Hmmm I never thought of it that way..

We practically spent the weekend in Lowes. It's like there's a warp in the space time continuum when you get in that place. You walk in, lose consciousness a bit, and when you walk back out you find that hours passed and your bank account is mysteriously depleted and you're in a terrible mood. There's some voodoo or something involved, I'm sure of it.

Plus, the place is so darned big. If you remember that you forgot a plank of wood when you're in the garden section, you have to walk about a mile to get back to the lumber, and that takes time.

Then there's all the time spent breaking up fights from amongst your offspring, and time looking all over for your hyperactive almost 4 year old who is hiding behind the display tumble driers and then inside the kitchen cabinets then trying to climb up the huge shelves loaded with heavy metal to reach the birds that built there nest there. And then factor in the time spent hiding the expensive basins the aforementioned daughter knocked off their display cases and almost smashed and then trying to get the kids to all walk away with us, looking casual and innocent. And then there's the multiple superhero moments of swooping down just in time to stop your 2 year old from his repeated Houdini escapes from the shopping cart seatbelt and attempts to dive to the ground from his high height. And of course, each child has to visit the bathroom, but none of them at the same time. So you finally get back to the aisle with the hinges just in time for another child's bladder to spontaneously fill to capacity when it was entirely empty 5 minutes ago when their sibling went. All of this adds up to cause the shopping trip to turn into an epic expedition, all for a couple of tools and pieces of wood.

We were all rather grumpy and hungry and fed up of the whole experience, so when Kaya noticed my exasperation with the kids' unruliness she offered me an explanation.
"It's just that, when you take us somewhere fun like the zoo or museum, you always tell us that if we behave really well while we're there, you'll want to take us back again sometime. And that if we fight and whine a lot it makes you not want to take us back again. Well...we really don't want you to take us back here again."

I had a bit of a slapping-myself-on-the-head-Homer-Simpson-style moment.

And the worst part is, we came home and realized there's a bunch of stuff we forgot to get. So guess what we're doing next weekend.....yup, we're shopping again




on amazon.com!!

.

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Our Camping trip and TONS of photos!

That's right folks. Up to date photos! Shock horror etc. I am excited about it. I'm still not caught up, but I'm getting there, and I went ahead and skipped to June. And I have enough photos in this single post to completely make up for my lack of photos for so long. You will all be begging me by the end of this to never post another pic again.

Ok, so we left last Thursday night and got home on Monday afternoon. It stormed every night bar one (when it did still rain). Our tent held up fine, just a small amount of moisture on the worst rainy night.



We had a few days jam packed with adventures and activities.

Kids played in mud puddles,


we hung out with friends (this was a meetup trip for a message board I'm on),


played in the playground,


enjoyed ice cream treats and peddle boating in this beautiful location,




there was some sibling rivalry,


but for the most part everyone got along beautifully,


we roasted marshmallows,





saw cute baby geese, fed geese and got hissed at by the parents,


saw a flock of awesome hawks,






which Rene decided we should try to photograph from up here.


I was not happy (I was gonna say not a happy camper but I thought it too cheesy) up there. I brought the wrong lens and couldn't get great pics, plus I was too busy holding on to the railings for dear life. The thing wobbles as you get near the top! It sways with the wind. It's just not fun.

But there is an awesome view, I wish I brought my better lens..




And I did get the hawk from up high


Lana just asked me how I got all those photos when I didn't even stay up there for that long. Yes it's true, when I felt the wobbling I ran back down to the bottom as fast as I could, leaving my poor kids up there with their Dad.

We also climbed a tree (well, two of our member did. I was not one of them)





We saw 3 deer. Here's one of them.


Played some puzzles,


went to a bug workshop that was really gross and educational.





This is "Logan" the spider.



Zoe drew pictures in the dirt,


we went to a water park and exhausted ourselves,


then cooled off in front of this,


played on an ice-less ice rink,


played in an indoor (air conditioning! yay) playground,


spent lots of time outdoors,








played some mini golf




there was some cheating going on,


and some over enthusiastic puts,


we saw a dead snake,


back to camp for some goofing around,












caught a worm on the way to a breakfast buffet (where they had TONS of delicious fresh fruit and there were wild turkeys fanning their tails right outside the window with gorgeous views. I didn't bring my camera in darn it)


found some head sized leaves,


went to a conservatory with reptiles,


plants,


and fishies,



Daddy caught a frog,





and we went pony riding,












Now here's the thing. While we were there, I kept seeing this little, handsome, tiny, precious tabby gray kitten, being friendly to various families, trying to either scrounge food or find a home. I saw him the first time, hanging around a family having a picnic. There were two little girls in love with him but the Dad was insistent they were not bringing him home. I felt horrible for him all the next day, wondering what became of him. I told myself if I saw him again, I'd take him home.

Then I saw him again, he had wandered over to our bathroom area. There was a different little girl chasing him around, but her mother seemed to discourage her. I walked away and talked to Rene. He was softened by my description, but when we looked for him, he was gone. I felt guilty.

Just as we were packing up to go home, Rene heard a horribly wailing, like an animal being tortured. We investigated and it was this poor little kitten, sitting on a tire, crying his eyes out, right across from our campsite. It was meant to be.

We told the kids we were bringing home a new family member and they were beyond thrilled.



Kaya and Lana wanted to call him Mountain, and Zoe insisted he was called Custard. So we (I) decided on Mountain And Custard -> Mac.



He is pretty skinny and the pads of his feet are worn and there are cuts and broken skin. It looks horrible. He came home and ate a whole tin of kitten food in a few hours. He also drank a whole bowl of water. His tummy bulged and he went for a big sleep. He is super well adjusted in our home. He seems to love it here. He has an incredible temperament. He's such a happy, playful, gentle little guy. We are all crazy about him.












So far, he and Stormy are scared of each other and they seem to avoid each other. I hope they will grow adjusted to each other in time.

Mac (I find myself calling him Big Mac, since he's so small and it's cute) is the perfect little souvenir of a fantastic family vacation. We are blessed.

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