The Adventure of Miss M and Her Mommy

Thursday, July 9, 2009



Miss M has asked me many times over the last 3 or 4 years when she will be able to fly in an airplane. We live near an airport and actually go the the airport on occasion just to watch the airplanes. My answers were often flippant and decidedly negative: when we have lots of money ... when you save up your money ... I don't know but it will be a while!

Last week her opportunity literally rode up on the beach at the resort where we were staying. And at first? She said no. She didn't want to go. Her stomach. Her anxiety. These are beginning to dull the spirit of my once-fearless daughter. I reminded her of the many many times she had asked me when she would fly in an airplane. I told her she may never have an opportunity like this again. Still she didn't want to go, until she heard her cousins were going to fly.

Just as the plane was pushed off the beach and the engine was about to fire, one of my nephews wanted to bail out on the adventure. We all had our headphones on so we could hear one another. Miss M heard the nervous request, clutched her stomach and said she wanted out too. My sister-in-law and I pretty much told them they were too late to get out and tried to joke them into smiles.

The photo yesterday is Miss M at takeoff. All smiles, all excitement. She was alternately intrigued and anxious during the short half-hour flight, one minute giggling, the next moaning and holding her stomach.

I, of course, took a lot of photos...166 from the time I entered the plane to when I exited it. I got some great shots as I sat in the co-pilot's seat. The side window was open which offered a delicious breeze on a hot summer day, and also offered an unobstructed view to shoot photos from.
This is one of the highlights of the scenic flight. Pelican Island in Leech Lake.
All those white dots are birds!



Here's an aeriel view of the resort where we stay.


I was glad to have our trusty semi-new Canon Rebel to get some amazing shots on this flight. Miss M perked up a lot when the pilot said we'd be landing soon. She was amazed at the whole process, even with the stomach issues.



Once we stepped out of the plane she shouted "That was awesome, Dude!"

I have to agree.


Take off!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009





Check out more Wordless Wednesday.

Awarding Meme

Tuesday, July 7, 2009





Here's how the Honest Scrap Award works:

I must thank the person who gave me the award and list their blog and link it.

I must list 10 honest things about myself.

I must put a copy of The Honest Scrap Logo on my blog.

I must select at least 7 other worthy bloggers & list their links.

I must notify the bloggers of the award and hopefully they will follow the above requirements.


Lord knows I love to be like a wild buffalo and follow the herd, so let me see...thank you to the lovely Mrs. Dragon for giving me this fine award.


10 honest things. I can do that. But, like Amanda, I am curious about the origin of this award. Honest Scrap? That makes me think I have to write honest things about my scrapbooking habits. Wouldn't that be scintillating reading? Probably not. So. Here are 10 honest things that you probably didn't want to know!



  1. I am a mosquito magnet. Honestly. They love me. I must be very sweet. Also? I react somewhat dramatically to mosquito bites. My bites swell to quarter and half-dollar size. When I was on vacation, one bit me on my right butt cheek. Not fun Friends, not fun at all.

  2. I laugh heartily at the wipeouts on Wipeout. Yes. I do. Judge me if you will.

  3. I'm not that great of a mother. I'm lazy. I yell too often. I hope that the moments that I do shine as a mother with sustain my children more than my failings will bring me down.

  4. I like to be depressing on my blog.

  5. I take a lot of teasing about Twitter but much good has come to me from it.

  6. No matter how many sales I make in my etsy shop I think more people should be buying. It's very much just a hobby shop for me, but I always think my work is fabulous and should have tons of buyers. Honestly, I do great work! ;)

  7. If the bat from a few weeks ago appears again I will go slightly batty.

  8. Some of my favorite things include manicures and pedicures. I do not get them often, but I enjoy both immensely.

  9. The week I spend "up north" with my family is one of the best, if not the absolute best, of the entire year.

  10. I cannot imagine a better life. I am blessed and I know it. I still yell and complain and am unpleasant to be around, but I know that this is truly what life is about.

Nominees:

  1. Creative Thoughts
  2. Growing a Pair
  3. Mayberry Mom
  4. Tropic of Mom
  5. Calculated Spontaneity
  6. House of Revelry
  7. You, if you want to do it!

The problem with me doing these kinds of memes is that many of the bloggers I read don't do memes at all, or they are seldom posting anymore. So, while I've tagged these wonderful people, I don't really expect anyone to do it because they are all so busy!

Random Thoughts #35

Monday, July 6, 2009



  1. Things that suck? Having your older children wake the baby up so that she spends the next hour screaming. Also? Trying to cut an unwilling toddler's fingernails. Last night, since she was screaming her head off anyway, I cut her nails. DOUBLE the fun.
  2. I would like to have someone unpack and do laundry after vacation. Where is my maid?
  3. Similarly, we were thinking that we should hire errand boys next year on vacation so that they could run and fetch us whatever we needed from the cabins while we are floating on the lake. This would preferably include serving refreshing beverages.
  4. I hurried to get the kids' birthday party invitations done before our vacation so that I would give everyone plenty of notice for their party. Guess where the stamped, addressed invitations spent last week? I wondered why my in-laws didn't get their invitation. Good thing I rushed to get them done. They don't seem to get delivered from my kitchen counter for some reason.
  5. My brother-in-law's girlfriend is very blinky.
  6. I did something very cool with Miss M on Friday. There will be a hint on Wednesday, then more detail possibly Thursday. (Look at me being all mysterious and stuff!)
  7. I added up the number of photos I took on vacation. 2285. One day I only took 56 though, because I took a nap and it was kind of crappy weather anyway. I will try to do better next year. ;) Although the number is a little lower than I actually took, since I deleted several that I knew right away were blurry.
  8. Having Miss M and K Man directly next to one another in a car for 3 hours at a stretch is a special kind of Hell.
  9. It doesn't take long to get sucked back in to Twitter.
  10. I may or may not be marking the 128 posts in my reader as all read. It doesn't mean I love you any less.

Simply Joy Sunday - Just home from vacation edition

Sunday, July 5, 2009



I was without Internet for most of the day today and yesterday so I didn't get a post done for today. I am still finding simple joys, and so are my friends:

Enjoy!
Athena's Armory
Mrs. Dragon

Happy Birthday USA!

Saturday, July 4, 2009



Have a safe but fun 4th!

Vacation Recap the lazy version

Thursday, July 2, 2009



Yeah, so I didn't write a recap for yesterday because, well, I'm enjoying my vacation. And I'm lazy. So here's the lazy butt version which will not include photos at this time because I'm ... you guessed it... lazy. I'll probably add photos when we get home.

So yesterday we drove to Walker, MN to shop and so that I could meet up with Kelley. It was fun to put a face with one of the people I've been talking to on Twitter, and she also contributed that beautiful necklace for the biggest loser in my Aweigh challenge. I asked her to make me a necklace with a black and red bead when she gets home too. Her kids were so cute, and chatted with me like they've known me for ages. They reminded me of Miss M in that respect.

After we chatted with Kelley for a bit, we did some shopping. I got Miss M a cute little purse, and K Man a set of wooden cars and a plane. I got Ms. D a wooden bobble head turtle, and I got myself a figurine with a Mama bear and her three bear cubs. I also bought Ms. D another life vest, since we accidentally brought the toddler jacket instead of our infant one.

Once we got back to the resort the weather was much improved over the previous two days so we took advantage of that and spent some time floating in the water.

Supper was provided by my Aunt Kay and my second cousin Diane...some delicious ham on the grill that I'm sure the rest of the resort was jealous about. We also had baked beans and cheesy potatoes.

Craig took my brother out fishing and they returned with one walleye that my brother caught.

Several of the grown-ups played Scene-It TV edition. It was a close game but my brother and I won.

This morning the kids finally were able to make their tie-dyed T-shirts. You'd think we'd be experts at it by now, but apparently we're not. I also made Ms. D a pillowcase.

The weather warmed up even more today so I spent a good portion of the day floating. Ms. D also had her very first ride in the boat. She liked it mostly, but then she was getting too tired and started crying so we had to cut the trip a little shorter than we'd planned. My mom went with us on the ride, and we spotted several cabins along the shore that we'd take if someone gave it to us. Odds are against that happening I suppose. Darn it.

Supper was at Cabin 14, courtesy of my brother and his wife. Grilled chicken, cheesy potatoes, corn, leftover beans, chips and dip. Yummy of course.

Now I'm sitting on the deck, listening to the birds and the many, many, many children that are here playing. I'm bummed that tomorrow is the last day.

Vacation Monday Recap

Tuesday, June 30, 2009



I know you're all thrilled that I'm recapping my vacation again. Sometimes I just have to do some stuff on my blog just for my family though. Such is life.

Monday dawned with clouds and sprinkles. The tie-dye T-shirt activity, normally scheduled for today was cancelled and switched with monster pillows. Now that was a labor-intensive process for me. The kids? Not so much. But they are cute pillows anyway.


We were expecting a new fridge for our cabin to arrive sometime in the afternoon as the one that was in there when we arrived had some issues. The freezer compartment didn't so much freeze as it did refrigerate, and the refrigerator compartment froze some things.

Many of the group went to various local towns for assorted reasons. The big kids were frantically moving from the game room to the cabin, back to the game room, up and down the stairs in the cabin...by noon we were fervently hoping for a return to sunny and warm weather.

After lunch, Ms. D took a nap and I stayed in the cabin. It was cool, but even so the kids wanted to put suits on and go swimming. They were denied, so they played in the sand on the beach some more.

I figured since it was cool and I was in the cabin anyway I might as well make the Greek salad. My sister-in-law had picked up some artichoke hearts at the grocery store that morning so yay! Much better. I think. I bet it is, but I haven’t eaten any yet. I should probably do that.

Then after I made the salad I made some beer bread. Craig was slightly disappointed in me for “wasting” a beer, but I just told him I drank it at noon instead of using it in bread so then we were cool.


Ms D was still napping when my mom returned from Walker and my mom discovered I’d made beer bread. She not so subtly put out her brownie mix that she’d brought because she thought it would be “fun” to make while we were here. For the record, it was ME that made the brownies, and it was not that fun.

The kids (minus K Man who instead hit on an older girl down at the beach. Oh Lordy, we’re in trouble with that boy. Do they make chastity belts for boys?) wanted to go fishing off the dock while Craig and my brother went fishing in the boat. My dad set up three fishing poles and led the other three down to the dock that they’ve fished from previous years.

I have to say I was impressed with how long the kids fished. They caught a few little perch, just enough to keep their interest for a while.

Did I mention we’re in a different cabin this year? And that it’s AWESOME? And that our old cabins cry a little bit every time we are near them? NO? Well, it is, and they do. Seriously, as cabins at this resort go, ours is the mansion. Also? It has a dishwasher. As in…something I do not have at home. LUXURY! I should mention I do not know how to operate said dishwasher, but there are others around who can turn it on after I’ve loaded it.

Supper was courtesy of Craig and I. We had a taco bar, so people could have a soft taco or taco salad, plus black beans and corn. I always worry that I didn’t provide enough, but I think maybe we had just the right amount. Family? Feel free to tell me otherwise. Just leave a comment…or, you know, tell me.

After supper I went outside to try to finish the kids’ Webkinz stuff (yes, I do have issues) and took Ms. D out with me. Shortly afterward my mom came to take Ms. D inside. I commented to my cousin Chelsea that I needed to go in and nurse Ms. D so I could have a drink, if the baby hadn’t already fallen asleep. I thought I was joking but sure enough, D had fallen asleep. I tried to take her upstairs to the pack-n-play but she woke up as soon as I picked her up. So I laid in the bed and nursed her in hopes she would drift back off. Not so much. She finished nursing, sat up and started jabbering at me. She was up for another 3 hours or so. So THAT was fun. Note to Amma: No naps for the baby after supper. Thanks!



Craig took my dad out fishing after supper while the kids ran around the resort and I tried in vain to get the baby back to sleep. They returned a few hours later with my dad coming into the cabin telling me my husband required my photography down at the dock. He’d caught a 28-inch Northern Pike, which was too big to keep.

He also caught three bass that he did keep and that the big kids went to “surgery” to watch their filleting.

The kids adjourned to their beds shortly after the massacre. Sweet dreams kids!

So later in the evening I went to use the bathroom and discovered that someone had installed the toilet paper backwards. Who does that? Under? Really? That’s just wrong. I let it slide until the next time I needed to use it, then I had to change it to the right way. Yeah. No quotation marks around “right” in that last sentence because yes, it is the right way.
Man I love it when we’re here.