Out and About.....Deep Sea Fishing

Barry, Connor, Cotton and Hayleigh took off early one morning for a day of deep sea fishing. Although they did catch many fish between the four of them, they couldn't bring any home due to their small size.

Trying to reel a big one in.

Barry caught one that almost made the cut on the size limit, but alas, it was just shy a few millimeters.

Connor's thoughts: It was for the most part fun but after I caught the shark (which for various reasons I did not get to keep) it was sort of boring. The shark was two feet long.

Out and About.....a day at Ft Fisher Aquarium and the Ft. Fisher Civil War history sites.

While at the beach for our vacation, one day we took off to see some sites in the soutwestern coastal part of N. Carolina. We headed to Southport, a quaint beautiful little town by the seashore (A Walk to Remember and two other movies were filmed here). We got on the ferry and headed towards Ft. Fisher, NC. We all enjoyed the ferry ride and the seagulls following us hoping for a morsel or two. The ride was breesy and pleasant. Off to the side, the captian pointed out a sea funnel forming in the ocean, sort of a tornado at sea. This storm would meet us again later in the day...but we made the crossing uneventfully and set off to the Ft. Fisher aquarium

A fellow ferry boat passing us by. The boat we were riding looked just like this.

Exploring the ocean creatures....this was one very large shark! My kids would be
just a snack to it.

Pretending to be a crab

During a deep sea diver show, Brianne had fun flurting with fellow spectators.
At the hands on, touch tank, the girls explored the horseshoe crab. Just last night, (because I'm writing this about 3 weeks later), we watched a netflix video about ocean creatures and saw many horseshoe crabs in their native enviroment. Cool...little armored tanks on the move.

By this time, it was extremely muggy and hot outside. We enjoyed our time with the underwater biome and it's inhabitants, but we continued on to find a place for lunch.

Not far at all, there was a place that had many park benches lining the rocky coast of the ocean. I wish I would have gotten a picture, but you could see a storm, dark and gloomy, brewing over the ocean off on the horizon. We ate lunch and feed some ever hungry seagulls and then scurried to find an indoor place and be in an air conditioned enviroment.

In an effort to save money (at least that's what I presume) the history site wasn't well air conditioned. We saw a short video....well at least the others did, Liam was quite irritable by this time, so we left the small theathre to explore the exhibits.

Within 5 minutes the storm made landfall and unleashed it's forceful furry...so much water. I love to watch rainstorms, I wished for a chair so I could go outside and just enjoy the torrent of water pouring forth. Once the others came out fromt he movie, we realized it was cooler
outside than in and let the kids dance and play in the rain.

a very wet, yet happy child!

Barry braved to rain to bring the van closer to us, we rushed in, and were off once again for our next destination....the USS North Carolina Battleship.

Out and About.....the USS North Carolina Battleship

By now, the storm had passed. The heat and humidity had dissipated to the point were we could now enjoy being outdoors...

Most of us love reading and discussing history. For those of us who don't, they enjoy being out and about....moving and going, so this was a wonderful stop for our family.

We are always prepared with a knowledgeable tour guide for history sites and Barry gave much enlightenment to this one as well.
I loved how each room had a sign talking about what transpired in the room and then gave personal accounts of various sailors who lived aboard the ship during it's tours of duty during World War II. This ship fought in the pacific theatre and was involved in many engagements.

There were guns and massively large tank like guns. (16 inch diameter ammunition was fired from these super guns.)

We all went up into the turret or control room ,it was quite small and very hot. I can't imagine that would be a fun space to spend hours upon hours in for your job. Yet, quite fascinating about how it all works.

We explored above and below the decks. The steps to go between each deck were extremely steep. At one point Liam missed a step and fell, scraping his back quite a bit in the process. Three weeks later, he still has a scar from it.

Below was like a maze, I'm sure it would take me months to get my bearings and know where I was if I had to live on the ship. We saw many of the places the sailors worked at and lived. Kitchens, mess hall, barbershop, engine room, post office, sleeping quarters and so forth. Many times, where the people were stationed is where you slept. For example the tailor's bed was hanging above him in the room he worked in day after day.

Space saving at it's best. I should get one of these, put the kids all together in one room and have 2 extra rooms for me....hum, the possibilities. :)

Back on deck Ryan found another gun to play with.

We had a great day, hot and tiring, but fun none the less. We considered leaving Brianne with Granny and Papa for the day, thinking the many activities would be to much for her, but I really wanted her to come with us. As it turned out, she didn't give us a moment of unhappiness...I really can't say that about the others. Way to go Brianne, what a trooper. (The others weren't bad, just got cranky and fussy, due to heat, I'm sure! Right?)

Cailin's Thoughts: First of all, I didn't like the battle ship but I didn't hate the ship, either. I was put on that giant ship, thirsty, hot, tired, and bored. Did I forget to say that I was soaked and my elbow hurt from Ryan pushing me against the van door? I thought so. Anyway, I didn't really want to go there at the time, but now I'm kinda glad I went--emphasis on KINDA. So there I was, on a really old battle ship that stank to me like rotten eggs, but I don't know if that was the ship or Brianne. You really can never tell. One thing about the stairs--they were so ridiculously steep, I even had trouble getting up and down them without breaking my skull open, and that's saying something. Now I have to say what Mom wants me to. How wonderfully educational and historical the battle ship was and how hard it must have been for all of those war people on that claustrophobic ship. So, thank you vetrans. I mean, I really am thankful. You did a great job keeping the freedom that we've fought so many wars for. You did a good job putting up with that horrible ship. I only had to put up with it for the afternoon. And thanks for sleeping in disgusting beds while I get to sleep in my clean one. Now I'm done.

Well, there you have it, the truth! From the mouth of one whose not so fond of history--where have we gone wrong? :)

Birthday Boy at the Beach

It's birthday time again! Liam was super excited that he would get to celebrate his birthday at the beach this year.

He loved his cake...lots of sprinkles, sugar stars and frosting. Yep, it's a winner!

Presents! Delaney was thoughtful and generous. She made sure to get him a gift and purchased it with her hard earned money--a sling shot for the swimming pool and matchbox cars.
Plus he got some puzzles, many craft/coloring supplies to create with.

Sitting on his gift, a hot wheels rug with a map for playing cars on. He's had his eye on this at the store for a few weeks now.

Some of my favorite--and not so favorite things....

Favorite color--Pink. Yes, this is what he says his favorite color is, but I'm sure years from now he's deny it wholeheartedly. (and be really upset that I would actually put it in writing.)

Favorite things to do--He's discovered the joy of Lego's. Lucky for him his older brother has acquired quite a myriad of them AND, he shares them. He'll turn anything into a sword and will carry it around in the back of his shirt as if it were a holster and claim to be Link. He's also fond of moon sand, painting and puzzles.

Favorite show- Phineas and Ferb, David from the Liken the Scriptures series, and Word Girl.

Favorite Food--ummmm, I don't know, he's going through a phase of dislikes. Last night he wouldn't eat potatoes or biscuits with jam or corn on the cob, the chicken was barely touched. He doesn't like french toast or pancakes anymore. He's quite picky with cold cereal too. No more bananas or cantaloupe for him. He tells me "I don't like cantaloupe Mom, you know that!!!" Well just last month he loved it. He does like cake, cookies and candy, I'll just have to find a way to cram broccoli in there, or he'll just have to go hungry a bit....I'm going for the later. He'll still eat a peanut butter sandwich from time to time, so that good.

Favorite book--Where the Wild Things Are and Baby Animals. The book about the baby animals has been a favorite with all the kids, from Ryan down to him. I'm sure Brianne will love it too. Another favorite that all the kids enjoyed is The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boyinton

His favorite places to go-- The park, to Amber's house, and to the library. He also loves going with Dad in his truck to Lowes, for guy time, but I think it's because he knows Dad's a sucker for a cute kid and will get him a treat if he asks for one!

Things that really make him sad...or mad--Time Out! especially when I put the timer on. Not being able to join us on Thursdays for CC. And sadly, for some reason, every day he'll ask me if it's Sunday. If I say no, he's happy and goes on with his day. If I say "Yes, let's get ready for church." He'll get sad and cries about not wanting to go to church. After Sacrament meetings, when it's time for him to go to his Primary class he pitches a big tantrum like fit. He'll cling to my leg and beg and cry for me to not leave him. I have to pry him off my leg and hope that he'll get over it soon. Last week, after he was there for about an hour and had finally calmed down something must have changed his mind because as I came to pick him up (they were in the chapel practicing for the primary presentation) he was with two cute girls from his class. He sat there laid back in the pew with the girls surrounding him, he turned to me and asked "Just one more minute Mom, okay?" with a cocky little grin on his face. This happened two more times till I finally said "Now, Liam, we must go now." Visions of the teenage future popped into my head as I saw him there talking with those adorable little girls.

Attitude

When you are the youngest of six, image is everything! You can never let them know that they have gotten under your skin. Always smile and make them wonder what you're up to. Even when you sleep, make it look like the world is your oyster.

Our Garden is Growing and Growing.

Yep, this year we've had a much more productive and prolific garden. So far I've canned 84 quarts of green beans and given away enough beans to can about 30 more jars. Even our onions are doing well--they actually look like big onions.

Our tomatoes are just now turning red,....so I wonder what will come of them.

Last year I had a great zuchini crop, not so this year. It's the only thing not growing well.

For a while the garden had the imagery of an english garden. Not anymore, weeds are rearing an ugly head, but, it's producing well and that's all that counts.

It's been a while since I've been able to grow green bean plants this tall--up to Liam's waist.

Potatoes, it's been a while since we've planted these, but we tried it again this year. Although most are small, they taste great. We planted yukon gold. Barry will plant kennibeck next year, and then we'll compare.

For dinner after harvesting these, we ate, fresh potatoes, fresh green beans, and the first few semi red tomatoes available along with corn bread and homemade wheat bread (topped with honey). Mmmmmm.




Not to be left out, Pete and Bailey love attention too.

I'm a Published Author

.....well almost, he has his proof copy and is still looking for all the grammar errors his sister claims he has (but hasn't found yet :)

however, his life dream of writing a story and having it published is almost complete. He's been working on this book for about a year now.

He's so excited and we are too.

Cailin's almost ready to get hers published too....maybe I'll end up with another Erin Hunter and a Christopher Paolini on my hands.