MEMORIAL DAY PARADE

Sunday was the Saint Clair Shores Memorial Day Parade. It was a tradition when I was little to go with all of my cousins and now it has become on of our traditions as well. Jim set up two tents which made the very sunny and hot weather bearable.

Before we even got to the parade we laid down all of the rules : NO playing in the street, No fighting, and No asking for all of the overpriced crap the vendors peddle down he street. That was until we spotted this too cute for words hat. For $5.oo we had to get it. Jimmy ended up with a Sponge Bob blow up thingy that I'm sure will make it into the garbage some time soon.

Jimmy was very content just sitting in his chair chillaxin and relaxin. He pretty much stayed there the whole time with the exception of picking up some candy that was thrown.

The Fife and Drum are my favorite part of the parade. This year the parade was very short only and hour long - it was a little disappointing . After we went over to Papa Mike and Sue's house for some sprinkler fun, a BBQ and a walk up to the ice cream store. We had a great time and the kids were pooped out by the end of it all.

IT ALL COMES OUT IN THE WASH.

Over the last several years I found my fair share of loose change in the laundry. I consider it my tip. But lately I have been getting little extra " bonuses." I think I need to start checking pockets before my machine breaks one day. In the past month I have found the following:
A $5 bill, 6 rocks from the playground at school, 2 bouncy balls, a pony tail holder, a half chewed sucker stick, 52 cents and a Rice Krispie Treat. I guess I should just be happy I'm not finding worms and bugs.

My kids love to wash the cars, so when Jim asked them if they wanted to help, they jumped at the chance. And I LOVE it when they wash the cars. My car is definitely cleaner when they do it as opposed to a regular car wash. They spend a lot of attention while washing and make sure every spot has been washed twice.

Jen loved using the hose, especially on her dad!!!!

A SUCCESSFUL FISH STORY

Uncle Tom had invited Jim and Jenna to go out on the boat on Saturday. Jenna could hardly wait to jump into her bathing suit and head out. The camera was on a bad setting for this picture, but non the less it turned out cute of Jenna and Cody.

Jen even got a chance to steer the boat all by herself. She was so excited to tell me when she got home. In fact, she must have told all about it at least 5 times over.

After their boat trip, Cody and Jen fished on the dock for a while. I had two rules for Jen (if she caught a fish) before she left the house. Rule #1 WE ARE NOT KEEPING A FISH FOR A PET. NO WAY NO HOW!!! Rule # 2 I WILL NOT BE COOKING THE FISH FOR DINNER.

Jen caught two fish and loved every minute of it. She is now begging for her own fishing pole.

Cody was very proud to show off his fish as well. All of the summer air on the lake wore her out. She fell asleep very fast and slept in until 11:00 am.

WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD ...FINALLY!!!!

The countdown has begun!! Only 4 months, 3 weeks and 3 days until our very own Disney vacation. Jen has been begging us for the last 4 years to take her there and this is the year were gonna do it. She is super excited and can hardly wait. Jimmy is at a good age where he is old enough to remember the trip and he is very much into anything Mickey right now. The date has been set, the reservations have been made all we have to do is schedule the flight and book a character meal and a few "surprises". Feel free to give me some suggestions.

WE'VE GONE A LITTLE BATTY

So this post and the next one should be reversed - sorry. You'll see that last week we went to Cranbrook and while we were there we visited the Bat Zone. One of the first animals we saw when we walked in was this huge sloth. I had never seen one before and was shocked to see it just hanging there. They are truly so ugly that they are cute - if that makes sense.

Sloths spend most of their lives hanging in trees, and only come down every two weeks to go to the bathroom. They are potty trained in the wild and the whole pack goes in the same spot to put off predators. They also are the slowest mammal in the world.

The Bat Zone host a lot of different species of bats. My kids were not overly excited to see them that up close. Normally they will touch anything, but not this time.

The instructor was very thorough in explaining anything and everything about the bats. She taught them the difference between a micro and a mega bat. Mega bats eat mostly fruit and pollen and have huge eyes, while micro bats eat insects and have small eyes. Since Jen can live on fruit alone and has those HUGE eyes, we figured she must be part mega bat. She also taught the kids about their diets and how they communicate with each other. It was fun to see and by the end of the tour, my kids were a little more comfortable checking them out.

Last weekend Jim and I took the kids to Cranbrook Institute of Science. Even though a lot of the exhibits were way above their heads, they still loved it. One of the first things you see when you walk in is this huge T-Rex.

I had to have Jen stand next to the huge T-Rex jawbone. I think it's the only thing that has Jabber Jaws (aka Jen) beat. That kid can talk! It may not be clear, but that doesn't stop her at all.

Jimmy liked the Mastodon. It was quit impressive. They stood 8 to 10 feet tall and weighed between 4 and 6 tons.

And Jen loves anything that sparkles. She enjoyed the mineral gallery and feel in love with this huge quartz. Although they both had fun, I think we will wait a while to go back again and stick to the Children's Science Center downtown which is kid friendly and much more age appropriate.

THE NEW FACE OF COVERGIRL

Whatever Jenevive does Jimmy wants to do, and playing with make up is no exception. He loved getting his hands into something of Jen's while she wasn't looking. Earlier in the day he got into my Victoria Secret lotion, which he lathered himself in and just said " Yum I smell good!" So, when Jim came home and saw his boy all decked out in blue eyeshadow he was not impressed.

This Boy needs a brother - and NO we are not giving him one....EVER!

DAISY CAMP - TAKE TWO

A couple of weeks ago Jen and I went back to Hawthorn Hollow Girl Scout camp. I was totally not prepared for it this time. For some reason, I thought we were going in the first week of June. I was told on a Thursday during a meeting that it was that weekend. I had been very sick that whole week and was not looking forward to being in the great out doors that way. I had debated over and over if I was going or if I would just send her without me. I cried the whole night before about it and Jen kept telling me "I don't really care if you go or not as long as I can go." Sweet huh ?!? The whole morning I kept telling her I am sorry - not that she cared- that is until 5 minutes before we had to leave to meet at the school. She looked at me and said she did want me to go with her. I had to pack everything in 5 minutes and just wanted to tell her no- but I couldn't.

So camp started out just like last year did - RAINING! It did eventually stop and we were off. After about an hour or so, I felt 100% better! I told Jenna I was was so happy she made me go and she looked at me and said " I didn't need you here, I just didn't want you to sit home all by yourself and cry about it ." Again I ask, who taught this child to talk ? The leader had every minutes planned with activities for the girls. Here are a few:

All of the girls made Mother's Day cards for us. They tore up a ton of paper and let it soak in water for a few hours.

Then they placed a screen in a pan and added the paper mixture on top of the screen. They added flower seeds on top and pulled the screen and paper out to dry. When they dried, they wrote on the recycled card which can be planted.

We also went on a few nature walks. None of the girls complained about walking this year which was very enjoyable. One of Jen's favorite things was catching frogs. She wanted so bad to take one home. Too bad soo sad :(

Since it didn't rain the entire time like last year, the girls actually got to have a fire and roast marshmallows this time. It's good to have a sugar buzz in the middle of the day.

Almost as good as eating a smore!!!!!

While we were on another nature walk, we had to find some animal track for a casting project. Jen and I found some really good deer tracks. We poured the plaster inside of a paper ring and let it set for a bit while they played kickball.

You can't tell, but the casting turned out really good. That is a project I would try again.

Jen and some of her friends just hanging out. They loved bouncing from bunk to bunk "visiting".

Just before we left for the horse farm. Mrs Becky and Mrs Kim passed out little metals for the girls. We had a ton of fun this year and can't wait for next year. Thank you for all of your cookie orders which helped send the girls to camp.

Day 2 Horse Camp

On Sunday we left Hawthorn Hollow and went to Red Tails Horse Farm. Jen's troop went there last year and loved it so much that we went again. This was the part of the whole trip that the girls wanted to do the most. It had rained in the morning, so everything was muddy on top of it being a horse farm, the girls were a mess by the time we went home.

The first station we went to was grooming. All of the girls learned about the different brushes, how to approach a horse and even how to put on a saddle. Jen loved being so close to the horse and taking care of it. This was also step #1 in trying to persuade me to buy her a horse.

You gotta love the do rag on her head. When we left camp, Mrs Becky bought all of girls one so they can were it around their neck like a cow girl. My cowgirl has her own fashion statement going on.

Jen got Shalamar -which was the biggest horse- to ride. She had no fear what so ever and just wanted to go. She made sure to tell me before they took off that if she got a horse she could get a pink hat just like the one she is wearing and that she would look cute on a horse like Shalamar. They learned how to make the horse stop, go, and gallop. Every time she came my way she glowed with the biggest smile ever.

During one her passes by, as I was telling her what a great job she was doing, she looked at me and said "See how good I'm doing. I definitely think I need my own horse now." She is persistent.

On our way to the circus

All children have special talents. Some sing, some dance and some are gifted in sports. My children have "special" talents as well. It seems as if they have suction cups on their feet. Jen was very proud to show off her new trick.

It didn't take Jimmy long to figure the whole thing out. By the time I uploaded these pictures, he had made his way to the top of the door.