What moms can do



Friday evening when Ryan walked through the door after work he declared that we were packing up and going to the lake again to find the waterfall.

This time he did some research AND asked for directions and it happened, we found it!

When we got there, Christopher Robin saw his dump truck in the back of the van.

He wanted it to see the waterfall too.

So he pushed it along for about 25 feet.

Then he had to take a "little rest."

Then we showed him how far he had to push it to the waterfall. We tried to convince him to let us put it back in the van.  He insisted it come along too. Ryan and I made bets with each other on how long it would take before one of us ended up carrying it.

 

When we got to the damn, we saw hundreds of  HUMONGOUS dandelions. Christopher Robin tried several times to pick one, but they kept breaking apart.

I helped Christopher Robin pick one in perfect condition--because that's what moms can do.

Christopher Robin then decided that he couldn't carry his dump truck anymore because "it is too heavy for me."  So mom carried it--because that's what moms can do.

We crossed the damn, rounded the corner and hiked down a hill, and there was a beautiful, large waterfall!

Above the waterfall was a stream that cascaded down to the waterfall below.

Christopher Robin carried his dandelion clear to the top,

 being so careful not to break it. 

And he didn't!

Gracie got a chance to wade her feet in the cold water.

She wasn't sure what to think.

It started to get dark, so we headed back to the car.

But not before picking a dandelion for Gracie,

who ate it for dinner.

Christopher Robin carefully carried his dandelion all the way home, when he was climbing the steps from the garage into the house, he slipped and smashed half of his treasure.

With tears in his eyes he said, "Daddy, will you fix this for me please?"  Ryan tried to explain that he couldn't.

But then Mom had a BRILLIANT idea.  She pulled out her "Tacky Glue" and tweezers and fixed that dandelion until Christopher Robin declared, "it's perfect!!"

And it's because that's what Moms can do.

The blue truck

Two Christmases ago Santa left a HUGE package with a huge red bow under the Christmas Tree for Christopher Robin.  He tore off the wrapping and lo and behold, a  BLUE TRUCK!!  He drove that truck on his hundred acre wood, well .55 acre wood in Virginia until the day we left.

I have so many fond memories of him driving his truck all around our yard collecting sticks and leaves, or all my daffodils, in the truck bed with his blond curls bobbing in the wind.

But the sweetest thing I have seen was this evening, when Christopher Robin obliged Rue and took her for a spin.

What is it that makes a mother's heart swell with joy when she sees her children playing together and loving each other?  I couldn't keep my eyes off those two as they bounced along the paved walkway in our neighborhood and it wasn't because I thought she was going to go flying out of that thing.  It was because I was watching my son care for his little sister, and he was totally loving every shriek of glee she made as he careened around every turn and hit every bump,  just for her pure enjoyment!

Here is three year old Jace

being oh so quiet

and oh so busy

 plucking all of his mom's

 daffodils, and he didn't miss one!

We were itchin'

Ryan and Grace already to hike to the lake's edge.

Last weekend we were itching to take Ryan's new wheels for a drive, so we went to Lake Macbride, our local lake here.  We had heard that there is a waterfall to hike to and a sandy beach.  We didn't find either.  But we did find a trail that lead to the edge of the lake with a rocky cliff.  

Along the trail we found a

 rotted tree stump.  Not sure what the draw was.

Ryan loved being one with nature and Grace thought it was ok too.

Christopher Robin found long sticks to drag along the ground as he slowly sauntered down the path.

And then he had rocks to take out of his shoes. He was not in a hurry and was definitely in his own little world.

Ryan totally thought the walk to the lake was beautiful and romantic and I thought it was dank and creepy.  Just our different observance of nature I guess.  Or I need to pack more lead in my backpack!! 

When we got to the lake, Christopher Robin was in heaven.  There were tons of rocks to throw into the water.  So that's what he did while trying to not slip off the rocky ledge into the lake below.

Gracie Rue with her rocks in hand.

He threw in a really heavy rock

and it splashed all over him and Daddy.  So funny.

He loved watching the boats pass by.  He thinks we need to get one. We'll get right on that.

Well, we made it safely out of the woods and back to our car.  Ryan wants to go back and camp overnight. He thinks it would be so fun, and I know we will definitely get murdered if we do. 

Happy 4th of July

From our neck of the woods to yours!!

Only in America

can you wear headbands 

as cool as these!

I felt very happy and blessed today to live in our great country, America.

I felt so glad that I did not have to say goodbye to Ryan this morning at 7:30am and not see him until Tuesday evening at 7:00pm, like all other "mid-face trauma" call days this past year.

We had such a wonderful day.

We went to Phil and Julie Erickson's Fourth of July party until 2:00 this afternoon.  We had such a fun time with homemade ice cream and watermelon throwing for the kids. That was followed by naps for everyone.

Tonight we ventured out to see the City's fireworks.

I was still happy until we got home after 11:00pm and  I saw our really messy house, and then I was not happy anymore.

So we put the kids to bed and I did the dishes while Ryan picked up toys and I feel happy again.

I really hope your day was as fabulous as ours.

We are all so blessed to live in this wonderful country.

Happy Birthday America!

We're a sorry lot

 Jace has been in bed with a fever for the last 24 hours, I have unrelenting vertigo, Ryan is burned out and exhausted from just completing his first year of residency, and Grace is bored out of her gourd without Jace to play with.

So it can only get better from here.  Right?!

The Ice Road

A cake pan + water + freezer = equals hours of fun for Christopher Robin.

He just currently finished watching season 1 of Ice Road Truckers and he will tell you that those trucks have got to get all the supplies to the diamond mines in Yellowknife before the time runs out and the ice road melts.  But sometimes those trucks do "just crack through the ice." 

"Oh, a BIG mack truck. Be careful. Don't crack through."

Christopher Robin telling those trucks to go slow so they don't break through the ice.

And as the Dr. says when he plays Ice Road Truckers,  "Yeah, yeah, I'm going slow, don't want my bleep, bleep tires to crash through the ice bleep, bleep!"  "Oh bleep, my truck is so heavy, I can hear the ice crack beneath it, bleep,bleep."

He knows that Christopher Robin has no clue what  "bleep, bleep" means, he just puts it in his dialogue solely for my benefit, because he knows how thrilled I am about my 4 year old learning to talk "truck."

It is such a shame though that my jelly roll pan will not fit in my freezer.  It would make the BEST ice road yet.  But this winter when it gets cold out, you can bet that I will be pulling it out of my cupboard and filling it with water and setting it outside my back door to freeze over night because we only have the BEST ice roads 'round here. There will be NO bleep, bleep cracks in OUR bleep, bleep ice road!