fat suburbanite dad

Sunday, May 4, 2014

The Lost Weekend

On a neighbors farm are the remnants of a French Utopian colony. They were kind enough to take us on a tour. By tour I mean let us run around to our hearts content.

There were a surprising number of ruins over 7 acres.

It was a beautiful spring day, perfect for a hike.

The boy riding in our neighbors polaris.

The girl found this laying not far from the ruins. There is still twine on the wooden spool. Our best guess is that it was a kite spool. There is still a lot of paint on it.

The perfect end to the day was this bouquet of wildflowers the girl surprised me with.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Week in Review

I thought I would give a quick update on what went on last week. The girl making a bunny easter cake. It was really cute. Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture.

The boy building the Legos his cousins sent him in his easter package. His friend T is helping.

The girl and her friend G. I took this pic, since I love the fact that the still hold hands and skip at this age. We had just gone to a movie in the mall. Since the boys were at the property with friends for a few days, the girl had a sleep over with her friend.

The boy graduating from a bear cub to a boy scout (webelo 1).

Before the moving ceremony, all the boys get marked with different colored markers on their face to denote their rank.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

April Fools

The girl played the April fools joke this year. She made "brownies" and left them for us to eat the morning of April 1st...clever girl!

Friday, February 21, 2014

Let Them Eat Cake!

My Aunt recently had a birthday. She requested a home made chocolate cake with our family icing. The kids happily complied. The girl made the cake and she and the boy made the frosting. As far as I know, this particular frosting doesn't have a recipe with precise measurements, at least not one I've ever seen. My Grandma, Mom, Aunt, Sister and I ust combined the ingredients together until it tasted right. So that is how I had the kids make it. As they made it, I thought about how they are the fourth and quite possibly the fifth generation of my family to make this icing. I know its a small thing, but it makes me smile.

Even better, their Auntie proclaimed it delicious. I hope they make it for her many years to come.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Valentine's Day

The girl wanted to make chocolate chip cookies. She decided they should be heart shaped.

They were delicious!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Starting the New Year Off Right

I know this post is late, but I thought the PA cousins would like to see some pics of the VA and CA clans. The beginning of the year included a visit with the VA cousins. The VA cousins were out with their parents for their Dad's firefighter training. We met up at our property and the kids ran around and played all afternoon. They jumped on hay bales, took a hike, did a little bit of archery and generally enjoyed themselves. It was great to see them. They are such lovely young women now. The kids sitting down for dinner.

What day is complete without a piggy back ride from one of your cousins? Since the boy is the smallest of the bunch, he lucked out in the piggy back ride area.

The kids enjoying some left over sparklers from the 4th of July

The girl saying goodbye to cousin K. It was heartbreaking!

All of the cousins saying a group goodbye. The boy is actually in the middle of all of the girls.

There are much better pictures from that day, including a beautiful one of the kids on the hay bales. Those pictures were not taken by me. They were taken by my talented niece L. Aunt M, cousin B and I were to busy exploring the area to get any good pictures. I'll have to ask L to email me some to post. Hopefully, more training is in the future for my brother-in-law!

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

You Say You want A Revolution

We were taking a walk yesterday and making our final plans for New Years Eve. The kids wanted the night to include pizza, a root beer float, board games and a sparkling cider toast. The boy then says "Don't forget we need to plan our New Years revolution". We all look at him and his sister says "Do you mean resolution?" The boy then says "Yes, I always get those two words mixed up. Here is hoping you fulfill all of your revolutions for 2014. Since I didn't have a picture of the kids from the walk, I am attaching the most recent pic of them, which is at their riding lesson last week.