Last Week

 FYI - I started this post MONDAY -- ha!  Just haven't been home much this week. . .what a surprise :)

Better late then never, right?  This is all from last week. . .and I truly didn't realize we did so much until I started this post. . .

Frederick and his best friend, Scott, headed off to day camp.  Again.  It's the same place my other three will be going for overnight camp in a couple of weeks. . .they offer a "day" version for those that are not old enough to stay overnight (or, I guess, who don't want to stay overnight).  It was a full, full week for them!!  They were dropped off a little after 7:30 each morning (by me) and picked up 4:30-ish by Scott's mom each day.  I think they kept them going & going at camp. . .caving, swimming, archery, bb shooting, games, songs, Bible, etc.

Monday morning Nana & Grandpa Fred left after their Father's Day visit and Tuesday Grandpa Foster came down to spend some time with us :)

In addition to Cedar Lake Camp for Frederick, the other three did a Fellowship of Christian Athletes 3-day mini-camp at our local university from 9-12 each morning.  The older two did soccer and Margaret chose cheerleading.  The weather didn't cooperate too well. . .the last day they dodged the raindrops and got into the car looking like this:

 The mud was literally head-to-toe

This camp was over at noon each day. . .and prior to me finding out about the camp (the Friday before the Monday it started and all three begging to go) I had already signed Marie up for our YMCA's annual soccer camp from 1-4 each afternoon.  So. . . .we would leave the university at noon-ish and head straight to the Y.  I packed lunch the first day and another day too and we just had a picnic there at the YMCA.  And they changed if they needed to :)  The camp was for ages 7-11 so Thomas didn't qualify.  It was killing him that he couldn't participate.  So, I finally said, "fine, Thomas, you can ask Coach Nick if you can join in and I'll go inside and pay for it.  But you'll be the oldest one there."  Nick (the most awesome coach in the world!) came up to me and suggested that he keep Thomas as a volunteer to "help out". . .his reasoning was that he also had his older daughter there and these two could take a group and work together with them. . .so. . .we tried it that way.

(Thomas in the green shirt)

This arrangement worked out so well that he ended up volunteering every afternoon (15 hours) then on Thursday and Friday when he didn't have FCA camp he helped Coach Nick with his morning group of 3-7 yr-olds from 9-12 (another 6 hours).  Of course I bribed him with lunch anywhere he wanted both those days -- then didn't get stuck eating at either place either time -- ha!  Grandpa Foster was more than happy to take him to McDonald's on Thursday and Steak & Shake on Friday -- yea for me :)

I took a few pictures of the camp one day. . .Marie is in the orange shirt. . .

 Love, love pictures of my kiddos together

 Coach Nick in the visor

 Thata girl -- leading the pack!

Not a huge camp, but manageable.  Marie learned A LOT and I'm sure Thomas did too.  I think I mentioned in another post that this inspired Thomas to start a soccer notebook at home to remember some of the drills and skills they went over in this camp that he can bring out for the U10 team he and his dad will be coaching in the fall at the Y.

And Margaret didn't want to be left out of the picture-taking (unusual):

Kinda looked like a safari girl, huh?  Later she had Grandpa Foster ALL TO HERSELF and this was just heaven-on-earth to her:

(Well, I've tried to post this picture the other way twice. . .guess you'll have to turn your head sideways -- ha!)

They wanted to go berry-picking but the farm closed at 2 p.m. and they didn't get there until 3.  Bummer for them. . .so it was strawberries from Wal-Mart instead.  Oh well.  And fireworks.  My dad was crazy about buying lots of fireworks while he was here :)

Then, later that afternoon, we had a huge rainstorm.  Here is the view facing the backyard:

 And then the front.  We knew another storm was coming. . .we had already lost our power from a previous downpour (unusual for us)

Thankfully, I had some chicken already marinating in the fridge and Tom's new grill has a gas burner on it, so we were able to prepare dinner completely on the grill -- chicken skewers, I made up some potato packets, rolls, and green beans.  The only thing lacking was the shortcake for the strawberries :(

For the life of me, I couldn't get a picture of Thomas with his eyes open (I was using the flash since the power was out). . .ha!  He was skewering the chicken for me. . .good boy :)

Anyway, here is a pic of the storm:

And the scenes in the garage. . .

Everything turned out great!

And then, after the storm passed, but before the electricity came back on (which turned out to be 4 a.m.!). . .a hot game of Monopoly with Grandpa:

And a visit to:

YUM.

 This place is great.  And a real treat for our family.

Saturday morning we had to say good-bye to Grandpa Foster. . .

And then headed out. . .

Oh, there was another back there too. . .

 Need a hint???

Oh, here's the other kid:

 This is what my dad missed that afternoon. . .

 Margaret & Marie

 Thomas

 Frederick

Thomas finally talked Marie into tubing with him :)

 This should have been a clue that Frederick wasn't feeling well. . .the nap on the boat wasn't all that unusual but not eating lunch and doing this instead. . .ummmmmm. . .

 My favorite place doing my favorite thing (reading. . .this time Greg Iles Third Degree)

Soon after this picture was taken Frederick climbed back on board. . .

(I didn't even realize Tom had the camera or had snapped this photo until I downloaded pictures. . .)  I was checking to see if he had a fever. . .when his BFF Scott (from camp) showed up with his family on their boat and tied up to us Frederick didn't even so much as say "hello".  Scott's dad and Tom took five kids tubing and left Frederick with the moms. . .he threw up all over their boat. . .ugh.  Poor kid.  When the others came back we headed in. . .he slept all the way home and through to Sunday morning.  And what do you know???  Woke up Sunday, no problem at all.  Small bug.  Sheer exhaustion?  Who knows?  Just hate it when one of the kiddos is sick.  No one else has felt bad all week, though, so we're all good.

Sunday after church we went and saw Cars 2.  I didn't like it one bit, but the kids did.  I guess that's all that counts :)  It was a (mostly) lazy day. . .Monday started all over again with YMCA day camp for the older two and soccer camp for Marie and Frederick from 5-7:30 Monday - Thursday nights this week.  Summer is half over. . .can't believe it!!

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.)