Ball and Chain '08

Kevin celebrated 9 (WONDERFUL!!!) years of marriage to Missy with the annual Ball and Chain Golf Classic. The group golfs 36 holes in a mini-tournament. Kevin golfed for his bachelor's party, and has been organizing the Ball and Chain every year since (off and on). Bill Schneider barely eked Kevin out to win the most number of tee shots from the women's tees. Congrats Bill! The group plays a forward back format. Bogey stays at the white tees, par moves back one tee box, double bogey moves up one tee box. And if you hit from the woman's tees more than three holes in a row you have to tee off from the 150. Larry and Rusty took home the coveted Ball and Chain trophy for best total score. Scott and Brandon came close to stealing it away, and they don't even use video swing analysis! Impressive! While Bill was playing forward a lot he was one of the big money winners of the day.

The group had a great time. When the houses stopped jumping in front of their shots, they played some great golf. Mark your calendars for early next August (usually the first or second Monday) we will be teeing off for the Ball and Chain '09.

Naked reading!

No post to go along with this. Just thought it should be posted, for not other reason than it is funny.

The Zoo!

Caleb's cousins, Seth and Ezra, are coming for a visit while their Mom and Dad are taking a trip to Chicago. To prep for the visit Caleb and his Mom spent some time coloring.

Once Caleb's cousins arrived there was a lot of playing. Caleb was worn out at the end of each day. Trying to keep up with the big boys is a ton of work. Caleb, Seth, Ezra, Margaret and Caroline took Missy, Kevin and Grandma to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. The shark tank the the biggest hit! None of the sharks wanted their pictures taken (they've been burned by the zoo paparazzi before!). But the Big Ugly Fish (yes, that is the technical name) was up for a picture. The kids put on their best fish faces to thank him.

The remodel to the zoo is finished and it is great! We got to see a squid dissection - gross! Eat lunch and watch an animal show - cool! and play on the same type of toys the animals play on - really cool!

Seth and Ezra got to try out life as a hermit crab. Seth wasn't too sure about it, but enjoyed the crab's home. Ezra loved it. Notice the razor sharp pincher of a right hand.

After the day at the zoo everyone was wiped out, except for Seth. Ezra and Caleb both fell asleep on the ride home. They still got a while before they can keep up with Seth.

Poppy's Garden and the fair

Caleb spent the night with Grandma and Poppies. Grandma showed him where the raspberry bushes were, and then spent the rest of the weekend trying to keep him out.

Caleb loves berries. His Mom and Dad are not a big fan of too many berries though. When not hunting down berries, Caleb had a great time playing in the garden.

When he got home from a night in the garden patch, Caleb got to go to his first fair, The Thurston County Fair, with his neighbors the Clarks and his Dad. It was a very agricultural weekend. The Thurston County fair for those of you who don't know, is the best fair in Thurston County. Caleb was amazed at the deputies on horses. He kept saying "Wow!" every time he would see them. He was also amazed by the pigs.

He spent most of the time with mouth wide open in amazement, taking in all the sights and sounds of a fair and pointing at things he thought were interesting - mainly the lights on the rides. He did like the petting zoo, but not because there were animals to pet. There was a pole and a cinderblock to stand on. Caleb's friend and neighbor Wood, had a good time at the fair too. Wood also proved to be a master at the giant slide.

A Weekend with the Stumphs

We spent a long weekend with Rick and Jamie. Kevin and Caleb helped Rick haul dirt to level their back yard so they could put down new grass. Uncle Rick gave Caleb advice on how to always make sure you use some sort of power equipment when doing anything construction related. Caleb was just happy to play in the dirt! Kevin and Rick had a little too much fun, well not too much, but a lot. Jamie and Missy spent a morning at the spa getting spa'd. They came back looking glamorous. Rick got a chance to demonstrate his sporting might on Wii tennis and then dominated Kevin again in a real round of golf. Kevin claims the injury to the foot hindered his normally stellar golf game. Caleb had a great time at the park. He can now go down slides by himself.

Boat races and Big dogs

We spent last weekend enjoying boat races at Aaron's property at Black Lake. The location was great, right in the middle of the back straight. We saw three wrecks - two different boats and Kevin. It was action packed! While returning from getting refreshments from the dock, Kevin managed to step on and break a bottle that was in the lake. It made a nice cut in the arch of his foot. 8 stiches later he was back in form (not quite sure what form that is). He will be on crutches for a few days and have the stitches for about 10.

We got to visit Caleb's grandparents after their long vacation. Caleb stepped in to test out the bubble mower.

Caleb got to spend some quality time with Chubbs too. Caleb loves stinky things.

4th of July - Moses Lake

We spent 4th of July weekend with the Wemp family and got to spend the 4th with one of Missy's best friends, Barb, and her family. Ian (Barb's husband), Barry and Kevin spent most of the 4th trying to successfully launch a Mentos and Diet Coke rocket. They tried to help Coke and the Mentos companies set new records for quarterly sales, but only managed to get one half-way successful flight. It was amazing in their minds however...

Kevin taught the kids how to make Alka Seltzer and film canister rockets. If you couldn't tell by now, Moses Lake has a ban on fireworks within city limits. So, the boys (big and little) were left to using food products to make their explosions. Not quite the same as a other homemade fireworks/explosions, but it inspired the kids into future careers as pyrotechnic experts. Ezra was heard asking when they got to blow stuff up again. At least his aunt (Missy) and his mom are happy he only knows how to use Alka Seltzer and water, and vinegar and baking soda at this point. Aidan and Chloe found out that when you eat an Alkaseltzer it foams a lot if you don't swallow it right away. (Kevin encouraged that experiment).

Moses Lake had a great fireworks show, and we didn't even have to leave the backyard to watch it.

Seth, Ezra, Aidan and Caleb enjoyed the dirt in Barry and Kelly's backyard. The big kids might have loved it even more than Caleb. Notice Ezra doing the 'Pete Rose' in the dirt behind Caleb. Ezra also showed Caleb around the boat for the future fishing adventures.

After a hard day in the dirt the big kids taught Caleb how to play video games. It was pretty exciting for Caleb.

We also took a trip to the Moses Lake Aquatic (pronounced Aquanic if you are Seth and Ezra)Center. Seth has become a little fish and Ezra is a great wader. Caleb thinks he's a fish, but doesn't understand yet that he can't breathe underwater, but loves it all the same.

Caleb was worn out after chasing the big kids all weekend. His Mom and Dad were worn out after playing with the really big kids and getting up early with their little kid.