What A Catch

What a blast the spawn and I had this weekend. From pitching our newly bought tent, to camping in the cool damp rain, to tying knots, fishing, hiking a good 5 miles, to tearing down our newly bought tent soaking wet! We had fun!

Youngerspawn was out there Friday afternoon, all night Friday night and all day Saturday until about 5 p.m. Then my dad called and asked if he wanted to come over and spend the night with them. He fished, played hard, got all muddy and soaking wet but never tired out. He decided to spend the night with my mom and dad Saturday night. Everyone in the pack knows him as and calls him pigpen. And everyone kept an eye on him. We've had over 12 inches of rain just in the month of August this year and our rivers are over flowing. And we were camping out right on the river's edge.

Elderspawn and I went with our Webelos group. We completed achievements, earned belt loops, built a council campfire and had a blast together.

A council fire. A little lopsided, but boy did it burn good and hot for making S'mores over Saturday night.


The most fun and excitement came when one of the members from our pack, who is an Eagle Scout himself, yells for us all to come over. Then he proceeds to show us his catch of the day. A snapping turtle. The boys thought it was really cool. They learned were taught not to get near one though, as they have very long necks and very strong jaws and can crush your bones should one get a hold of you.


Sorry it's head turned out so blurry but that sucker was in action! That's the hand of the Eagle Scout holding onto it's tail. The only area you can hold onto one where they can't get a hold of you!


Welp, I've got a ton of laundry to do. At least the gear's all cleaned up and put away! TTFN!

Fair Time, Already, Yet Another Day

My mom and I decided to head back out to the fair for a bit today. We weren't out there as long today though. We go every year on Saturday for the delicious grilled bbq chicken dinner they have. ES, my mom and I all got 1/2 chicken with coleslaw, and a dinner roll. I had a baked potato with mine and ES and my mom had french fries. The $7.00 cost of the meal also includes a drink with it and they provide as many condiments as you desire. My mom and I shared our meals with YS as he doesn't eat a whole lot in one sitting. He's more of a muncher. They gave us an extra plate, plasticware and a dinner roll for him. I already had a drink for him. ES sure did some damage to his dinner. He ate all the chicken, coleslaw and half of his fries. I ate his dinner roll and all of my dinner. I sure know how to put away the food!

Pigpen Youngerspawn living up to his nickname. After I took this pic, what remained of that chocolate ice cream cone ended up all over his shirt, shorts and shoes. I said "welp, looks like we have to leave now." In response I get "nope mama, you brought me extra clothes, 'member!?!" This is actually pretty mild though. He wasn't given the nickname of pigpen lightly. He attracts filth. He's all boy! And he's all mine.

Pigpen 2 Elderspawn with the remnants of his chocolate ice cream on his chin. He managed to keep his clothes fairly clean today. A couple of grass stains is all. Today was the first day his sinuses were pretty cleared up. Must have been allergies. Thank goodness. He was all for game playing today as mom didn't have enough money for rides too.



Ponies Youngerspawn taking a leisurely pony ride all by himself. This was the first year he was able to hang on and stay in the saddle without me walking beside him. Elderspawn is past the weight restriction now to ride them. Sniff, sniff. My babies are growing up. I remember the pony rides from when I was a kid. I couldn't get enough pony rides!

A Couple More Pics From Today

Youngerspawn "playing" volleyball. He caught it, threw it over the net and kicked it under the net instead, but that was our version of volleyball. We used a badminton net instead of a regular volleyball net and the poles for it were made out of PVC pipe so it could be lowered.













Elderspawn out on the volleyball field. He looks so thrilled to be doing this. He really doesn't like any sports to speak of.

Pics From Today

Youngerspawn listening to the instructions on how to steer and stop his Cubmobile, but his helmet kept falling off the back of his head. Proper protection at it's finest! At least the cars came equipped with working seat belts!









I got in on the action for one race. They needed another person so I decided to race my own boy.









Elderspawn getting ready to head down the ramp in his Cubmobile.













This is where Elderspawn used his legs to stop, popped a wheelie and got all banged and bruised up.









Back of Elderspawn's calf. You really can't see the bruising below the scrape in this pic because of the flash but it's pretty. I'm more worried about the ankle on his other leg. It's a bit swollen right now, but he says it doesn't hurt and he's walking fine on it.










**Edit** I haven't figured out how that boy didn't break a bone. This morning both legs have huge, dark black bruises on the backs of them. The only thing I can figure out is that he must have gotten his dad's strong bones.