My First Homegrown Cucumber

At last! A cucumber. Watch me grow.

The Toy Taker

Where is the Toy Taker? I told my kids when they were younger that if they didn't pick up their toys that the Toy Taker would come when they were sleeping & take their toys.

Where is he when I need him? Recently my daughter's room has got out of control with the toys laying around. Yesterday I took on the challenge to clean her room. Before I started I asked God for his help. "Dear Lord, Bless This Mess. "

Then I started. Where do I put these toys? On the bed for now. Then I thought, " What did I get myself into?" "Someone has to do it." So then I continued with trash bags ready for any broken toy. It filled semi quickly. I just hate cleaning the rooms of my kids. Where is the Toy Taker that I told them would come when they where younger? Did he retire? Where is he?
Toy Taker, HELLLLLLP!

The Things We Do For Love

Whew! What a weekend. Saturday started out at a family reunion. (The hubby's side of the family.) It was great to see all the out of towners. Sad to say that we only see them for weddings, funerals & Christmas. The theme was Christmas in July. The kids made Ginger Bread Houses & decorated stockings.

Comic Relief

This is the comic relief of our family. I'm sure there is one in every family. He found a puddle of water to roll around in within 15 minutes after arriving. He also decided to go & see the horses in the woods with my son not too far from the picnic area. They both were told to return to the picnic area, my son listened but Comic Relief did not. He remained in the woods screaming, "Can somebody help me. There are pricklies here." So my husband went into the woods (after pointing out ther poison ivy to my son.) My husband returned from the woods with the Comic Relief in his arms. I started to laugh when I noticed that the Comic had no shoes on his feet. Ouch!!!!! I can only imagine what othe trouble he got into after we left. Oh yeah! My husband informed me that the Comic Relief helped pack their family cooler. Hubby said there were many interesting things noted in the cooler. I will leave it at that.

We said our good byes a little earlier than the other family members. We were off to Wheeling WV. Many family members asked why. I told them we had a previous commitment. I didn't want to tell them that we were taking our 9 year old son to see the WWE. Like I said, the things we do for love. He has got his 7 year old sister hooked also. The look on their faces was priceless. I do have to admit that some of events are entertaining. I know I couldn't do the acro or yogo moves that some of the Diva's do. Not even when I was in my youth. Kudos to them.

Sunday we were off to Kennywood with the nieces & nephew (that we rarely see do to unfortunate circumstances). That is a story for another date & time. Thanks to my mother in law for making these memories possible. My daughter is now loving roller coasters. She rode The Phantom's Revenge for the first time & loved it. She was braver than my 13 year old niece.

The night ended when we closed the park at 11pm. Gram was tired & had an hour drive home. We found out Monday morning that she didn't get home until 2 am. She had a flat tire on a dark highway with grandkids in the car. Not what she needed.

Led Zeppelin, The Ride

What an experience!

Welcome to the Hard Rock Park !

The Hard Rock now has a theme park located just off of US 501 in Myrtle Beach. The theme park opened this spring & has many things to do for all ages.

The parking lot & park lacked the typical crowds. This was an advatage, we parked close to the enterance & we were able to ride the lines over & over again. I guess you can contribute this to it being the first year & tourists are set in their ways of visiting the same attratctions likeBroadway at the Beach & Barefoot Landing.

The park has several different theme sections:

Rock & Roll Heaven
British Invasion
Lost in the 70's
Born in the USA
Cool Country

Favorites:

Led Zeppelin- Located in Rock & Roll Heaven. My son's favorite ride. This rollercoaster that sends you 15 stories high, 65 mph and loops six times, all set to Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love". Video cameras are in each car & records every emotion of the experience.

Maximum RPM- Located in the British Invasion. My daughter's favorite. While waiting in line, (there was no line when we were there) you can do karaoke. Once you are on the car, you are take on a ferris-wheel-type steel structure that lifts cars and riders up into place for their roller-coaster ride drop. And I'm talking a steep drop. There is also a speedometer that show the speed of the coaster. I noted 162 mph on our last ride for the night.

Life in the Fast Lane-This is my favorite. THis is about 2 minute-long ride & the longest coaster ride at the Park. You can enjoy the Eagles Life In The Fast Lane audio during the entire ride.

Some pictures from around the park.

http://www.hardrockpark.com/

Unbelievable Beach Sites

This is the same woman. Notice that she changed suits. She has one for the pool & one for the beach.

WOW! is all I can say.

Only In West Virginia

This picture was taken in Oak Hill, WV. My 7 & 9 year old kids laughed for about 30 minutes over this "In" sign at Wendy's.

New Use for Bubble Wrap

I am packing for vacation. Checking my checklist. Making sure we have everything, down to the outfits that we want to were for our family picture on the beach. I want the picture perfect for that Christmas Card.

Well, reality set in last night evening when my daughter escorted my crying son in to the house. She told me that he fell off the neighbors trampoline. Once I assesed the damaged (wasn't as bad as I originally thought) I applied ice. Oh yeah, the anatomy that was injuried, the area under his left eye & bridge of nose. Now he has a nice shiner for that perfect picture. I guess I will have to invest in Photoshop.

I told the kids next time we are getting close to family picture time, I am going to wrap them both in Bubble wrap.

Summer Time

Is it me or has it been a rainy summer in the Burgh. We installed our swimming pool 5 years ago. It doesn't seem like we have been using it like previous summers.

Count Down to Vacation

The mood in my house this week is excitement. We all are preparing for our departure to Myrtle Beach. Call us crazy for driving. The 12 hour trip shouldn't be so bad, we are breaking it up over 2 days.

Today we took a trip to the post office to stop the mail & then headed out to Walmart. Last minute things to pick up, like flip-flops for my son. He is into Ironman this year & found a pair of flip-flops with Ironman on them. "Mom, can I get them?" he asked. Of course he could get them. He couldn't find a pair in his size. Why? They don't make mens shoes with Marvel super heros. This is when reality set in. My baby is growning up toooooo fast.

Don't Blink

Take a listen....... I just love the song. It gets you thinking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4ySSg4QG8g

Young Entrepreneurs

Today my kids decided to become entrepreneurs. My daughter wanted me to make muffins to sell. I asked her "Who do you plan on selling these muffins to?" She replied to the neighbors. She continued to ask me to bake & I replied "Later "& then "It's too hot today." But she was so determined to do this & it had to be today. I guess I'm just a sucker & I made Banana Nut Muffins.

I made only a dozen. She couldn't wait for them to cool, when she & her brother where out the door with muffins in a plastic container which only would hold about 5 muffins. I watched out the window as they walked up the street to a few houses.

They returned about 15 minutes later & were very excited that thay sold 5. We then had a quick math review by counting the bills & coins that were in the baggie. They made $4.90. Not bad for 5 muffins.

A few hours later she filled the plastic container on her own & asked her brother to go with her to the neighbors that were not home earlier. Four more muffin sales, total sale for the day $8.90. Not a bad day for these young entrepreneurs.

What did you do for the 4th of July ?

We kicked the day off by watching the life of John Adams. What an interesting man. It brought a smile to my face when my son asked so many questions about the movie. It consists of 6 DVD's. We are on a waiting list at the library for discs 3 & 4 (Blockbuster was out).

I learned some interesting facts today. Both John Adams & Thomas Jefferson both died on the 4th of July, exactly 50 years after signing the Declaration of Independence, only a few hours apart.

Adams & his wife Abagail had 4 children. They lost a son to alcoholism & their daughter to breast cancer. What an ordeal for the daughter. She had a breast remove without any anesthesia. Only a shot of whiskey. And I thought 24 hours of labor was bad.

This is a must see !

HAPPY 4th of JULY !

God Bless America !

Happy 4th of July

The birth of our country, what a wonderful day.