before getting home where I could log on to the free latin translator :)  I debated going back to the theatre to see it again, bugged many friends and relatives to pay good attention at the end... all to no avail (couldn't bring myself to pony up another $7).

So today - the DVD is released, I grabbed it quickly, stuck it in my cars' DVD player and went straight to the end credits... and what it says is "artifix aenig malum" which between the movie telling me that Artifix means mastermind and Malum means unfortunate leads to a whole lot of nothing, since Aenig isn't a word I can locate...

All told, the down and dirty of this is that I wasted over an hour of my precious time because I tend to obsess over small things like that... Maybe Meg will remember the hidden code on the DaVinci Code cover that I discovered, figured out, and it turned out to be a lame plug for an upcoming novel... 

This Week's Reading Adventures...

I had decided to wait awhile before picking up this book - it was released last week (and the date was in my planner) but I knew my life was a little hectic.  I had put it out of my mind and gone about my daily business... but I ran out of milk and ran to CostCo - still hadn't thought about the book, but the aisle was crowded and I decided to duck through the book area to get to the other side (still not thinking about books somehow) then... I saw it, the stacks and stacks of this book, taunting me with its eerily reflective eyeball... so, I bought it Wednesday afternoon, and finished it Thursday morning - The review you ask? all thumbs up - it was nice to read a book for once that stood on its own, the story concluded without frustrations of "what next" and though I had kind of guessed a little of the ending, there was still the complexity of how it all worked out and who, what, why, when and where....  worth the $14 and change I paid for sure!

Next up was a little something I picked up for the kids - the 3rd in a series that Trevor and Weston have both read... and of course, being the good mom I am I had to preview it in case of gratuitous violence.  Worth reading if you've read the others, a go

od series for pre-teens/teens.  No objectionable content with little life lessons tossed in along the way - I especially like the discussion questions at the end... I think I will require their being answered before the kids get credit for reading the book!

To be fair, I just started this, it's 4th in the series, another pre-teen/teen series that is harmless... as long as you don't mind a little stabbing of mythological monsters.  There is a little jealousy beginning to show in the first part of the book and I wonder if the characters are growing faster than the readers - but unless I update this with a "ugh" warning - assume I judged it safe for consumption.  

I also got the 3osomethingth book of the Magic Treehouse Series for Porter and Haven to read - those are harmless, but I can't bring myself to preview them - there is a limit to what I will do for my children, and formulaic tripe is about it :)  (Porter is really into formulaic tripe though)

Forgot to mention - I read this one Monday - an older "apocalyptic survival" novel, well done, I think if he were to re-write it today it would end up being 3 or 4 books...  part of me is glad he wrote it a long time ago!

Does it Really Count as...

Family Home Evening?  

Last night our family split into two groups:  the dance group, which spent 5:00 - 8:00 at a local high school auditorium enjoying an evening of dance and music AND the baseball group which spent 6:00 - 10:00 at the baseball park enjoying a night of sweat and exertion.  And being the sexist pigs we are, Mom went with the girls to dance while Dad hung out with the boys eating bad for you food at the baseball games.

Things I realized at the dance concert:  you can teach 6 little 3-4 year old girls the same exact moves and they can pull it off beautifully at the dress rehearsal - but at the concert, under the pressure of stage lights, you will always get 6 different impromptu dances!  Parents cannot be expected to be the well behaved ones... yelling to their daughters from the audience to prompt a wave, really!  (no, it wasn't me)  Those stupid ballet shoes just don't stay tied!  Dance costumes get skimpier as you get older.  and... the real big one - I really need a new video camera!!!  

The dancing in the aisles while watching the second half of the concert was a lot of fun since M found a few friends and they were dancing to everyone's music.

I don't know if Q made any similar observations at the ball field (I know for sure he didn't say anything about the older boys and their skimpy baseball uniforms) but for the record, both boys played well and their teams won handily!  Po's team is in first place and W's in third for their respective leagues - and by the end of this week we should know if those standings will stay the same for next weeks' tournament!

Sorry no pictures - I was waiting on the video camera to finish downloading - and now I'm not sure the graininess is acceptable... time to start researching new cameras - any suggestions?

Pride is Evil...

I was thinking how brave Sher was to share her pregnant with Trisa picture - how utterly confident in herself and without worry that we would ridicule...  because we are all wonderful relatives that appreciate the open, the honest, etc...

and to prove I also have no pride whatsoever, I give you the following:

This lovely photo was shot when I was perhaps 4 years old... I distinctly remember envying my big Sister's train conductor overalls because they were cool...  at least they were cooler than whatever the heck I have on!  I would like to think that these are like Er's pictures of Liv... but no, my uncle is right there next to us which means there was some event at our house (maybe my baby sister's blessing?) so we were apparently dressed up to impress!  Even my shoes are something out of a horror flick.  Of course, my uncles' pants aren't exactly stylin' now are they?  You wouldn't believe that this same guy is now a JAG officer, he's come a long way from the big collar!  At least baby bro. can't be blamed at all, he obviously didn't pick his clothes, but whoever sewed them that way deserves a little ridicule maybe...  

Okay, I'm going to post before I chicken out... ugh

Sore Throats and Doubles...

Sweet Po came home from school not feeling up to snuff last Friday - I immediately got on the phone with his baseball coach (the wife actually) to let them know he was going to spend the night in bed rather than at the game...  at which point the coach's wife informed me that we were tied for first (with that nights' opponent), that 4 members of the team had already left for a fathers and sons campout, and that with only 14 kids on the team and 10 necessary to play we were probably looking at a forfeit if P didn't experience a miraculous recovery...  What's a mom to do?

My dilemma didn't last too long - I let P sleep as long as I could, filled a water bottle with gatorade, got his uniform ready - and woke him up with just enough time to get to the game...  where we told the coach he'd be happy to just sit in the dug-out and he'd play WAY left field and not be offended.  Of course, at this point, Porter is feeling a little more peppy and ends up having the best game of his season - 3 solid hits (out of 4 at bats) and one was even his first double of the season.  (no, he's no sammy sosa).  The Coach said he should get sick more often, which I thought was a little insensitive, but funny all the same.   We did win!

Saturday and Sunday and This Morning... still sick, we're heading off to the doctor and I'm sure we'll feel just a little guilty when other members of the team are sick - but not as guilty as the coaches' wife who guilted us into coming :)

The game tonight... yeah, we'll leave that up to the doctor, I'm not making any more decisions in that regard!  (sorry, no pictures of his nasty throat!)

May Day

When I was young my mother would get us to make paper baskets and we would fill them with flowers and leave them at neighbors' houses (probably not every year, but at least a few times growing up)  This was probably a terribly archaic tradition even then (I'm not THAT old, despite what some may think).  

The thing is, it was fun, and a nice pick me up...  so here...

Happy May Day!

Archaic or not, sometimes we just have to celebrate the little things in life... sorry, you'll have to tie your own ribbon around the May Pole and dance!