Wordless Wednesday

S is for...

SWIMMING!!!!

Frank and Lois got a pool for behind their house, and the kids couldn't be more excited!  They loved getting in the other day, and splashing about.

Marianna was excited to be able to touch the bottom!

Frankie was "really" swimming!

Reyna "Ariel" Mazza

Baseball and Fireworks!

It doesn't get any more American than baseball and fireworks.  It was a beautiful day out in the cournty for both.  After dinner of hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, we had a family game of baseball.  Everyone got a turn to hit, and field.  It was a great day, and we did start to laugh that we really had enough memebers in our family for a baseball game. 

Anyone want to take on the Mazzas? I dare you!

After the ball game, we started to light of fireworks.  Frank and the boys put on a really good show (minus the tank that came right at the ladies in the audience).   We had a nice mix of up in the sky, and some of them on the ground.  Frank picked out special things for each of the kids.  Frankie got some parachuting fireworks.  They were really cool, but VERY hard to take a picture of.

Marianna loved the sparklers

Reyna loved them too, as long as she didn't have to hold anything.

Beginning of Grand Finale

Middle of Grand Finale

Frank getting ready for the girls surprise

A floating light, from the movie Rapunzel

A Grand Ol' Parade!!

Waiting for the Woodstown Parade!

For the past few years we have made a tradition to go to the Woodstown Parade.  (Here we are in 2008, 2009, and 2010...it is fun to see go back and see how much the kids have changed.  It does go by quickly)  We love the Woodstown Parade, because it is a simple small town parade, with firetrucks, tractors, and the most important....CANDY!!  (The kids know this parade as the "Candy Parade", and they start asking in the middle of June, when is the "Candy Parade" coming?)

This year we weren't disappointed!  We saw every firetruck from the county, (seriously, I hope there isn't a fire on July 4th from 10-12...you are out of luck!) saw lots of tractors, and got 2 lbs of candy!  What a great way to start off to this day!

Marianna waiting for the candy

Minor league Wilmington Blue Rocks mascot "Rocky BLUEwinkle" 

Walk back to the truck with our goodies!

Panning for Jewels

On the way home from our week long camping trip, we for a tour of Penn's Cave.  It is America's only all water cavern.  So we climbed down those 45 stairs behind us, and got on a boat and took a trip through the cave.  I enjoyed watching the kids find the figures and shapes in the stalagmites, and stalactites. 

Getting ready to go down to the boats.

On the boat ride, heading back to the cave.

After our cavern boat ride, we panned for jewels.

We got some dirt filled with gems.

Frankie starting searching for his treasures.

Princess Marianna knew what to look for.

 

Frank had to help Reyna...

but not for long!!

Raystown Lake

This past week, we spent camping on the shores of Raystown Lake in central PA.  It was a very relaxing week, sitting on the lake side, and relaxing.  When people ask what we did, I usually say, we didn't do much...just looked at the water, but after looking at the pictures, I guess I should change my statement.

We took a boat ride...

and swam in the lake.

 We swam in the pool...

and in the splash park...

 and sun bathed.

We met and fed Mr. & Mrs. Duck.

 We went on "too fast" jet ski rides.

We fed the carp in the marina...

...and went fishing from the "fishing dock"...

and went fishing at the camp site.

It is no wonder, we slept so much!!!!

Joseph

On Thursday mom and I took the two older kids to see Joseph, at Sight and Sound in Lancaster, PA.  It is a theater who produces stories based on biblical productions, and takes them to a new level.  Talk about bringing to Bible to life.  I highly recommend if anyone of you get a chance to go.  It is so worth your money.  I think Joseph is our favorite.  I know Frankie was into it, Marianna was a little restless, but still had a great time.

S is for...

The kids have adopted pets over the past few years...a few stray cats (Girl, Meow, and Taco).  And when our house was over run by stink bugs, Marianna announced that she had a new pet.  She didn't like it AT ALL when I told her that stink bugs were not pets and she needed to flush it. 


I put my foot down today!  I put it down HARD!  When this creepy guy slithered into our back yard, and the kids ran in saying "Momma, we found a snake!!"   

Needless to say, for the rest of the day we stayed inside, and I prayed for the snake to move on his way.  I hope we have an understanding now...he can stay out in the woods, and stay away from my house...and my munchkins who want to adopt anything that crawls or flies or slithers into our backyard.

Pop!!!



Shake the Popcorn!



Checking the goods

 I love camping, and my kids REALLY love campfires. They love to make smores.  However, 3 kids+A LOT of sugar + BIG mess = NOT fun bedtime.  So, when Frank got a campfire popcorn maker, we were SUPER excited!  The kids had been begging to try it out for over a week, and we broke it in the the other night.  We put in some oil, poured in the kernels and began to shake the pot.   It took about five minutes, we started to hear that great sound....POP!  And then a few more seconds...POP! POP! POP!  Before we knew   it our popper was full...almost over flowing.

Then we broke out the bowls, and had ourselves a nice, clean, healthy bedtime snack.

A Year of the Monkey

Frank and I took our Munchkins on a new adventure yesterday.  We took them letter boxing.  People leave clues to "treasure boxes", which is really just little box, with a small notebook in it.  We then look for the said "treasure boxes", and once we find it we put a stamp in the box.  (It is suppose to be a custom made stamp, but we haven't taken that adventure yet!)  A year of the monkey, is the story of a prince who goes for a walk and wonders what will life be like in a hundred years.

The first adventure was trying to find the starting point.  We did find it, in a small town called Elsinboro.

Once we did that, we were ready to go...

And, here is the story of...

A Year of the Monkey

Walking on white shells

Yes, the abbot's advice had been good, the prince thought as he traversed the raised path through the meadow of waving reeds. A few hours spent observing nature would be a welcome change from the conflict and intrigues of court life. White shells on the trail crunched beneath his feet, birds flew singing in the sky, small animals rustled the grass on either side. He passed dark evergreens and trees with ripening fruit bright as the robes of the monks.

The tour in the middle
of the marsh

When he reached the platform on his left, he went up the steps & gazed out over the marshes and waterways. His eye was caught by two features in the distance -- the great gleaming tower on his left, and a huge tree to the right. It was too easy a metaphor for the warring factions of the country. And a hundred years from now, which of them would endure? the prince wondered....

  



The Great Gleamin' Tower



The Huge Tree





The Half-Hallow Tree



Descending, he continued on his way past a large half-hollow tree, then stopped about twenty steps later at a small twisted tree with its trunk close to the ground. He felt a curious desire to leave a record of his passing here, something that would remain after he had gone. How odd...but he followed his impulse, hiding the small object below the horizontal trunk where another branched out at a 45 degree angle. That would be inconspicuous enough.

We found the treasure

Putting in our "mark"

Then he continued on the path, returning to his responsibilities.

The Year of the Monkey