A Very Merry Unbirthday To Grant!

When is it socially acceptable to have kids as old as eighteen hurling balls at my ten year old daughter?

When she is playing dodgeball at House of Boom. 

We tried to celebrate grant's UNbirthday Tuesday. We planned to take his friend to Kentucky kingdom for an UNbirthday party. Severe weather changed our plans.   Instead we ended up at an indoor trampoline place....again. 

By the time we left we had accumulated a few more friends to join the UNparty. 

Eight kids ended up back at the house to eat pizza and play games on a rainy cold summer day. Grant said at bedtime that it was the best day of the summer so far. I think that makes it a pretty good day. 

My house looks like we hosted a preschool frat party last night, but that's okay.  If you measure the fun by the mess, they had a great time. 

Rumor has it there was a little bit of weed being shared at the party too. See the guilty parties?  

The cat have a new addiction. 

To grass. 

Happy Wednesday!

Driving Lessons

Grace

Patiently waiting for the lifeguard to blow the whistle. 

Grant taking a break to check on me. 

They really want me to swim with them. I really don't want to. That's the trade-off of having an older, wiser mom. 

I used to always get in the pool when john and Emily were younger. 

Now I prefer viewing the action from the comfort of a warm, dry deck chair. 

Oh, I'd jump in to save a life. And maybe for money, if someone offered me large sums of money to jump in. 

I can't think of many more things that would motivate me to jump in and join the fun. 

Yes. That probably makes me old. 

There is no shame in that. 

Speaking of old......

I loaded up the kids for a rules of the road lesson.....,,Kentucky style.

Here, John takes a spin on the driving course while I coach from the back seat...white knuckled and grim faced. 

Then it was Emily's turn at the course. 

What's that?

You mean I have to let them practice in real cars on real roads?

I think I'll leave that to David.  I'm not sure I'm ready to have newly licensed drivers at the zoo.  Tin Lizzies at Kentucky Kingdom are close enough to the real thing for me.

Yes. They are counting down the days until their sixteenth birthday....the birthday that we will celebrate on the road again this year. They won't get their license until we get home in August. 

That was not intentionally planned. Promise. 

Fifth of July Celebration

For the first time in several years everyone in our house is enjoying corn on the cob. 

Even Remington. 

No one is missing front teeth, and everyone is out of braces. 

In preparation for some serious corn on the cob consumption, we planted ten rows of corn. That should be enough!

Hope you all enjoyed a great day yesterday celebrating the Fourth. We celebrated a day late, but it is never too late to celebrate the birthday of our country. 

The barn is progressing. Loft floors are in. Rafters are going up. 

Before leaving the farm we took a few minutes to partake in a summer tradition...blackberry picking!

All four kids were great help. Grant ate his weight in blackberries, but the other three helped pick enough for a blackberry cobbler. 

The berries were sweet and juicy. All of the rain made for a great crop. 

One cobbler sits ready to be enjoyed tonight. There are enough berries for a couple more cobblers too. Now if I can just find time to make them!  

Happy Sunday!

Wednesday Stuff

Squeak found himself locked up in jail. 

Not sure what the crime was or how long he has to serve. Given hamsters only live a couple years, I hope the judge went easy on him. 

John is studying at the Shupe Culinary School for College Kids. 

Today's lesson was chicken pot pie. 

He had a pretty tough audience to please, but he did very well based on how much was left. 

Grant licked the dish clean. 

Literally. 

We threw a science lesson into the mix this week too. David showed the kids how to make speakers with cups and a paper towel tube. 

They loved it. 

Poor grant got his new retainer today. According to Grant, cupcakes make sore teeth feel better. 

So we picked up a few. Maybe he will share. 

Or not.