Father's Day 2011

Hmmmm. . .Father's Day isn't all what Tom was hoping for. . .but who can control the weather???

Tom had requested carrot cake cupcakes (we've found a great gluten-free mix!) so the girls put those together for him. . .

And the final product:

O.K., not the best picture of Marie ever taken, but the cupcakes were good :)

We were hoping to spend the weekend on the lake.  We even met Tom's cousin halfway (they live almost two hours away) on Friday night to get her son, Patrick, to go with us.  We woke up to storms on Saturday morning and they continued until the afternoon :(

So. . .the older three kids, Nana, and Tom went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides It has a PG-13 rating so Grandpa Fred, the younger two and I did this:

We had a pretty good time. . .here are the scores from the first game:

Look at that. . .Grandpa Fred the big winner. . .and Frederick and Margaret tied for last place.  I made the first strike of the game (?!?) in the last frame so I pulled ahead of them at the very last minute.

Here are the highlights (I was constantly playing with my new camera and its settings so the pictures are not consistent. . .):

 This was a good take too. . .Frederick was NOT happy. . .

Real bowling (well, still using bumpers) is a lot harder than Wii bowling!!!

Ah, we went ahead an bowled another game:

Finally!  A strike!

Everyone but Frederick bowled 100+ the second time :)  Frederick (S on the screen) bowled his strike fair-and-square, though. . .Margaret had a little help with hers:

 Final scores were fun. . .we all topped 100 except Frederick. . .so don't point that out to him. . .

And, this, for sure, will be my June 18, 2011 picture of the day:

Sunday we tried HARD to get to the lake.  Woke up to rain/storms.  In our third grade Sunday School class our prayer request (after the kids had listed theirs) was sunshine so we could go to the lake.  We left church to sun!!!  By the time we got home the sky had turned black.  Plan B was a grilled Father's Day lunch.  We had some snacks and I got the brats ready. . .sauteed the onions and peppers. . .made brownies. . .etc.  After lunch/dinner it looked like we could go to the lake again!  We raced to get suits on, pack some snacks, round up towels, and head out.  When we were half-way there the storm clouds rolled in again :(  We decided to stop at DQ for a treat and see what would happen (we ended up skipping dessert at our main meal when it looked like we'd get a few hours on the lake):

(Patrick, Thomas, Margaret, Frederick, Nana, Fred, Tom, & Marie)

And then. . .guess what?!?  The radar looked clear for the next 2-3 hours so we continued our journey to the lake -- yea!

THIS is a rare, rare picture:

I will truly treasure it forever.

Thomas and Patrick had a blast on the tube together -- so much fun to get these pictures!

 Air!

 Look at Patrick's legs straight up in the air!

Thomas is known for "never" falling off.  Here's proof otherwise :)

Now the girls' turn:

And then Patrick took a quick spin with Frederick as the black clouds rolled in.  In fact, Frederick was a little nervous about going out b/c we had been looking at the radar and discussing another storm.  Glad he took the ride!

Those are enough tubing pictures for the day. . .time to get that boat in and under cover before the storm hits!

So. . .the grand total time on the lake was less then 2 hours. . .but. . .still. . .the dads got almost two hours.  Not exactly the "plan" for the weekend.  Unlike the Bells, who had to travel 300 miles to get to the lake, we *can* try again next weekend. . .and will!

So glad Father & Son could be together for Father's Day 2011!

Fred & Tom

(Yes, both of our boys are named after these two! My dad's name is a part of Frederick's name too.)