Summer Camp

Jordan is going away for summer camp for the very first time! She is so nervous. I am so excited for her. The thing that has her most upset... no cell phone, mp3 player or other electronics. How will she live!!!

*UPDATE*

She called tonight and reports that she wants to come home. Says she is not having any fun and misses us. She also admits that she loved horse back riding and the game room. Oh well... I think she will be fine. Praying she sticks it out until Saturday.

Garden Finale

We harvested the last of the veggies from our garden yesterday, pulled all of the plants out and raked over the plot. There were tons of unripened cherry tomatoes and a few immature cucumbers left. There were also a few green beans. We put the tomatoes in the window to see if they will ripen. It was a very productive garden and we are already looking forward to next year's.

Morning classes have gone well. Currently the kiddies are upstairs for lunch. My mom is our "lunch lady" during the week and the kids very much enjoy hot lunches everyday. I guess it beats bologna! LOL!

I ordered a cord of wood about a month ago and have already gone through about 3/4 of it. We have had fires in the pit almost every day. Sitting around the camp fire soothes me and I guess I have needed lots of soothing. I really like the guy I bought wood from, so it will be a pleasure to order again.

Better get some grading and such done during this time.

Peace everyone!

One of My Favorite Things

The week did get better. We are still struggling with getting to bed on time. The day just gets away from us and the long daylight trips us up, making dinner late every night.

The little kids had a first this week. We made shish-kabobs on the grill with veggies from the garden; corn, green beans, tomatoes, green peppers, onions and good 'ole hot dogs. They made very interesting kabobs and the 4 year old kept asking for "more stick please".

I bought a cord of wood today and when it was delivered, the guy asked if the boys could help stack it. Well those 2 unloaded and stacked that wood so fast the man wished they were old enough to hire. He said he hires high schoolers and college kids that don't work that hard. He was so impressed that he reached in his wallet and paid both boys $2. Of course...that meant we had to have school outside this morning.

Adoption Party Success!!

We had a wonderful party! It kinda turned into a backyard camping party as we had the pop-up and RV open, I put up the screen house with the picnic table inside. We had about a dozen camp chairs set up under the awning and a great big 'ole fire in the pit. We hired a hot dog vendor who works downtown on the corner to bring his cart and set it up in the driveway. It was a HIT!

There were about 13 kids running around, we had great music and fantastic fellowship.

I am so pleased and blesses with the building of my family.

4 More Ladies

Four more Painted Ladies hatched, but only 2 would fly away. The other 2 are still in the habitat. I think their wings needed a little more time to dry. The look of wonder on the kid's faces and in their eyes was priceless!! One crawled  up James' arm and would not fly away.

We are still camping, but came in to take care of the butterflies and get the mail.

Vacation in Change

We were suppose to do a road trip along one of the Great Lakes and camp as we made stops along the way. In May I was asked to do a respite that turned out longer than anyone anticipated and so we had to change our trip to stay at a local campground so that we could transport the young lady to school. She has never gone camping so it has been a big adventure for her. We also got a great site right on the lake! I saw a huge fish jump right out this morning. The kids all got new fishing rods, so we are looking forward to some fishing this weekend. The 3 little kids have to wear life vest while running around because we are just that close to the water.

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Of our 10 caterpillars, 8 made chrysalis that we were able to transfer to the butterfly habitat. Two don't look so good, so I predict that only six will make it...if that many.

The Campground

We stayed at an Ohio State Park named Hueston Woods State Park. It is a HUGE campground with many activities. I always get sites near the bathroom as the person that has to dump the camper has established a rule that middle-of-the-night pee pees are the only thing allowed in the camper toilet. Nana has to dump so Nana sets the rule!

My brothers Boxster

Also across from our site was the playground and a putt putt golf course. So so fun!

Some of the participants of the Porsche Fest were staying at the campground also. Our camping neighbors had a very cute 1964 356 turbo. He forgot to bring his cover and ended up parking it in our screen house. LOL! It was a perfect fit. I love this picture. James is just chillin' while wearing Poppy's hat.

The pre-teen and her guitar.

Our next trip:

African Safari Wildlife Park and then school starts on August 11th for 3rd grade and the 16th for all other grades.

First Day

Our first day turned out to be a day of travel. Google maps have never been my friend and for this trip there was again no love lost between us. As it turns out, the 4 ½ hour trip to Oxford, Ohio became a 7 hour trip as one of the main highways was closed and the detour was a back way 2 lane highway. We also experience some torrential rains that made 30 foot Big Bertha sway something fierce on that little 2 lane highway. So we took it slow and got in much later than planned. The next day was a set up and relaxing day.



Poppy and James setting up the screen house. Jackson cannot wait until he can use the ax someday.

My sweet foster daughter found herself a relaxing spot and there she stayed!

Jordan and Poppy putting the new gas grill together.

Look at those lips of concentration. LOL!

This, These Plus These

We have a great trip planned!

Next week, I am taking this



and all of these



plus these

(my mom and dad)

but not this

(he’s being neutered that week)

to a Porsche festival that my brother is participating in as a belated celebration for my father’s birthday. I am very excited and look forward to staying in a new campground.

So… planning and packing are responsible for lots of st. icky n. otes.

Natural Man Cave

About 3 years ago, Jeffrey asked to move out of the RV to a tent... his own "Man Cave". He started off in just a little 2 man tent, but this last year got a 6-person, 2-room tent as a gift. He loves it. He uses 1 side as his bedroom and the other side as his living room. I did not get really good pics, but here are some...

Camping June 11 - 15th

Nature, home-away-from-home, bruised and dirty knees.

Photography by Jordan

School's Out Camping Trip

Just a few pics from camping.

It's funny... my back yard has always been "the kool-aid" yard, since I was a child and it still continues today, even when we are not in our own back yard. My kids always seem to draw a crowd of kids and this weekend was no exception. I had my 4 and the baby along with 2 little ones that I was doing respite for. On Saturday, my daughter ask if she and her new friend could have a Popsicle and I ended up handing out 12 Popsicles! LOL! Good thing the $ Store sells 'em 300 at a time per box.

In motion....

The fire builder and his apprentice hopefuls.