Labor Day Escape

I think the last time we made it to the lake for Labor Day was the year a friend toppled an ATV onto Chris's foot.  It then involved a trip to an emergency room and quite a stressful few weeks until we found out that it wasn't broken like the ER doc had said.  Chris was ridiculously lucky and it had simply severed the artery on top of his foot.  We had a much better experience this time around and the kids had a blast.

From the moment we started talking about going to the lake G and A started asking for Uncle J.  We drove down Friday after work (it is nice being close enough to do such things as it is one reason we wanted to be closer to family) and then back to STL Monday.  Saturday we went out in the boat and Sunday we just played around the house.  We also had Gma and Gpa Sehorn show up on Sunday so it was great to see them. 

Plenty of pictures capture a bit of what we did so here they are!  They are in reverse order though so keep that in mind.

In case you missed it G would ride with anyone on the Badger (pink four wheeler). He also liked riding the waverunner but was not super interested in just swimming.  We were brave and let A swim without a life jacket if an adult was near.  She did quite well after her swim lessons during granma camp. 

I guess we will see what else this fall holds. 

Creative Thinking

Yesterday afternoon the kids played in a nearby creek. After getting them home Chris decided they needed a bath as they were already wet and muddy. After they got out they were charged with getting dressed and told, "any bare bottoms I see I'm going to spank."

Mr G decided he wanted to go around in his birthday suit a while. He essentially made it into a game. While the bath was going I started making pizza, so G was more watching me on their stool as I was finishing. He would perch on the top step and any time Chris came around the corner he would sit down. He wouldn't so much as sit, as plop on his bottom because he would be reminded that he needed at least something covering his bottom.  He would then sit in wait, dangling his legs until Chris left the room. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Eventually G did go get clothes. He is actually going quite well in the potty training front.  He really likes standing up.  Somehow this though he managed to slip while standing and got a traditional toddler chin cut from the toilet, not the traditional coffee table or anything but the toilet.  Though yesterday was his last easy accident for us. We had a deal going that would cut up pacifiers if he did his bm in his pants. Well, our last one is now gone. See above for his creative thinking ability so we have some new challenge ahead of us to get him to go on the toilet. Ideas?

Last Night of Freedom

Tomorrow we officially start school.  Well A does but that means we all have to work to get her out the door and to school then home from school.  She is kind of nervous but is trying to be excited.  She's gone really quiet the past couple of hours.

Last week she went to grandma camp and had a blast.  They did swim lessons and all sorts of camp/grandma things. Everyone had fun and I don't have any good pictures to share yet.

G went to daddy camp and worked very hard on potty training. (We told him to go to grandma camp he has to be potty trained.) He also thoroughly enjoyed having mommy and daddy to himself. 

Today I spent a fair bit of time baking because I have a busy week ahead of me.  I made quiche while the kids were playing across the street.  Once the kids across the street had to go to church A and G came inside.  They wanted to know what was in the oven. According to A "Mommy everything you make that comes out of the oven is yummy." G seconded her and started watch on the oven.

He then sat like this for a long while and let everyone trip over him.  He was super upset when they came out and he didn't get to have one since they are for breakfast over the course of the week. 

I tried a crust-less quiche and wasn't super impressed by it so won't be doing that again. I had enough egg to try one of the muffin cups as a crust-less quiche and just wasn't that impressed to be honest. 

We are off on a new adventure now though.  Everyone says that time so far has gone by quickly but that after schooling starts it really speeds up.  We will see!

Car Exhaust

Yesterday Chris took the car to get an inspection to finally get a new tag. It didn't pass because there was an exhaust leak. We've know about the leak for a while but thought we'd see if it would pass inspection. Chris was able to fix the leak today with some help. As we were eating supper, he says, "Well honey, your car isn't going to sound so cool. It might be quiet now." A pipes up, "Except when kids are in the car. We will be loud and obnoxious and make lots of noise." And thus we guess we'll keep her for entertainment value if nothing else.

Saturday to Play

The past few weeks we've been quite busy! For the fourth of July Chris and the kids went to OK for a lake trip! It was a lot of fun for them and I joined them Thursday that week.  The weekend brought a wedding for Chris's cousin that the kids were in.  We had a slight hicc-up when they were asked to carry a sign (we had prepped them for being a ring bearer so carrying a pillow and a flower girl) instead of what they were prepped to carry.  They did very well though and were definitely the "cute" factor of the wedding.  Then last weekend we went to Chicago to visit friends and so that I could run a half marathon. Whew.  We are kind of glad July is over as it has been a very busy month.

Here are appropriate pictures. I'll leave you to guess which was what event.

FPC Lenoir Is No More

Last weekend we made a quick trip to NC for the FPC Lenoir exit vote from the PCUSA.  We stopped in Nashville on our way down, spent two nights back in NC then drove home Monday.  It was a whirlwind trip and a lot of fun.  We got to see our old friends and the kids especially got to see their best friends from our time there.  We went swimming Saturday after we got into Lenoir so I saw several people from my old work.  It seems like nothing is changing there for now.

Anyway, on our way down we stopped in Metropolis and there were fun cutout things at the gas station.  We were going to try and see Superman, but didn't want to waste anymore time.  We had wasted some time trying to get out of STL and managed a great close-up view of the arch. 

Here is one of the kids after playing at the pool all afternoon. A has become quite the helping big sister. She quite bossy as well, so hopefully that will tone down some. We aren't holding our breath on that though.  At least we know she'll be the one leading people off the cliff, not following people off the cliff.  :) At least we can hope.

Sunday morning everyone was quite surprised to see us (not sure why as we knew there was a vote happening that night). The kids played with their friends and did some running around through the area. 

The vote though was quite amazing.  Before the vote there were a couple of people who got up to speak, both "for" staying and "against" staying with PCUSA.  As had been the case throughout the past couple of years, the "for" people were very hardlined and non-negotiating.  They wanted the "against" people to be grace-ful if they lost. Then the vote came back, EXACTLY what was needed. As in, if one vote hadn't been cast, or one vote for the "against" staying went the other direction, the vote would have failed. The people who had talked to everyone about how we needed to be grace-ful immediately walked out of the proceedings.  We then had a couple of other corporation things to take care of before we could truly disband for the night.  It was nice to get some closure on our time in NC.  It is nice knowing that, yes, our vote does count. It was interesting to see the exactness of the vote, but as several people said, "God knew what we needed and gave us exactly that."

Welcome Summer Solstice

The kids' chief complaint right now is, "Its Hot !" If only they knew...

However, it is unseasonably warm apparently so it may not all be in their imagination.