Iris Wrapup

For the past 4 summers the prince has worked at a local Iris garden. It's not his favorite thing to do...dig irises, clean irises, mark irises, sort irises, and package irises, but when it's over and the owner hands him an envelope full of cash he always decides to do it again the next summer. This summer the princess was able to start her Iris career as well. She too finds the work tedious but the money awesome. And she has to save for her 8th grade trip to Washington D.C. (the reason the prince started working there 4 years ago), so this summer's work gained her about 1/4 of what she will need for her trip! Thanks Irises!

No Defog Button

The prince went with his friend, Tucker, to the baseball game the other night. It began to rain (flooded downtown actually) so they ran to Tucker's truck for safety. As they were sitting there the windows fogged up. Tucker turned on the defrost button, but all that did was fog the windows up more. So they searched and searched for the "defog" button. Alas, Tucker's old truck doesn't have one. I was a gigglin' fool as he told me this story. I then informed him of the workings of the defrost button. "Oh, I'd better call Tucker and tell him he does have a defog button."

Now that you've had your laugh for the day...and yes, they are both blond.

Woolworth Menu 1950's

The most expensive thing on the menu: Egg salad sandwich $.60, but it is a "three decker". Wouldn't we call that a "triple decker" today?

Super Jumbo Banana Split is $.39. That's a bargain!

And you could get a king size cola-cola for $.10.

Ahhhh, the good ol' days.

Go Fly A Kite!

A few nights ago we were sitting outside, enjoying a relatively cool evening. The princess noticed a bit of wind and decided to fly her kite. Not just any kite, but the best kind of kite: the $1.00 at Walmart kind of kite!


Lift off. Apparently it works best if you have one hand on your hip to maintain some semblance of "cool" while flying.



Sorry for the angle. I was trying to get her AND the kite in while looking into the sun. Not working out so well on my end.

"Hey! Hey guys! Can I play too?

There was only one incident of the kite landing in our tree. At least it was our tree and not one of the neighbors' trees! The problem is that a couple of years ago that would have been no big deal, when the tree was skinny and 5 feet high. But now it's much fuller and probably hitting the 7 or 8 foot mark. So there was a little surgery that had to be done to remove the kite from the tree, and we think the tree will recover! These photos were taken after that little problem so, as you can see, it didn't affect the kite in the least.

Visiting the Cousins

The prince headed out on a road trip last weekend with Grandma. They went to visit the cousins and celebrate Grandma's birthday...again!

What?

The king got a new cell phone.

As he was playing with it tonight he said, "I have the coolest phone."

I said, "Rub it in."

He said, "I left the charger at work."

WHAT?

"No, I said 'Rub it in, not plug it in!!!'"

You're going to WHAT?

Loyal blog followers may remember a post back in December 2008 where the prince decided he would like to join the Girl's Dance Team during 8th grade. No? Well the link is attached.

December 2008

Dance Team Link

http://laggeland.blogspot.com/2008/12/i-think-ill-join-dance-team.html

That dream died...as it should have, but this spring it was reinvented in the form of being the mascot for his high school. I believe this is much more up his alley, and we were behind him 100% in this endeavor. Attached it the link to that fine memory.

Mascot Link

http://laggeland.blogspot.com/2010/05/real-reason-he-wanted-to-be-mascot.html

May 2010

Last week he, along with the cheerleaders at his school, met for two days with the Kansas State cheerleaders for a camp. Kansas brought 3 male cheer guys (called Stunt Men, thus making a cheer squad now a stunt team), and these three guys looked around at all the girls and one lone prince and saw where their challenge was. By the end of day 1 of cheer camp they had him convinced that he needed to be a stunt man--in addition to his mascot duties--and he agreed. I had visions of college scholarships in my eyes. All three of those guys had full-ride for cheer. But the prince's visions were more in line with the fact that in some of the lifts they taught him, he gets to rest his hand on a cheerleader BUTT for a few seconds! Holy Moly!

This is not without it's risks though. As the cheerleader was jumping down after one such lift, she accidently kicked him in the crotch! (I'm sure it was an accident!) One of the stunt men, coaching them, said, "Great job. You got her down safely before you winced!"

So now he's a Stunt Man...and a mascot...and will run track...and is on the honor roll...and will get his license in December...

Is it asking too much if I will continue to dream of the full-ride scholarship?

July 2010

He doesn't really like this top...and who can blame him...but ah, the perks that go along with it!

Soaring!

We bought these photos from one of the dance competitions the princess did last spring. I love how they show how far off the floor she comes with her leaps and jumps! She's amazing!

This is the second photo but rotated. When I was scanning them, this was the way it was in the scanner. I thought it looked cool so threw it in here too!

Oh Mighty Hunters

When Shelley was here a fly got in the house--or maybe it was a moth. Anyway, with our high ceilings, it went up on the peak to hide when the fly swatter came out. But the prince had a plan. See the Nerf gun in his left hand. He would shoot at it, and then when it flew away from the Nerf bullet, the king would swat at it. It took them a couple of minutes, but you can see by the look on the prince's face that they were successful! Gotta thank Shelley for having the presence of mind to get the camera out and capture it!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Check out Grandma's fingers. She was trying to convince us she is 8!

We love you!

Alaskan Glaciers

I've saved the best for last. These photos are stunning.

Do you see the horse in this photo?

Thanks Jeanette, for letting me share.

Alaskan Wildlife

These are all her actual photos...no postcards or anything. Pretty impressive!

Alaskan Scenery

Last month our friend, J--the world traveler, was in Alaska. She agreed to let me share some of her amazing photos, so over the next couple of days, we get to live through her!

Do you hear it?

That's right...there is silence in my house. And no, the kids aren't still sleeping. They are at their JOB...digging, washing, labeling, and packaging iris bulbs. My mornings are FREE this week and maybe next week too. What to do? I know, bask in the quiet. Life is good!

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww

Could she be any cuter? That's the princess...back in 2002, it looks like. She's on Grandma's school bus. When they were little, it was a special treat to go with Grandma on "Take Your Child to Work" day. Looks like she's having a little lunch--either ham, turkey, or peanut butter with NO JELLY! And check out her boots--Winnie the Pooh. She wore them winter, spring, and fall (we got her into sandals in the summer) because they were easy on/off and she was going to DO IT HERSELF! Thanks Grandma for sending this one to us. And isn't the internet great?

Grandma Goes to Colorado

In June Grandma (the queen's mom) went to Colorado to visit the sisty and our cousins. Here are a few of her photos.

Tyson

Mariah

Visiting Santa at the North Pole.

Ariana--I call her Princess Ariana

Jajuan

Isaiah

Isaiah and LOTS of helpers...it takes a lot of people to coach tball! :)

Judging by the photos, I think Grandma had a good trip!

Tilt-a-Whirl

We are a Tilt-a-Whirl loving family. I know, I know...it makes many of you sick. But not us. If I went through all my photo albums, I would come up with a dozen photos of various family members (myself included) on that thing. We LOVE it! As luck would have it, I had access to 2 photos quite easily so here they are for you to enjoy!

The prince, princess, and cousins--August 2009

My sister, my mom, and cousins--June 2010

Climbing Camp

The kids went to climbing camp again this year. I forgot my camera both days when they were doing the outdoor climb. These were taken with my cell phone so they aren't great, but you get the idea. The first two are the princess coming down. I didn't get there in time to see her climb.

The last two are the prince. If you can see the sky blue dot to the left of the crevice and up about 2/3 of the way...that's him! He's in the shadow in the first one and just above the shadow in the second photo. They really had a good time at this camp again, and the weather was in the low 70*s both mornings when they climbed outdoors, so it was really perfect.

Grown-Up Dragon

Here's Andy's much larger dragon...about a week later. He did grow quite a bit, and Andy was able to keep his maiming of villagers and livestock to a minimum. Phew! When he was taken out of the vase so he could shrink back down for the trip home, he left lots of dragon sludge in my vase. Gross!

Now Shelley and Andy have left us, and we are sad and lonely. It looks like they took the sunshine with them as today is windy and a bit cloudy! Bummer.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!

They didn't really each get 2 orders of ice cream, but it sort of looks that way from the photos!

I Make Minimum Wage For A Reason

Today we went through the drive thru at Taco Bell to get a soda. The girl who took our order was not the brightest bulb in the pack. As she handed us our sodas, she asked, "Would you like taco sauce with that?" Before we really even had time to process what she had said, she continues, "Oh, NO! That would be gross!" Ya think?

Swimming!

We got to go swimming at Mary Beth's the other day. It was a hot day so cooling off in the water was just the ticket!

It's like ripping off a band aid, Princess. Just jump in!

Ahhh...this is the life!