Whoopie cushion joy!

I have never seen Sophie so tickled before! She loved this whoopie cushion..her siblings have taught her well.

Tyler turns 12

For Tylers 12th birthday he wanted an "air soft" party. I have no idea why they call this air soft b/c the pellets really hurt and they are not soft! The kids all went off into the woods and enjoyed shooting at each other for 5 straight hours! I couldnt even entice them in w/ video games. They guys(and 2 very determined gals) all had a great time! Happy Birthday Tyler!

Tales from Tannehill

Well, Wednesday morning we were up early preparing for our 4 day 3 night stay camping in a lovely tent at Tannehill State Park. We were planning on taking 1 vehicle but by the time we left..much later that day...we were loaded down w/ 2 vehicles, 4 kids, a dog, and enough provisions to last a year. Once we were unpacked and settled in we really had a great time. The kids really enjoyed fishing. They kept getting hysterical b/c the fish were so small. The smaller the fish the harder they laughed. Sophie was just wondering around having the time of her life. She rode and rode and rode her little trike! When it was time for bed she did ask for her own bed several times but finally went off to sleep. Thursday morning Bert made us these yummy breakfast burritos and we were prepared for yet another uneventful day. Dawson and Melody came to the campsite for the day around 11:00am. We hiked for a while, the kids (and Dawson) waded in the stream. When we went to explore the furnace we came upon a 5 1/2 foot cotton mouth sunning on a rock. That should have been my first "omen" for the day that things might get a little out of hand. Well, we made it back to the campsite and Bert, Dawson and Tyler went back to kill the snake(Tyler video taped it....it is hilarious). We were all sitting around and Melody and I decided to walk to the little store and get some ice cream...well we heard our second blood curling scream for the day...(no, the first scream wasnt Dawson w/ the snake..it was Sophie..long story). Anyways, the second scream was from EG who was playing in the creek and lifts up her hand and blood is all over it running down her arm. Bert went and got her out(the screams continued) and proceeded to inspect her wound. After he examined it, it was determined she would need it cleaned out and closed up. It was very deep and there was possible glass in her hand(we think the cut was from a beer bottle in the water). So Bert calls a couple friends and gets the stuff to do the job himself. At this point between EG's screams..Dawson vows never to have children. I have felt many times that we are a walking advertisement for birth control! Oh I forgot to mention that Thursday afternoon Laura and her kids also came to camp for the night. So Laura and Melody kept the other kids away while I tried to help Bert w/ EG. It has been determined she has ZERO...even NEGATIVE pain tolerance. I am honestly surprised DHR did not show up at our campsite and take her away, b/c she sounded like we were killing her. Ok fast forward she is now sewn up(actually glued) and asleep, Sophie who has been "nap-less" for 2 days is now asleep and all the adults are holding hands around the campfire singing Cum by Yah. (not really). We did see 3 more moccasins, a beaver and a deer that night...
Friday morning we were up and at em again. Bert made another yummy breakfast. Laura and I chilled and Bert took the kids for a hike. Well, when they got back from hiking we looked at EG's hand and it was swollen to twice its side and had a very angry redness to it....well pandemonium then broke out. Bert said she had to go to the ER right away she has Cellulitis. I was like oh great..when I think of anything w/ the word cellulite in it I am thinking of fat thighs and rears not infected hands, but oh well. So, we start to pack up (quite frantically) well of course then it starts pouring down rain on us!! So we ended up throwing important stuff in the vehicles(kids and dog) leaving the tents and caravaning out of there. Laura took the boys and Sophie home for us so we could both go w/ EG to the ER. Well, they X-rayed, gave her IV antibiotics, talked surgery said if her wound gets any worse they will have to open it up...they gave us a lot of antibiotics to take home, splinted and bandaged her hand..she does have cellulitis..thankfully we caught it early. She has to go back to the hand clinic on Monday. We were in the ER from 1:00-6:30pm. While EG and I finished up at the hospital Bert went back to the campsite to get the rest of our stuff and discovered we had left one of our kids there... JUST KIDDING!! lol. He did go back and get the tents and now we have camping stuff everywhere here at home.... if I ever find my camera again I will post some pictures! Believe it or not...I still love camping!