Fightingball

One morning while camping the guys decided to play a little football.   They found an open field about a mile away so I took the boys down to run around, play with their cousins and watch.  I sat with Kane and tried to relax a bit while he crawled in the grass.  After the game we were back at our campsites and Evan ran over to Uncle Jay this is their conversation as best as I remember it. 

Evan:  "Uncle Jay, you play fightingball?"

Jay:  "Evan, you mean football."

Evan:  "No, fightingball.  You know, first you tell secrets, then you throw the ball, and then you fight. Fightingball."

Jay:  Laughing.  Then he calls Jed and I over to tell us. 

Being like their daddies.  They got the fight part down at least.

Family Reunion

Jed's family decided to rendezvous in Virginia last week.   All 25 of us camped at Westmoreland State Park for a week.  It was the first time we've all been together in more than 5 years!  In that time we've added 9 grandkids, Jed and I moved to Florida, Jessie and her family moved to North Carolina, Ben and Missy have made plans to head overseas to Papua New Guinea and Joy has graduated from high school!  A lot has changed and thats just the big stuff!  Anyway, we had a really good time hanging out and catching up with our family.  The boys always love camping but it was a major bonus to have so many cousins to play with.  The kids quickly discovered if they moved around the rocks and leaves that covered the ground they would find tons of worms, at one point I think they had a collection of about 50 worms!  There was a huge pool with a slide and diving boards that we played in almost everyday, Jed and I went kayaking on the Potomac river one day (thanks for babysitting the boys for us Joy!) and on our last day we went on a hike and discovered a nice little beach.  We also made day trips to the George Washington's birth place, Fredricksburgh, a berry picking farm, and Washington DC (my first time there).  So those were the highlights which mostly dominated our trip but we did have a few lowlights that included, Evan getting a tick on the side of his head, the girls bathroom only having one shower that worked, having to hold my nine month old almost the entire time, the mosquitos, and Evan getting sick on the fourth of July.  First he puked all over the table where we were celebrating his cousin Judah's birthday and again at night in the camper all over his bed, pillow, sleeping bag and Seth (poor Sethy!).  Fortunately though it was the last day of our trip and the next day he seemed to be fine so there wasnt any puking in our van.  So we're home now and trying to get back into the swing of things.  We had a woman stay here while we were gone to take care of the dogs and Church and she did a great job.  Our pool took a turn for the worse though and will be needing a lot of attention over the next couple of days and we still need to clean out the camper.  I think I'll be doing laundry for days! 

Stopping in North Carolina to visit Jessie and Nate a week after they moved there.  The house they're renting is so cute and the neighborhood is very nice.  They live down the street from a lake and my boys enjoyed being able to swim in an aligator free lake!  It was Seth's first time ever swimming in a lake.  

First stop in Virginia after setting up camp.

First time the boys have gone berry picking!  The berries were HUGE and yummy!

We literally got off the metro, walked upstairs and were standing in the middle of the Mall.  It was so bright that Evan couldnt see but I still made him stand there with the Washington Memorial in the background.  Poor kid. 

The Cusi Crew!  We miss our non Floridian fam already!  

For more pictures of our trip check out my facebook page.

No Water

Ever since we've lived in this house our internet has had issues.  Nothing terrible but every once in a while for no apparent reason our internet would stop work for a day, we've replaced modems, routers and well, thats the extent of my knowledge about technology but I know Jed's worked on other stuff to make it better.  So finally last week when Jed needed the internet for work related stuff and it wouldnt work, again for no apparent reason, so he called Brighthouse.  They sent someone out to diagnose the problem and we ended up with new cables on the outside.   That was Friday, then this morning some guy showed up to dig a trench to bury the cables.  I pointed him in the right direction, expecting that he would start digging and the next thing I hear is drilling in the wall.  Then the frantic Brighthouse guy comes to my door, "I think I just hit a pipe. Why didnt you tell me that their were water pipes over there?"  I just stared at him and finally said, "I didnt know."   Even if I had expected him to drill a hole into the side of the house, I still wouldnt have thought to mention that there was a bathroom over there unless he had asked.  I just dont think about stuff like that!  However I figured when he said he was here to dig a trench that he was talking about working in the ground not the wall.  Anyway, I called Jed, while he called his supervisor so now Jed is home and there is a plumber on his way to fix it.  Oh, and we are currently without water.  Hopefully the plumber get here soon.  

In other news, last weekend was Joy's graduation party.  I had a whole post about it and other things we did lined up but our internet cut out right before I published. :(  A picture will have to do.

Joy and her friends!  Congrats Joy!

Also last week Sethy started swimming (with floaties) which is a huge accomplishment considering how afriad of the pool he's been.  Now that Evan has someone to play with they spend a lot more time in the water. 

Funny Words

Evan has been cracking me up with some of the new names he's given things such as,

Spechtables

Bubble Seeds.  He says Sunflower and seeds perfectly but he's convinced these are "bubble seeds"!

This one has a funny story!  This morning Evan was asking me if panda bears ate people and I told him that, A, they didnt and B, even if they did he didnt have to worry about it b/c they live in a place called China which is really far away.  Then he asked where Tigers lived and I told him, Asia.  He thought about that for a moment and then asked me what kind of animals lived in "Syrup."  I told him I had no idea what he was talking about.  He said, "MOM, SYRUP, where aunt Tracy is!"   Much like his mother language and communication dont seem to be his strong point. 

The boys were playing in my bedroom so I took some cute pictures.

Kane isnt sure what he thinks about his brothers sometimes.

Generally, though, they're the best! 

UP

I took Evan to his first movie in a theater!  It was awesome!  When we walked in he saw the screen and his mouth dropped open.  He said, "Thats the biggest TV I've ever seen."  Then we found a seat and he sat at the edge the entire time with his mouth still open.  I leaned over and asked him if he liked it and he barely nodded with his eyes still glued to the screen.  He held my hand for most of the movie and got so excited at one point that he kicked the seat in front of him (there wasnt anyone sitting there thankfully)! Once the lights turned back on and the credits were rolling Evan went back to his normal self, asking what we were going to do next, if we could see another movie or go to the toy store.  So if thats the reaction Evan had I'm wondering about Seth.  Seth likes TV a lot more than Evan so I cant imagine what he's going to think of the "biggest TV".  

The movie was pretty good.