Down & Dirty

I can't believe it but I went camping.  I don't like camping.  At all.  How ever was Glenn able to convince me?  He said, "I booked us a site Wednesday night to go camping, you don't have to come".   

Oh, did I mention we were a stone's throw from the beach?   Really, is there any other reason to camp?
My niece Kylee, my sister Jeannette & my spunky 11 year old Emry.

Ethan is getting really good at skim boarding.

Especially when he has these older boys to impress.  They were really good & I could see Ethan watching them and then trying to show off for them.  It was all very sweet.

Talking to the lifeguards about the currents.

Note to self - living out of your car is no fun.
 

 
But living out of a tent isn't much better.  We had to borrow EVERYTHING.  I am not even sure Glenn & I own a flashlight.

Brutus was wondering when we could go home to our soft beds.  You & me both Brutus.

I am so lazy I couldn't even manage to do foil dinners.  I didn't want to keep track of the kids meals so I just poured everything into a big pot and let them pick out what they wanted.

Ethan & Nathan wanted to stay forever, they were completely in their element.  Lila is more like me and said she missed feeling clean.

The Wallworks    Lila didn't bring a jacket (was that my job?) so I told her to makeshift one out of her pajamas just tying the feet around her waist, worked like a charm.

The Roberts    This pic reminds me of being a teen and how it's imperative to your livelihood to be a walking advertisement.

My heart is breaking it's just too cute this whole father & son thing and Glenn is so ridiculously handsome.  Ethan, please grow up to be exactly like your dad.   Just without the fascination for MMA fighting okay?

The sun goes down and all the skater boys come out to party.

Lila with her squirrel trap and the dollar she earned from Glenn for catching a squirrel.  I am pretty certain she didn't catch a squirrel, but letting a 9 year old live in denial never hurt anyone.  And this is what mom's who don't camp dress their kids in.  Clearly I know exactly what I am doing.

The Roberts looking Good!
 

Good bye and good riddance to this fire that blew ash EVERYWHERE!  If I want a real fire I'll just flip on the switch to my gas fireplace at home.

Good bye roughin' it, I hate you.

Lucky #7

My idea of a birthday party is where we make dinner, have cake, sing happy birthday and give a gift.

Ethan has been around the block as far as birthday parties are concerned and let me know balloons, friends, multiple gifts and caramel apples had to be involved.

I will give him props for the caramel apple idea, it was super fun.

Notice the Happy Birthday sign?  I didn't notice the typo until Emry pointed it out the next day.

I planned two games.  A relay race ran with eggs on spoons held in your mouth & a race where they soaked sponges and ran to fill up a bucket.

I am glad I didn't stress over this portion of the party or put too much effort into it because all the kids really wanted to do was play on our swingset, ride Ethan's razor scooter and use the sponges for a water fight.

Lila with our good friend's baby, Mason.   Where I am from a 9 year old is totally legit to babysit.

 There were some friends from church and friends from school, the sweetest kids ever who spoiled Ethan with fun gifts.

So he's 7 now, although I still can't believe it!  He hasn't lost a single tooth yet, therefore I think it's fair to still call him a baby.  You aren't a big kid until you lose a tooth.   That's the new rule in case anyone's wondering.

***My kiddos start Spring Break tomorrow & I am joining them.  I'll be back to blogging all things proper and serious in 2 weeks.  Happy Spring, Happy Easter, Happy family time!!!

Brand Names

We had tons of these eggs growing up.  Boxes upon boxes.  Did I giddily unwrap the foil like Charlie looking for the Golden Ticket?  Nope.  I am proud to say I've never liked them. (Cadbury mini eggs however are a whole other delicious story)

Growing up our house was filled with Cadbury creme eggs, Cadbury chocolate and Cadbury candy bars during Easter.  Why?   Simple.  My dad was a buyer for grocery stores and brought home boxes of candy during the holiday and other food and products throughout the year.

I have memories of all sorts of logo'd paraphernalia from my childhood.

There was the red Armour (hot dogs) knit scarf and matching hat that would totally be considered kitsch today.  My dad's La Victoria (salsa) golf bag.  Numerous book bags, hats and about a million polos, some of which my dad still wears.

There were others for sure, like this gem I found at my mom's house tonight.  I swear this beach towel has got to be at least 30 years old.  'Waste not, want not' is very much my mom's motto.

Just another thing I can hang over my kids heads.  When they want the latest styles or brand name jeans I can just tell them I wore a hot dog scarf to school. 

I win.