My Archives: July 2003
Sunday, July 13, 2003
I have been made aware of how VERY neglected this journal has been feeling lately so I thought I better get in here and make a post tonight since I most likely won't get to do so again until this next weekend as I will not have any internet connection until then.
Okay a catch you all up:
Dh came home as evidenced by my last entry which told you that he was coming home, and indeed he did. So we are going to blame the long lapse in time between now and then on HIM. That's always fun.
Okay so let's see.
July 3rd we went to the Bay Bear Stadium and watch the game and the 4th of July fireworks (a day early as the stadium is closed on the 4th). The game was great--we won 8-1. We ate cotton candy, popcorn, peanuts, and had rediculously priced sodas. We took two of B's friends and we all had an absolute BALL. (pun intended!) The game was great--the Bears had a couple of clean home runs and the music and atmosphere was outstanding. Then the fireworks were AMAZING. We have seen fireworks all over the country, even standing on top of our building on Governor's Island watching them on the 4th being set off in front of the Brooklyn Bridge--the big ones--so we've SEEN fireworks...but these actually rivaled any we have ever seen! They were so incredible, and they played the patriotic music, and they honored the military and had each service stand up...it was really neat...even neater yet was they had these "3d" glasses that you could buy and you watched the fireworks with them--now they weren't the traditional ones you see with the red on one side and blue on the other, but more of a "prism" glass type effect, but I have never seen anything SO cool as to watch the fireworks with these things on!!! It was REALLY cool!!!!
Our 4th of July was spent going to friend's house for desserts and fireworks which were so much fun...we stayed late and had so much fun! Dh had duty that weekend but we didn't let it stop us from having a ball!
Then on Monday we had some of our homeschool friends come over for the afternoon to play which was a great day of fun and friends. Tuesday dh kept the kids and I went to a homeschool meeting about 30 miles from our house...well, let me tell you, I was really challenged and tested that day and it was only by the Lord's unending grace that I made it to that meeting--it didn't take me long to figure out WHY I had been tested so much about it, because the meeting was one of the best and mose intense blessings I had recieved via the homeschooling community since I had moved to the area! It was wonderful!!! The speaker was so inspirational and there were about 40 other women of all ages and backgrounds there and they were all homeschool Moms. They were so neat and they gave me information on how to join their group so I am definately planning to do that! There were so many women who hugged me and asked for my information so they could contact me and things, it was just so nice to meet people like that, as there are not really alot of people like that around my area. At any rate I came home from the meeting fully blessed and thankful to God and my dear friend who invited me =o)
Then the kids had their gymnastics observation--talk about incredible!!! I had no idea how far they had come and how much they had LEARNED!
B--he is up to level 3 on the trampoline (the levels are the difficulty of the different moves in his routines)--and he can do some REALLY cool stuff! He does the most amazingly perfect cartwheel you have EVER seen, same for his round offs, and he can do a variety of jumps and whatnot on the mini tramp springboard and the uneven bars. All I can say is I am excited for him because he is really quite talented and so agile at this stuff!! (although we didn't get to see him, he also does handstands, all of the things outlined below on the balance beam for R--except they make it harder by making them stand on their tippy toes, etc)
R--what can I say?? She didn't even want to CONSIDER doing this until after she saw B's first class lol and now she LOVES it. She is learning cartwheels on the floor now and actually is already better at them than I ever was! She also does several varieties of flips and holds on the uneven bars, does level 1 on the trampoline, and is absolutely FLAWLESS on the balance beam. They do several different things on the beam...they walk forward like normal, then they do "ice cream scoops"--which is where they take the side of their foot and rub it along side the beam as they go forward which causes them to bend the knee they have their weight on--it is also VERY graceful looking--they do both of these on the low bar and the HIGH beam (which is appx 4 foot high)--she also does the "kick step" where the foot she lifts up is kicked forward, AND she does both the low and high beam BACKWARDS. Whew! She is also learning to do handstands. I'm just amazed and one of the things I really go "WOW!" over is how incredible she is at doing the stretches and stuff like the bridge and stuff.
I promise pictures of all of this when we get back online!! PROMISE!
So where are we NOW?? Well, we are on VACATION!!!!!!!!!!! We traveled to GA for an overnight stay with my Mom and then we were off to TN where we have been since Friday. We have been staying with dh's Mom and Step-Dad and let me tell you we have been having the most wonderful amazing time EVER! We had not gotten to see them in so long and it has been such a blessing to spend so much time with them this trip! Some outlines:
--we stayed until Sunday at their houseboat on the lake which is actually located on top of these mountains. I can hardly describe to you how absolutely beautiful and breathtaking this was. I also can't tell you how unsatisfactory saying it is a "houseboat" really is, because this wasn't like what anyone EVER thinks of as a "houseboat"--this was a house. That happens to float and can be propelled by engines. It has three bedrooms, a full kitchen, washer dryer, two bathrooms, one with a shower and one with a full sized bath...two huge decks downstairs, and the whole top is a deck with ceiling fans and whatnot...the living room has a tv/stereo/dvd etc built into these cabinets, and the whole place is just about the neatest thing I have ever seen which has made me reconsider dh's proposal that when he retires we buy a "houseboat" and live on a lake somewhere. The key here is I want a house...that floats...not a "houseboat" lol
--within 1 hour of getting there R had caught a 2 foot long carp on her tweety bird fishing pole. I am not kidding. This sucker weighed about 13ish pounds and was kicking all the way in. We didn't dare try to pull this fellow up on the line so we netted him and brought him up that way.
--over the next 36 hours R caught at least one more big ole carp and had one fish that actually broke her line. In between the "big" fish...every single time that chick threw in her line I am SO not exaggerating she caught a bluegill. I mean to tell you it was ONE after ANOTHER. At one point we begged her to stop fishing for a while so we could have a break from taking fish off the hook. She DEFINATELY has her Daddy's blood. Whew. I've never seen anything like it.
--B was a little frustrated at the fact that his sister appeared to be outfishing him...this did NOT improve his patience toward the fish very much which actually worked against him a great deal. He set out to catch a "big" one. He didn't want any baby bluegill...nope...his proverbial line had been crossed, the gauntlet laid squared at his feet and some male energy swelled up in him that I really believe he would have dove in the lake and grabbed a carp with his bare hands if he had to in order to show HE could get one too. It took him a full day--but he did it. Not only did he catch one but he also caught TWO. Yes he did! After he caught the second one, he put up his pole, changed his clothes, and was done fishing lol He said he had done all he needed to do. lol
--when R caught the first carp our camera was still in the car. Well, of course since this was her first time fishing (yup!) and she caught this monsterous fish we wanted to take a picture. Dh decided we could put the fish on the stringer and then run get the camera. That was a really good idea until Dh dropped the fish while trying to put him on the stringer. That fish will forever be known as "the one that got away".
--when B caught his first huge fish I was like OH YEAH BABY I am GOING to get a picture of this one!! I got a couple of shots of him working to reel it in and what not then turned off the camera to wait until they got it pulled in so I could get a pic of him with the fish. He got the fish and I am turning on the camera to take the picture and as fate would have it they battery was totally dead. I couldn't even get it to turn on. I was somewhat frantic and then dh suggests that I take the battery completely out of the camera and then put it back in and perhaps I could fool the camera into taking one more picture. Okay...well, not only did I WIN by fooling it into ONE picture, I fooled it into taking TWO!! One of B with the fish and then one with B & R with the fish since she didn't get one with HER fish.
--dh forgot to bring the battery charger for the camera's battery. Mass chaos ensued.
Well, it's after midnight now...so I am going to close this for now--I will write more tomorrow before we leave I hope...here's some tidbits to keep you salivating.
Next time in the never ending saga of what could resemble the Griswald's:
--C's very own special fishing method
--flourescent green worms
--who forgot sunscreen??
--jet ski adventures...tubing...playing the let's see how fast we can go before dh flies off the tube game...
--fish feeding frenzy...
--the long road to the car...
--scratch marks on the dock...
--the house nascar fans dream of...
--visiting Nonnie & Buddy
--Walmart--of COURSE we went to Walmart!!
--how many kids are here and the big question is do we have enough popcicles?
--the kids ARE playing...not the 9 little kids...the BIG kids that is...
--cousins can be brutal when playing vollyball in the backyard
--some things NEVER change no matter how old you get
--is this a swimming pool, hot tub, or a bathtub?
--chocolate milk and strawberry milk
--watching Spirit and cuddles galore
Stay tuned for the next exciting episode! hehe I pray for you all to be so blessed!!
~A
Posted by Angelbaby @ 11:28 PM CST [Link]
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