Higher Dad, Higher!!!

Still on location in Clinton Township. Yesterday Doug and I were able to get away for the night. We went on a really long date. It had been a while ;-) Grandma and Grandpa graciously watched the kiddos while Doug and I went out. We shopped a few book stores and had a great dinner. We slept in then this afternoon we went to Jimmy John's for lunch. Very yummy!! We spent the rest of the day in the pool with the kids. Doug got a work out. He was tossing them in the air and they were loving it. Even Grace did it this year. She has always been too afraid to do it up until now. They boys look forward to it every year. Daniel gets the best height and the twins are now doing "tricks" in the air. Wait till they start watching the diving. Grandpa's pool is only 4 feet deep. We will have to make sure they are only jumping!!!! Tomorrow I think we are making our way to Southgate to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Adams. I may try to post from there, but don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a while. Keep an eye on my dad's AFTERMATH blog for more pictures and updates!!!

He is Superman!!!!!

We are into the Olympics. If you couldn't tell from my new background, the Olympics have been a hit. We just finished watching Michael Phelps win the Butterfly by one one hundredth of a second. Unbelievable!!!!! He really is Superman, like the commentators keep calling him. It helps he is nice to look at too ;-) I get goosebumps every time I hear our national anthem being played and we have heard it a lot lately.

My kids have really gotten into these games. These games are the first ones the kids have been old enough to remember. The kids all studied ancient Greece in school, it is a unit in second grade. They have classroom Olympics and a toga party. So when these Olympic Games began the kid wondered if they were just like the Ancient Olympics, when they competed naked!! We spent some time explaining the new Olympic games. I think that every Olympic athlete needs an 8 eight year old boy for their cheering section. The boys really get into each and every event. From Beach volleyball to water polo ( or water hockey as they call it) they cheer like they have been cheering for that team forever. They don't know any names and in some cases they don't even know how the game is played, but if they are American the boys are cheering them on. When the event is over and while they are waiting for the soap operas to finish airing, the boys and Grace are playing their new favorite sport. "Beach" volleyball over the line hanging in the back yard. Breast strokes, back strokes and the butterfly in our 12 ft wide pool. Water polo in our 12ft wide pool. Fencing with light sabers. Tumbling on the floor and parallel bar exercises on the monkey bars at the local playground. Now we are at Pappa's and he has a 30ft long pool and goggles! They are trying to perfect their strokes. Anyone know a good swim coach?? My children are blessed with athletic ability. I look forward to seeing how it develops. Will they pursue team sports like baseball or will they go for the individual ones like golf, fencing or swimming? Or will they just be backyard athletes and excel elsewhere? Whichever path they might take I know they will be blessed and they will have their own cheering section, mom!!!

Today, we separated by gender. The BOYS ( minus Pappa who had a previous golf engagement) went to see the new Star Wars movie. Then they had lunch at Denny's, a quick run to Toys R Us for new Star Wars figs, and a trip to Meijer for steaks and ribs for dinner. The GIRLS made our way to David's Bridal to order a bridesmaid dress for me and a flower girl dress for Grace. Different weddings. We didn't find the flower girl dress, but we are still looking. Then we headed to Oakland mall for lunch at Olga's and more shopping. Everyone ended the day with a great grilled dinner and a swim in the pool. The kids crashed early and I think the adults will too. If not you know what we will be doing! GO USA!!!!

On Location

Today I am reporting from Dad's computer in Clinton Township. We are finally on vacation!!!!!!! This is a good thing, if you didn't catch that from all the exclamation marks ;-) We got out of dodge (Hillsdale) late on Wednesday. Our ETD (estimated time of departure) was before 5pm - so we didn't run into the trustees attempting to fix the broken sewage drain in our crawl space- but we didn't hit the road until nearly 7pm. The office computer was giving Doug fits. It is 8 years old and won't talk to the new kids in the office. It almost got shot with an SKS or thrown out the window. He ended up finishing here on dad's computer. His August Cornerstone articles are complete now, however and that is what matters. We crashed here Wednesday night. The kids were a little excited. They got to sleep in the basement, which Pappa finished just recently, on camping cots. Loads of fun for 9,8 and 5 year olds!! They ended up staying up to watch some Olympic coverage. We have been Olympic deprived since Monday when a very kind trustee was weed whacking our front yard and accidentally cut the cable that connected our roof top antenna to the TV -- and as you already know we don't have any cable or satellite service so that was our only source for TV type entertainment. We were able to see Phelps and Co. win the relay on Sunday, but missed two more nights worth of swimming. Anyway, we now have Pappa's large screen tv to watch the Olympics on. The kids, and me too, are in heaven!!!

Thursday, we trecked over to Lapeer to visit with the Strawn's. They were finishing up their two week vacation in Michigan. We couldn't let them be so close without seeing them. The kids had a blast climbing apple trees, playing baseball, freeze tag, picking peaches and just having fun. We big kids were able to catch up and vent. Pastors and their wives need to do that every now and then ya know. We had a great visit. I think we all wish we lived closer together. Nebraska is pretty far away!! Thanks for a great afternoon guys! We really enjoyed the day!

Once back at Grandma's we threw all the kids in a shower or bath, they stunk and were very dirty, then put them to bed. They were also tired and cranky!!! Doug and I stayed up to watch the gymnasts take gold and silver. It was late, but it isn't every year you get to see history being made! Tomorrow is another fun day. Stay tuned for more adventures!! I may even add pictures!!

Finally, The Pictures from our NC Trip!!