Day 3

Sit by a river. 

Find peace and meaning 

In the rhythm 

Of the lifeblood of the Earth

Author Unknown

Aqua  das Wasser  vesi  nero  vatn  viz  acqua  woda.  Any way you say it, I LOVE IT!  In an ocean, river, waterfall, lake, stream, creek, rain puddle,  pool, doesn't matter.  I can never get enough.    I would spend all day by the sea if I was able.  Or the river, where we spent our Saturday.  Black River State Park to be exact.  With its cool, clear water and white sandy beaches.  Sandy beaches?  On a river?  Yep, and it was wonderful.  It was a little hot in the sun but the water was cool and refreshing.  And the company was made up of family and friends which made it even better.

One of the things the kids like about the Black River is the clay they dig up from the bottom.  You know, clay, the stuff thats brings to mind that scene in Ghost that had half of America wanting to purchase a pottery wheel.  Clay, the stuff that brings to mind the song "unchained melody" that makes you want a pottery wheel, then drives you crazy all day long because you cant get the song out of your head.. Yea, that stuff.  The kids find it then make little figures.  Or in Cody's case, a cereal bowl.  Well maybe not a cereal bowl for adults, more like one for a doll, but we flatter him and tell him his cereal will taste great in that bowl. Or at least his flake of cereal will because that is all that will fit.  But we smile and pat him on the back anyway  : )

Ken and Uncle Mark talking.  I can't hear what they are saying but I have no doubt they are discussing how lucky Ken is to have such an awesome wife.  

 Ummmmm, should I just bite the bullet and go under????  Even though we know Cody won't give her much of a choice.

 No Coors Light umbrella today. We need something a little bigger.  Its HOT!

 Cousin Lauren looking oh so excited

 Uncle Richard, Uncle Tim, Aunt Gina, and Greg

Whose Greg you ask?  I ask too...

 And Megan.  With Bailey. 

Whose Bailey you ask?  I ask too...

 Jon about to throw clay at some poor unsuspecting uncle.  Who, lets be honest,  probably threw it first.

 Party on the river bank

Uncle Tommy hanging out.

 Hail Hail the gangs all here

Does Ken have a shirt on?  Dork.....

All the uncles were able to come to the river that day.  It was nice hanging with Mark, Richard, Tim and Tom,.  And Kathy and Betty.  And their dogs.  And their friends......

Now do what I know you have been wanting to do......... Sing.....

Lonely rivers flow

To the sea, to the sea

To the open arms of the sea

Lonely rivers sigh

Wait for me, wait for me

I'll be coming home, wait for me

Friday

Friday afternoon we spent the day at the beach.  The weather was wonderful.  High 80's, wonderful breeze, and clear water.  No seaweed or jellyfish.  Yellow flag, but thats whatever.  Some pics from our first day.

 Filling up before we hit the sand

 Lovin' the beach

 Chillin' in the shade with his awesome umbrella. 

 She needs some sun.  HAHA

 Actually, Cody needs some sun

 Hitting the waves

 Jon's Pompeii impression

And yet again

Beauty and the Beast

Vacation 2011

Sorry it has been so long.  But finally I have something exciting to post about.  Our Vacation!!!!!  This year we headed to Destin Florida for the first time in a couple of years.  We had a great time with family and friends.  In the next few days I will be posting about it because I really don't want to go into information overload.  But here is a rundown.

Friday:  Arrived at the house around 6am and took a nap.  Then headed to the beach.
Saturday:  Spent day at the beach.
Sunday:  Black River with the family
Monday:  Uncle Tim's for BBQ
Tuesday:  Naval Aviation museum and Parasailing
Wednesday:  Beach
Thursday:  Home

It was jam packed but super fun.  Here are a few highlights.  I will break down each day in the next posts.

 Cody saved the trip by bringing his Coors Light umbrella.  We wouldn't have survived without it.  And yes, he mentioned that every single day.

 The beach bum soaking up some sun.

 Jon took Grandma Duke for a paddle boat ride

 Ann and Cody at the Pier Grill in Navarre

 Ken and Jon 

 Ready to go parasailing

The line was 1000 feet long.  It got scary when the wind got ahold of the parachute

Here we go!!!!!!!

A Turning of the Page

Yesterday Ann's soccer career at SWIC came to an end.  For all of you who know Ann, this was a long time coming.  Unfortunately her and the coach couldn't see eye to eye and as a family we felt it was best to walk away.  So Super Dad went and told Chad he was pulling Ann off the team and it was done.  So now she faces some difficult choices.  While she is thrilled to be away from Chad, she is sad that she will no longer be playing soccer.

But as I was mourning the loss of the title "soccer mom" Ann informs me that it might not be over.  She is going to call the Lindenwood coach today to set up another meeting.  She has friends on the team and they really like it there.  So she is going to see what they have to offer and go from there.

A couple of days ago I told Super Dad that I want all this drama over.  He said "as long as we have Ann, we will  always have drama."  So true, so true!!

Stay tuned for updates.

Old Six Mile Museum

We have a saying in our family.  It's "IF DAD DOES IT, WE ALL DO IT".  And so begins the tale of the resurrection of the Old Six Mile Museum.  Since most of the original members have died off or are old enough to become exhibits in the museum, mom and dad have decided to take over and get the museum and organization going again.  Which I think is wonderful.  However, it is alot of work for them to do alone.  There is a wonderful lady who has stepped up and is doing a great job helping but mom and dad still do alot of work. Which means telephone calls to me and Deb giving us the times and places where they are expecting us to be.

First step, clean up some of the junk that the other people left laying around.  Not junk, historical treasures.  Like 1029393943 hats.  I guess it was spring clinging at some of the ladies homes and they must have brought all their hats to the museum.  And mom has learned that if something has a number the museum can't get rid of it.  More of those "finds" to be posted later.

So enjoy some pics of Ann and some hats

The beret was Ann's favorite

 She could wear this one to church

Who buys a hat like this?  Who wears it?  It looks like something died on her head!

Who's idea was this?????????

I want to know what happened to the fundraising WALKS and who came up with the STUPID idea to raise money by hosting a 5k run.  Why a run?  I hate running.  Hate it.  Hate it.  Hate it.  It's stupid.  I hurt everytime I run and half the time I am hurting the environment by taking so much oxygen out of the atmosphere every time I take a breath.  And I am sure people in Boston can hear me gasping for air every step I take. I blame the Susan K. Koman foundation and the Race for the Cure runs they host.  They make so much money now every charity thinks they need to do this too.  Why not a Walk As Slow As You Can fundraiser?  Or a Take a Break and Have a Seat fundraiser?  Noooooo, lets make everyone run.

Even though I knew I would regret it, I signed me and Ann up to run a 5K to benefit Friends of Kids with Cancer.  Every year my friend Tanya gets a team together to raise money in honor of her son Cole Fisher.  He died of brain cancer when he was 6 years old.  Normally they do a WALK to support the Make a Wish Foundation, but her "team" outgrew that walk so they supported this cause this year.  Figures that this would be the first year I could attend and it was a run this time.  Stupid.  Actually it was a 5k run/ 1 mile walk.  But I was feeling ambitious one day and signed up for the run.  Stupid.  For nearly 2 months I had been having panic attacks about this event which led to some not so nice text messages to my friend Tanya.  She just laughed at me.

But Ann and I did it.  We ran 3.1 miles.  Actually she ran 3.1 miles.  I ran/walked/cried/cussed/moaned 3.1 miles.  I started running, I ended running, and in between I just fought hard not to die.  And I should mention this course as 75% UPHILL.  WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT??????  My wonderful friend Tanya got a very nasty text message when I figured that out. ONE small hill that went down and then it was all up up up up up up.  Stupid!  Who designed this course?  Who thought this would be a good idea????  They better never step in front of my car.  That's all I'm sayin........

On a funny note, while I was running walking, I was passed by some guy in little runner shorts and I thought wow he got a late start.  Wasn't until a couple of minutes later when oxygen found its way back to my brain that I realized I had been lapped.  Stupid runners.

On a phttttt note, while I was running walking, I passed three teenagers (skinny teenagers) who had to stop and sit on the sidewalk to catch their breath.  I wanted to go up to them and laugh in their face and say "I haven't had to stop hahahahahahahahaha" but I didn't think that kind of attitude would befit this type of fundraiser.  But I thought it!

I wish someone would have told me my jacket was falling off.  By this time I was really to tired to notice!

Jon has a job

Well sorta.  I got him hooked up with Jerry's Cafeteria to do some catering with them when they need help.   I saw Colleen Roderick last night and she said that Jon is just wonderful and an extremely hard worker.  She told my mom that she wants Jon working with her all the time because he works so hard.  YAY Jon.  I knew he was, I'm just glad other people notice.  Ann and Cody are starting to help out too.  YAY me!!