boat night ..

we just got a chance to have our first family boat night ..

it would help if my family were home more often !

i am not sure what caught his eye .. 

so we ate dinner at the landings and then headed home while watching the sunset ..

i love these nights .. 

the paddle board ..

we sell paddle boards at work ..

my brilliant friend brooke was in one day and made the comment 

on what a great "core" workout a paddle board would be ..

"ugh" was all i could say ..

well the topic came up again at work today ..

so i had the guys load the 12 ft long board into the back of jeff's truck and bring it home .. 

i picked up the kids and was telling mom that i brought a paddle board home ..

she thinks that she might want to give it a spin to ..

the kids immediately chimed in .. oh me to ..

i was trying to explain that the paddle board is just for me and granny ..

all i got was why can't i try ..

later i said ..

so .. we come home .. eat breakfast for dinner and then head down to the dock

with the board ..

side note .. i really needed to change my camera lens and check my settings 

before i took this picture .. but when i said hang on .. they kept walking ..

so this picture will have to do ..

anyway .. 

i got 1 turn on the paddle board ..

the kids got 3 turns on the paddle board ..

my plans of quiet time paddling out to the mouth of my cove are gone ..

just me and the water and the sunset .. not going to happen ..

instead i have to hurry back to the dock

 to shouting children jumping up and down on the dock hollaring my turn .. my turn .. 

ellie told jeff that he needs to bring another home ..

jeff said why ..

i am thinking she is going to say so that she can paddle with me ..

instead she says so that cash can paddle with her ..

"ugh"

is all i can say .. 

dog kisses ..

ginger saw that the kids were outside so she had to come over and check out what was going on .. 

and then she saw ellie ..

she loves ellie .. 

ellie loves her .. 

kiss kiss .. 

camera class ..

yesterday mindy from mjw photography come over to teach a camera class ..

ruth and i had been talking about how we would love to go to camera school ..

so ruth found mindy through another friend and we talked her into coming over ..

it was awesome !!

i never thought that i would say this ..

but shooting in manual is soooooo EASY !!!!

thankfully the kids didn't mind helping us out and giving us something to photograph .. 

i took all these pics on total manual ..

spot metering ..

single point focal point

shutter speed

aperture .. 

set all the settings myself ..

i am giddy !!!!

mindy you are brilliant .. thank you so much !!

you can read about mindy here ..

http://www.focusbymjw.com

instagram conversations .. part 2

we heard from the kids again ..

instagram conversations ..

the kids are still in south dakota ..

they have very very intermittent phone reception ..

so ellie and i have been communicating via instagram ..

she posts pics of what they are doing and i leave comments ..

so far it has worked pretty well ..

wifi yes ..

 phone reception no..

run !!!

we had a few wasp families trying to build a nest and move in under the eaves on our roof ..

i mentioned this to jeff the other day ..

so on wednesday night he said he was going to take care of it ..

ok great i said .. thanks ..

he walks out the door .. with cash behind him ..

5 minutes go by and cash comes back in the house ..

mom do you know where my wrist rocket is ..

yes i do ..

where is it he says ..

why ?!?! .. i so know where this is going ..

dad needs it to shoot down the wasp nest ..

on your train table i said ..

great  he says ..

cash .. yes mom .. make sure you run fast if your dad actually hits the nest ..

ok mom ..

wasp nest removal was a success !!

i'm not coming home ..

i talked to my children last night .. they didn't have anytime for me ..

all cash said was that they had the biggest and coolest slide ever at the water park at the RB campground ..

and unless jeff put a slide just like it in our pool then he wasn't coming home ..

i thought ok .. i will pass that along to your dad .. 

really .. how big could the slide be ..

then i saw ellie's post on instagram ..

well cash .. all i can say is i don't think so !!!

have a fun day !

south dakota here they come ..

granny .. grandpa and the kids loaded up into the RB on friday ..

they are heading to south dakota ..

home of "those guys on the rock" aka mount rushmore ..

they are meeting up with a whole group of grannies and grandpa's and grandkids ..

they are going to have 10 days full of amazing memories ..

the kind of memories that you can only make with granny and grandpa ..

it will be just me and ginger and jeff ..

oh what will we do ?!

he can fly !!

uncle jay and cj came up over memorial day weekend .. 

while they were here the kids worked on a few new jumps .. 

this is called the michael jordan ..

and yes aunt misty .. i have order a print of this pic for you !!

the last supper .. of sorts ..

what was once the world's largest mcdonald's is being torn down on tuesday ..

this is cash's most favorite place to eat ..

the mcdonald's over the highway we call it .. 

we would go when he was little .. and not so little ..

we would always sit by the window so that he could watch the big trucks go by .. 

so we went last night .. 

to eat there one last time ..

jeff and ellie were not appreciating the fact that this would be the LAST time .. ever ..

that we would eat here .. 

take my picture on the steps mom he said ..

i want to remember them he said ..

he was just a little sad ..

he ate his fries with a heavy heart as he watched the trucks go by ..

i was watching the huge storm clouds building and the winds whipping up the trees ..

thinking to myself oh cash .. hurry up .. 

there is bad bad weather heading our way and we are eating at mcdonalds ..

ellie and jeff did not want to sit by the window and watch the trucks .. 

he was sad when we left ..

my dirty sad little boy who will miss his mcdonald's over the highway .. 

i told him on the way out that it will be ok ..

they are going to build a new one .. a bigger one .. a cleaner one ..

it won't be the same mom he said ..

he gave it one last look and started to walk away ..

i grew up at this mcdonald's mom ..

he kicked a rock out his way .. hung his head and walked slowly back to the car ..

i thought to myself .. what on earth cash ..

but then i thought .. you know what .. he kinda has ..

any "date night" we ever had we went there ..

anytime he was having a bad day .. a happy meal over the highway would fix it .. 

any mcdonald's experience is tied to this mcdonalds .. 

this sad old mcdonald's that needs to be torn down in the worst way .. 

so he's right .. the new fancy and clean mcdonalds with really clean windows to look thru to see the trucks will be nice .. 

but it won't be the same .. 

i'm sorry cash for you to loose this part of your childhood ..