Weekend at the Cabin

We had our first family outing to the cabin this weekend.  TJ and Tuck went down on Thursday night and Kora and I followed on Friday night after work.  Kora and I had to do some shopping on the way down so it was pretty late when we arrived.  That 30% off coupon at Kohl’s was just burning a hole in my pocket.

The kids stayed up until “oz-mose” 11 pm playing out on the deck.  We got to see Saturn hanging out next to the moon.  NPR told me to keep a lookout all month.

Kora loved being on the Gator.  She didn’t get far from it, even if we weren’t driving it.

Here is TJ training Tuck how to work for the State Highway Department.  I think they both have a future in shovel support.

Kora spent some quality time in the food plots.  We found a caterpillar and she got so excited about petting it that she was almost shaking.  I had to let him go (hide him) when she started getting too friendly and squeezing the poor little guy.

I tried to get a good picture of her…

Instead I got this:

And not 5 minutes later I got this:

It is amazing the level of trust and comfort that they have in you that they will fall asleep in your arms as you are bouncing down the wooded trails.  She knows that we will protect her at all costs.

And Tucker got a new “fishey” pole.  It has Buzz Lightyear on it. He was trying to convince TJ to buy the Tinkerbell one for Kora and the My Little Pony one for me. He is so considerate.

He got pretty good at casting the rubber fish on the end of his line. Here he is in the dry creek bed.  There was one small puddle that he kept dunking the fish in.

The kids just loved all of their outdoor adventures.  They slept pretty good although Mommy and Daddy didn’t. 

And they just wanted “one more” Gator ride….

Kora is Dressing Herself

I put the shirt and skirt on her the other morning but she INSISTED upon putting the pants on too.

She has just recently begun trying to put on pants all by herself.  It is usually not very successful yet and she often gets frustrated before she gets even a leg in.  But it’s good practice and she’s so proud of herself.  I just have to be quicker, slyer and subtle about my assistance.

But isn't she just the cutest? 

The Boys and the Frogs

The neighbor brought over some tree frogs that were living in his pool.  The kids were pretty impressed. 

This is Jaren.  He and Tuck and becoming fast friends. They are only tolerant of each other in short doses but as soon as they are apart they are begging to play again.

Kora tended to shake the frogs.  She sure got them to singing though.

And for those of you that know me well you will be ever so proud of my calmness in the face of the frogs.  As long as they were confined to the tennis ball container, I was fine.  I even held the container and watched them.   I must force myself to be calm because I do not want to transfer my phobias to the kids.  And I do not want them to hold it over me for eternity, so I will suppress my fears and wonder at the little frogs from afar. They are pretty cool creatures.

Mushroom Hunting

We have been doing quite a bit of mushroom hunting this year.  With all of the rain and cool weather with random sunshine it has been dubbed “the year” for mushrooms.  I think I read somewhere that the season has lasted for 7 weeks.  Unheard of.

TJ and Tuck have been a couple of times to the cabin.  They have found quite a few, enough to have a mess down there and still bring a few home.

We got invited to our neighbors.  TJ was surprised that I was interested in taking Kora out but I was just so excited to get into that woods.  I have been curious about it for years.  I am hoping Tuck and Kora will be able to spend much time over there in the future.  It has a cool little creek that is just out their back door.  Parts of it are pretty steep.  TJ and Tuck crossed over…

but Kora and I stayed on our side of the creek.  We just listened to the birds and to Tuck asking a million questions.  And we ate peanut butter crackers.

My cheesy ‘lil Button.

Easter 2011

The Easter bunny came to visit our house.  He left a nest on each recliner for the kids.  Unfortunately, my camera does not do well in low light so these pictures are lacking. He left some eggs filled with candy and money, a singing card, and some stickers.

Tucker also now has a REALLY BIG grasshopper and spider which I hope will soon go live in the sand box.

There’s nothing like a good chocolate high before breakfast.

Later in the day we went to Papaw’s and Gamma Deb’s for a late lunch.

We had ribs.

And they were Delicious!!!!We were calling the kids Pebbles and Bam Bam.  They were a little prehistoric gnawing on those bones.

And then it was time for the Easter egg hunt.  Here they are patiently waiting to be released to the back yard.

And then the hunt begins. 

Tuck did really good helping Kora out and showing her how it’s done.

But she took off pretty quick and filled her bucket. This is her first official egg hunt.  Last year she was just too little, only 5 months old.

Not only did we find quite the stash of eggs but we found a good mess of mushrooms too.  Over half of them were in Deb’s flower beds.  This is quite the year for mushrooms.  Dad deep fried them and they were quite tasty. 

Thanks Papaw and Gamma Deb for a great day.

Peek-A-Boo

April Storm at the Homestead

April 19th brought a pretty big storm.  We spent about 45 minutes in the basement. The kids never even woke up as we hauled them to the basement and then back to bed once the winds died down. I hate storms that come after dark.  This one hit about 945. 

Dad called about 1030 to say that he lost two barns at the house.

The next morning a couple of guys from the Crawfordsville office and I made a tour of the county to inventory the havoc. 

This is Dad’s concrete block barn, or what is left of it.

This one just collapsed in upon itself.  This one housed mismatched stuff and junk.  This barn has been here for over 65 years or as long as Dad can remember.

This is what is left of the big pole barn.  This one has been here since I can remember.  Dad said Grandpa Bernard built it so we know it has been there at least 38 years. 

The wind just sheered off most of the posts.

And it took part of the barn, laid it in the yard and then blew off with the rest of it.  These boards are planted so deep into the ground that you can’t even budge them.

Debris, tin and two by fours are strewn over 1 1/4 miles.  It will be a while before the fields dry out enough to go and clean things up.

Trusses were laid down on mowers and tractors but the worst damage to any of them was a bent muffler stand pipe on the little blue Ford.  The John Deere drove right out once the Bobcat lifted the truss. And then they were able to pull all of the other equipment out.

And this barn was not even touched.  It’s back was to the wind, which we think saved it.

There was a plastic funnel laying on the ground right here and it never moved.  Crazy.  There was a family of raccoons living in an old file cabinet.  They were NOT happy once the cleaning crew started moving their “home”.

This is the view I found at 430 pm after taking the previous pictures at about 930 am.  There were about 20 guys there helping clean up and they had cleared the pole barn completely.  The concrete floor was swept clean and all the debris was piled ready for pick up.

And as Uncle Gerald said: “You know it’s a big storm when it blows in a dozer!”  Now that’s funny!

I guess Nanny cried when she came over and saw it.  The old homestead has changed/lost a lot over the years.  It is slowing blowing away, literally.