20120831 - August Gone?

20120831 - Up worked. Ran to bamk got a haircut, more work.  Boys home out tO home depot, long johns blockbuster home for movie d over to friends. Up late doin stuf on pc.

20120830 - Scout Start

20120830 - UP, calls/work all day.  Out and back to ball fields to get shirt from buddy Dan.  Home and ate, L to zumba, DJG&I to a Cub Scout Pack meeting.  Good program to start the season, a lot of my boys were there.  Home, boys to bed.  I ran to the grocery and back home to try and figure out the busy up coming calendar with L.  Up late working.

20120828 - Family Dinner

20120828 - Up and worked all day.  D&I up to Mansfield for a family dinner.  Bruce and Ellen here from Italy.  We ate at a Chinese place and D was good.  Back to the Farm for dessert and good conversations.  Home late and safe.

20120827 - Doing Sooo Much

20120827 - Up, all boys to school, L to zumba, I worked all day, boys home, rushed out to D's baseball game.  J helped with the score book, they finally won!  home, trash out then to Boy Scouts, then to friends to work on PC, then to bible bangers.  home working on friends iPhone, then updating Scout records.

20120826 - 13 Already?

20120826 - Up in the am and D opened his presents.  We got things together and headed out; hit the gas station and Wendy's before heading north to the Farm.  We got there and checked out the barn and then headed up to the tree line to sight in D's 10/22 and all of the goodies he got for his bday, really cool looking gun he has :-)  L shot her gun for the first time and did great.  All the boys got to shoot and we are prepared :-)  Everyone headed back to the farm and D&I walked back past the pond and over the hills looking for groundhogs and a nice talk.  Back to the farm for dinner and Paulette and her friend joined us.  After dinner we headed home, everything unpacked, all boys cleaned up and to bed, I followed very shortly after.

20120825 + Fisherman

20120825 + D and a couple of his buddies were up all night, SMART....  J&I headed to Woodside Green Park to help set up for the Cub Scout Poles and Bowls fishing and ice cream event.. Then on to D's game.
D had to be at his game @ 9am and he was dragging, he fell down on the field, tripped over the chalk line at 3rd base...  This is the first of D's games I have gotten to see, they lost :-(
After the game J&I ran to the Pole and Bowls event and J caught a bunch of fish while I tried to make chocolate ice cream.  The ice cream got partially done and we all had a nice snack.  Then J&I went to Lena's 3rd bday party and shared our left over ice cream.  Home and D had collapsed from exhaustion (that will teach him :-)  L headed out for dinner with her friends and JG&I headed to Cici's for dinner and then the movie Brave.  We stopped on the way home to get some food for D as L blew up the microwave making popcorn for D's party :-s  Home, the boys ate and then off to bed.  L home not too late.

20120824 - Firstday, Birthday

20120824 - Up early and out front with G the little man and his HUGE smile, ready for his first day in kindergarten. He's just so little...



L&I followed the boys back to school and walked G to his class, he went right in, no muss no fuss, except L was a bit weepy... We walked home to a silent house... I got to work and the day passed fast. Here the come back from school, big smile still there. He had a wonderful day and told us all about it.


I got some more work done and Dave stopped by for a visit and a sword fight. After work we got the yard set up for D's party. J&I ran to the store quick and got pizzas. Then the boys started showing up. We had a yard full of big boys playing and being loud. When the sun went down we got the movie started.
After the movie we sang happy bday to D and had cupcakes. Boys back outside for another movie and I'm watching over them trying to keep them quiet:-s

20120823 - Last day to be Little

20120823 - Up working, L&G playing all day, their last full day together as Mom and little boy, he goes to school tomorrow :-( Ran to the Apple store couple times today to get iPhone for D's birthday. rushed to ball fields after work for D&G's baseball games. G did great tonight and his team won their first game. D's team got run ruled again, D got out in a pickle. J&I ran to Meijer and Home Depot after the games to get some supplies and Arby's for dinner. Home up late watching tv and setting up D's phone.



20120822 - Big Boys Go back

20120822 - Up and big boys back to school, got their pictures in front of the mailbox...  I was at the desk all day.  L&G took Lilliy to get a bath.  J home from school all smiles and excited, told us all about it at dinner... D home, just sos for him...  D mowed back yard, J helped me put new folding stocks on guns and G ran around in a Spiderman outfit.  D&I put his gun stock on and up late geting caught up from 2 days off

20120821 - Framer

20120821 - Up, just me and G at home, L had D&J at the orthodonti$t...  All back home and J&I out to run some errands: bank, gas, Meijer, Home Depot, Subway and home in time for L to take J&G back to the school to meet their teachers and get the lay of the land.  D&I built a frame for a movie screen and then fixed part of the fence that was damaged in the storm.  All back home for a min and then off to G's baseball game.  He did pretty good tonight but they still lost.  Home and all boys cleaned up and off to bed a bit anxious for their first day of school tomorrow.  Up late previewing a movie for Dylan's bday party.

20120820 - G's 1st Coaster

20120820 - UP and to Kings Island, BLAST!  We ran into the Pettits and baseball Coach.  We rode every ride we could!  It was fantastic.  G rode his first official roller coaster!!!  he was scared at first but LOVED IT!!!  What a fun day!  Home in good time. Dropped L off at school D to scouts, G hitting balls, J&I relaxing watching a movie.  Latter went to Bible Bangers with all 3 boys.  Up late getting scout stuff done...  School starts in 2 days :-o

20120819 + G's Sherpa

20120819 + up late, clnd up, lunch, garage clnd up, D ran away, J to bday party, D back, D&I tried to teach G how to ride a bike.  D to bar mitzvah, G&I dinner together, pb&j and chips watched movie together, L&J home and I had to run off to a scout meeting.  home watched falling skies with J&G, up late watching TV with L.

20120818 - Drifting, Driving, Dealing

20120818 - Up and had bfast with the Wood's.  J&I packed up camp and hit the road.  Our first stop was the Hocking Canoe Livery for a 5 mile canoe trip.  This was longer than previous year and J was much better at steering and navigating the water this year.  We had all sorst of goodies with us and stopped for snacks and to explor islands and look for bugs, crawdads, fish and skipping stones.  I amazed J with my ability to skip any stone no matter size or shape...


After our water adventure we had lunch at DQ.  At one point J asked me if I was alright.  I had taken my glasses off and was rubbing my head and face was in great agony.  I had sucked down my lemon lime slushy too fast and had such bad brain freeze I thought I may pass out :-o

After lunch we headed to the Hocking Peaks Zip Lines and J got to do the adult course!  J is just like a little howler monkey up there and was zipping all over the place.  he was not afraid of any of the obstacles and got through the course in good order.  We did the huge race zip line where my weight was an obvious advantage and I smoked him :-)  it was a blast!


Onward the adventures to the Hocking Hills Family Fun Center for J's first ever ride in the adult size go-karts!  J thought he had me and I spun him out for the victory.  We were the only people there so we got to take extra long races and had fun cutting each other off and zipping all over.  What a blast! Then we each got a bucket of disasterous golf balls.  I tell you we are dangerous with these things.  We hit ore of them straigh up bouncing off the roof and almost hitting eachother than we did straight out.  We are horrible golfers but were laughing so hard we didn't care.  More golf, but this time 18 holes of put put, where there were fewer injuries :-)  And just when we thought the fun was over... We did more go-karts!!!


The fun far from complete we got back on the road to a beautiful sunset (I always see the best sunsets when I am with J) and made a stop at the Golden Corral to fill our guts with as much as we could, topped off with the famous chocolate fountain and cotton candy!


Up the road further to Hebron OH for one of J's favorite events, poker.  J borrowed some cash and set off to doing his usual, winning!!!  He won a round of texas holdem, spliting the pot with his opponent for a $30 profit for him!  We played a couple more hands and then  he fell asleep sitting up at the table.  That is the sign of a good day! :-)


I always have a great time with J.  It doesn't matter what we do, he is always appreciative and finding ways to have fun doing whatever crazy thing I am making him do.

20120817 - Fun Times with J and Friends

20120817 - UP had a whole day crammed into the morning.  L took to J to the dentist this am where he had a tooth pulled :-o  and she had to take Dylan next.  Got packed up and J&I out to the store to get a ton of supplies (junk food).  On the road and to Dillon St park.  We got there and set up out tent, J helped good.  We got a spot right next to Mike and Amy Woods and family.  We cooked dinner and had a really nice meal together.


Then we took a big hike where the kids climbed on vines and ran wild in the woods.  We played on the playground and went back to camp to cook s'mores and hillbilly eclairs.  The kids watched a movie and we hung out around the file.  We had some stripe tailed friends try and sneak up on us, and the kids tried to catch them (smart).  All to bed in good time.

20120816 + Tent Repair

20120816 + Up working, LJ&G to Nicole's, D&I fixed tent, more working. D had connor over, J over to a dif conor, Dinner at desk, I took D&G to baseball practice, there 1 hr ealyr, threw with G until arm hurt. home everyone had a late night snack, up late ordering supplies.

20120815 - School Pics

20120815 - Up working, L took boys to pool, then home and took J&G back to get their pictures taken at school.  Finished working and I took J&G to the pool for a Scout swim, L took D to school to get his schedule.  D got dropped off at pool and L on to zumba.  We all met back up, picked up supplies to repair the tent and went to 10 different restaurants to find a place to eat.  Had a huge meal, home, all to bed.  Up late watching tv.

20120814 - Stop the Bleeding

20120814 - Up working, J to ENT Dr. to get bleeding nose cauterized... L took boys to a movie, I had a couple of big calls that went well.  Ran out of the office to G's baseball practice, and then hung out at D's baseball practice while LJ&G headed to Zumba.  Straight to BSA Board of review, then up to Meijers and Arby's, home up late watching 'Caddy shack' and made BSA chart to track boys.

20120813 - Grind

20120813 - Work, dinner, trash, D bowling party, scouts merit badges in, tent pieces, bible bangers.

20120812 - Shotgun Ride

20120812 - Up and had bfast at local dive one of the guides suggested to us, it was AWESOME!.  We stopped at a 'Mystery Hole' somewhere in WV where we were not aloud to take pictures...  We hit every gun store that was open along the way and I bought a 12 gauge pump all decked out at one for $100.  We made it home in good time and brougth Panda Express with us for Dinner.  I was glad to see LJ&G, meant I lived through the weekend...  Up late and watched falling skies, boys to bed, J scared...

20120811 - M&D's Big White Water Adventure

20120811 - Up in the morning and prepared, sort of, for the big whitewater adventure at Ace Adventuer Resort in Oak Hill WV.  We had a big breakfast at the buffet and then checked in with our group.  We had the lead guide that would be piloting our raft and I made sure he would keep an eye on D.  We then went up to the outfitting area where we got our paddles, life jackets and helmets.  After some more safety information (this would come in really handy later...) we boarded a rickety old bus and took a long scary ride to the point of no return...  We were paired up with 2 other couples and amazingly we were able to carry our huge raft down the ramp.  Then out on the water and a couple more lessons in rowing together as a team and more safety instructions (even more handy here in a minute...)  We then headed down stream for some rafting, doing some hydroplaning and then some nice little rapids.  Then we cam to our first class 5 rapid it was so COOL!!!


After this big rapid we came to a nice class 1 that you could float down if you wanted.  D looked at me and I said 'Your goin in!', In he went and I followed.  we were floating down the river nicely when I saw a little bump ahead of me in the water (here is where the safety info came in handy...)  Before I knew it my butt hit a rock under the water, I bounced up and then was sucked straight under by the curling water :-o  Safety lesson 1: If you get pulled under wrap up in a ball and you will pop up.  I wrapped up in a ball and shot right up, just long enough to get a breath and voom, sucked right under again...  Beginning to panic, thinking 'oh God if D is caught in this it will kill him.  What am I going to tell L??? :-(  Safety lesson 2: DON'T PANIC.  I regained composure and balled up popping up again and this time shot out of the suction...  Spinning upstream looking for D...  He was gone...  Oh SH!T...  spining around more I see the raft and the guide and D laughing hysterically...  Apparently while I was drowning D was whisked downstream...  When I reached the raft the guide told me I had gone down the worst possible route for that rappid and found the hole...  Just my luck...

A ways down stream and few rapids later we stopped for lunch.  The guides had this down to a science and cooked up a great meal for our waterlogged group.  We rested a bit and then back at it.  A couple more rapids and then a 30 foot jump off a huge boulder.


After the giant leap we had a huge hydroplane we got to do once.  We were in line to do it again but some guys in front of us capsized and one gashed his head open, I think it was the groom of the bunch...  Our guide was the leader and had to go patch him up so we got out of line and were part of the rescue team.  Down the stream a bit more and we came to our last rapid.

 WHAT A BLAST OF DAY!!!!
 

Back on dry land we caught a bus, with free beer., back to the resort.  We got dried off and headed down to dinner where we ate pig like pigs...  We hung around to watch the video they made of us during the day and had to buy it.  We bought some wood for a fire and exhausted we had a nice fire and relaxed and talked about the adventure.  A day I wont soon forget with a wonderful boy, growing up way too fast...  Off to bed, but too sore to sleep good.

20120810 - Leg 1 of Big Water Adventure

20120810 - Up in the am and got what work I needed to get done completed.  Then D and I headed to Meijer to get stuff, like 20 pounds of junk food...  Grabbed some lunch and then headed into WV, deep into mo mans land to ACE Adventure Resort.  It was a neat place and our campsite was WAY up on top of a small mountain.  We found our spot and got our camp site all set up.  D was showing me how they wrapped up and slept in their hammocks at summer camp.
With things now all set up we got our swimming suits on and headed down to try out the 'Wipe Out' course.  It was amazingly hard...  the obstacles were so slippery that you just couldn't hold on.  It was fun though and we had a great time climbing and sliding all over the place.  Back to the camp and we changed and headed to the cantina to get some dinner.  Sufficiently full we went back to the campsite and attempted to have a fire, but it was a bit damp and we created more smoke than fire.


 It was a good time anyway, we chatted, ate some junk food and bonded :-)  Off to bed in anticipation of our big day tomorrow :-s


PS - Happy 64th Bday GpaW!

20120809 - Prep to Drown

20120809 - worked, ate, played volleyball with boys, baseball practice for D&G, rained out.  Home snacks and dried off.  Olympics, boys to bed, D&I watching safety videos for trip, up late trying to get things done so i can go.

20120808 - Bloody Swim

20120808 - Work, oil chg, walk back with J, pool meeting, took J&G, J bloody nose, swim, neighbor help with router, home, Olympics.

20120807 - Sports Virus

20120807 - Up working, L took J&G to dentist, then D to Dr, he has a virus.  J&I took a walk at lunch.  J&I took G to baseball practice, I'm the asst coach :-s G's team, Marlins, pitching :-o home fed boys, L at zumba, watching Olympics.

20120806 - Good Intent, Bad Choice

20120806 - Up and worked all day.  Gathered the boys and headed to Donatos for the Gahanna Modern Day Knights, Back-to-School DInner.  We had Dan Schroen speak to the boys and Doc.  The dads told storeis of school days too.  It was a good event and we went to see 'Total Recall' after the dinner; not the best movie for litte kids :-s

20120805 - D Right back to work

20120805 - Up over to Cole's helping install floor, Took break for lunch and to visit the surplus store.  Back and got more done on the floor, it looks fantastic.  Home and watching Falling Skies with D&G. Little boys to bed then up watching Olympics with L&D.

20120804 - Scouts & MMG

20120804 - Up early, dropped off light to Rich. Headed to Farm, dropped off J&G. L&I on to Scout Camp to get D. Lunch on the road. Back to Farm, checked out all the work GpaW has gotten done. Chatted with fam a bit. Germans. Home. MMG meeting.

20120803 + Lay it Down

20120803 + Up work, Surplus store, Cole's floor help, Home, up late, emergency checklist.

20120802 - Night Buddies

20120802 -  J to Dr. I at desk, G&I got gas, dinner and video, Played catch with G, Donovan here to campout with J, fail, watched OlympicS, up late watching movies.

20120801 - H2O Zumba

20120801 -  Worked, kids went to the park, L made SOS for dinner, YUM!
LJG&I headed to the pool, where L had a zumba class and JG&I swam.  There were a couple of buddies of J&G there and they had a good time.  J had a friend come over and spend the night.  up late watching Olympics.