Quotes and Misquotes

The kids have said some doozies lately and I feel like they need to be written down for posterity:

T: (very excited) Mom! The vampire squid lives in the midnight zone which is like 500 kilopeters deep!

T: Back in the Civilutionary war....

T: (doing his biz-ness in the bathroom) Mom, I don't know what my internal systems are doing, but they're doing something!

And the latest misheard song lyrics:

Katie thought that Michael Jackson was singing "Willard, Willllllllllard!" instead of "Thriller, thrilllller!" haha

I can't remember which kid(s) thought this, but the song "Safety Dance" where it says "You can dance if you wanna, we can leave your friends behind" they thought it was "you can dance if you wanna, you can leave your pants behind". And now that we've had a good laugh they like to take that song literally when it comes on and dance in their underpants.

And the latest: the song "Funkytown" came on and Tyler got it stuck in his head. Expect he had the words wrong. Instead of "Talk about it, talk about it, talk about it..." he sang "Taco body, taco body, taco body..." over and over for half an hour.

More Pictures!

 I love cooking over the campfire! And this year, I cooked bacon and eggs on the fire...delish!

 The view over our tent

 Tyler loved getting water from the pump. This pump was very fast and powerful. He told me that was because it was red, and red is an angry color. "And the blue one is slower, and calmer because blue is a calm color."

 Katie and James took a  ton of pictures! This one is Katie's.

This is what happens when I ask them to look like they like each other.

 Pretty queen anne's lace

 Tyler's maiden voyage in the canoe. We talked to some random guy and his daughter at the dock and he ended up giving each kid a little ride in the canoe which they thought was the best! Part of me was screaming "You're not supposed to trust some random dude with your kids in a boat!" and the other part of me was like "what is this worked coming to when I suspect some nice guy who is just offering to give the kids a boat ride!?" And it was fine. :) Of course.

 More campfires. The kids scavenged the wood from empty sites and I build the fire. And we all roast marshmallows. Pro Camping Tip O' The Day: Marshmallows are good with breakfast too.

 Lots of playing at the dock, looking for fishing gear

 There were TONS of lily pads and these beautiful lilies

And...drum roll please! I am a long time botanical nerd. From a very early age I would sketch endless pictures out of my Audubon North American Flower guide. This particular flower always intrigued me but I never, ever saw one in real life and always wanted to. When I went to turn a log over to look for salamanders....I found them! Indian Pipe! I was so excited, and you are probably thinking I fell off the turnip truck....but woo! Last year, I found a Jack-In-The-Pulpit in a marsh, and that was also one I wanted to see 'someday"...I'm on a roll! haha

The Triple Surprise Camping Trip: Part One

This summer has been crazy and long and full and we hadn't yet squeezed in a camping trip. Camping is an essential part of summer fun if you ask me (or the kids). However, other things conspired to keep us at home. Last week was going to be the week, but it got really, really hot and humid. No thank you. This week was touch and go because I had some orders to do and life, not to mention camping with three children takes lots of packing. Wednesday we decided to make it happen, on Wednesday. (Surprise #1) I cruised the internet trying to decide where to go, and the packing (and 'when are we leeeeaving?') commenced. We headed out around noon, with Beyonce (our car) loaded up with tent, food and children. Once we set up camp, I cooked dinner over the fire which was the BOMB dot com, if I do say so myself, thankyouverymuch. (recipe courtesy of Dad) Afterward, we headed over to the lake to watch the sunset. I took a picture and sent it to my brother, suggesting he play hooky from work and come join us the next day. Something about a 'boss' and 'work obligations' was thrown around, which is sooooo last Tuesday if you ask me. But alas, he was able to sneak out of work early and come up and spend the evening with us yesterday. The look on the kids faces' was priceless when they saw him walking up to us. (Surprise #2) Also, unbeknownst to the kids, Dad had spontaneously (yes, I just used "dad" and "spontaneous" in the same sentence!!!) decided that he and mom would drive up and hang out with us today. They showed up at breakfast time with donuts! We went to both lakes, then headed out to this really neat historical site nearby. (I'll post about that separately) It was really fun, and I am sure the kids will remember it for a long time! I'll try not to put up too many photos ;)

Cowboys and Indians

The kids like to make up Cowboy and Indian 'shows' for me. They will plan among themselves, then ask me to come out and watch. All their shows have the same characteristics, making them hilariously awesome to watch:

• They dress Tyler up in James' cowboy gear, and Katie whispers in my ear "Doesn't he look cute?" and he does. Skinny little Tyler, with an oversized bandana and holster running around is pretty cute.
• They all grin these happy, cute little grins during their gunfights, which is totally ridiculous given the nature of their 'show' but shows how much they enjoy playing their part in the show.
• When one of them plays "dead" or "sleeping" they peek up from time to time to see what's going on. 
• At some point during every show, one of them (usually Tyler) forgets what they are supposed to do next. First, they try to signal the errant cowboy with "the look". If that doesn't work, next comes "Psssst!!! Psssssssssst!" and if that doesn't work "TYLER!!!! You are supposed to be SLEEPING!!!!" To which Tyler usually replies "oh" and goes on to fake sleeping.
• Katie likes to shoot from behind trees and play it safe (smart girl)
• James likes dramatic falls, so he will have Tyler "shoot" him out of the tree. His fake falls give me heart attacks. 
• Tyler hoists up his holster and/or shorts every 12 seconds, because he is a twig and the holster falls right off his little frame. 
• Tyler is always the last man standing. He never gets shot (the other two told me he doesn't like "being dead"). The other two lay there for dramatic affect, until they decide the show is over.

In other news, only a week and a half til school! (I will resist the urge to add more exclamation points there) School starting is a good thing, because these are the kinds of conversations we've had on a regular basis lately:

James: What are we doing today?
Me: Nothing, just hanging out.
James: But what else?
Me: Nothing, you can play with Legos, read, play outside.....
James: So what are we doing tomorrow?
Me: Going to the Grange Fair and taking a walk after dinner.
James: And what else?
Me: Uh, seriously? I'm taking you to the Grange Fair and a walk. There is nothing else.
James: So we're not doing anything else?
Me: **Runs away screaming**

Also this:

J/K/T: Mom, I want to make a gocart/climbing wall/soccer goal/microwave/working sailboat and I need duct tape/fishing line/plywood/PVC/cordless drill/power saw/unicorn dust to make it. Oh, and I need it RIGHT NOW or I'm going to die. What????? You won't let me use that good sheet of plywood for an ill-conceived plan to build a climbing wall up the side of the tree?!?! You're so mean! What am I supposed to do? I have NOTHING ELSE TO DO!!!!! I'm so BORED!!!!

So yes, while I am incredibly grateful for my kids' creativity and ingenuity, they are driving me nuts with their endless demands for building materials and power tools. They need Home Depot to sponsor them, but until then....school is coming!

Yesterday James caught a cricket. Jokingly, I told him to eat it. His eyes flashed with that 'I'm actually contemplating it' look and I was surprised, since is the self-professed 'mosty gaggy-est Groves child' when it comes to being squeamish. Being the good mother that I am, I offered him a quarter to eat it. He held it up in the air for a moment, and I realized if he actually ate it that I should probably give him a dollar or something, maybe spare him from future therapy for me paying him low ball prices to eat disgusting bugs.  (ha!!) Still, I didn't think he would eat it. He ripped it in half and scrutinized its guts, hanging out for the world to see. At this point, I was cringing like no other at the thought of my baby eating a cricket, but I also knew that lots of people eat crickets and even find them tasty. And I still didn't think he would do it. I am pretty sure you know where this is headed: he ate the cricket. First, he ate the bottom half. And he chewed it. I repeat, he CHEWED it up. Now if I were eating a cricket, I would swallow it whole and be done with it but that's just me. After he finished chomping away, he looked again at the gooey, even more disgusting half of the cricket, threw it in his mouth and chewed it up. There was some gagging, and difficulty swallowing but he ate it and kept it down. Holy moley! And eww! He reports that it was very crunchy, not bad, and its guts were gooey. Later that day, we were having vegetable chowder for dinner, which we eat frequently and James loves. He somehow bumped his bowl and spilled some on the table. He took one look at it, jumped up and ran from the table shrieking pathetically saying 'Its gross! It looks like throw up! I can't eat it anymore! I can't clean it up!' At this point I non-sympathetically reminded him that for the love of Pete, he had eaten a CRICKET that morning and why was he crying over spilled soup. He repeated his tirade and Katie (also non-sympathetically and very sarcastically) said "James, you ate the crickets BUTT." She's a quick thinker, that one.

In other news, after watching an episode of Cupcake Wars, the kids decided they all wanted to make cupcakes...which we did. If you don't have children, let me tell you that baking with children is not a smooth operation nor is it particularly enjoyable per se. But life skillz, man. So we made ye olde cupcakes, let them cool, mixed up the frosting (everyone had their own job) and frosted them. Tyler was in charge of setting up the sprinkle station, which was a bad move. After making cupcakes with kids, I had snuck away to take a much deserved 5 minute break and didn't scrutinize his choices. When I came back, I went to sprinkle my cupcake and was puzzled by the sprinkles he had chosen. I didn't remember buying them, and they didn't look right. And indeed they weren't. They had sprinkled the cupcakes in a combination of blaze orange sprinkles and .......poppy seeds! haha

Farmer's Market

 Last Saturday I took the show on the road and did my first Farmer's Market. I had a lot of fun designing my booth, and I imagine if I continue doing shows I will keep tweaking my display...I already have tons of ideas! :)

 The day threatened rain, and it wasn't super busy but I still sold several items including one of my favorite little dresses! It was also good to speak with other vendors to get ideas and information.

The rain held off til I got everything in the car which was a relief! My lovely parents survived watching the children which made this all possible...thanks Mom and Dad!

Hey, you, is anybody out there???

I had a few funny tidbits that I knew I needed to put up on the dusty olde blog. In no particular order:

Tyler just asked me 'What is that gorgeous smell?' This kid notices smells like nobody's business. Yesterday, he came in and saw the banner I had been sewing for my shop. He said 'That's beautiful, Mom. If I had money I would buy it.' I said, 'Oh, Tyler that is so sweet.' Then he said, 'Well, I don't really want to buy it, I just said that to make you happy.'

Earlier this week, we went to the thrift store. We were cruising through the housewares department with James trailing along behind. I heard him mumble something about 'what is this, oh, it comes off' but I kind tuned him out because shopping with three kids and all. Next thing you know, he comes up to me and says 'I didn't know there was something in it, and it smells terrible.' One whiff and I flashed back to the retirement home. It was the overbearing smell of old man cologne. Ugggggggghh!!! I asked him what he had gotten himself into and he showed me a ceramic pistol. It was an old Avon bottle, still full of cologne the same age as me. From the smell of it, I reckon he splashed himself generously and we carried on for the remainder of the trip holding our noses and teasing 'Grandpa' for his cologne.

And in other news, we had the awesome opportunity to go and visit Grandma last week. The kids and I flew down with my parents and got to see Grandma, along with Aunts and an Uncle the kids had yet to meet. It was lots of fun! One thing we did a lot of was gecko hunting. Here are the statistics for gecko hunting: out of every 47 geckos you look at, 45 of them will run away instantly. The remaining two will taunt you with their googly side eye and smirk as you painstakingly edge closer. When you are near enough to strike, they hightail it for the nearest bush. You lunge, and 9 times out of 10, all you come up with is a handful of mulch. Statistically, it is possible to catch 1 out of every 74 geckos, roughly. I am happy to say I caught about 10 geckos, 4 tree frogs and a giant moth while there. Also, this happened:

Tyler and I were gecko hunting. Every day we were in Florida it was about 100 degrees with high humidity. It was like someone turned the thermostat up to the "Hades" setting and called it a day. And for that I say, thank God for air conditioning! So imagine gecko hunting in that kind of heat, missing 9 out of 10 geckos with a boy who is getting increasingly frustrated with not catching any geckos. The game becomes a high stakes game of catch-the-gecko-before-heat-stroke-sets-in. Not gonna lie. I was beseeching the Almightly God, begging Him to please, please, please let us catch a gecko so we can go back in the air conditioning! It was at once such point that we made a last ditch effort to roust out an unsuspecting gecko. There is a little alcove area in the community center building that has a few palm trees and some grasses. Tyler spotted a gecko and was hot on its tail. I stood perfectly still so as not to disturb the gecko and waited. All of a sudden, there was a crash in the ornamental grass near my feet. I knew that was not a gecko, but what? I leaned over, quietly, to peer into the grass. I couldn't see it. I stared intently, quietly, still hoping that a miracle would happen and we would go home with a gecko. Lo and behold, a hefty bull frog lunged out of the grass and hit my leg. I screamed. It jumped. Tyler squealed, and thus ensued the most ridiculous game of keep-the-frog-from-going-back-in-the-grass while Tyler chased it around. I hopped around doing a jig while Tyler chased the frog around the alcove. The frog was terrified, and rightly so as he had a 5 year old 'with too much love to share' chasing him. (that phrase courtesy of Uncle Ron) Tyler finally, triumphantly caught the frog and held it high. It was at that point that I turned to see two residents looking out the window of the pool at us. I should have taken a bow or something, but instead, the entertainment committee packed up the bull frog and left. I do believe the bull frog survived the ordeal, but probably with more than a touch of PTSD.

And last but not least in this brain dump of a post, it has long been on my list to see an armadillo. I looked and looked last time I was there, but no dice. This time, same thing. Looked and looked, but no armadillo. On the way back to the airport, I saw a dead one on the road. It was kind of disappointing and I was wondering aloud if I could actually count it since it was dead and James, from the back seat, declares "Mom, it counts. You never said if you wanted to see a LIVE armadillo. You just said you wanted to see one." He has a point, but I am still routing for seeing a live one someday.