Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Last Minute Vacation


Bubba's favorite ride that he went on I think 5 times.


Peanut's favorite-the "spinny" ride. There were three buckets on each arm and then the bucket spun and the arms spun around as well. I couldn't even watch because it made me dizzy.


Captain Peanut driving the boat.

So Thurs. night we made the decision to go on a mini vacation. I've been kind of feeling yucky about the fact that we haven't gone anywhere this summer as a family. There's an amusement park about 7 hrs. away from our house, so we opted to go for the weekend. We left Sat. morning and got there in time for dinner. We met my sister and her husband since they only live about 45 min. from there. Then we went to a really cool playground by the lake up there and walked around the lake.

Right after the border of Washington. We couldn't stop in the middle of the freeway where the actual "Welcome to Washington" sign was.


On the bow of the boat. We had to climb through this small hole to get out there. Not for the clautrophobic.

The next morning we drove to the Washington border which was only four miles from our hotel so the kids could say they'd been there. Bubba got his picture in from of a freeway sign. Then we went up to Sandpointe, which is another hour north and went to the lake there. It much nicer than Lake Coueur d'Alene. It had an actual sandy beach instead of just dirt and rocks. They have a nice swimming area, but unfortunately we didn't think to bring swimsuits for the day since we were planning on going on a lake cruise. It was a 90 min. cruise and she gave us the history of how the lake was created and history of the area. It was really interesting and cool. The boys all got the chance to drive the boat a little. They even got certificates to prove they were captains for the day. After the cruise we went back to our hotel for our swimsuits and met Alicia and AJ at the first lake again to go swimming. Unfortunately this is when we found out that their water and beach were ickier. Oh well. We went back to the hotel to swim in the pool.


The nice beach up at Lake Pend Oreille.

Mon. morning we went to the amusement park which is about 40 min. from our hotel. Man everything is far apart up there. Anyway, it reminded us a lot of Knott's Berry Farm in CA. It was really fun. Not crowded at all. In fact on a lot of the rides, including big roller coasters we walked right on or waited 10 min. They also have a waterpark on the other side that we opted not to go to since we had just gone to ours last month. So when it closed everyone came over from there, so a couple of the roller coaster ride lines got to be about 20-30 min. Still not too bad. Peanut was tall enough to go on all of the kid rides by himself, and a lot of the bigger carnival rides as well, which was good because Jo Jo decided to freak out and not go on anything. They all went on the tilt a whirl as the first ride and Jo Jo didn't like it at all so then he wouldn't even go on the little planes, or helicopters or elephant ride. He did go on the big train and old antique cars towards the end of the day though. They have two big wooden roller coasters. One of them even goes underground like three times. It was super hot, but still lots of fun. Bubba's favorite ride is called Aftershock and I don't even know how to begin to describe it so you'll have to check it out online. Peanut loved a ride we called the spinny ride, but I don't know what the real name of it was. He went on it at least 7 or 8 times. They also have a ride there called the Corkscrew which is one they bought from Knott's and it's the first roller coaster to have ever gone upside down. I remember it from when I was younger. B and Jo Jo watched as we went on a raft ride later in the day. I'm not sure why we didn't go on it in the middle of the day when it was 95 out. We got drenched! Halfway through the ride I mentioned that I wasn't even wet yet. Poor JP was backwards for every rapid, until we got flipped around right after my famous last words and like 10 gallons of water went down my back. We all had wet pants for the rest of the night. It's a good thing it never got cold out. It really felt like I'd gone swimming with all of my clothes on. It was pretty funny. B was glad that he had opted to stay with the baby.

Poor JP getting drenched-AGAIN!


Cool dude with mama's glasses.


His favorite ride of the day.

Yesterday we made the drive home and made it back just in time to change Peanut's clothes for his t-ball game. Today we're just hanging out, cleaning and getting groceries. I'm really glad we went. I'm not going to even start on the tiny hotel beds, no bath (shower only), no extra cot for our extra child, and how super expensive it was (all the hotels were and all were packed for some odd reason).

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Driving Lessons

So my kids are now telling me how to drive. Bubba started the other day when he was in the front. He yells at people, "Why are they going so slow?" "Why don't you go around them?" And if I yell at another driver, "I can't believe they're driving like that." Oops. And today JP was in the front and said, "Just go in the turning lane so we don't have to wait." That's not all. Bubba tells me what to do all the time. I keep telling him that I know how to drive, but that doesn't stop him. He's going to be a great driver someday. :) I had to swerve around a car today and Jo Jo said, "Mommy almost crashed-ded." They told my mom when she was here and had to take them home, "You drive like my mom." She said, "Where do you think she learned how to drive?" Sometimes I really miss driving in California because no one ever drives the speed limit here. They go at least 10-15 under and it drives me insane. I guess I'm not the best example to my kids.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

As soon as I finished posting last night, JP threw up. He always freaks out really bad when he does. I'm just really glad he made it to the toilet. Bubba still has a headache, but is fine other than that, Peanut is fine this morning although he went to bed with a fever. JP still had a fever this morning, but is fine now and eating a little. Hopefully we're done with this and it doesn't go around again. I'm going to fumigate today.
Bubba and I watched the 6th Harry Potter movie today. It got me really excited for the last two. I saw a preview for the final movie that will be in two parts. Which is annoying, but the first will be out in Nov. and the next not until next July. Personally I think that's stupid. The actors are already like 20 and supposed to be 17. They should've filmed them closer together. Oh well, I'm excited none the less.

Edit-
Last night B had to pick up my medication at Walmart. He called and said he'd cleared them out but wouldn't tell me what it was. In a white trash accent he said, "Back up the truck, I'm clearin' out the Walmart." He came home with more baseball stuff than I've ever seen. Here's what he came home with-
*4 pairs of gloves (one in each size)
*4 pairs of socks
*5 bags of mini whiffle balls (60 total)
*training bat
*2 bags of big whiffle balls (20)
*a baseball bag
*1 bag of t-balls (6)
*6 buckets of balls (60)
*bat weight
*4 individual nice leather balls
How much did he pay you ask? Everything total would've cost around $350. (I know, baseball is an expensive sport). $47.17 and that includes tax!! I was no longer annoyed with him when he handed me the receipt. He said they had a ton more-bats, etc. But luckily he was able to tell himself that we didn't need it and he shouldn't buy it unless he planned on selling it all on Ebay. He went out to one of the other ones after picking up Bubba from hunter safety last night and they didn't have a single baseball thing on sale. The only thing I can figure is that maybe this one is doing away with sports stuff. They've already gotten rid of their fabric dept. I don't get why they're not all the same.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Disease and Inspiration

"Thank you for church," is what Jo Jo said in the car after church yesterday. Peanut woke with a fever so I stayed home with him since B has been called as the 13 yr. old Sunday school teacher. What a sweet boy. We must be doing something right. Jo Jo was sick earlier last week. This has been the third time in two months. I keep trying to figure out what it could be. My kids only get sick about once or twice a year generally, so I was convinced it must be something weird. He had a bad fever after his nap one day and then that night threw up on the couch and I picked him up and I'm not sure what I was thinking, but instead of running to the kitchen, I ran him upstairs to the tub. He had a lot in his stomach. It was weird because it was what we'd eaten two days before. He hadn't really eaten since then. So I started wondering if he has some kind of intestinal problem or something. But I'm sure it was just some stupid virus. It justs makes me wonder since it's been three times now so close together. Anyway, it only lasted a day, so that was good. But now after the pool today, Bubba has a headache, which I told him is from being in the heat, not having enough lunch and not drinking enough water. But now Peanut says his throat hurts, JP is complaining of a sick stomach and then fell asleep on the couch. AHHHHH! What the heck?
In other news, we played the game Life for 3 hours yesterday! I was protesting, claiming that it takes like 3 hours. No one believed me until we were done. It didn't help though that for half the game I had to keep checking the instructions. We also had a few meltdowns by a certain child that wasn't spinning the numbers he wanted and wasn't making enough money on his job. I just about banned him from the game.
I also worked on a little bit of my book/story last week. I'm not sure what it will end up being yet. I would love to have enough of a story to make it a full book, but I don't completely know what's going to happen with the story yet. I started quite awhile back. I can't remember when, but the first chapter came to me right away and then half of the second. Anyway, I had about 7 pages for a long time. Then during our first summer library trip I decided to get some books for research. It takes place in Ireland. So I started reading a ton and taking notes and then several weeks ago I wrote another 4 pages. Then last week over two days, I really got into a groove and I'm up to page 21 now. It's funny because I've always liked to write-hence the English Lit. major. And I've thought about it a few times, but never had any ideas. Then one night someone posted a single sentence on fb-"So there I was." And it resulted in my first chapter. Anyway, I've kind of been mixing up the music I listen to in order to get inspired and I found a CD at the library of Irish drinking songs, and now I love it! My sister suggested a band called Flogging Molly and I found some songs to listen to on the internet. They're now my new favorite. And the music has been really inspiring. I need to find a CD of them because on playlist.com I have to keep playing the next song one by one. Anyway, that's what's going on in our neck of the woods.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Too Pooped


Peanut and Bubba were playing Wii the other day and I kept wondering where Jo Jo was. I went in the living room (where they were playing) and found this. They didn't even know he'd fallen asleep because they were so engrossed in their game. I love how he's even holding a golf club!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Goings On

"Thank you for the pool mom." That's what Jo Jo told me today after going to the pool. No one told him to say it and he didn't hear it from his brothers. When we were in Canada, he also said, "Thank you the boat mom." At least one of them is learning manners. Today has been a mellow day. Laundry, play go fish with Peanut, clean shower, pool, fold laundry, dinner, then hunter safety class for Bubba and gym for mama. I haven't been in forever and I've started to gain some weight back. Curse you blasted belly fat! I guess it was worth the 4 awesome boys that made it that way. Well, most days anyway :) Well, off to finish folding that blasted laundry. I just had to come downstairs to play the next video on Peanut's "I Spy" dvd from the library. Jo Jo has been repeating the songs and saying, "I find it" after they ask if they can see something. Actually I just realized I need to make dinner for Bubba since hunter safety starts in a half hour.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Happy Birthday America!






My dad has been here since Sat. so he got to spend the 4th with us and do fireworks. Thanks to B's step-mom for all of the awesome fireworks she sent home with the kids from the farm!! We had some big ones that shot in the air and blew up just like Disneyland the kids said. So now I've had visits from both of my parents within the last month. Good times. We saw "Toy Story 3" which was a great movie! Probably the best one yet. We also did our free bowling day on Mon. which wasn't free for us adults and plus shoes, that ended up being a little more than I thought. At least they refunded Jo Jo's shoe money because he opted to be grumpy and not even bowl a single frame. I think I'll save myself a couple of dollars a week and not have him bowl anymore. He's only ever good for one game before he gets grumpy. He runs up and down the ramp next to our lane the whole time anyway, so he keeps busy. Every single firework picture I took turned out blurry. I'm seriously getting annoyed with our poop camera. Maybe it's time to invest in a better one. I wish money fell out of the sky like giant meatballs.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Bowling Boys




These are from last week when we went bowling with my mom. I actually bowled with them this time because I got two free game coupons for myself. I only had to pay for shoes for everyone and that was like $13, so I won't be bowling with them very often if at all for the rest of the summer. Bubba had a good time the first game because he beat everyone, though we don't allow bragging. He was just excited for his score. JP threw a hissy fit because he wasn't doing well. He needs to work on technique and I keep trying to help him, but he gets annoyed with me and wants to do it his way. Peanut had a blast both games and was proud of himself for every pin he knocked down and could care less about his score. This is a testimony to his personality. Second game JP had a better attitude because I told him he wouldn't bowl if he didn't knock it off. He was okay when he'd get a lot, but still a little grumpy when he only got a couple. Bubba was really upset because he wasn't getting a strike every time. He's so competitive-even just with himself. I was just as annoyed that I sucked, but didn't show it. I kept telling them that we were playing to have a fun time. Jo Jo has fun the first game and then we lose him for the second. Next time I'll just take his name off for the second. I don't know if you can really see his shoes, but they have bowling shoes in his size and they're the cutest thing you've ever seen.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

2nd Go Around


Yes, again with the organizing. The fruit snacks are in color order and lined up. My mom saw him doing it so I ran and got a picture before he ate any.



Peanut started t-ball Tues. night. He's so excited since he didn't get to play while brothers did. It's pretty cheesy since most of the kids have no idea what they're doing, but it's fun for him so that's all that matters. There are a lot of bigger kids though because it's like 5-7 yrs. or something like that, which is weird. The t-shirt he has is a 14-16 kids size! I'm not sure who they think is playing on these teams, but that's retarded.

Jo Jo has started saying "actually" lately. It's pretty dang funny. The other night he was in the backyard with my mom and she said, "Look an airplane," and he said, "Yeah airplane." Then he corrected himself and said, "Actually it's a helicopter." She was wondering if he could've actually been saying that, but then the next day he told me he wanted juice and then a second later said, "Actually I want chocolate milk." Can you tell he's always around older people? "Apparently" is one of my favorite words to use with the kids-as in "apparently you weren't listening." So Bubba uses that one a lot. It's funny how much they pick up by listening to us talk.

My mom and I saw "Eclipse" last night. Great movie. It was really exciting to watch since we'd just been up in that area. It was so fun to go with her. We've seen the other two together too. We got dessert afterwards and she was being silly so it was really fun. I'm so glad we got to have such a fun time together while she was visiting. After my husband she's my best friend. Good times.