Summer Camp 2014 - #3 aka Farm Camp

Vern attended year two of farm camp recently. He had a great time as usual. (Thanks everyone!)

My sister did comment "Boy I forgot how boys that age eat." She needed a loan to feed him for the week. :-)

Vern did comment that by the end of the week he was tired of pizza.

Some other activities for the week included riding motorcycles. No Vern did not ride his own!

He also rode 4 wheelers and had some fun with his older cousin.

He got quite a few bug bites in bad places. (You just can't spray that thing....)


Sis did say he fed the animals and did some chores.

Finally they did some fishing. That guy is still in my freezer!

Vern had a good end to his summer and now it is back to learning at school...

Vacation 2014

I debated on which of my blogs I would post this and I decided here this time. Let's get going on our family vacation 2014!!!

Because of all the hail damage and expenses we all decided to go on a smaller vacation this year but in place of fanciness the kids were allowed each to bring a friend.  A very relaxing fun vacation was had by all as you will see by the photos that follow.

First off, as we are driving I just had to have a picture of this water tower. It is the absolute coolest water tower I have ever seen - an 8 ball!~! The water towers around here are all boring compared to this one.

I also "had" to include this photo as it is a joke. On every family vacation we have gone on with Superman he ends up intentionally or not taking us down some spooky out of the way gravel/dirt/other type of road. This year was no exception! :-)

Next we are onto swimming.  I don't know what is going on with this child but she decided eating rocks was fun.

Superman tried and tried but this was the closest photo we could get of all 4 kids looking at us...we got 3. They had a beautiful day to swim while I lounged on the beach in the shade.

No matter what I tried on this photo the blog turned it sideways. Even when I uploaded it was horizontal until I brought it into the blog so we will have to live with the photo the wrong direction. Even with that you can see the kids were all getting along great and having fun with the bunk beds.  NO they did not sleep like this!!!

Next we are going fishing!  We even got the girls to fish and Ann caught her very first fish ever. You can see them holding it here. Right after this shot was taken the fish decided to "beeee freee". He leaped out of their grasp and went flying through the air landing on my second toe spearing it as it landed. Blood gooshed from my toe. Ann's friend ran to get paper towels. I am healing and that was the worst injury on the trip.

Here is Vern with one of his MASSIVE  catches.  Hey ~ at least they were catching fish.

Here is a much nicer sized fish for a photo.

I am including this next photo because I think it is a great photo of Vern's friend!!! He and Vern had a great time doing boy stuff. Yes, we let them do a bit of playing on games in the evening...

I also included this next shot as it is my favorite of those silly boys of mine. They were chilaxin in the hammock. I could barely pry Superman out of the thing!!!

                                     

Next is Vern on one of the zip-lines. The proprietors were very safety oriented and no one was going to fall out of their lines!

Next is a shot of the two younger guys relaxing in that same hammock.  It was the favorite thing to do after zip lining.

And here we have rock eater posing for some crazy reason. No wonder her and Ann get along so well both are drama princesses!

Another zip line shot of the kids having fun.

Here is a nice shot of Ann on the zip line. She of course thought it was not nearly exciting enough. My dare-devil and fearless child.  She is so beautiful in this photo. (Yes I am biased just go with it k?)

I will end with this scenic shot of the lake the kids swam in. It was so peaceful and not crowded. I loved the afternoon we spent here.

Now back to work and reality...vacation is over.

Summer Camp 2014 #1

Summer camp #1

Well Vern is back from his first camp of the summer. This was confirmation camp through the church. As you can see from the photos below it is a lot more than studying the Bible. It is fun together time with great counselors. 

I asked Vern so what did you learn?  His typical response, "Oh stuff I all ready knew like God loves you."

This year they got to stay in a new building - more of a dorm style. This was much nicer than the old sheds converted into sleeping quarters they had in prior years.  Vern did say he did not like his counselor and one time a counselor hit a boy. I don't know what was all up with that but plan on looking further into that.

This week Vern is off to Summer camp #2. I do not know if I will get any photos from that camp out but will be sure to update how it went.

Paddle boating -

Fishing - Vern said they only got to fish for a short time and the other kids kept catching his line. No fish either. :-(

Vern is the second kid on the high ropes. He ended up with a nasty scrape down the front of his leg from falling once.

Zipping down the line at the end - always fun!

 

Shot to death - again and again!

Vern was in a mood today. He got into trouble and was in his room for a while.  I decided I should go in and check on him.

I knocked on the door.

I opened the door assuming Vern would be curled up on his bed.

BAM
BAM

I was hit with two quick shots from the Nerf Shot-Gun.

I fall to the floor from the direct hit.

Vern pulls out the tommy Nerf gun.

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM

I am completely dead now but can't help giggling.

I roll over and the third gun unleashes.

BAM
BAM
BAM

I am dead 3 times over but it put Vern in a better mood so all is well and his anger is gone!

Braces

Well our little Vern has reached that time in junior high when many kids get braces. Vern is one such lucky kid. Here are some photos from that morning.  First we have the before picture. Look at how happy and unknowing he is...

Before braces.

I call this next photo - Clown face. He looks like one of those clowns in a horror movie. He was getting braces applied.

Next we have more installation. They have this down to a science on how quickly they apply those little buggers.

Finally we have AFTER!!!!!  The pain still had not hit yet. That was later that day and for the next 4 days. Vern was sure he could never eat regular food again.

He is used to them now and doing well. Let's just hope he keeps up his brushing and flossing so he doesn't get ugly stains or worse...lose a tooth.

Farm Camp

Rain
Rain
Rain - that was Vern's chief complaint while down at Farm Camp. What is farm camp? Well it was a week visit to my sister in southern Missouri. She has a farm and lots of animals and well it was something Vern just needed with all the drama at home. He needed time away from the older brother and sister that constantly pick on him and tease him. He needed time away from parents nagging him. He needed time to be a boy. That is what he got on his week away.


First he got to shoot a gun. He passed all his hunter safety classes earlier this summer so was allowed to handle a gun.

He also got to milk goats, or as they say down south (Please don't anyone be offended I am just repeating what was told to me...) play with Amish titties. Vern said he had the bucket almost full when the goat kicked the bucket and he had to start all over. Of course the numerous kittens really enjoyed the spilt milk. :-)

Then there was as Vern put it - Gas bag Uncle Scott. HEE HEEEE I think those two had noxious emissions wars with each other with no one a winner!

Vern got to help with all the animals - dog, rabbits, goats, chickens, and cows. He had a blast!

My sister did share a typical Vern story with me. They stopped by the local Goodwill store.  In less than 5 minutes Vern tummy starts to hurt. Then it is I have to go to bathroom...on and on. You get the picture. So my sister gives up and leaves the store. It wasn't but a couple minutes later in car Vern pipes up, "Oh I feel better now!" Vern is NOT a shopper. LOL


Here is Vern getting ready to drive the go-carts.

And playing putt-putt golf.

This final shot is of Vern and my sister (ya she is crazy as I am!) on the trip home. Love them both!!!!

 Thanks SIS for showing Vern a great time on the farm.

Scout camp!

As if Vern hasn't had enough to do this summer... Next he was off to Boy Scout Camp. This is a week of no showers, lots of heat, dirt, and sweat. A boys heaven!

Vern had a good time this year as he took rifle classes. His grandpa Vern gave him a rifle and he wants to use it so needed to take some classes. Scout camp gave him the opportunity to do this. What a great combo! He passed his classes.

He came back happy and we immediately left for Southern Colorado for a family vacation. Yes, I washed his socks before we left :-)

July 4th celebrations

Vern's brother John has a birthday on July 1. He decided he wanted his party on July 3 when the neighborhood was having their fireworks. I said sure why not go for it. So he planned his birthday party, invited people and got a lot of things set up.  Vern and Ann stopped by for a couple hours and fun was had by all. We had good food, drink and game playing.  Here are a couple photos of a type of volleyball game. The volleyball was missing so this huge pink ball was used in its place. I guess you would call it pinkball. You never knew quite where that ball was headed so it made for a very fun game. I had worked up a sweat by the end of play.

Look at this first shot, Vern looks like he is going to kick the ball. He has good height on that leg kick over his head!!! WOW he should be a kicker on his football team. I keep tell him but does he listen? NOOOOOO. John is the tall kid serving the ball and Ann is not in this photo.

Here is Ann. She is in black. It was guys against gals. Yes the guys won.

Finally we have a picture of one of my Gerber daisies on the deck. Isn't it beautiful?

The fireworks were spectacular and went well into the night. Everyone enjoyed the day - most of all John! 

HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy 12th Birthday Vern!

Today my baby turns 12. He is having a birthday celebration month! Last weekend we went to big brother John's college to visit and went out for pizza for this birthday celebration.

This morning for his actual birthday, we had a big breakfast of eggs, sausage, juice and milk. We followed this by opening his presents.

He has yet to celebrate his birthday at his father's house.

PLUS, he wants to have cake for this birthday with his grandparents!
Yep, Vern is celebrating with a birthday month.  It's OK Vern GO FOR IT and I hope the entire month is fun-filled.

Love,
Mom.

80's Day!

Since it was home coming, the kids get to do fun things each day before the big game on Friday. One such day this week was 1980's day. Surprisingly, they both wanted to dress up. Well I jumped all over this as I was a teenager wayyyy back in the 1980's. I knew all the trends up close and personal. Heck I had the big hair and blue eye shadow. I had a blast helping them get ready and of course I had to take pictures.

 

Would you look at all that hair?!?!?!?! 

 

He is B-E-A-S-T.(Vern's word when something is way cool.)

He's sexy and he knows it! (from the song)

 

Vern came home and told me everyone thought he was a drug dealer!

I hope they had as much fun dressing up as I did dressing them up.

Vern's Christmas

Yes Vern and I are here!!!!
Here are some photos from our Christmas. We had a good time with multiple celebrations. I just love family gatherings and enjoyed each one.
This photo is of the boys during our gathering with my parents. We have Superman, Vern, John, and Grandpa. I think Superman is plugged in from the looks of it. Maybe that is how he gets his "super" powers. HA HA.

Here we have Vern opening a gift from our immediate family present exchange. He was in charge of passing out our gifts this year. I think it was the first time ever. He enjoyed it.

You know I would have a story. So this next photo and the one above is how Vern opened most of his presents. He was happy but not jubilant. He liked his gifts but... it was not an X-box.

Que in Vern's sister and the rivalry begins! One of her presents was a tablet. She was SO excited to get this present as you can see below. You should have heard Vern. "WHAT? Why does she get a tablet?????" He frantically looks around for a box like that with his name on. Finding none, sad face appears.

Then to add insult to injury, John received a laptop for college. Vern was beside himself. Neither Santa, nor mom and dad loved him. How could such injustice occur!?!?!?!?!?!!?

Finally way back behind the tree, one of the last gifts for Vern to open, redemption occurred. Santa does love him. A TABLET.  The happiness is in the photo as you can see.

Next we have the dog. She has decided to start practicing her smiles for the camera.  Here she is practicing...

And here we have the full on smile. Look her teeth even show with her new outfit on! I just had to put this in for equality sake. That and her smiling is just the latest thing she does.

Finally we have Vern with all his gifts. I'm glad he ended up with the happy face on at the end. Yes, I spoil my kids at Christmas. They are worth it!