Green Meadow Flies Again

It took awhile, but we are catching air again!!! Do to a stellar line of credit, the family picked up yet another tramp. No offense to the original, but the new green round one is pretty much the coolest toy, we could find for summer (short of a sweet sailboat, but the stellar line of credit only goes so far).
Built by a serious construction crew, last Sunday, the first real test came this morning. All four gymnasts took the the sky, in an effort to test performance. Even in the summer rain, it threw them true and straight and all is well.
Consultants have requested that we bury this one, so no storm can defeat us. That may require planning, as the hole will have to be pretty deep, to accommodate Dad's triple back rolling spread flip. He tends to catch grass. This is probably do to physics we don't understand, cause it sure can't be his mass alone. We will update you on the progress of the hole.
Moving on for now...Mase just touched a cloud.

Things we missed...

Since we last met...It has come to my attention that some things got missed in the past few weeks and the public is clamoring for more, so as to not disappoint the fans, here is an update.

Emma: Miss Emmy spent a week at camp, not so long ago. Although she was tried by mosquitoes the size of a small moose, everything went quite well. While Mom, kept track of her store purchases, using on-line technology, we discovered her love of Powerade and caramel apple suckers. Not sure if she was using the suckers for currency, much like cigarettes in prison, but she sure bought a bunch. Anyway she made it out alive. If you talk to her ask about things like "the Blob", zip lines, and how to shower everyday, but never take your new soap out of the box. Note to Emma: when showering at camp at least get your soap wet, so Mom does not discover it in the box.


Matt: Let's see... Matt is soon attending soccer camp and swim lessons start this week. He was put in the "swims like a dolphin class", so I am sure he will find this very fun. He is almost the size of a small Amish barn now, and weighs more than two Allie's. He is spending the summer working on his wit and charm, so as to match his Dad. Matthew just returned from Grandma and Grandpa R's where he spent much time buried in a cold flowing river. The only goal being soaking Dad, while mocking him. Nice work, Matt.



Allie: Our dancer recently put on quite a show during the season ending dance recital. Our butterfly swooped across the stage and shook the curtains, causing a stir throughout the crowd. We are packing for Las Vegas, as we are sure her career will be taking her there soon. Allie is in the middle of her swim lessons and is considering some deep diving to go with her vastly improving free style stroke. We will update shortly on her Olympic status.




Mason: Our Mason continues to run to the beat of his own drum. He also will be attending swimming soon and soccer camp. We are hoping he escapes soccer with no cuts and bruises. Check that. We are hoping his opponents escape soccer with no cuts and bruises. Mase will be fine. He spent his weekend playing with his cousin Brayden, while up north. Many people notice similarities between the two, which may or may not bode well for Brayden. Mason always keeps us guessing, being a little fireball.




Brooklyn: Our pooch grows and grows and grows and smells...Comparable in size to a small Grizzly bear cub, Brook is working on her stench and is getting quite good at it. It enters the room before her. She spends most days staring out the back window, waiting for pal Jackson, to come play.




Leia: The cat has been gone almost all summer. Wishing her the best while hunting.

Michele: Hold the phone, Michele is changing class rooms. Due to a fellow teacher moving on, she is grabbing the room she has wanted for awhile. She is also very excited about her good buddy getting the open position. Not sure how that will play for our house, as their excitement grows and all we hear about is school, school, school. 6 weeks till school...will update accordingly.

Ben: Hmmmm.... well, he works. Then talks about school. Plays with Stinky the dog. Then talks about school. You get the idea. Sometimes he gets to help coach basketball, which makes up for all the rest. Then he talks about school some more.

We will continue to update as we see fit. Or if Brooklyn somehow smells better, that will be worth writing about.

The First Camp of the Season...

Summer has come to Green Meadow....And this certainly means a camping trip with Grandpa and Grandma R. The males from the house set out on Wednesday to assess the dangers of the wild and scope out where the bathrooms were. Our tent was set in the midst of tall thick pine trees, in a remote inlet, just off the coast of Lake Michigan. A truly remote spot, indeed. Nothing but fresh air and nature. Well, and the low flying jets overhead and the large fifth wheel camper parked next door, in case we needed air conditioning or a movie.
The largest beasts encountered happened to be pure Michigan Mosquitoes. This year's crop, grown big by the spring floods, carried daggers and appeared very hungry. Our inventory of Deep Woods Off 99% Deet Maximum Bug Killer Extreme rapidly declined.
The females arrived a day later, with our Brooklyn in tow. This was her first camping trip, and she did quite well (Puking in the tent and pooping at the playground are acceptable on one's first trip. The smells, however, were borderline unacceptable).
Our whole clan took to the water, as evidenced by the pictures. With water temps hovering around 60, the older family members took turns suffering in the deep, while the younger people hardly ever left the water. We realize this makes no sense, as body fat acts as an insulator, and Dad should have been pretty warm (what with his extreme neck fat), but sometimes logic makes no sense. Matt once again proved he is part fish, and did not leave the liquid for nearly two hours. We hope the feeling returns to the lower half of his body, sometime next week. Mase and Allie took time to sunbathe and work on their tan. Emma made sure to play with the lake bottom and experiment with how much mud she could bring up from the bottom in one hand full.
The beach trip was cut short, when Grandpa ran out of sticks to continue his building project, which looked something like a mix between a sand castle and a burial ground for mosquitoes (Yes, they followed us to the beach). We moved on to the campsite, where treats were eaten and large campfires burned bright. Grandma busted out one of her better campsite stories about a lizard, or no, a snake, err..maybe it was a monkey...well, anyway we loved it and the kids competed to find out who could carry the largest amount of marshmellow on their face, not in it (For the record, Mason can smash four and a half marshmellows and stick to his lips, nose, hands, and knee. Don't ask).
We set out for home the following day, swelled up with bug bites and smelling a bit rancid. We spent the afternoon buried within our air conditioned basement enjoying all that home's comforts have to offer. Within a few days, we will be ready to go again and Emma is really setting out Monday, for summer camp. We have contacted NASA about space age bug repellents for her and the suit of stitched together trash bags is coming along nicely. Hopefully, it will be ready.
Don't worry about Brooklyn, we will be waking her up sometime soon. The bedroom is starting to smell like camped out dog.

All about me by: Emma

I am a very good softball player and volleyball player. I am going into 5th grade and am 10 years old. I enjoy writing stories, scrapbooking, playing sports, and driving the quad, but I hate shopping. When I am in highschool or collage I want to be a waitress or work at a store. When I am out of school I want to be a interior decorator.
I have 1 sister and 2 step brothers.
Allie is always crying.(I think she would be a good actor)
Mason is always playing adventures and acting very tough.
Matt is so lazy, either playing video games or watching tv.
At the end of the day we all come together as 1 big happy family!

Rest in Peace...Our Trampoline

The summer tramp season kicked off with a hot day on June 7. One of our favorite pasttimes includes hose spraying, while we jump. We busted out our newest moves; a few being, the forward hand spring, double backwards inverted twists, and the infamous triple rolling Norwegian sowcow (which has rarely been attempted, and even more rarely landed). We also had plenty of time for some good butt bounces, while covered in cold water. The jumping action was righteous.

However, come the night time, our season drew to a close. As a Category 7 hurricane/tornado/monsoon, poured down over us and blew us back a couple years, the hand of God came to Green Meadow. Now we aren't saying it was something other than a harsh wind (although any idiot realizes that a 500lb tramp takes a 400 mile an hour wind to move. Seriously, we have done the math.), but our summer play toy, was picked from its yard and deposited about 150 yards away in the neighboring corn field. Yes, that's right this picture shows our tramp, a long way away, right side up and ready for jumping action, sort of. While we slept in the basement, all cozy, the good Lord saw fit to flick His thumb and knock us out of the summer jumping season. Now we figure there was reason for this debacle, but there sure were some disappointed faces staring out this morning. Oh well, at least we can laugh about it another time. And we have no water damage (sorry Sikma's, let us know how we can help).
So goes our summer season so far....as for future radical thunderstorms, bring it, we're ready for ya.

Party like your Ten!

Aloha, people... turning ten was just as cool as hanging ten.

While the boys were mud'in, the girls were involved in a sweet party to welcome year number ten for Emma. Ladies, from all corners of the area, descended on the home enjoying cool tropical drinks and hula skirts. Makeovers were had by all, except the cat (cause she was eating birds), and everyone enjoyed themselves. Bedtime came at just before the sun came up, Saturday morning. The party just kept going till midday. As the first time Emma has two digits in her age, all the stops were pulled out, and the house rocked the whole time. Aloha, peace...

"Accidental" Mud

When in the course of events, a young man finds dirt and water, it becomes clear that tests should be done. Tests that will help determine consistency, texture, and moisture content of the subject. On Saturday, May 24, the Randle boys, while holding a " boy day", found mud. Dad took it rather well, and ran the first test, finding the subject to be quite wet. The test was conducted using Grandpa's four wheeler, which will probably never be the same. Both Matt and Mason, did their best to avoid the mud hole, but unluckily "fell", into the mess. The day quickly took a turn from there. Grandpa, Uncle Bry, Uncle Mark, and Uncle Dan took turns egging them on, while the boys took advantage of some little known boy rules. According to these rules, once you have become soaked in mud, all bets are off. Matt, Mase, and their buddy Brandon took turns testing the mud's weight, and how far they could throw it. While Dad and the boys made numerous trips through the muddy stretch and then soaking in the river just down the trail, it became clear this was the stuff of memories that will last a while. We attempted to enjoy a "boy weekend", and left with high spirits, even though I think we broke Grandma's washing machine, trying to get the mud out...it was an accident.