Random Ramblings of Ridiculousness

• First of all: bullet points. The laziest blog trick ever. Remedies the need to come up with classy transitions between not-so-classy and completely random subject matter. Moving along...
• Tyler. He has survived til his 4th birthday which I feel is a feat in and of itself. This past week we were at a friend's house (who hasn't been around Tyler) and I looked over to see him crawling across the top beam of their rather tall swing set. I told him to get down and he kind of froze and called for me to come help him. As I walked toward him he remembered he was, indeed, crazy loco and crawled back down himself. I went back to sit down and my friend said 'Well, now that you've had a heart attack!' And it struck me funny, because I hadn't even worried about it. It was all in a (Tyler's) day's work. 
• This week Jeff and James went to what I call 'Man Camp' in the Adirondacks in New York. It was a Father/Son camp. They went kayaking, boating, canoeing (hello, boats!), caving, rock climbing, hiking, archery, target shooting and who knows what else. In other words, I considered shaving my head and passing myself off as someone of the male persuasion because it sounded really fun. I think the highlight for James was catching an 18" wide-mouth bass!! He has been wanting so badly to actually catch a fish. Apparently neither of them made use of the camp showers because James came home covered in enough dirt to plant 'taters. 
• My garden has turned into an overgrown, hairy beast. With all the rain we have had, combined with my lack of time and/or mental capacity, it has become an lush forest of scantily-trellised tomatoes, rambling volunteer pumpkins and enough weeds to keep the chickens busy for weeks. I am taking a very laisse-faire approach this year. I'm not weighing anything, I haven't planted anything in succession. And there are probably monster squash lurking somewhere in the overgrowth. 
• I took Katie and Tyler to Cracker Barrel for a 'date' last night. Tyler ordered a pancake and when she brought out the syrup, he proceeded to pour a little more than half on his pancake, think better of it and chugged the rest, straight from the bottle. My friend Erin pointed out that he really is the poster boy for 'Carpe Diem!' and she is right. Go big or go home is his motto. And due to his charm and cuteness, the waitress brought he and Katie their own bottles of maple syrup to take home. 
• The dragon: everyone at VBS seemed to like the dragon. Someone (and not a kid!) actually requested the dragon and I thought he was joking. After all, it is a giant hulking mess of cardboard and trash held together with a metric ton of hot glue. I realized he was serious when he said he had space for it and wanted to use it for Halloween. His wife was not so happy and reminded him that they could 'just walk away, right now! We don't have to take it!' But he didn't. He really wanted that thing and as I was leaving I saw it wrapped in a tarp and hanging out the back of his minivan with various bungee cords securing the works. Just as well with me, because I never want to see it again!
• There are two women at church who have horses/ponies, so this year during the picnic they gave out horse and pony rides. It was really a kick seeing horses at church and the kids loved it. Well, most kids. After waiting in line an obscene amount of time, Tyler (of all people!) freaked out and wouldn't go. Katie, however, rode the pony and had a lot of fun. I really wanted to somehow get in on the action and ride a horse but no one would give me a wrist band. Boo!
• I have been informed that some anonymous member of my race team (ha, ha...I am running in a race. Fun run? Something like that...) as decided that since it is called Jog n' Hog and it is a pig theme, not only are we to suffer under the dubious moniker of 'Desperately Hoggin' Housewives,' but we are also to do it wearing hot pink tutus, bright pink tank tops and pig ears. I think I hear my mom calling. But hey, at least my shoes will go with the theme!