Scout Camp

Last post,
I left you with a teaser for this one.

As you know, the boys are in Scouts.
R is full in, J technically starts in the fall,
but they are letting him participate a little early.

Daddy is going to be J's Den Leader.

Daddy, R & J all signed up for an
overnight camp that would allow them
to earn some neat belt loops.

The camp is an hour and a half away from where we live.
So Friday night, they packed up everything
(including a test set up on the tent).

Then Saturday morning they were all up
and out the door by 6am.
I heard them leaving but thought it was a part
of a dream.
By the time I realized it was real,
I jumped up and ran downstairs
and out the door just in time to
see the taillights driving away.

I immediately called and said good-bye.
But had this uneasy feeling since I didn't
get to kiss my boys good-bye.

They should have been there at 7:30am
they were supposed to call...
no call.
NOT ONCE.
I was a bit worried and my mind
started messing with me,
but as they day wore on...
I realized "No news was good news"...
So I locked the house up TIGHT
before I crawled in the bed
and actually left the ringer turned ON
on my phone (for once).

Then at about midnight,
I got a call...
Daddy...
First words out of his mouth were,
we are ok, but we are coming home,
Rico got sick all in the tent and everywhere.
(turns out he just overdid it and was overheated).

When they rolled in exactly 1 1/2 hours later at 1:30am,
I ran out and helped unload.
Daddy grabbed a passed out J, while I
ushered the pukey one in the house and straight to the shower.
(he did have on clean clothes - but he still deserved a shower)

J was so tired he barely made it up the stairs,
cause I can't carry his big ole self up the stairs,
although he tried to let me - HA!

R took a 20 min shower and I eventually
had to go in there and tell him to leave hot water
for daddy.

They ran through a pretty wicked thunderstorm on the way
home, which they actually brought with them.

And if I haven't mentioned it before,
my kids don't do well in thunderstorms...
(but they get it honest)

Daddy and I finally crawled into bed well after 2am,
we were laying there and he was telling me
how their day had gone,
then R shows up at our bedside unable to sleep.
Eventually we let him crawl into bed with us.
Then, the previously mentioned thunderstorm hit.
Within minutes of the clap of thunder that shook the house,
there was a 3 yo at our bedside wanting in too...

I think we got everyone back in their own bed around 6:45am.
Just in time for the baby to wake up.
Lovely!

Oh well...we survived and even made it to church!!

So here is how the rest of their day went:


Setting up the tent

R looking at dad taking pictures, 

wondering if he is planning on helping (I am sure)

But they look like they are doing a good job without daddy!

Look at my scouts!

Wonder how much daddy actually helped.

Here daddy is getting proof that they were in a valley...

...with no cell service.

What is it with us and taking pictures of 

cactus blooms??

Making catapults. 

J sucking on his water...

so it appears...

but he is really just chewing on the valve

and biting holes in them

which causes this thing to leak 

ALL OVER MY KITCHEN!

See you would think he would be extremely hydrated with 

all these pictures of the water tube hanging out of his mouth.

Daddy liked this cactus hanging over the side of the cliff.

J fishing...

no they didn't catch anything.

J getting his hook rebaited,

by the other dad friend there 

while he was laying on the dock

(I got a kick out of that -

laying on his back rebaiting a hook)

Archery:

took me a second to realize this was my kid!

Look at them...

Jousting:

Looks like R could hold his own here.

Waiting for his next victim...

Conquered that one too.

J figured he would give it a shot.

The croquet game...

Doesn't work that way J.

Not that way either, kiddo...

Ok maybe croquet isn't his sport.

(just kidding - he knew what he was doing - I think)

On to the BB gun course:

Look at that concentration,

(dern I have some good lookin kids!)

Sorry no closeups on the targets, but daddy said they were

ALL OVER the 

BULLSEYE!

Good job boys!

I am so glad they had fun and secretly happy they 

had to come home a tad bit early.

I kinda like 'em.

Our Birds (& more)

Man - those baby birds are growing

FAST!!!

I have snapped a couple of pictures,

but I really need to get another one - 

they are overflowing out of the nest!!

The kids continue to enjoy watching them 

throughout the day.

Here are a couple of pictures I have taken over the last

10 days or so.

They are 2 weeks old today

(Thursday).

I have lightened some of them so you can actually see the birds better.

They were born on Thursday, April 26th.

Here they are at 4 days old

taken on Monday, April 30th

Then the following were all taken on May 3rd.

They were 1 week old here.

Here they are 9 days old.

Taken on May 5th.

Then this one was taken May 7th

(11 days)

I thought it was cute that mommy can't fit in the 

nest anymore,

so she perches on the side.

Daddy is not in the picture,

but he is just off to the right,

helping out.

What a good daddy!!

Then I grabbed this one Thursday morning, 

May 10th.

Happy 2 week birthday baby birds

(and Nana!)

Besides bird watching,

we did manage to do a few other things last week.

First off,

On Sunday,

we joined my family back in NC

via Skype for a 

"Gender Reveal Party".

(we are on the computer - this was taken of us in NC)

My sister & her hubby invited their friends and family

over for a cookout. 

Then for dessert,

she made cupcakes that had 

a color that would reveal the

sex of their baby.

To include us on the reveal,

she called a local bakery

and had them help out

by baking us a couple of cupcakes

with the middle revealing the secret.

The cupcakes were yummy.

And it was so neat to participate with the family.

And for the record...

I was right!

Monday,

we did manage to 

make it to PE last week.

And I have a couple of engineers on my hands!

The object of the game was to run from one end of the court

to the other and get a colored block.

They had to do something interesting on the way down but

I can't remember what it was.

Then build a tower as tall as you could

and it had to support the bean bag.

Here is the boys' team's first attempt:

R is threatening everyone who even breathes on it!

(kinda scary looking)

Then their second attempt:

Then A doing her thing at the other end of the court 

with the blocks she went and stole out of the pile.

And T climbing stairs...

nope, no rest for mommy.

Then Tuesday,

we went to Tae Kwon Do...

background:

R & J took Tae Kwon Do during co-op

this past semester and they really enjoyed it

especially R.

And their teacher was hosting a summer class 

on the other side of town.

R had been working us for WEEKS about attending

this class.

I really wanted to let him do it,

the price was right,

but the location was NOT!

We finally gave in

but I was off on the start date.

Thankfully his instructor e-mailed me

about uniforms on Monday

and told me she had found one

and that she would bring it the next day...

to which I responded:

"Will we see you tomorrow?"

Yep - class starts!

UGH - so much for having my Tuesdays off.

So we went to Tae Kwon Do

me & the littles sat in the back.

They followed along.

Wednesday,

I posted about that last week,

that is when we made our Apple Parfaits. 

R also has made a friend at dance class.

He now looks forward to seeing this little baby 

and making him smile and laugh

(then starts in on me about wanting 

another sibling! - no comment)

Thursday,

we went to our co-op end of semester party

which included a visit from Dinosaur George.

He brought lots of neat stuff 

(although I didn't stay inside to listen)

I did, however, walk in to see him 

holding this up!

Mercy...this is the nose of a T-Rex!

Then Friday - 

I took this picture.

I will explain why in the next post.