20120731 - Swim & Cache

20120731 -  Up worked, dinner with fam, played with boys in playroom a bit, dinner, l to zumba, JG&I to ice cream night at pool.  J got bloody nose.  Found 2/4 geocaches.  home watched Olympics, up late working on survival supplies

20120730 + Too Many Things

20120730 + work, dinner, catch football, scout meeting adults,sucked, bible bangers

20120729 - Big Boy Scouts

20120729 - Up early and the whole fam + 2 older Scouts headed to Boy Scout Camp.  We stopped at the farm to stretch and drop off the little boys.  It was a funny ride, listening to the boys chat in the back...  We dropped D off and he is getting so big.  He is on his own more and more...  Back to the farm where we checked out some of the foundation work and had dinner.  Home for a quieter week.

20120728 - Grant's Day

20120728 - Grant woke me up this morning, 'Dad get up! It's Dad and me day!'. So up and out we went. First we got bfast at McD's.








Then we headed to putt-putt, with a stop at a garage sale. We played a round of golf and G got a hole in one!



G them hit a bunch of balls in the batting cages. Another round of putt-putt and then a couple hundred more pitches and some great hits!



Now it was time for a proper lunch of corn dogs, fair fries and a jumbo lemonade at the State Fair!




After lunch we got a birds eye view of the Horseshoe, Huntington Park and downtown Columbus from a helicopter!













We landed, looked at some horses and cows, saw a knight, and had some icecream.

Amazingly we ran into another Winger clan! John, Betty, John III, Tracey, Sierra, Eden, and from Germany, Jessica, Sam and Max! We checked out the rides, but settled on taking the skylift back to the front and getting a funnel cake for the road.

Next stop was Huntington Park that we flew over earlier for a Clippers game. We sat right behind the home dugout. G got a ball from the teams practice, some nachos and a new hat. He did some pitching and did pretty good.

We sat by some nice folks that let him ring their cow bell and the Clippers won! Grant loved it!





G claimed the nachos were just a snack so on the way home we stopped at Arby's for dinner. Home about 11pm to tell L all about the day, eat dinner and watch some of the Olympics.




What a great day with my littlest man!

20120727 - Down to One

20120727 - UP worked a solid day.  L dropped off J with GpaW, and then D at a bday party.
LG&I had a nice dinner at Applebee's and then a short stop at the Music In the Park - Pett Crow until the rain started.  Home and watched the opening ceremonies of the Oplimpics, G didn't make it. D home late.

20120726 - Going Ape

20120726 - work, pizza for dinner, drop D off
Pizza movie with J&G, tremors, L joined us for 'going ape'

20120725 + Another Busy One

20120725 + Up, work, Took D to gather pipestone wood, drop boys off at pool, work, dinner, scouts pool, movie...

20120724 - J u ok?

20120724 - dinner
icecreamnight at the pool
godfather fail
bed

20120723 - Whatever Floats

20120723 - Worked, boys played out side built floats, dinner.  LJ&G to pool, D&I to scouts.  Home, D&I got Doc and to Bible Bangers, good discussion, D worked on camping stuff until late.

20120722 - Bat Brains

20120722 - L&J up and out early to work the concession stand at the ballfields. DG&I joined them later. Home for some lunch and then DJ&I ran some errands and went to a guys house to look at a pop up camper. It was ok but needed some work and smelled musty... Back to the ballfields to watch J's buddy Donovan in the championship game, they won, the only team from Gahanna to make it to the finals in the Gahanna Tournament :-s Back home in the AC to relax and watch 'The Flintstones' and 'Little Buddha'. Then I gathered up the troops, drove through McD's for grub and down to Lancaster's Skyview Drive-in to see the Batman movie. We played catch, baseball and football. In the grad under the big screen before the show started. J found this signpost that confused him a bit...

We got fried pickles, nachos, a huge popcorn and drink an settled in to watch Batman take on the bad guys. Really good movie and a great time. Home, all boys to bed extra late and extra tired.



20120721 - Last Out :-(

20120721 - Up in the am and out with D&J. We got D's camp physical, stopped at the Scout store for merit badges, got essentials at the grocery (dog food & beer) and had lunch at a Chinese buffet. We met up with Mr. Varney at the camper place to educate us and then headed home. D&J took a break and J&I dropped L off for her concession stand duty. J&I returned one of his gifts and swung by home to pick up D&G to go to the ballfields. The boys were warming up and G was right in there. Coach was giving a speech to the boy and said he was going to move kids around and maybe even have G pitch. That excited G! A while later the coach told me that G came up and had a talk with him. G said 'Coach, I'll pitch for you if you want me to, but I'm better in the outfield' :-) That boy lives for baseball!
Well D's team won game one, but really didn't show up for game two. D was a nit off tonight, not hitting like usual and the batting order put him up with two outs. He struck out, which was the last out for the season and it was really heavy on him :-( He played a fantastic season of ball and is a good solid player. Home with a late dinner, boys cleaned up and off to bed. Baseball is over (for now...).



20110720 - 004

20120720 - Up and to the desk. L and the boys out somewhere. At the end of the day D and I ran to the bank and I got a haircut. Home for dinner and then we headed to the ballfields. We played a team of HUGE boys that pitched like gunfire. Almost everyone struck out. D got a hit the 1 time he was up, but thrown out at 1st. L got a hit, well she got hit, right in the kidney from a foul ball :-o G was the bat boy in his new shirt.
We were run ruled during the 5th, 1-11. LD&J went home with Gma&paB to our house, while J&I help Mr. Varney pump up his flat tire and followed them home and helped fix it. All back home late. All boys to bed.

20120718 + Boys NIght

20120718 + Up at the desk all day. Dinner with the fam. L of to Zumba, D's practice cancelled so all us boys stayed home and watched some DVDs on how to be a great student and Amazing mental math. They seemed to really like it!  Ice cream and all boys to bed.

20120717 - Leatherface

20120717 - Full day at the desk, now have a good working plan to get caught up.  Tree guys here, back yard is cleaned up, but they can not come back to finish up until September :-o  D to baseball practice, L to zumba, JG&I hanging out.  We picked up D and came home for ice cream.  Up late doing nothing.

20120716 + Splitting Jobs

20120716 + Up and burried from vacation, work travle, Baseball, Camping, Baseball. Got things in order by the end of the day so feel good about rest of the week. Had dinner with the fam and then J&I dropped D off at Scouts, got gift cards, has and returned the chainsaw and rebought it for the $98 in free gas buying it with gift cards have us :-) Stopped by Jeff's and talked to Cole a bit before picking D up. Home, put gas away, showed boys how to split wood, the D&I took Doc to Bible Bangers for a lively discussion filled night.

20120715 - 3rd Place

20120715 - Up, J helping take things to car, flag ceremony, breakfast, on the road, hot chocolate, J is my navigator.  Hate leaving so early especially for more baseball, I know J feels cheated :-( and I know D&G love baseball...  Into the HOT SUN and statistics:
Baseball game 1 = won
Lunch at Slate Run St. Park with Todd and Derick
Baseball game 2 = lost
Baseball game 3 = won for 3rd place
D did really good whole series, lots of hits, catcher, outfield, 2nd base
G excellent bat boy, pictures, trophy
drove home J slept
Big Boy for dinner
Home all cleaned up
Chris brought stove back
Falling Skies with Boys
Bed early

20120714 - Baseball and Blazes

20120714 - Up in the morning and to a baseball tournament in Taes Valley for a hot day of baseball.  Dylan did pretty good and he really likes it.  G is the official bat boy.  After the games we went to DQ for some food.  Home and J&I headed to a camp out.  We got the tent up and ate some grub.  For the night program we had a fire: "Holy mama sweet" = J quote when rob flamed up fire.

20120713 - Corn Row Makers

20120713 - To plant, I love the rows of tractors! Meetings all day and then guess what???  I'M STUCK IN ORD!!!  Got home 12:30am.

20120711 - On the Road Already

20120711 - Up super early, flew to ORD, Jim picked me up, to plant, meetings, tree house, Chinese, hotel.

20120710 - Sheltered

20120710 - Up and at desk all day, still trying to get the paper tiger under control.  L took the boys to serve at a shelter today.  GmaB here for Dr. Appointment and L watching Sam and Lena as well as our 3.  J went home with GmaB.  I ate on the phone for the second night in a row missing dinner with the fam...  G&I took D to his baseball practice, L to zumba.  Home for ice cream and watch a bit of the major league baseball all star game.  Boys to bed.  I checked in with GpaW, the foundation of the farmhouse is getting fixed.  Up late packing for trip.

20120709 - Trophy Time

20120709 - Back to work, 400+ emails to go through, took most of the day.  Had to run billing too which made me miss dinner with the fam :-(  Took D back to his practice and then G to get his trophy and ice cream with his T-ball team.  Home and back to watch D's practice.  We took the trash out, boys got cleaned up and D&I to Bible Bangers.

20120708 + Table for Tree

20120708 + Up and L out for groceries, the boys and I got lunch and we all met back at the house for a picnic. We then used Doc's chainsaw to chew through some of the limbs and get things cleaned up a bit. We got the fence secure and plans with the neighbor on what else needs done in case I am not around when the tree guys come back. Penn came over with a more powerful chainsaw and we cleaned up some more. Gma&paW came down to visit and GpaW even drove me to the Home Depot to get a chainsaw of my own :-). We had a nice dinner and them home to clean up the tools and boys. The boys headed back out and got into some huge fight so they all got sent to bed early. Watching Falling Skies by myself on this last night of vacation :-(


20120707 - Our Girl

20120707 - Up and down for bfast, then on the road. Nothing to exciting on this stretch of road so we just drove and drove and drove while the boys watched movies. Before we knew it we were at Gma&paB's and there was our Lilly. She was happy to see us and we were happy to see her. It was about 102 degrees outside but we walked back to the ballfields to watch some of the tournament going on. We had a smokey outdoor/indoor cookout feast and then headed the last miles home. We got home, checked in with the neighbors, assessed the storm damage and them cleaned out the car. Everyone to bed about 10, EXHAUSTED.

20120706 - Lotsa Fun

20120706 - Up early and out to the pool for our last swim at the resort.


Back to the room, loaded up the car and on the road. The first stop was the world's smallest church. When we got there a guy was mowing. I asked him some questions and he told me it was his dad that built it in 1972. His dad wasn't sure it was with the effort until one morning he stopped in to check on it and found a bottle of liquor with a note under it; 'I came here to kill myself but found the Lord instead'. From that day on his family has taken care of the little building. Here is Bruce Young posing with the fam.

Back on the road and the boys watched a movie until we got to the world's largest strawberry. Then down the road a bit to the world's largest chest of drawers and just a few miles more to the world's largest coffee pot.


And then to the boys favorite stop. The world's largest milkshake for a yummy treat.

Just a short hop to Pilot Mountain where we hiked to the top. For great panoramic shot go here-> http://360.io/FcaXjJ
















We drove through 'Mayberry' on the way to the hotel. We checked in and then on the way to dinner we found a car show and the world's largest pencil.


One last stop before dinner... The world's smallest church VA style.  (on our travels the smallest 'World's Smallest Church' we have found was on our vacation in 2011 in Michigan)


We finally got dinner at a Chinese place we found a couple years ago and then back to the hotel for a evening swim.






After the swim we got our traditional hot chocolate.


Almost home, but not quite ready for vacation to be over.

20120705 + Last Call

20120705 + All up and out for the last day activities. This usually means everyone gets to pick one/their favorite thing an we do them again. So we first went for a stop at the Converse store to get G his school shoes. Then G asked if we were going putt-putt at one of the 16 putt-putt placed we have passed and he has memorized... Everyone in the car shouts at him 'NO' (mainly because it is too hot in the middle of the day and secondly because he asks every time we get in the car or drive past one...). We went to Planet Hollywood for lunch and it was really cool looking around at all the stuff, but really expensive an really marginal food :-( Back in the car and G asked if we were going putt-putt, NO! Across the street to the go-kart place (J's pick). The boys and I sped around like crazy while L watched. It started pouring down rain so we loaded up to go to the next destination and G asked if we were going putt-putt, NO! On to the the hobby shop (D's pick) and it wasn't a great store... So back in the car and G asked if we were going putt-putt, NO! So G gave up and fell asleep as we got stuck in traffic heading home for some dinner. The rain earlier dropped the temp 15 degrees, so we pulled into a Dino putt-putt and all yelled to wake G up. He was thrilled. We played 18 holes and another favorite done.

Back to base for some dinner and then to the beach for a last visit (L's pick). It was high tide and really strong currents. We all played and ran and jumped and had a good time.


One last stop at one of those beach stores with all sorts of crap (D's pick since the hobby shop stunk). Everyone got something... Back home to check out the loot and get some ice cream. L was packing up and put me in charge of ice cream. This being the last night a gave each boy about 8 scoops of ice cream and all the chocolate and caramel sauce and pecans they wanted.


L has everything packed up for an easy departure. Everyone got there favorites today a perfect day.


What was my pick? Being able to give my boys and L a trip like this, and getting to spend time with just them, no calls coming in, no emails, no interruptions. I couldn't ask for anything more.

20120704 - Shade Smoke & Boom

20120704 - All up and J&I headed out to find a geocache. J found a lizard but no cache :-( Back and picked up the rest of the gang and to the Myrtle Beach State Park to meet up with everyone in the tri-county area... It was PACKED! We found a spot and settled in. The boys dug a huge hole, you can see D's head off to the left of G, and L way out to the right sitting in the water. We got to see five F16 fighters fly down the beach and some old bombers. I spent a lot of time in the shade as I got BURNED yesterday... I did hit the big waves with the boys as the tide started coming in.

We got back to base around dinner time and DJ&I grilled up some grub. We ate hung out and wrestled. As it later we headed to the beach. We found a nice spot we could see the Surfside peer and the boys started getting sandy having a ball crawling in the dunes. As the sun web down the fireworks started. Not the fireworks we came to see, but all the ones people brought with them. The two guys next to us each had a huge bag full and they were amazing. As you looked up and down the beach the sky was lit up all over. Eventually the 'official' fireworks went off and were awesome out over the ocean. We could see the fireworks up at the Myrtle Beach peer too. It was amazing, we had never seen anything like it! J pointed out an another amazing sight, the full moon was bright red rising over the ocean.


20120703 + Burn Slash Crash Splash

20120703 + All up and out on the first bus to the beach. We got a good spot and the tide was low so we played and played. The boys built castles, caught fish and sand fleas. We missed the 1:30 bus so we had to stay until 2:30, just a little too long for me, I got fried!



Back to the room for a quick snack and then out to Medieval Times. The boys loved it, J ate an entire half of a chicken and G was on the edge of his seat the whole time!

After the show we went to an outlet mall and got shoes for D&J. Home and found a guy laying along side the road who just got hit by a car. We positioned our headlights on him, called 911 and directed traffic until help arrived.



Back to the apartment and into our suits for a midnight swim.