You Might be A Redneck If . . .

**The conditions for taking pictures were marginal last night, but I can't pass up the chance to share this. **

So why do my husband's most recent purchase (I'm not fond of the scantily clad hula girl, but at least he got it for a good deal off Craig's list),

. . . this lake . . .

. . . and some creative thinking . . .

. . . draw a small-town group of spectators?

And does something seem to be missing to you?

Anyone?

Boat?

Anyone got a boat?

Juliette doesn't really care if they can't find the boat, she's just excited to be outside.

Okay, here is why people came out to see the show . . .

Or maybe it was more for the splash effects . . .

Truth be told, I think they came out for this. . .

That's right, our friend actually tried to ski on some 2 x 4s, using his sandals and duct tape.

Now don't YOU wish you had front row seats for that?

Not-Me-Monday - Camping Style

We finally went camping this weekend. We have not been talking about it all summer long! And now that the end of summer is fast approaching, we definitely are not just now getting our gear together and actually trying to find a little time to experience the great outdoors. No way!

With a summer's worth of anticipation, we certainly didn't start Juliette's first camping trip off in a foul mood, due to my badgering and complaining. I mean I would never sabotage a perfectly good family outing by having a bad attitude. Nope, not me! And I certainly would never rush my husband to such an extent that he would forget his toothbrush AND clean underwear. Eww!

Several of our friends broke down and bought campers this year (I think it has something to do with not being sure how to corral babies in the wild). We on the other hand decided to still "rough it" and use a tent on a nicely prepared campground tent pad. With all that said, we definitely did not complain about the hard ground or stiff backs in the morning. Nope, we're too young for that anyways.

As for corralling babies in the wild, well we didn't just give in and set-up one of our favorite at-home containment devices. I mean, what is the point of taking your child into the wilderness if they can't truly be wild, right?

Juliette loved camping, especially sleeping in the tent between mom and dad - which we definitely did not let her do. I'd never want her to get out of our her normal sleeping routine. Nope, not me!


And when she refused to go to sleep in the new digs - which by the way my daughter would never do - we didn't just give in and lay down with her. And we absolutely did not just decide to call it a night and go to bed at a quarter to nine. I mean what adult is even sleepy at that hour? Not him . . .

. . . and definitely not me!

The next morning we did not wake up with the sunrise. Everyone knows that Saturdays are for sleeping in, right?

When I started to make breakfast I realized that I had forgotten to bring cups, but I did not just decide to drink the orange juice straight out of the jug. I'd never resort to the secret ways of highschool boys. Nope, not me!

Since we had gone to bed so early the night before, I also did not decide to eat a few Smores for breakfast. Chocolate and marshmallows on an empty stomach? My health conscience mother and friends might disown me for that. No, I'd never.

While I cleaned up from breakfast, Seth did not set up an archery range right in the middle of the campground. That might be dangerous. Nor did he impress me at all with his mad arrow shooting skills.


We went for a little hike to the creek, and I definitely did not wear flip-flops only to discover some poison ivy along the trail. A mountain bred girl like me would have more sense than to wear flip flips on a hike. Seriously!




All in all, we had a great time, and hopefully we'll manage to squeeze in one more night or two of camping before winter comes. But next time I think we might break down and bring an air mattress to sleep on. Of course, I'm not complaining. I would never complain. And I'd definitely not start thinking that my friends might have the right idea about investing in campers. Nope, not me!

~~~

More Not-Me-Monday fun here:

Friday Review

Seth and I have been talking about me eventually going back to school. Last night, as I was mulling the idea over, I started thinking about tests, papers, exams, and of course reviews. Whew - maybe I'm not quite ready to go back. I'll stick to a different type of review for now, thank you very much.

So this week we had the semi-surprising visit of my grandparents. They had mentioned that they might be coming through a couple of weeks ago, but we never had a chance to hear their finalized plans. Imagine my surprise (and delight!) when they called me Tuesday morning to let me know that they were in town.

Juliette was super happy that they came and that they brought their dogs with them too.

Hey, where'd the doggie go?

Seth even got grandma to try out the Wii. She had a great round of bowling - making me thankful that I wasn't playing against her. Hee-hee!

As you can tell - she definitely got into it. Go grandma!

I really haven't had a chance to clean the house since we got back last week. But the good news is that Juliette is learning how to handle a broom. See . . .

I got you covered mom!

Besides that, most of our week was consumed by trying to recover from these stubborn camp colds, Juliette cutting more teeth (at least I think), menu-planning, grocery shopping, laundry, trips to the library, watering the garden, etc. We never made it to the pool this week though, bummer. Not too many more weeks left of that. We're going to have to wear these while we can . . .

Juliette's Camp Experience

I had a great first-time at camp. I loved the food . . .



. . . and enjoyed being around all of the friendly faces. I liked taking a bath in a shower . . .


. . . and all of the singing too. Of course, after being in my stroller or held most of the day, I was delighted to get back to our cabin each night so I could finally crawl around on the floor.




But most of all, I liked camp because of the director!

Bible Camp

Juliette and I had a fantastic week at NCCC - Northen Colorado Christian Camp. I was so blessed to have two of my sisters and one of my brothers there with me. Here are some pics of the fun we had together:

Crafts

Rainy-day indoor games

Ring around the rosy?

Rainy-day basketball

Rainy-day putt-putt in the background

All the rain makes nice rainbows though!

Fun on the low-ropes course

It was a stretch . . .

. . . s t r e t c h . . .

. . . s t r e t c h i n g experience!

What's this? Ammo for the flour-bomb war!

Dangerous!

Watch out world!

Note to self - don't wear black to a flour-bomb war

Whose that hiding behind the white beard?

What a beautiful place!

Nothing like starting the morning with goofy roll calls

My Bible class full of sweet girls!

Hopefully, It'll Do

So it's Monday - almost the end of the day - and I have yet to put up a Not-Me-Monday post. It isn't like I don't have some fabulous things that happened last week that I could not. But we are still recuperating from being gone for a week, having colds, cutting not one . . . but count them . . . two teeth, and all of this is added to the fact that in about an hour I have company coming for dinner. So the following snippet of last week will just have to do. Maybe we'll get back into our normal routine before the summer is over - but then again isn't that what summer is all about, getting out of your normal routine?

~~~

Camp was a blast, and I promise that I'll have pictures up sometime this week (Lord willing that is!).

I have to tell you though, that one of my most favorite things about being gone was coming home. I was so excited to be back and to see my man.

But I have to admit that even though I was thrilled to see Seth, I wasn't really looking forward to stepping inside the house after he had been a bachelor here all week. What scary sites might I behold?

But I was pleasantly surprised to find that, even after being left on his own for an entire week, Seth had managed to get things in order before I returned. He knows how to make his wife happy. He looked happy himself - clean, and well-fed. The house was orderly, the dishes were washed, and in fact there wasn't even a SINGLE dirty dish in the sink.

The bed was even made.

But then I walked around the corner and saw this:

Let's just say that it's good to know I'm needed around here.