Muddy Buddies

With the past few days rainy and our backyard still a discarded so-called-construction zone it was an easy choice for me to send the boys into the mud for some outdoor fun. They were thrilled at the prospect of playing in the rain, something we have done many times before. This time though, with our backyard as it is, the mud was calling.

It was thrown, stomped, piled, made into cakes and I think there may have even been a failed attempt at a 'mud angel.'

With rain in the forcast for the next few days thanks to Hurricane Alex we may be hosing down everyday.

A Few of Garrett's Favorite Things

On one T-Shirt!

My sweet friend, Katie, searched out this t-shirt for Garrett after seeing someone wearing it in a magazine. Apparently the city of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma's school mascot is the Tigers. How fun to have a shirt with two of the things you love the most on it.

Thanks Katie!

MO Ranch Day Camp 2010

Ian attended day camp this past week at Mo Ranch. It was a week of long, hot days and lots of fun. He did lots of fun activities and came home exhausted every day. Usually he could barely relate the day to us that night, but would wake up the next morning and try to tell us everything that happened the day before in the 25 minutes we had before leaving for the bus.

If nothing else, he learned a lot this week about group dynamics and working with other kids. We had some discussions on being responsible for your own actions and your own words and how to talk to others when they aren't necessarily speaking kindly to you. Good lessons that we hadn't really had to work through much yet. He took it all in stride and I think has come out a better boy. Examples are being out voted by everyone else for more time petting horses instead of a short hike to see some recently discovered fox bones, or having to wait for everyone to finish in the bathrooms before heading back to craft time. Ian is sure he missed an hour of craft time waiting for one girl in the bathroom. Of course we also had lessons in putting our things away neatly and in the right spot - we are still missing a water bottle and a pair of jeans.

Friday Chris, Garrett and I went out for lunch, camp closing and family fun day. Ian received the "Spirit of Adventure" award which is right on target. After closing we spent most of our time at the rapids and swimming in the river.

So Beautiful. I had never been there to swim and I would go back everyday I think. Gorgeous wide river with a rock bottom, big pools of water to sit in and a naturally made waterslide that my boys never tired of. At the end of the day Ian asked again to go down the Mo Ranch Slide. Chris was confident he could do it and he was right. After a shorter run from the bottom and the cutest wish ever.... that "Mr. Frog was waterproof" he and Chris hiked up to the top and Ian had a blast. I read somewhere lately that parents always underestimate how tightly their children can hang on to things. That must be true.

He was disappointed that was his last day of camp, but I told him he has something to look forward to next summer. I think he will be even more ready, though I will still be a little sad to put him on the bus.

Garrett is already looking forward to the adventure. The rope swing was not his cup of tea, but he would have camped next to the rapids that night just to keep swimming.

Happy Father's Day

Our Super Dad on top of Cross Mountain in Fredricksburg

Thank you to all the wonderful Dads in our life.

We love you.

Port A Beach Bums

We just got back from a fun filled week at the beach with Mike and Elizabeth in Port Aransas at the Sea Gull. The shoreline was covered with some orange colored seaweed, but after the first day it didn't really bother you and was actually like having a loofa treatment while you waded. The kids were thrilled to be at the beach of course with the bonus of a pool in which Ian and Garrett could touch. Garrett was empowered by that ability and in just a few days made great strides in his swimming and the required confidence. So fun to encourage him and watch it all develop.

The beach was our main hang out though and we enjoyed each morning out there. Chris was able to join us towards the end (after two of three water tanks were finally delivered to the quail farm). It was sweet to watch the kids waiting for Daddy's truck to pull past the pool and even funnier to come back from the condo and see everyone else dripping wet returning to the pool after a false "Daddy's truck" alarm.

We enjoyed a crab and shrimp boil, witnessed a double rainbow, caught the ice cream truck on the beach just in time and during our one trip to the getty we saw dolphins and two sea turtles.

A crab snapped Nora's toe and who was going to push which elevator button was always a major debate.

Ian was hooked on using the "shrimp sucker" as dubbed by its owners; really just some pvc pipe glued together with a plunger of some sort that could suck a big section of sand all at once. Ian was enthralled and was able to hone some of his project manager skills in the process. At one point he even had Mike and Garrett fetching buckets of water for his sand sucking endeavor.

Thank you Grandmother and Grandpa for a great week and lots of beach memories.

Nora Likes Corn

Here's the cutest proof......

Turtle, Snake or Lizard?----TURTLE

I discovered these nests while I was mowing last week and we can't decide what made them. We haven't ever seen anything like them before. After finding three the first day, we found two more two days later. The last two I think had hatched over night because the egg shells were much more pliable still and we had walked past that spot the day before and not noticed.

Chris and I are leaning towards turtle, but those seem like big holes for our turtles around here to dig. Plus we think it strange that the egg shells are up out of the hole. I realize these nests could have been ravaged by a raccoon that dug them up and ate them, but they seem like they hatched to me for some reason.

Comment if you have ever seen this or just want to put up a guess. We are going to try and get some professional assistance so I will update you when we know more.

**UPDATE** Definitely turtle (North American snakes do not dig holes) and the nests were most likely raided by a fox or skunk prior to hatch. Thank you Riverside Nature Center!

Are You Game?

Broken Arrow has again been featured on Emeril Green. Both Chris and Mike did a wonderful job and we thought the editing did really well in conveying how much Chris and Mike love the business and how much fun they had cooking with Emeril. You can click here to see the webpage on the Planet Green/Emeril Green Website and here to remember the shoot experience. The Emeril website also lists all the recipes they made that day. They were all awesome! Hopefully the website will get some video up soon, but until then check your listings on the Planet Green channel for Emeril Green's episode Are You Game?

Of course you can always visit BrokenArrowRanch.com

In a Galaxy Far Far Away.....

Or maybe just in San Antonio.....Chris and Ian went to Star Wars in Concert. They were able to view some of the costumes and model exhibits in the lobby and then watch a travelling orchestra perform various parts of the scores' with movie footage in the background, a laser light show and hear Anthony Daniels, the actor who played C3-P0, narrate. Chris said it was a very excited crowd and with every announcement to find your seat, sit quietly, or turn off your cell phone they errupted into applause. Ian loved it and was even caught on video using his mini-light saber as a conductor's baton. He came back beaming.

O....H!

I.....O!

The kids and I spent two whole weeks up in Ohio starting right after Graduation night. It was a trip packed with fun and activities. Flying with three children might seem crazy, but they did a wonderful job and I am really proud of how they behaved and rose to the occasion.

Straight out of the gate we headed up to Kalahari indoor water park, or 'Alah-kari' as it is now known in our house. My dad had wanted to take the kids there for a long time and picking a Wednesday before school was out was perfect. All the attractions were open and the kids had a blast. There were fun shallow areas with slides and waterfalls for Nora and Garrett as well as middle sized stuff for bigger kids. Ian was even tall enough to go on some of the bigger rides and enjoyed every one! The wave pool was a big hit as was all of the arcade games and giant climbing structure. Pictures were kind of tricky, but I got this good one of Nora heading down her favorite slide.

Colin is home preparing to shoot his first directed film for graduate school and is raising ducks for his star performers. Each morning was spent out in the mud pile digging up worms for the ducks' breakfast. The boys didn't mind and were eager to help.

We spent a lot of time watching the ducks eat, swim in various puddles and baby pools, and wander around the yard. I helped Colin build a duck pen since they were out growing their baby duck house. It turned out really well and will hopefully stand up to duck round 2 coming in a few weeks.

We added a Cleveland Zoo trip to our itinerary (we love a zoo) in order to visit with my friends, Melissa and Devone. We had a great time exploring - especially in the dinosaur exhibit. Ian was disappointed to hear that neither Melissa or Devone had a little boy, but he and Sadie, Devone's oldest, had a great time together. They had actually met a few times when they were infants and both of our families were living in North Carolina. They were cute to watch chasing and playing crack the whip with each other. Ian was happy to see her again at Sunday School too. Garrett was in his element and Nora just loved running around outside.

Next it was time for A Day Out With Thomas at the Cuyahoga Valley Railroad. The boys have wanted to do this since Ian was little and while we missed the apex of Thomas mania in our house it was still a highly anticipated event and was fully enjoyed. There was lots to do... model train sets, coloring and stickers, storytelling, videos playing, bounce houses and a tent with a man singing songs and generally entertaining. Waiting for our train, Daddy took the boys into the tent and Ian ended up telling a joke to the audience.

"What do you get when you cross a dinosaur with a pig?"

Jurassic - Pork"

Apparently from the picture the 'crowd' loved it!

**This visit will not be forgotten quickly as the mention of a Thomas Balloon will bring back memories of a lesson learned for Ian.**

The Great Lakes Science Museum was a welcome outing on another weekday afternoon. There were plenty of hands on science experiments and activities to capture kid (and adult) imaginations as well as the IMAX movie, Sea Monsters. I found myself constantly attempting to answer great science questions from Ian and Garrett in a way that wasn't too detailed and lost their attention. It was tricky since I don't naturally short cut on those types of things...Doppler effect, vortex forces, endoscopes, electrical impulses, lever arms, vibration... we talked about them all.

We finished off the visit with a quick trip to Virginia to visit Aunt Lauren and Uncle Rene and pack up Brenna for her move home. It was beautiful there and we were able to spend an evening swimming, meeting all of their horses and enjoying the lovely weather.

We snuck in our required trip to the Ledges in Virginia Kendall at the last minute. We stayed under the pavilion watching a storm blow by for the first part and playing hopscotch on the rock floor. I was impressed at how much the kids remembered about the hike from our previous visits.

Family time was a major part of this trip. We all found our time with Monday and Aden special. They were enthralled with Ian's graduation video tape and took delight in giving the kids cookies and milk in their little kitchen. Aden even revelled in telling the story of Garrett asking Ian "Why Aden walked so slow?" and Ian replying, "Because he is an old man." while Aden was in the room.

Thanks for a fun time Shelly and Dave!

Now come to Texas!