Final Countdown

Well today marks the 1 month mark until we depart on our grand excursion. We are heading to NY again this summer via one lengthy road trip. Our route will take us to Harrison, Arkansas to visit Gene and Sue; Evansville, Indiana to see the Evansville Otters play; Pittsburgh, PA for the Pirates; and then on to Oswego. Of course the fun doesn't stop there because we will only be in Oswego for a day before we head to Old Forge, NY in the Adirondacks.
We won't get a chance to see the McKinney or Nguyen Clans this year as they are both on their own family voyages but wehave some special visits lined up. The first will be with Allen (one of Rick's college buddies), Barb (my buddy by marriage) and their two sons Everett and Henry. It has been a few years since we have gotten to see them despite our constant desire to get up to Chicago so we are very excited that we were able to work out a meeting.
And perhaps the biggest summer vacation coup of them all - LJ in NY. Not sure what she had to do but she convinced her parents that a week in NY with her peeps is what she wanted. I think the boys are torn between the excitement of seeing Nana and Grandpa (who in their words just built the coolest deck - sorry Rick) and LJ. We are also excited about the possibility of an Ed and Paula visit to the Adirondacks. It will no doubt be an enjoyable time.
I don't even want to start thinking about the ride home but you can rest assured it involves more baseball.

I will be around but between work and getting things ready over here my posts may be few.

Celebrating 90 Years

We got a call a few weeks ago from Rick's aunt letting us know that his Grandpa was turning 90. They had organized a small get together at the church in Okmulgee. 90 is a huge occasion and reason to celebrate. I remember going to Buffalo when JT was about 18 months to celebrate my grandfather's 90th. So we packed up and headed north to Oklahoma for a quick weekend visit.

We spent the weekend with Rick's Aunt Diane. Her house rocked the boys world because she has a trampoline, a HUGE yard, and she offered (without caring for parental approval) giant sized candy bars and all you can eat Twinkies. And if that wasn't enough, Rick's cousin Adrian has a large, bountiful garden that the boys were mesmerized by. I think we all felt a bit ashamed by our relatively feeble attempts (in comparison) and no doubt some changes will be made next spring.

We made a quick stop in Norman on Sunday. We had hoped to spend more time walking Rick's old haunts but we got a call from our sweet pet-sitter that she had locked herself out of the house. We made a mad dash to get ourselves out the door and got about an hour towards Texas when she called to let us know they found a way in (keeping a secret exactly how that happened). We decided to make the trip to Norman but had to do some serious back tracking. We managed to roll in to town with about an hour before most of the stores closed and getting everyone some new Sooner gear.

Here are a few shots of our weekend.

Jody with his cake.

Three generations of boys.

 The boys picking beans, squash, and cabbage from the garden.

sore piggies

I admit that there have been several nights in my past that I've sat on the couch, eating ice cream and watching people work-out on The Biggest Loser. I admit that we have watched a few seasons and each season the contestants are asked to do this crazy exercise where the trainers start them on a treadmill and then crank up the speed super high and make them run for 60 seconds. Rick and I always talk about wanting to try this but really, who wants to be at the gym and try this out? This is one of those that you have to do in the privacy of your own home.

So this weekend, we were in Oklahoma for Rick's grandpa's 90th birthday (a post on that in a few) and we stayed with his Aunt Diane who just happens to have a treadmill. The boys were monkeying around and Rick turned up the speed a little with the boys on it and I made a few mom comments about being careful and then jumped in the shower. So let's go ahead and point out some red flags here: Rick showed the boys how to jack up the speed, we both walked away, and neither boys had shoes on.

The next thing I know is that I hear screaming, I hear Rick yelling, I hear hysterical crying. I get out of the shower to find Zachy lying on the floor crying. Rick said he walked in to find Zachy basically flying on the treadmill as JT had hiked it up as high as it could go and Zachy was holding on for dear life. He came away with minor injuries, swore he couldn't walk for a good hour (I honestly don't blame him), and it was almost impossible to bathe him for a day without screams. Luckily there were no trips to the hospital but his feat do look a little worse for the wear.

Here are his poor little Fred Flinestone feet.

And the best news is that he prefers to wear flip flops so no need to stress about wearing shoes.

swimming

Things have been a bit hectic over here between the end of school, loads of work, end of baseball (with continued drama ), and just life in general. I promise to get back on the blog horse shortly with a few posts I have from this weekend.

A quick update on things while you wait:

JT - graduated with flying colors from 1st grade. He did a remarkable job and is on a reading frenzy. It is so much fun to listen to him read, watch him read, and watch as he expands his experiences because he can actually read. He has also been kind enough, when the mood strikes, to read to his brother. We are also the lucky foster parent of the 1st grade red-bellied toad. When I went to buy crickets, the pet store employee informed me that they don't like to live alone, which meant I spent $5 on a new toad. I haven't noticed any wild toad parties and for the most part they stay on opposite sides of the tank so I believe the lady pulled my leg.
We are not playing All-Stars baseball this year but we are on notice for a Select Team should they be short players for a tourney (we have yet to be called up much to JT's chagrin) and I signed him up for a 4 day baseball camp hosted by the Pflugerville high school baseball coach. He is going with his baseball buddy Rhys and is very excited. This is our first sporting camp and I have a strange feeling we will be seeing many more.

Zachy - well what is there to say about Zach? He is such a card. He is infuriating and cute all at the same time. On a recent visit to DQ with the Basharas, Zachy was a bit unruly and after several warnings he finally quieted down. Of course after a brief moment of quiet, his little head popped up over our booth (yes, we pretended we were kidless and made them sit in a separate booth) with a napkin wisely constructed to form a beard and announced "I am God! God is at DQ eating ice-cream!"
Zach has taken to swimming more than ever this year. He is a total fish and he appears to be past the puking in the pool stage (awesome!). Zach has been very frustrated at the Y pool though because they won't let him out of the kiddie pool without passing the swim test and supposedly you have to be 5 to take the swim test. This means he misses out on the slide and using the giant, inflatable obstacle course they have set up. Even more frustrating is that we have watched older kids, who can't swim half as well as Zach, get their swim test bracelets.  I told Rick he should just lie and say he is 5, so last week Rick took Zach to the lifeguard and asked if he could try the test. Unlike past lifeguards, who have asked his age first, this one told Zachy the instructions and then asked him to jump in. Instead of stopping the 1/2 way point and turning back, Zach proceeded to attempt a swim of the length of the pool. The lifeguard stopped him and told him he could swim back. Upon successful completion, she asked him his age and he proudly said 4! Rick quickly mentioned that his birthday is just a month away. Rick said she paused to consider but  now Zachy has his own bracelet and can go down the slide. Although I have some reservations, I am considering letting him try swim team next year as I think he would love it.

So that is it for now. I'll get a few recent photos posted later along with a great Lucas Boy traumatic event. I have to get photographic evidence of the injuries sustained first.