Sledding in STL

We went sledding at some friends house! They always put on a big sledding party upon the first heavy snowfall. It has been bitter cold and we have had much snow throughout January and February! The snow has been absolutely beautiful! Here are just a few shots of our fun fun night.
Really honey, do you truly believe that Ron is trying to be helpful to you??

Families brought a dish to share, there was a big bomb fire and loads of hot chocolate but then there was this huge gigantic witches cauldron. It had chili in it. It was prepared with mystery meat. Deer meat was a given but I heard rumors that there was possum and ground hog in it.
Now this girl, Beauty, is a survivor. Once told, she said, she didn't care! She was cold and hungry and it tasted fine to her! Cook it up add some seasoning and call it good! The girls also may or may not have scored north face jackets and hats out of this family outing.

And you know what Bro. Daniel has served both at church functions and is an avid road kill eater. Soooo, let's say I stuck to the dessert! Yep, it was a fun fun night! Dash was there. He was just hanging with the Big Boys on the other side of the hill!

We are definitely making the best time of our stay in STL!

HOWE CAVERN

THE CAVE

GODZILLA

OUR GUIDE__________________ THE POOR MOUSE____________EXPLORING

Taking a boat ride.(note the guide's face), Talking into a stagamite and hearing your voice echo on the other side. This is a mineral sieve. You take a pie tin of sand or dirt and let the water run over the pan and you can capture minerals and rocks.


While Mr. Incredible and family were in NY we decided that we would take the children to Howe Caverns. We recently started a new tradition where we would take full advantage of our trips to NY. I am not the kind of girl who particularly likes to go hiking into caves. I had the opportunity of chaperoning a high adventure trip to the caves located in upper TN, and I LOVED it. I would love to take my family camping in these caves in TN! It was that much fun!
Each time we would go home to visit. I would always remark we should go to Howes Cavern. We decided to do it this trip. We had everyone in tow. All the cousins and my brother and his girlfriend. We really had a good time.
I AM Sam blogged about our trip, you can read our account here. Everyone went to the gift shop and then we headed home.

John Deere, ATV and Kawasaki Voyager

My brother had purchased an ATV for really cheap and had to do a few minor fixes with it and he can easily turn around and sell it for much more than he paid. My dad is infamous with purchasing boats and making a profit on it. My family loves four wheeling and out it came. Everyone learned how to drive a clutch. My parents own 5 or 6 acres. I learned how to drive a car in this back yard. Watching my children ride brought back a stream of memories. We always had 3 wheelers or mini bikes or something to enjoy while growing up.

Please look the other way! You will see children riding with no helmets, hand gear, or proper clothing and shoes. It's on private land. (When we rode at home everyone has their helmets, gloves and shoes on)Scouts honor.

My nephew has a very expensive habit. When his milk machine is not around one of the easiest ways to keep him happy and put him to sleep is on the lawn mower. With gas prices over $4.25, I would say it is a pretty expensive habit.

My dad used to ride a bike when he and my mom first met. He found this motorcycle for a great price and bought it to save on gas money for his frequent commutes to Vermont and back. It is older but it is in great shape and is comfortable for those long drives. Riding just around town makes this bike just too heavy to maneuver. Mr. Incredible gave all of the kids a ride. This was the first time my niece and nephew rode the bike on the road.

BOATING

The Lake

Beauty

Fishing

cousins

Mr. Incredible

All of the kids were excited to go boating but none of the adults were. Only Mr. Incredible and my dad wanted to go boating. But, my dad had to work and we were leaving the next day. So, Mr. Incredible took the boat out. I like to go boating as long as we anchor at Sand Island. I like to get out and sit on the beach. I had no intentions of trolling the lake with 6 kids. Mr. Incredible was fine with me staying home. I needed to make sure that we were packed and ready to leave by 6am.
The lake water was just above 60 degrees but that didn't stop anyone from swimming. That is cold enough to put me in cardiac arrest. Mr. Incredible is pretty wonderful. He always takes all of the kids out, whether it be snowmobiling, 4 wheeling, boating, etc. When my dad and brother are home they are always out with them also.

*****FANTASTIC SAM******

OHH my goodness, OH MY GOODNESS!!! You all have to have to click over and read my little nephew's blog! Of course, he too is incognito. He will be known as Fantastic Sam, or Sam I am! (gotta love dr. seus) He is absolutely incredible not to mention taller than me. He is 11 yrs old and he stands 5 foot 7 1/2 inches! Get ready to see this kids names on the top NFL draft picks! He absolutely loves football and is a HUGE, did I mention HUGE Eagles fan. He also plays basketball and baseball. It will only take a minute but each one of his posts has me laughing and in awe that a boy who just turned 11 in June can be so witty and funny! He writes SOoOooo much better than me! Please leave him a comment! Give him a shout out and let him know what you think of his daily antics. CHECK HIM OUT HERE!
While we were in NY I helped my nephew start a blog. He also has a family newspaper that he started the day school was out. He promised he would try to blog every day. He is learning how to journal. ANY FREAK-A-ZOIDS be warned because I also monitor and edit his blog, so no Crazies! The only crazies allowed are the little men in white jackets that exist in my sicko mind.

Graduation Party

Before the festivities the yard had to be mowed

The flower beds watered and weeded

And brought back to PERFECTION!


There was so much food there. WE ate ourselves silly. My parents had planned for 150 to attend. We probably had that many plus who came throughout the day. Thunder showers were in the forecast but that didn't stop the party. A large tent was rented and tables and chairs. K's favorite food is steak. My parents bought enough steak for 150 people. My bil, grilled all of the steaks to order. We did not want any waste. A pig was also brought in, it was smoked. We had chicken wings, steak burgers and hot dogs, chicken tortellini and a huge cake ordered. Volleyball, swimming and dancing. K racked in the graduation cards and it will help with his college tuition and expenses. I'm considering moving back for Warrior's senior year. LOL!

check that cake out!

Chef Dan





swimming

volleyball

Great Grandma at 91 yrs. old. She looks wonderful and her mind is so sharp. I hope to be just like her.

Dancing
Lord of the Flies


My brother scaring the little ones! Acting like his finger is being eaten.

Graduation!

The Graduate


Lei festivities




Graduation parties are really big in the North. They are fun and people have such a great time. It is also a time where you can really rack in on some monetary gifts. They are not so big in the South and monetary gifts are very modest. My brother and sister and I both had large graduation parties and we party hopped from one friend's to the next. The graduation ceremony was held outside and it was a humid, hot and long. I graduated 20 years ago. Many of my teachers were there and I got to introduce my family to them. That was a nice treat. Many of the Memorial scholarships were also given in memory by teachers I had. It brought back many happy times but I wouldn't go back and I wouldn't change anything either.

Mom and Dad

Warrior, Dad, Keawe, My brother, and Nephew

Beauty, Sil, Keawe, Mom, and Me.

I'm Baaack

We have been in NY for a little over a week. My youngest brother just graduated from High School and we went to celebrate with him. Our flight out of Charlotte was delayed thanks to those wonderful summer storms that roll in this time of year. We had a wonderful time visiting my parents, brother, sister and their families and all of my extended relatives as well.
Our flight out of Charlotte kept getting pushed back due to the weather. We were suppose to arrive into Albany, NY at 11:00pm. My dad has a high council meeting in Albany and it would last until 9pm. Instead, of driving the 50 miles back to their house he was going to stay in the area. OUR flight did not end up leaving Charlotte until 11:55 and we arrived into the Albany airport after 1am. Needless to say, it was a very long wait for my dad. I feel so bad about that. We fly non rev so we are never guaranteed a sure seat until the very end of the boarding process.
All 6 of us got on the flight without a hitch. We just needed the weather to co-operate with us. We played many card games while waiting for the weather to clear up. It was really fun.

CAROWINDS

This park rocks the house!

Every morning when they open they always raise the flag and play the national anthem.

We are in the Nickelodeon park. All of the rug rat characters and Dora were out
greeting people.

We rode the scooby doo haunted house ride. The family are trying to imitate the
poses. On this ride you rack up points by shooting the ghosts. Mr. Incredible won!

This ride was insane! I can't believe Sweetheart and Dash rode it! They are awesome!
Dash was so scared but he did great!

I mean, check this ride out! We are upside down!

It is one of those rides that you swing back and forth and get higher and higher and then they leave you hanging upside down at the top.
Dash was so scared. He held onto Mr. I for dear life. He doesn't want to ride that ride again. It was his first adult ride.

BUMPER CAR BANGING

CRASH
OUT OF THE WAY
I couldn't resist.

I pushed my family over the limit and forced them to pose!

This is the last of the pictures. They were done with the camera.

We all enjoyed this roller coaster ride! Dash loved it. He is finally tall enough to ride most of the rides in the adult park except for 4 or 5 rides. He is fearless!

Beauty, Sweetheart, Warrior and I rode this ride. I won't do it again! but it was a fun ride! It starts off low and then spins you in a circle as it raises higher and higher

I used to love these type of rides but I think with age spinning rides does not set well with me.

I didn't get sick but I didn't feel so great for the rest of the day. If the ride lasted any longer I might have tossed my cookies. I would have been very disappointed in myself and it might have scarred me for life. I don't get sick on rides!

Carowinds amusement park used to be owned by Paramount but they were bought out this year by another company. All of the rides that had movie names have since changed. The roller coaster TOP GUN is now after burn and the roller coaster BORG is now named aftershock or something like that! BORG happens to be one of my favorite roller coaster rides and Sweetheart got to ride it for the first time this year! She loved it. I like it because you ride UPSIDE DOWN! When you ride go to seat you lay down on your back and you ride the ride face down. It is a great rush. Another roller coaster ride that we did not get the chance to ride is one where you stand throughout the roller coaster ride! That is a thrill also. It is a pretty intense ride. The families favorite roller coaster has to be After burn. You really feel the G forces at work.
Dash was not tall enough to ride those rides but all of the other "adult" roller coaster rides that he could ride. He did! We were so proud of him. This is how we ended our very busy Spring break and it was good to the end. We did purchase season passes. If you attend the park twice you pay for a season pass. The park is huge and it has a large water park area, too. The slides are so much fun. We usually spend half the day at the water park and return home for food and then head out the next day to the amusement park. It cost about $60 for a season pass. The last 2 years we were not season members because we were rarely home for the summer and when we have a neighborhood pool and we are also members of the YMCA.
NO more pictures were taken because the family were through POSING!