diving for golf balls

we've been taking advantage of the midnight sun around here. bike riding is our chief "nighttime" activity. last week the kids wanted to throw rocks in the river by our house, so we hopped on our bikes and took off! our usual rock skipping spot was occupied so we went a little further on down the trail, where someone spotted a golf ball in the pond. that's another of our favorite pass times, golf ball diving. so of course quinton wanted to go in and get it, and of course being the awesome parents we are, we let him.

no that's not pond scum! it's those little cotton thingies from cottonwood trees. they'll factor in later on in our story.

quinton dove for it, couldn't find it, and came out fast and freezing!! he was totally bummed to go through all that and not come up with the prize. we told him if he got it we'd give him 4$. he was way too cold, so we promised we'd come back the next day. meanwhile:
austin gets a bloody nose. but we can't do much about it......or can we? so mike gathers up all the cottony stuff and smooshes together tight and ......wahlaaaa!!



"i'm okay, hello everyone"

and on day two: quinton came prepared and.....he conquered!! and so we gave him 4 bucks (cause it was a titleist pro-v) and a slushy and lots of back slapping!

signs (a slightly tall tale )

,10 years ago, when i had my first baby, there was not much emphasis on cocoa butter. it was just a generally excepted fact that part of the exchange for one deliciously chubby baby, was purple slash marks on the various stretches of land that make up a person's person.
I have spent some time over the last 10 years lamenting the fact that no one bothered to tell me that these scars were avoidable, simply by coating my self in smellygood, lotion. but alas, they are starting to prove useful.
I have two boys who currently reside in the stage of "you can't tell me what to do." hA HA HA!! that's so funny. (big sigh after hardy laugh) anyway. for example here is a recent conversation.
me: austin it's time to turn off the wii and go outside.
austin: WHAT? i didn't get as long a turn as quinton blah blah blah......
me: (interupting, you just must do this as a mother sometimes) I don't know who you think you are, but when i ask you to do something, you say "yes mom!" and then you do it!
austin: YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!
me: (having an epiphany and pulling up my shirt to reveal just my train wreck abdomen) see these stretch marks? i grew you in here and YES I CAN!!
no 7 year old wants to see his mom's train wreck belly, let alone discover the cause.
he very humbly clamps his mouth shut. and turns off the wii.

all this trauma for austin has me examining my stretch marks again to see if they really are that horrendous. i discover that they are worse from the side then the front. i'll remember that next time i need to bare them and turn slighty askew as i do so. it'll be even more effective.
while i'm examining i swear i begin to see an odd pattern in my war wounds. you know how you look at something long enough and it starts to morph and expand before your eyes?
"could it be?," i think, " is that really what i think it is?"
i rummage through the toy box until i find what i need. an ancient kid magnifying glass shaped like a sea turtle. i grip the green plastic handle and take a breath, peering at the suspicious area. and what i see makes me gasp out loud. my suspicions are confirmed. the long hideous scars are formed by tiny grotesquely, artistic, graffiti. the message they spell out takes my breath away. it reads:

austin was here

a smile forms on this mother's face. and i start the search on the sacred landscape of miraculous birthing history for signs of the other three.

what is up?

we've already had our 80 degree day here in AK. it's a rare thing, so we turned on some sprinklers, as evidenced by austin's shirtless state.
mike and i had our first night time bike ride. this pic was taken at about 10:00 p.m. about five minutes after mike took this shot of me, we were riding and mike said, "i've never seen any wild life on this trail. (all the while i am talking loud and non stop to scare away bears) and then about 6 minutes after mike took this picture of me, (which i gotta tell you piggy tails are not my best idea ever) we saw a BLACK BEAR running down the trail!! He was about 100 yards away, and running fast, so mike wouldn't let me turn around and run. which i am glad for. cause we didn't get eaten, and i have a good story to tell. man it was awesome.
princess avery and her daddy were invited to the neighborhood "princesses and daddies ball" avery had the time of her life. there was dancing and food. Mike said that avery combined both into her experience by dancing with one hand and holding delicious crackers in the other. 1,2,3...twirl... and eat....
austin and Mike have taken in some golf. they couldn't wait. it's golf day today and it's windy and rainy. so say your prayers that the sun comes out for them. it's important.
sunday was beautiful! we bbq'ed and ate outside and wrestled dad on the grass. jace loves a good grass eating.