State Park Recreation

Please do not let the title confuse you. We are not recreating state parks; rather we are recreating in a State park. Hmmm, that doesn't seem correct as a written sentence. Do you not love the English language?

Anyway, Tyler's vacation this year started with a wonderful sunny day.  We took advantage of this and went to Range Pond State Park with our friends Sara, George, and Lily Colby.  Sara is one of my friends that I met while in College, and whom I had not seen in a while. By "in a while" I mean I had yet to meet her 2 yr old daughter, and, of our large brood, she had only met Elijah.  After many months of trying to actually get together again we were able to pull off a wonderful day at the beach together. 

We started our day by seeing Sara and George's home that they built themselves. It is a wonderful home, which unfortunately I didn't take pics of for you to see. Oh well, Sara probably wouldn't like me posting pics on the internet for all 3 of my blogger friends to see. Afterwards, we ventured onto Range Pond to enjoy the water and extensive playground. The boys had a great time playing with Lily, but I think the highlight of their trip was playing with daddy and George.  Of course, for me, I loved being able to visit with my long lost friend and hope to see her and her beautiful family again soon. 

Wildlife Extravaganza!

Lately, we have found multiple little and not so little creatures; which does not fail to amaze and delight the boys.  Now, I am no skittish girl (unless I have slugs on my back. ughh!), most animals do not frighten me (as long as they have feet).  Yet, I still don't understand the boys desire to touch these little amphibians that we find hiding around our home. I suppose, if it wasn't for the touching we couldn't call it hands-on-science. Here are just three specimens that we have recently examined...

First, the ever engaging salamander. We actually have quite a few of these around here, but because of their overall shyness they are not easy to find. Finding one of these black and blue spotted guys is a real delight.

Second, the frog in the middle of its metamorphosis. A pollywog truly is something to be watched and amazed at. What an amazing God we have, not only can He create these great creatures, but His imagination in thinking up the life cycle of a frog is amazing!

Lastly, but not least, especially considering his size. Is the toad. This toad was huge. Tyler and the boys found him sleeping in the mud. Those are Tyler's hands holding this beast of a toad, and Andrew taking his turn touching.

What sorts of discoveries have you made recently? 

The New SeeSaw

Do you remember the old wooden seesaws?  They were fantastic! We used to "bump" each other so that we would go bouncing almost off the thing when we reached the top. It was great fun! That is if you didn't smack your face on the plank (which I did, and had a swollen cheek for a week. But hey it is all part of being a kid). Apparently some people declared them dangerous, and they have all been taken down. I don't know what would make them think that a lever built out of a wooden plank with wire handles featuring a huge metal bar for a fulcrum would be dangerous? I mean there is such a thing as overprotective.  Alas, when I was a child they dismantled our seesaw at school and for years we were left to play with the metal fulcrum part (is that not dangerous?).  Then years after I left they invested in a new playground that lacks, you guessed it, a seesaw. I often wondered how children were supposed to learn about levers if they didn't have one of these, but now redemption for the seesaw has come!! 

This new seesaw is not dangerous. Not in the least (if it was they wouldn't have built it).  The metal is coated with rubber and the pivoting points are only pinching if you sit directly on them with shorts. Not to mention if you are just the right height to smack yourself on the end of one.  Really, like I said, not dangerous at all. Actually, they are great and I like them. They are multiple levers in one and the kids can sit on it like a bench and it moves depending on the amount of weight in each spot. My boys love this thing! You can find one of these new fantastic inventions in Augusta at the playground by Shaw's.  So go on down and have some fun, but please don't complain about getting pinched; we don't want to lose this new seesaw as well. 

Spaghetti Western Night

Prior to Tyler's official vacation we hosted a Spaghetti Western Night.  What a great evening of fun we had with friends.  The night started out with a little wine and dine; and came to a rip roaring end with a traditional Western movie featuring the Duke.  

If you weren't there it isn't because we don't like you, it is because as you can see we were out of chairs. As my grandmother used to say: only invite as many guests as you have comfy chairs for. (she didn't really say that... ever)

Ali's second love... The first being Jesus of course.

So what's our next movie night? Indian Night with my homemade naan, Ali's Indian cooking, and the hilarious ridiculously long Arabian Nights.

Updates

Oh my, it has been a long time. I am sorry to all 3 of my faithful readers.  Let me see if I can update you...

Tyler has been on vacation and we have done tons of fun stuff not in the sun. It has been raining. In fact, yesterday was the third sunny day that we have had in two weeks. Needless to say, I am very thankful for it, and today looks gorgeous!! 

Look at what days of rain does to people... 80's hair night? Where do people get these ideas!?

Despite the rain we have attempted to work outside on the shed during this vacation.  I think that God was sending us the message to throw away the project list we had for this vacation, but Tyler held onto the shed roof.  Through rain, fog, mist, and slugs he persevered to get most of the roof on the shed. The only thing missing at this point is the ridge cap. 

Tyler and I spent one of these rainy days down in NH at the American Independence Museum. My mother watched all four of our boys and we spent the day driving in the rain, and looking at old houses and documents. We even stopped off at a fifties diner and shared a frappe. It was a glorious day and just the thing to do when the clouds don't want to stop their furry. 

Besides the many chores we had planned we did a couple of day trips, and even had a trip up north. I will be posting more about those later, but for now you can enjoy my short update and eagerly await the many more posts to come...