Happy 43rd Anniversary Happy & Buddy!

We love you Happy & Buddy, we hope you had a wonderful "annibersary" today!

Love, Elizabeth, Amanda & Jack

5 Things I Learned on Day One as a VBS Volunteer

1. Containing 18 five-year olds for three hours is more difficult than deposing a neurosurgeon.
2. Teenagers are much more responsible, knowledgeable, and helpful than I remember.
3. Having 18 small children hold onto a rope and pretend to be a train is an effective way to get from point A to point B. But watch the corners; by the time you realize your engine took the corner too tightly, your Caboose is in trouble.
4. The kid you thought would be difficult will surprise you; he will be the only one to give his entire bag of skittles to his friend who really likes skittles.
5. Don’t take your eyes off the kid you thought would be difficult.

Boardwalk Zen

We miss you beach. We'll come soon because the edge of the boardwalk looks much better with all of our flip-flops and crocs scattered about. It must be very quiet with just Gaga there right now.

This is the exact spot on the boardwalk where you step up and the entire beach is visible. Also the exact moment when the sound of the waves explodes, the wind hits your face, and you have absolutely no choice but to chill out.

Also the exact spot where Gaga can be heard saying "ahhhh, where can ya beat it?" and Elizabeth can be heard responding "that's what I'm talkin'!" and sometimes JohnnyTyler can be heard saying "Oh yeahhhh!!!!!!!"

Driving through the Bohicket "tree tunnel" on the way to the beach evokes a similar state of relaxation. Even for fussy kids, the zen-like trance comes on suddenly as soon as we get to those oak trees.

The kids count down the checkpoints when we start to get close. It goes: big Pig; tree tunnel; little closed down Pig; strange new traffic circle; overpriced fancy-shmancy grocery store that is secretly the little Pig incognito; marsh; first gate; gators; second gate; "is that Gaga and Grandpa's house? Nooooooooooooo! Is that Gaga and Grandpa's house? Nooooooooo! THAT'S Gaga and Grandpa's house!"; boardwalk; beach.

We'll see you soon beach. Get ready for crazy Jack.

Happy Father's Day

"He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it."

~Clarence Budington Kellend

Jay (above, with Elizabeth)

George Jr. (above, with George, III; below, with George, III and Jay)

Bob (below, with Nikki)

Gary (right, with Nikki on her wedding day)

Leo (with BLONDE Gary)

Mike

George Sr.

Paul (with Bob, Ida, and Nikki)

John Owen

Adam

Joseph

Uncle Mike's House, Part Two

I tried to include these pictures in the first post, didn't work. So here are the rest of the "after" pictures. I should have included "before" pictures to really show how much work this was!

Today I'm One

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

I'm just a boy, on his first birthday, enjoying the great outdoors.

Yes, that is a screened in porch behind me, but the great outdoors nonetheless. Plus I'm sitting in my sister's chair and she doesn't even know it 'cause she's still sleeping. Seriously, look at this thing - missing slats, paint chipping away - you just know there are splinters. And check out the fishing pole... think this thing was made for kids 3 and under? I think not.

I'm pretty sure I heard something about cake too, whatever that is.

Yeah. I get the feeling that today is gonna be good. Very good.

Look What My Daddy Did!

He can build and fix stuff. This is my Uncle Mike's house. My Dad fixed it up after Uncle Mike moved to the big city (Atlanta).

Not That Kind of Woman

Elizabeth: "Mom, you know I can't climb. I'm not that kind of woman."

Mom (trying not to laugh): "Well what kind of woman are you?"

Elizabeth: "Grant and Blythe can climb. Mandy can climb. But not me."

Mom: "So what kind of woman are you?"

Elizabeth: "Oh, I'm a ground person. I can walk, skip and jump."

Safety Patrol

Both Elizabeth and Amanda take turns yelling "safety patrol!" when they find Jack doing something dangerous.

Dangerous can mean just about anything to the girls; the superhero rescue is used whenever, wherever they feel a rescue is warranted. But for the most part they do take it seriously. They are on high alert for chokables, open baby gates, and Jack's obsession with eating "floor snacks" that the girls accidentally drop (without fail) throughout the day.

The girls are really quite amazing with how quickly they come to Jack's aid, and while most of it is waaay too much drama for their mama, they have strong instincts to protect Jack that make my heart melt.

Today's top mission was halting Jack from trying to put his foot into a sequined ruby red dress-up shoe. Funny on so many levels; from "Jack, sequins are chokable" to "Jack! you eating this shoe! Maybe it have nasty dog doodoo germs!" to "Jack you're a boy, you can't play with these shoes."

Last night Elizabeth told us she knew all of the safety patrol rules, and when I asked her to give me the top 5 safety patrol rules she didn't skip a beat. Her list, her exact words:

1. Always wear a life jacket around open water.
2. Always wear a helmet when you're on wheels. Make sure it fits.
3. Don't go outside when there are a lot of strangers. (Huh?)
4. Don't go to someones house if you don't know who they are and who their parents are.
5. Don't go into the woods when there are bears.

What would Sawyer call you?

What would your nickname be? I'm a Lost fan, so I was a little curious when I found out there is an actual Sawyer Nickname Generator on the Lost website.

I'm not exactly sure what Sawyer was thinking, but 2 out of 3 times I was nicknamed Math Boy. Huh? The third I was Commander Mao. Whatever. I stopped only for fear that they would get worse if I kept trying.

Jay was Third Degree. Amanda was Metro. Elizabeth was Einstein. Jack was Frosty.

Now go get Sawyered.