On our annual camping trip with my Aunt Marty and Uncle Tom, I wanted to take the girls out canoeing on one of the lakes at Warbler's Cove Campground. We pack up the golf cart with towels and life jackets and headed down to the lake. I didn't even forget the ores.
This was exciting, I hadn't taken the girls all together in one canoe before. I proceed to flip the canoe over. To my surprise, a big fat garter snake is slithering around at the bottom of the canoe trying to get out. My first reaction is to grab it by its tail and get it out of the canoe, but as I'm approaching the snake I make the mistake of saying, "Oh, there's a a garter snake in the canoe." Then the one and only Child #2 starts an ear piercing scream that startles me and the snake. The snake slithers into the boxed in area at the back of the canoe. I couldn't get it out. It didn't matter anyway Child #2 refused to even get within 20 feet of the canoe. At least Child #1 and #3 were calm and reasonable through the whole ordeal.
Well my next option was the paddle boats, but the boat was kind of dirty and I didn't want to spend time cleaning it out. The third option was a row boat. Now this is something I've never experienced. Yes, I've never rowed a boat before. I've canoed and kayaked, but not rowed a boat.
I love trying something new. After the snake incident, Child# 2 didn't have all that much confidence in me. It took me a few minutes to get the hang of it, but I managed to get us around the lake without any other disasters. Child #1 and #3 tried out rowing for a few minutes each. Child #2 refused. At least the boat didn't sink. We had a great afternoon rowing all over the lake.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Captain Saves the Day!
Planning, starting and finishing a road trip is an exhausting adventure, though extremely fulfilling and exciting all in one. Our big 2012 road trip this year was kicked off with driving down South of Chicago to take my Grandma out to lunch.
It had only been the third day of over 100 degrees. Not exactly great conditions, but it was a great break in our annual drive to Michigan. Plus my grandma was able to see her great-grand daughters before we left for a few weeks.
Lunch took a little longer than expected so I was a little off schedule, but not by much. No big deal. As I'm getting my grandma's walker out of the truck, the girls jumped out, I dropped my keys, and then slammed the door. Funny the door didn't close all the way so I tried opening it again to re-close it.
Yup. You guessed it. The door did not open for me. At the time I thought I'd dropped my keys on the ground and Child #2 had picked them up. I put the walker down for my grandma and the girls already started walking her into her building. I yell for Child #2 to give me the keys, but she doesn't have them. I look into the back door and there they are inside the truck.
All I can do is laugh otherwise I might cry. I walk into the building and ask the security guard if he knows anyone who could open my door for me. His response is to call a locksmith, but that will cost a lot of money. His next suggestion is to call Captain Dubish (now as he says the name, the light bulb hits peak brightness, my Uncle is the Police Chief for the city that my grandma lives in). I smack my forehead and hustle grandma up to her room to call my Uncle Phil.
Uncle Phil makes it over to my truck within five minutes and has the truck unlocked within fifteen minutes. He doesn't unlock cars very often anymore so he said it took longer than his officers do. I was so thankful he saved the day.
Phew. I was sweatin' bullets for awhile there, but we made it to our destination in Michigan before dark. We still made pretty good time. And Child #2 didn't even complain once on the ride (it was a miracle).
It had only been the third day of over 100 degrees. Not exactly great conditions, but it was a great break in our annual drive to Michigan. Plus my grandma was able to see her great-grand daughters before we left for a few weeks.
Lunch took a little longer than expected so I was a little off schedule, but not by much. No big deal. As I'm getting my grandma's walker out of the truck, the girls jumped out, I dropped my keys, and then slammed the door. Funny the door didn't close all the way so I tried opening it again to re-close it.
Yup. You guessed it. The door did not open for me. At the time I thought I'd dropped my keys on the ground and Child #2 had picked them up. I put the walker down for my grandma and the girls already started walking her into her building. I yell for Child #2 to give me the keys, but she doesn't have them. I look into the back door and there they are inside the truck.
All I can do is laugh otherwise I might cry. I walk into the building and ask the security guard if he knows anyone who could open my door for me. His response is to call a locksmith, but that will cost a lot of money. His next suggestion is to call Captain Dubish (now as he says the name, the light bulb hits peak brightness, my Uncle is the Police Chief for the city that my grandma lives in). I smack my forehead and hustle grandma up to her room to call my Uncle Phil.
Uncle Phil makes it over to my truck within five minutes and has the truck unlocked within fifteen minutes. He doesn't unlock cars very often anymore so he said it took longer than his officers do. I was so thankful he saved the day.
Phew. I was sweatin' bullets for awhile there, but we made it to our destination in Michigan before dark. We still made pretty good time. And Child #2 didn't even complain once on the ride (it was a miracle).
Sunday, June 24, 2012
10 Year Old Honey-Do-List
Front window replaced. Check.
I can't fault my lovely husband for the whole ten years. It did take me the last 3 months to actually decide on the window itself. He got so fed up with me changing my mind, I had to go to the store to order it all by myself.
Before:
During:
After instillation, before trim:
After:
It's funny when you can get so excited about something as simple as opening up a window. I am so ecstatic with my new window I had to share. I can actually open up the front window. The only down fall is I have to now make a huge decision about the color of the trim on the outside. You may notice the green trim color in the before picture. Changing trim color is not as simple as I want it to be. I will now have to change all the other trim around the windows, doors and roof. I don't know what I would do if I had to actually make quick decisions while building a house. It takes me forever to decide because I know I will have to live with it for 10 or more years. Now my irises might take ten years to rebound, but at least I can feel the nice lake breeze through the house.
Enjoy the summer!
I can't fault my lovely husband for the whole ten years. It did take me the last 3 months to actually decide on the window itself. He got so fed up with me changing my mind, I had to go to the store to order it all by myself.
Before:
During:
After instillation, before trim:
After:
It's funny when you can get so excited about something as simple as opening up a window. I am so ecstatic with my new window I had to share. I can actually open up the front window. The only down fall is I have to now make a huge decision about the color of the trim on the outside. You may notice the green trim color in the before picture. Changing trim color is not as simple as I want it to be. I will now have to change all the other trim around the windows, doors and roof. I don't know what I would do if I had to actually make quick decisions while building a house. It takes me forever to decide because I know I will have to live with it for 10 or more years. Now my irises might take ten years to rebound, but at least I can feel the nice lake breeze through the house.
Enjoy the summer!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Explaining the Crunch
Wife asks while on the phone with her husband, "Do you want the good news or bad news first?"
Husband replies, "Bad news first."
Wife sighs, "Really! I was hoping for the good news. Well, I pulled a Jimmy."
Husband asks, "What's that?"
Wife responds, "You know, several years ago when your dad came over to watch the kids and we were late for our appointment for closing on a duplex at the title company."
Husband hesitantly says, "Yeeaahh."
Wife continues, "And we got into your truck, you revved the engine and stepped on the gas while in reverse. Only to end up slamming into your dad's truck behind us."
Silence
Wife expands, "Well I did that to your truck today. It's not bad. The hitch on my truck dented your bumper and my bumper is a little pushed in. No big deal. You wanted to buy a new truck anyway."
Husband confused, "I left my truck on the opposite side of the driveway than yours. How is it possible you backed up into my truck?"
Wife cheerfully replies, "Well honey, I moved your truck behind my truck for the birthday party so the kids wouldn't play in between the vehicles and forgot it was there."
Silence.
Wife continues, "The good news is my brother got a new job and is moving to Bozeman, Montana. He is very excited. I am happy for him. We'll have another excuse to go out west again."
Silence.
Husband replies, "Bad news first."
Wife sighs, "Really! I was hoping for the good news. Well, I pulled a Jimmy."
Husband asks, "What's that?"
Wife responds, "You know, several years ago when your dad came over to watch the kids and we were late for our appointment for closing on a duplex at the title company."
Husband hesitantly says, "Yeeaahh."
Wife continues, "And we got into your truck, you revved the engine and stepped on the gas while in reverse. Only to end up slamming into your dad's truck behind us."
Silence
Wife expands, "Well I did that to your truck today. It's not bad. The hitch on my truck dented your bumper and my bumper is a little pushed in. No big deal. You wanted to buy a new truck anyway."
Husband confused, "I left my truck on the opposite side of the driveway than yours. How is it possible you backed up into my truck?"
Wife cheerfully replies, "Well honey, I moved your truck behind my truck for the birthday party so the kids wouldn't play in between the vehicles and forgot it was there."
Silence.
Wife continues, "The good news is my brother got a new job and is moving to Bozeman, Montana. He is very excited. I am happy for him. We'll have another excuse to go out west again."
Silence.
Crunch Time
Ever since we've been back from Disney, I've been disorganized. With the end of the school year, multiple field trips, the end of soccer season and everything else that goes with daily life, I've been way too busy. Maybe even a little distracted.
Of course, I have to go one step further and make it even more complicated. I throw a six year old birthday party on the last day of school. To top that off, the hubby is out of town for the week. Why you may ask? Well I have several reasons. On the girls last day of school, the school district was kind enough to give us a half day. So I thought what a great way to have some of the kids come home on the bus with Child #3. That way some of the parents that work full time don't have to worry about finding places for their kids to go. Then I thought it would be better than trying to reach all the kids during the summer, you know with vacations and activities. The only problem was I forgot about sending out the invitations. It boiled down to me calling several parents the week before and praying a few kids would show up.
It ended up turning out very well. I had a total of fourteen children including my three to watch at the beach swimming. Granted, my ever so gracious sister-in-law always helps me out so at least I had her. She is always awesome with helping at parties so thanks sis.
Anyway, the party was a success. All the kids were picked up by 5:30pm. Child #3 was ecstatic and grateful. But I couldn't breath yet, I still had to feed my children dinner. And I still had a appointment for our rental house to show at 6:15pm. I figure I'll jump in the truck and take the kids to Subway and bring the sandwiches back to eat at home so I can be there for the appointment (rental house is next door to our house). No problem. Kids are in the car, I have my purse, the car is started. I back up.
Crunch!
The girls asked, "What'd you hit mom, the scooters?" At this point, I have no idea. So I jump out of the truck and take a look.
Yep. I backed into my husband's truck. I didn't even see the truck in my review mirror. Distraction might be an understatement at this point. I had moved the truck behind mine so the kids wouldn't play in between the vehicles. Oh well. My husband needs a new truck anyway. This might be a little incentive for him to get on that.
Of course, I have to go one step further and make it even more complicated. I throw a six year old birthday party on the last day of school. To top that off, the hubby is out of town for the week. Why you may ask? Well I have several reasons. On the girls last day of school, the school district was kind enough to give us a half day. So I thought what a great way to have some of the kids come home on the bus with Child #3. That way some of the parents that work full time don't have to worry about finding places for their kids to go. Then I thought it would be better than trying to reach all the kids during the summer, you know with vacations and activities. The only problem was I forgot about sending out the invitations. It boiled down to me calling several parents the week before and praying a few kids would show up.
It ended up turning out very well. I had a total of fourteen children including my three to watch at the beach swimming. Granted, my ever so gracious sister-in-law always helps me out so at least I had her. She is always awesome with helping at parties so thanks sis.
Anyway, the party was a success. All the kids were picked up by 5:30pm. Child #3 was ecstatic and grateful. But I couldn't breath yet, I still had to feed my children dinner. And I still had a appointment for our rental house to show at 6:15pm. I figure I'll jump in the truck and take the kids to Subway and bring the sandwiches back to eat at home so I can be there for the appointment (rental house is next door to our house). No problem. Kids are in the car, I have my purse, the car is started. I back up.
Crunch!
The girls asked, "What'd you hit mom, the scooters?" At this point, I have no idea. So I jump out of the truck and take a look.
Yep. I backed into my husband's truck. I didn't even see the truck in my review mirror. Distraction might be an understatement at this point. I had moved the truck behind mine so the kids wouldn't play in between the vehicles. Oh well. My husband needs a new truck anyway. This might be a little incentive for him to get on that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)