Bleu Hawaii

Many years ago, Elvis Presley starred in the movie Blue Hawaii.  I have seen better movies.  That, notwithstanding, my beautiful momma decided to go to Hawaii and took my dad along so he could speak at another conference (lame!).  Here is a view from between the volcanoes...

Here is my beautiful momma in front of the active, belching volcanoes...

She was so excited she tried to call us...collect....eesh!

The hotel near Kona really loved dolphins...both statues

And real ones...

Here was some of their hotels views throughout the week...

All in all - Hawaii was far better than the Elvis movie.  Who'd of thunk it!  It's a great place to lie on the beach.

It's Still July - and We are in Utah...

A trip to Utah was in the calendar for July.  That means lots of jumping on the bed....

Lots of Richard Scarry Town Building....

Lots of Orange Leaf...

Lots of Jet Skiing...

Lots of Splash Parking...

Lots of Yard-Saling....

Lots of Nickel-Arcading...

Whew!  Lots of stuff.  What a good time...Thanks Utahns!

July 4th! Independence Day Involves Massive Gathering!

To celebrate the 4th of July we all drove downhill to Denver.  There we saw Aunt K and Heavy D!

Uh-oh!  Aunt K looks down on her luck!  Quickly - to the s'mores!

Wait!  Who is that?  She's not from Denver!  She's Aunt J!  Yes, she escorted an old man across the country and arrived just in time to provide MTS (mouth-to-s'more) resuscitation to Aunt K!  Oooh!  They are hot!

The fiery pain caused us to jump in the pool!  Look who was there!  Pops!

Fastidious fun!  On to the splash park!  We drove to Kansas to find the closest one...

Heavy D was there too!  He is the only one who didn't BURN!!!!

Bathwater in Denver is pink!  That makes one of them HAPPY!

We ended up finding everyone else on the Tiny Town Train.  Uncle B you would be more photogenic if you would just adopt the Muppet Smile!  'Agra bravdo,' says Aunt J, 'Here, Here'

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On the way back to the LOE, we stopped at the Garden of the Gods.  We hiked in the wrong way and ended up really far away from any sno-cones as M's face can attest!

What a wonderful trip!  So much family in such twight qwarters - Yee haa!

Catching up with SM

Assortment of occurrences with SM.  This is how she wears sunglasses...

This is what happens when dad dresses her...

This is her reading...

This is her helping put away laundry...

This is her cooking...

This is her outfit for the rodeo...

And this is her eating a cupcake...

Nebraska Marble it ain't!

Oh no!  It appears that green lawns don't grow on their own in the LOE!  A yard full of goatheads?  Not on my beautiful momma's watch!  Roto-tilling and then manuring and then rototilling and then peat mossing and then tamping leads to ....

It is a flat, stinky, dirty, well-fertilized patch of dirt.  So then lay the sod...

Water profusely and wa-lah!

You can't do this on goatheads!

My parents felt so confident now with sod that they plan on building us a sod-home instead of a tree-house!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame...

Another Tee-ball season has ended in the LOE.  Under the tutelage of my dear old dad, JC took his first live hacks...

With two seasons under my belt, you can see that my ball traveled farther before nosing into the dirt...

JC's run to first base presents an excellent exhibit of the organized chaos that reigns...

Here is JC in the field.  He enjoyed offense.

Here is M in the field.  She also enjoyed offense.

 In the dugout and ready to bat...

Thanks for the season, dad!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

With tuppence for paper and strings
You can have your own set of wings
With your feet on the ground

You're a bird in a flight
With your fist holding tight
To the string of your kite

Oh, oh, oh!
Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height!
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring
Up through the atmosphere
Up where the air is clear
Oh, let's go fly a kite!

When you send it flyin' up there
All at once you're lighter than air
You can dance on the breeze
Over 'ouses and trees
With your first 'olding tight
To the string of your kite

Oh, oh, oh!
Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height!
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring
Up through the atmosphere
Up where the air is clear
Let's go fly a kite!

Okay!  One more time from the top!  Hey!  Oh blast!  Who gave them a sno-cone?