Nearly Wordless Wednesday - Summer Camp!

Both Iraq and The Skink started summer camp on Monday!

 

And, although Broadway (a.k.a. G.I. Jew) did great in JROTC, we recently found out he has to make up half a credit in English. So... THIS will be his summer camp for the month of July:

And... proof that not all the pictures of the girls come out perfectly...

Oh NO! Is a ZOMBIE!! RUN!!

And... Iraq insisted I take a picture of the $5 shoes I found on clearance at WalMart... ummm... ok...

And then I became a little too fascinated with the architecture of Broadway's school. People may have thought I was just a smidge nutty. I had to lie down to get this shot - LOL! I'm OK, ma'am. Just walk around.

And then I played with the photos. When you turn this one upside down, it looks like a super-fancy version of Willy Wonka's flying glass elevator. Whheeeeee!

Needless to say, Iraq will NOT require summer school:

And lastly...

It's actually WAYYY down from the 180 over 115 reading we got at my doctor's office yesterday. My doctor has informed me I may have just a little too much stress in my life. She ordered me to take a hand-full of colorful pills 3 times a day, take an hour or two for myself each day with no kids, and go on a vacation... perhaps a 10-day cruise.

AAaaaaahaahaahaahaahaahaahaahaahaahaaaaaaa!

Like that's ever gonna happen!

(These are just the ones I happened to have on my desk. I didn't bother to go upstairs to get the other bucket o' drugs!)

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And It Was Good!

Since the hubby had to work all weekend, I figured I would take the kids down to my folk's lake house and let them play and swim. It's amazing what a great baby-sitter water is! The day started out beautifully and Iraq much enjoyed the flying holy noodles of Antioch!

Hover noodle... hovering!

Flower fly-by!

And the spirits that dwell within the forbidden game system clenched the unfortunate teen creature within their steely grasp. The teen struggled against their great power, but they had him fully suspended, like a boat on a lift. The poor boat can see the water... can almost taste it. The water just below its belly teases it, begging it to come play... but it is a slave to its captor... much like a teen with a video game...

And suddenly, as if jealous of the struggles and merriment just out of its reach, the house spirits spewed forth their anger at our insolence...

And sent us scurrying back into the safety within it's walls...

Where books were waiting...

And Sponge Bob and Pop...

And the teen creature came in to rest upon the Chair of Power.

And The Skink proclaimed that it was time for her to bring forth Pancakes from the magic dust...

And so, she waved the sacred spoon...

And spoke the magic words...

And she studied her creation and saw that it was good!

And she said, "Eat this. This is a PANCAKE!"
And after her creation had been admired (and consumed) by all, she caused her clothes to disappear and a cacophony of joy emanated forth from her...

And emanated...    and emanated...                and emanated...                                           and emanated...

and emanated...
Much to the joy of her loyal subjects...

who eventually wandered off to play Old Maid,

and watch Sponge Bob,

and work on a 53 billion piece puzzle.

And it was good...

Until we had to drive an hour back to our own dwelling, across a mountain pass and through a torrential rain storm... behind a moron...

And when I got everyone in the house and the little ones were finally snug in their beds, my dear husband asked me how our day was, and I spoke the truth when I said...

"It was good!"

And it was!
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Fun Filled Family Friday

I read the most wonderful blog this morning about a mom who took her daughter to the beach and had a glorious time! It was beautifully written, beautifully illustrated and it inspired me to gather my flock and take them on my own adventure. I haven't been grocery shopping in a while, so we stopped at KFC to make sure we had the makings of a delightful picnic.

With the car smelling of  hot chicken and fries, we wound though the mountain roads of the Blue Ridge Turnpike to find the perfect picnic spot. As we rounded a curve, we came to a construction area where we had to stop and wait behind a line of cars for about half an hour. What a FUN way to start our magical adventure! "Moooooom... how much loooooongeeeeeeerrrrrrrr?" "Why aren't we gooooooooinnnnnngg?"

With the car smelling of slightly colder chicken, fries and diesel fumes, we stopped at the first "scenic overlook" we came to and, starving, jumped out of the car and set up our picnic. We had to wonder why it was called a scenic overlook... it was a field surrounded by trees and we couldn't even see the mountains from it, but it seemed a nice place to set up before we all keeled over from starvation.

We put out our colorful blanket and within about 2 minutes Iraq succeeded in spilling her drink on it. The Skink ran off in one direction and Brandy started drooling on Broadway's arm at the smell of all the food. I stuffed a few pieces of chicken into my mouth and ran off after the Skink after Broadway warned me she might get chigger bites sitting in the long grass. The moment I got The Skink back to the blanket, she ran off again. In the mean time, Broadway and Iraq had a bet going with me as to whether the animals in the adjoining field were horses, or as I thought, mules - so they headed off hoping to prove me wrong as I went running after The Skink.

Brandy was left guarding all the food by her little lonesome... instead of eating it as I was afraid she might, she decided to head off after Iraq and Broadway. What a GREAT dog!!

Yup... mules! Really sweet ones, too :o)

Smart dog - she found some shade!

Yummy strawberry-leopard... My favorite!

Run, Medusa! RUN! The mules want to eat your snakes!
(I did try to brush her hair this morning, but she was not interested!)

So, with the sun beating down on us and the coarse grass tickling our legs, we packed up the food and the blanket, retreated back to the air-conditioned van and drove back down the mountain.

So... it was nowhere near as romantic and magical as that blog I read this morning... but we DID have fun... in a scratchy, sweaty, chigger-bitten sort of way. And if you want to read a romantic, magical blog, you are seriously misled if you think you're going to find it here, so click here instead --- > Enjoying the Small Things

Enjoy!

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Asleep On Her Feet, Part III and IV

It's one thing to fall asleep on your feet after a long day of fun in the sun...

Or when you just don't know when to stop playing with that little girl in the mirror...

But falling asleep on your feet on your way INTO bed???

Yes - this is how I found her just minutes before posting this blackmail shot on my blog
: P

UPDATE: After taking this picture, I put The Skink all the way in her bed. Apparently I roused her just a little, because when I went back up to check on her, I found her like this:

Please note, she took the time to bring both her favorite cows with her (you can just barely make out the brown & white cow under her right shoulder) AND she took some of the wash clothes out of the hallway dresser... maybe to pad the floor if she fell??? I don't know, but this sleep-standing seems to be becoming a habit! Is she trying to sleep like a cow??

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