Takin' Care of Business

Hey Bethany!!

Grace wants to know if you can speak "Mexican" now that you live in Mexico.

Thank you for thinking of the kids.  They are always thrilled when you remember them.

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We just pulled into town tonight after being gone ten days then home for three days then gone for three more days.

Lots to post and lots to tell......

but for tonight it will have to suffice to say

HAPPY  13TH  BIRTHDAY

to

JOHN SHUPE

and

EMILY SHUPE

Your mom and dad love you very much.

We are so proud of you.



Miss Us?

We're back. 

We've been at the farm for what seemed like forever (at least according to the kids it was forever).

Too late to post tonight.  I'll get caught up again in the next few days.

Goodnight!

Goin' to the ZUE

If you arrive at the zoo early enough

your kids can pretty much have the splash park 

all to themselves for an hour.

Most people look at the exhibits as they make their way to the water park.

We head straight for the fun stuff and save the exhibits for later.

The dinosaur exhibit is back for the summer. 

All of the dinosaurs are animated with movement and sounds.

The last time they were here Grant was scared to death of them and would not even get out of the stroller for a closer look.

He was a bit braver this year.

After a few hours of looking at the animals and playing on the exhibits it was time to head home....

to the Shupe zoo.

Foamy Fun and Naps

Sometimes

in the zoo

our creativity

gets a little out of control....

like when

the kids get hold of the food coloring

in the carpeted playroom.

It was an utter mess.

I'll show you their handiwork in the shaving cream

and spare you the view of the technicolor carpet when they were done.

PS - Food coloring does come out of carpet fibers.

Good thing too.  I had LOTS of food coloring in my carpet.

Here was David  napping  supervising the activities.

Here was Grant attacking showing affection to his dad.

Well, at least he WAS loving on his dad until the urge to pounce on him took over.

Gardens and Raindrops

David took this picture back when the garden was just starting to take off.

Since then things have already come and gone.

We got several beans, peas and cucumbers along with plenty of radishes, lettuce and a few onions.

Tomatoes and corn are just now starting to be ready.

I fixed the first meal of corn on the cob tonight.

It wasn't the best I've ever had given the hot dry summer, but it was still fresh corn!

We have had a few good rains....mostly when David has been trying to cut hay of course.

Here's a little Smurf village that sprang up in our front yard.

Grace and Grant made short work of crushing all the little Smurf homes.

They had a great time stomping and spalshing in the yard and road before the heavy rain finally moved on through the area.

Oh how summers like this remind us to be ever thankful and not take things like weather for granted.

Stay cool!

Camping - Indoors and Out (well sort of)

When it is a hundred plus degrees outside

the Shupes prefer to camp inside where it is air conditioned.

Not the most attractive tent, but hey, it made them happy.

 

We've camped in the camper this summer too.

We've only used it once, but did manage to get it hooked up and all systems working on it.

Since neither one of us has any experience with campers, even getting the camper functioning was an accomplishment for us.

Plans are made to go on a short trip with it soon.  We're more the primitive tent camping types.  I'm not sure we're civilized enough for a real campground.  I'll let you know how things go.

Milestones

John and Emily used to have lots of  'sleepovers' when they were younger.

Having a sleepover involved sharing a room for a night.

They would stay up late playing and talking and giggling.

As outside friends became more plentiful their sleepovers became less frequent until they finally stopped a few years back.

Guess who is now having fun with 'sleepovers'?

Sometimes when I look at these two growing up it is almost like reliving John and Emily all over again.....same room, same bedding, even same pj's some years!

Another milestone today......

Guess who lost another tooth?

Yep.  Grace and Grant are now even at two lost teeth each.

Water Wars

DAD!!!!

It would appear David's children are running to greet their father coming home from a hard day's work in the field.

But things aren't always as they appear.

They're really bombing him with water balloons.....

then immediately running for the safety of the porch.

From that vantage point an all out attack was launched on the unsuspecting victim by his loving   children.

He was a pretty good sport about the whole thing.

The final attack was delivered by Grace taking direct aim at his face.

Yes, he was still smiling even after that.

What a good sport.

Then it was time to get out the Corn Hole.

Some of us have our own unique methods of playing....like tossing the bags backward over our head.

Can you guess who has turned into a serious blackberry fan this year?

Here's a little guess.

There have not been a lot of blackberries to pick this year, but Grant has eaten one hundred percent of what we've gotten from our patch.