1st Day Of 1st Grade

Well, we've been through Pre-k, kinder and now first grade.  Apparently I am a boohoo mom and not a woohoo mom.  Still tough for me to let go.  At least he's excited to be there.

Here is Zeke's first day of first grade gift.  I tried to warn him it was just a little something; he was a little disappointed it was not electronics.  I'm such a practical gift giver.

How grown-up is he?

Here he looks more like a 1st grader.

 Big Brother and the sibs.

 Here's my Waverly Park Tiger.

 Ready to learn!

 One last hug from The Daiser.  We miss our brother!

Growing up before my eyes.

Rain Or Shine

The DanFam5 put the rubber to the road this weekend and made a quick trip to Kansas for my Grandma's 86th birthday.  We met everyone at the lake in anticipation of one last tanorexic blowout.  (Maybe that was just my plan…)

Mutha Nature planned otherwise.  The rain did not stop and there was not a ray of sunshine the whole weekend, but we had nothing but sunshine at our campsite.  We played in the rain,

ate in the rain, 

hunted Easter eggs in the rain, 

talked in the rain, 

walked lots of dogs in the rain, 

wake boarded in the rain,

and we sang happy birthday in the pouring rain. 

Love, love, love weekends like these, with Grandmas, aunts, uncles, 

and lots and lots of cousins, 

rain or shine!

Best Little Haunted House In Texas

For 30-45 minutes last night Abe and I were strictly instructed to keep out of our closet, bed and bathroom.  Finally we were each led one-by-one into Zeke and Daisy's haunted house.

The entry was through the bedroom.  It was dark except for a string of Christmas lights and a jack-o-lantern, both of which Zeke has purchased from garage sales.

Upon entering, an empty clothes basket was thrust upon my head.  After Elijah's real fussing and my obligatory screaming we were told to wait one second.  Zeke slipped out of the bedroom and into the bathroom, closing the doors behind him.  After he told me to enter into the darkness, I was bonked with a frisbee.  More screaming on my part.  Then the fury of a blowup boxing glove was unleashed upon me.  After a sufficient amount of screaming, Zekers told me to take a restroom break (since we were in the bathroom) and he continued through the loop, going into the closet and closing that door tightly behind him.  Finally I was instructed to enter.  Once again, no lights but the other end of the Christmas light strand from earlier (our bedroom/bathroom/closet/laundry room make a loop).  Upon entry Elijah and I were met by 2 dead bodies lying on the floor, with what I think was supposed to be blood all over them.

 

~Of course my children are nearly naked.~  Notice the sword on the floor and the spider on Daisy's belly (and the babies lying near her).  They did a good job of lying still whilst I did my job of screaming.    As I continued the loop out through the other closet door, Zeke jumped up and turned on the vacuum that was between the closet and utility room to suck us up.  More fake screaming from me, real screaming from Eli, and lots of laughter from The Bigs. 

Aren't they funny little people?

Pedernales Falls

Because my husband is so great he decided we needed to take one last Family Trip before school starts!  So we jumped in the Swag Wag and down to Texas Hill Country we went.

We hiked one of the trails in Pedernales Falls State Park to the look-out point.

Zeke always leads the way on our adventures.

 When it's not mid-August in Texas this part is covered with water falls.

Not sure if she is digging the whole hiking thing or not, but this was her attempt at a smile.

This little guy was loving every minute of our outdoor adventure.

We spent the hot, lazy afternoon wading up and down the babbling river and swimming in the deep parts.

Yay for our mini-cation!

Dog Days of Summer

The Dog Days of Summer are here and life at the Daniels' house has been rather uneventful the past couple weeks.  Guess that 's a good thing, right?  Lemme break it down for ya.

Here's what Elijah has been up to:
He has started telling me 'potty' and pointing to his nappy.  It's even been big potty twice.  So there is a light at the end of the tunnel for this whole diaper-thing.  Eventually.

One day he came up behind me and kept insisting, "Hat.  Hat.  Hat.  Hat."  When I turned around and looked he was sporting Daisy's new hat and feeling pretty hawt.

I keep asking him to show me where his body parts are, to no avail.  One day he was putting his sippy cup on the counter and it dropped on his eye.  "Owww.  Eye.  Eye.  Eye."  So he does know some body parts, just not on my command.

Daisy:
Daisy was sent to her room for some poor choices with instructions not to come out.  We could  hear her thinking out loud.  "Why won't people let me come out of here?"

The Daiser has enjoyed watching mengastics on the Olympics.  She also got some pail nolish on her fingers.  And she plays with her friend Jophus.

Zeke The Streak (Yes, hot weather has brought The Streak back):
My Boy went off the diving board at the public pool and swam to the ladder with no assistance!  Quite an accomplishment since we just have 1-hour lessons for 8 days once every summer.

Zekers heard me apologize to the valet for only having $1.  As soon as we got home he raided his piggy bank, bringing me some coins.  He insisted I keep it 'because he's rich.'

The Triangle Of Death

1 swag wag. 2 parents. 3 kids. 7 hotels.  9 states. 18 days.  3500 miles.

The DanFam5 just took the bull by the horns, and we rode it for the full 8 seconds.

We originally had plans to go to KS for the 4th, followed up with camping at the lake with family for a couple days.  Then Abe had a work trip to California come up the for the week after the 4th.  What a great opportunity for the family to drive cross-country on family vacation, right?  Now remember from a few posts ago, there is no such thing as a family vacation.  So when I say we went on a family business trip, this time the meaning is 2-fold.

We went to Kansas, and without passing go we drove straight to Cali.

That's right.  We drove from Texas up through Oklahoma to Kansas, across Colorado, just into southern Utah, catching the tip of Nevada, and into California for a week.  Then straight across Arizona and New Mexico, hitting the Lone Star State again some 3500 miles later.  What most people would consider the Triangle of Death, The DanFam5 took head-on and came out the other side to talk about it.

We broke it down into phases, just to keep our sanity.

PHASE I: Randolph 4th of July celebration

I always enjoy bringing the kids to Randolph for the 4th so they can enjoy some Independence Day from a small-town perspective.

Watching cousin Reika's turtle in the races.

Picking which ride to take.

Riding in the parade with Uncle Steve and Aunt Karla.

official parade candy collector

party like rock stars, sleep like rock stars

PHASE II: The Lake

I cannot tell you how much I love spending time at the lake with my extended family.   It's one of my happy places.

water trampoline with cousins

tubing with cousins

feeding fish from our toes with cousins (even though it should not have been, it was actually a little scary for some reason)

'skate boarding' in Daisy-speak
Yes, that's me catching some air!

jet ski

fireworks with cousins

PHASE III:  Road Trip!

Dillon, CO

Colorado National Monument

Ghost Rock--we're so scared!

OK, here is where it gets a little weird.  Unfortunately words cannot come close to describing this experience.  The Twilight Zone may be the best I can do.  Let me give it a shot...  I found this place in Utah called Mystic Hot Springs.  Under accommodations it listed a bus with electricity if you wanted to, quote, "live like a hippie for a night."  I thought it sounded fun for the kids so we reserved it.  Abe started questioning my judgement when the directions said, "Paved most of the way." Once the pavement stopped we passed a trailer park.  But not your typical trailer park.  The kind of trailer park that makes you feel sad for the people who live there.  Sad for them and a little scared of them.

This is the office.  Yes, there is an old, empty pool, missing siding, exposed cinderblocks and shingles missing from the roof behind that appealing chain link fence.

I am still opportunistic at this point.  I mean, the bus has electricity.  Abe keeps asking, "You're getting pictures of this, right?"  Cuz you got to see it to believe it.

This little jewell was putting out a good vibe for all right outside the office.  Amongst lots of other junk.  Literally.

Upon entering, we were greeted by 3 dogs.  I definitely, like,  got the vibe that the owner liked to 'live like a hippie' not just in his blue bus, dude.  Kinda felt like Cheech and Chong were gonna stumble around the corner.  Instead out meandered some dude in his old t-shirt and flip flops.  After he checked us in he told us to go past the trailer park and down to the blue bus.  We couldn't miss it.  No key necessary.  Ever.  As in, the bus did not lock.  My optimism was starting to fade a bit.  Oh, and he told us the public restrooms and showers were located near the bus.  I was still in denial at this point.  It has electricity, folks.  It couldn't really be that bad, right?

Skid School Bus row

Big Blue in her glory.  You can't see, but Bob Dillon is painted on the side, with a puff of smoke.  I'm pretty sure he inhaled.

It happened to be raining as we were entering our hippie dwelling. I dashed through the mud (it was only paved most of the way, remember?) onto the bus to close the open windows so our beds would not get wet.  Just as in elementary school, they were stuck and would not close.  I think it was right here that reality reared her ugly head and slapped me in the face.  I came to tears, I mean terms with what our sleeping arrangements were going to be for the evening.

our humble hippie abode

  Behind that ratty closet on the right are the remnants of a bathroom.  Unfinished walls, old toilet.  Turns out, the 'electricity' spoken of on the website was a long extension cord, that, ironically, wasn't even plugged in on the other end.  Abe and I were trying to hide our utter disgust for the kids' sake.  Turned out that was not necessary; the kids loved it.

Eli could drive and poke all of those buttons without anyone telling him no.

Zeke could literally climb the walls without anyone telling him no.

  

It's a party!

The hot springs and soaking tubs were a little diamond in the rough.

Our next stop was the Grand Canyon.  Pictures do not express the awe and beauty.

I couldn't help being a mom and feeling terrified that our children were going to fall right off the edge and down into the canyon.

Valley of Fire, Nevada

Vega$

Circus Circus

The kids were more excited about the water fountains than Hoover Dam right behind them.

PHASE IV: California

Daddy worked hard.  We mostly swam.

PHASE V: The Long Trip Home