Fountain Fun

Downtown Bremerton has a beautiful fountain, so we went downtown yesterday for some ice cream and relaxation.
It didn't take long for Roman to find something to do.

Griffin made it perfectly clear that he had no interest in getting wet, but he did slash around alittle.

Friday we had our first family camping experience. We camped just a few miles from our house at a small state park.



We grilled out at the play ground first. We went with the traditional first time camping food; hotdogs, chips, baked beans and coleslaw.


Our campsite was really nice. It was a cement slab with a fire pit and picnic table.

This was probably the most vital part of our sucess. I had 4 going.

Our tent. It wasn't too bad. We forgot pillows; actually I'm not sure if seasoned campers sleep with pillows, but next time we'll make room for pillows!

As soon as our camp was set up we broke out the only thing we knew for sure we wanted; the marshmellows, graham crackers and chocolate bars!

I'm not a big fan of charred marshmellows.
Monkey see monkey do. When Roman saw my marshmellow catch fire, he tried the same trick, sucessfully. We tried to get him to eat it, but he explained to us he didn't like his marshmellows "camped"

Griffin ate alot of cold marshmellows that night. It was against my better judgement, but he was so happy.
Smores. Mmmmm.

Roman loved his sleeping bag.

If we'd has someone around to video the going to bed process in that tent, we'd likely win a Million bucks. It was a sight to see and I'm sure it gave our camping neighbors a good chuckle. But we finally all got to sleep.

The next morning Rich made a yummy camp fire breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast.

Now 2 days later, neither Rich or I have full range of motion in our necks.

Hopefully we'll take many more family camping trips as a family this summer and try to get a little further away from home next time.

Preschool and a Mad Face.

Summer is in full swing here. It's been unseasonable warm here in Washington. We had a week of 90 deg weather. Now it's back in the 7os and we are enjoying it.
After house hunting for a few months we still have not found a house. The house we want to buy is in short sale and that process is taking WAY too long. We'll resign our rental lease sometime this month. We tired; it's just not the right time for us I guess.

Roman started summer preschool last week. He likes it there so much! The teachers are really nice and it's a fun and comfortable environment.

I had to show you all Griffin's "Mad Face". He makes this face on command when we say, "hey Griffin, show us your mad face," with out cracking a smile. It brings lots of laughs around the house. He does show this face spontaneously on occasion when he disapproves what's going on or feels he's being slighted in anyway. It's very intimidating!

This is where I'm from.

When I was growing up on this farm in Missouri I felt like nothing could be more insignificant. Now when I go back to visit, I feel so lucky to have this farm and this small chunk of the world part of my life. I'm proud to say this is where I'm from.

This is just a snap shot of what my parents see every morning.

Rutledge, MO. Blink and you'll miss it. There is a small general store where you can get a fresh baked loaf of bread, out dated box of cereal, a cheese burger served in a napkin and an ice cream sundae. Then there's the gas station and a post office. The train passes through several times a day to liven the place up a little.

This is where I went to school from kindergarten to fifth grade. There were 2 other kids in my grade, 12 or so students k-12th grade. k-4th grade where all in one room (called the little room upstairs), then the big kids, 5th-8th grade, where all down stairs. We ate a delicious home cooked hot lunch together every day.

Back Home.

We're BaAAck!! After spending 3 1/2 weeks back on the farm in MO we are back home.
Here are a few snip-its from our time back in MO.


Grandma Randi and her boys. Grandma Randi was a true trooper during our invasion. We took over her house and she welcomed us with open arms.


Grandma Randi attempting to sew a quilt, give a horsey ride to Griffin with her leg and trying to avoid getting stuck with a "sharp" (sewing pin) by Roman, who insisted on having full control of the pin cushion.

Griffin and Grandma formed a strong bond. She didn't get too far out of his sight.

Grandpa took Roman fishing and he caught lots of catfish, which we ate for dinner.

It was so fun seeing my girlfriends from high school. I didn't take many pictures besides these. We visited a classmate of mine, Emily and her daughter Mallory. Mallory is 3, drives a pink caddy and has full access to cool pops and does all the driving... good catch!

When Roman got home we told Grandma all about our fun afternoon with Mallory.

Grandma asks: "what did you think about Mallory?"

Roman puts his hand on his chin and thinks a moment, "Just Pretty"

HA!

Mom made these sunflower cupcakes. Very cute and very yummy!

We stayed with Aunt Andrea in St. Louis for a few days. We decided to go to Grant's Farm.

We rode the Carousel....

Andrea will be such a good mom. She saw the fear in Griffin's face before in came out in the form of pure panic... she got him off the horse and they finished the ride in the bench seat. Huge Tortoise

Petting the Guinea pigs.

Baby Goat wanted some of roman.

Fun at Grandmas

Silly...

Relaxing...

Getting Dirty...

Griffin got his first bummed up knee.... the first of many. It's tough being a farm boy.

We took the boys to have ice cream. Roman went many time with Grandpa, but this time was with Grandma and I.

Then we went across the street to a small park.

I thought this would be such a good place for a sweet picture of the boys. It turned out a little different than I had envisioned... as most things in life with kids goes.

Such a sad picture!

I'm not sure why you tell a kid to say cheese when you want them to smile... all of Roman's pictures have this face of him making a CH sound... ug!

No, this picture doesn't exactly scream happiness... but they are together and stationary. What more could I ask for??

My Aunt Gertrude turned 95 years old while I was home. She rode a train from California to Missouri with out a sleeping car at 95 years old. Can you imagine?? I'm really glad I've got just a little of her DNA in me.

We celebrated her birthday with cake for breakfast. The boys were thrilled!

The pictures barely do our trip justice. It was a great get away!