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...