Memorial Day Weekend

We did it! We choked down our fears, dragged boxes out of the attic, packed the car to the maximum and hit the road for the great outdoors. That's right! We went camping!!

Duke & I always enjoyed camping -- even the time we were playing cards in the tent during a tornado warning up at Lake Texoma. It's fun. It's adventurous. It's cheap. It's dirty. What's not to love, right? Well, we've been talking about taking the kids, but there are all those 'buts'. You know what I'm talking about:

"...but how are we going to get it all in the car?"

"...but what are the sleeping arrangements for the kids?"

"...but what about naps - you know Lila can't make it without a nap?!"

"...but what do we do when the kids have to go to the bathroom?"

"...but it's soooo dirty!"

"...but all those bugs!"

"...but...but...but...."

The boys stoked the fire...

...while the girls did the dishes.

Afternoon naps weren't a problem.

And when 'nature called', we called on nature.

The kids built a beautiful mosquito pond right next to their tent. Because, you know, even though we've had a really soggy spring, and we got a nice rain shower every afternoon on the trip, you can just never have enough mosquitoes.

I have to admit, I was doubtful about the canoe.

Jake wasn't thrilled with Uncle Jack's ski boat last summer, and Delila just plain hates the water. I was just sure my kids would scream and kick up a cap-sizing fuss about sitting in a canoe.

I'm happy to say I was wrong. As you can see, our little paddlers liked the canoe just fine.

We got our fishing gear in order...

...and put on our lucky fishing hats.

We found a perch...

...and caught a carp -- at least that's what I think it was. Whatever it was, we stuffed it with limes, onion & rosemary because that's what we had on hand. The seasonings were nice, but the texture of the fish left something to be desired. But who cares?! We (Duke) actually caught a fish on Lake Texoma!! And I said it couldn't be done. (And he didn't even make me eat crow for dinner - but that smile looks a little smug, doesn't it.)

Really, I think we were just chicken. We needed a little push to get us off our 'buts'. Well, thanks to our friends, the Sporers (who will soon make us very sad by returning to Germany), we did get off our 'buts'. Sure, we looked like the Clampets driving up the road, but we did it! And it was so much fun.

Mother's Day Fun

Today is Mother's Day. The plan was that I would sleep in while Dad & Kids prepared breakfast-in-bed. Pretty standard stuff. But, as is always the case (at least in this mother's life), nothing ever goes as planned. Instead, we woke up early to the sounds of cats yacking. Nice, I know. Then 'Lila pitched her standard fit, and well, it was just kind of one thing after another. So, we opted to head out to the Original Pancake House for breakfast instead. After a yummy breakfast, we were going to hit Home Depot to pick up my Mother's gift, but made a detour to Walmart -- quite possibly my least favorite place in the whole wide world. In spite of that, we managed to fritter away a couple of hours there and came home with some fun stuff:

These things cost $2.99 and were well worth the price. Tons of Bubbles = Tons of Fun!

Jake was the only one in the family to give me something to last a lifetime -- like a head full of grey hair!! But I have to say, it was a very nice Mother's Day...grey hairs and all.

Jake Learns to Ride a Bike

Tuesday, May 5. Anyone who knows us probably assumed we were out celebrating Cinco de Mayo. But we were celebrating something just a little different. Jake on two wheels now!

About a week ago, Jake's buddies, Christopher & Michael showed up crusin' around w/out the training wheels, so he just HAD to have his off. We tried the one-wheel thing, which didn't work out as well as we thought it would. We ended up borrowing Christopher's 'little bike' -- since Jake's is just tall enough that he couldn't get his toes on the ground while on the seat. It did the trick. Within an hour, he was 2-wheelin' around all by himself. Later in the evening, he was jumping off ramps w/the big kids. Sorry, I don't have that terrifying footage to share with you. But here's his progression in the last 48 hours. I'm thrilled, because it looks like I don't have to haul Lila in the Chariot anymore!