Fishin'

The boys have a new summer pastime of late: Fishing. Bobby bought each one a new pole and for several days they practiced their casting out in the driveway. They've also gone crazy over lures, bait, and tackle boxes. I decided to join them on their second or third trip to the creek as the resident photo person.

We trudged down a tiny embankment and with poles in hand, everyone started casting.

Cade reeled in a huge wad of pond junk. That was deflating.
But shortly after he caught an actual fish and was grinning ear to ear.
Rhett did some casting and thankfully didn't hook anyone's earlobe or anything.
He did hook a fishy though. I was shocked at the quick luck we were having!
We walked through the water to a little cove that we thought would produce good results. Not so much.
Cade helped Carter fix his line after getting it caught on a log.
Then he was ready to go...
Little Buddy and his bird legs made their way across the water to the sand bank. That's when things got sticky.
It's probably not a good idea to cast your line underneath large, overhanging trees. It is a good idea to bring your Papa to hang on said tree to get your line out.
It still turned out to be a two man job though. Bobby pretty much comes along on the fishing trips to untangle line. He doesn't get to do much fishing himself.
It makes for a line mess when 4 peeps decide to cast and fish in the same exact spot that Bobby is already fishing in. It would probably be a good idea to retake the Fishing 101 exam before our next outing.
After de-treeing and untangling line Bobby emerged from the creek slightly annoyed and minus one shoe that got sucked off in the mud never to be seen again.
Meanwhile, Brad was all smiles enjoying his time with his Little Mermaid.

After having just a short string of luck in the creek, the boys decided to move to the pond on the golf course. It was an immediate hot spot for Grant.

One fish, two fish!

Toss 'em back...
Meredith even got in on the luck!
Three fish!
And to prove I was there: My self portrait.
It was a mildly successful fishing outing. Mild because we didn't catch many fish. Successful because no one got hooked in the head or drowned in the water from getting wrapped up in their own fishing line. I count small things as successes these days.!

Bones

This week WrestleMania finally caught up with Little Buddy. The score is now WrestleMania: 1, Rhett: 0. Frankly I'm a bit shocked that something hasn't happened before now because when it comes to Rhett he's what I like to call a "loose cannon". As he's once said, he "eats fear for breakfast". Surely he's heard that somewhere and repeated it but one never knows.

We trekked out on Tuesday to confirm what I was pretty sure I already knew: Clavicle- cracked. Here are some really awful photos to commemorate this occasion:

After a long wait in the clinic waiting room the one thing that finally put a smile on Rhett's face was getting to see his for real bones in a picture. He thought that was all kinds of awesome!
The one thing not so awesome: the sling. In his own words, "this sling is stinkin' stupid. It's embarrassing! It's embarrassing everyone because it's so stinkin' stupid. I hate it." He was throwing out all the cuss words he had in his vocabulary. I'm surprised he didn't fit "butt" in there somewhere. That would have just topped it off.
So, for now we're on restricted activity until we get re-x-rayed in 2 weeks. Putting a loose cannon on restricted activity is like telling a piranha not to use it's teeth but we're doing our best. Left Hand is learning to do a lot of things it's never had to do before. The way I see it, if we play our cards right, we'll have a fully healed collar bone and we'll come out ambidextrous in no time!

Boom's Day Extravaganza Celebration Jubilee 2011

July is always a highly anticipated month in the Morgan home. By then the boys, and when I say "boys" I mean Bobby and his trained little followers, have peeked into our downstairs closet more times than I can count to feast their eyes upon the fireworks collection that has been growing since July 5th the year before. This is what emerged from the closet this year:

The main thing I'm in charge of on the 4th is outfitting the children in their red, white, and blue. Lanie was able to sneak into one of Eliza's hand-me-downs again this year. ( I've really lucked out in that department!!) and the boys sported the Old Navy special. Perfect! What's not perfect? At least one kid out of four in any picture I take.
I wanted another picture of Elaina and Eliza together this year and, as every year, there is always a scene stealer. This year it wasn't Tonya's husband, Jon, as in years past. This time? Cruz:
I managed to get one decent one. Elaina needs to stop being so greedy with her smiling face.
She has to be one hundred percent ready to give the smile before she'll release it. And it's always on her terms. Obviously. If it were on MY terms she'd be smiling in this picture. I guess she's a little happier than this time last year since I didn't make her wear the head garb :)
I did find out that as of July 4th she likes watermelon. She was chowing down! I'll put one check mark in the fruit section but I guarantee that as soon as I go out and purchase a watermelon she won't like it anymore. I'm on to her funny business and I'm not falling for it again.
There was the usual gathering of the little people for the little people fireworks.
The girls were skeptical.
The boys always think it's awesome.
This year's favorite: The robot guy.
It was super loud though and some party-goers did NOT appreciate it!

We always end up with quite the gathering!
I had to get a quick snapshot of Garrison and Elaina. She loves her some Garrison but I'm not sure he loves her aggressive behavior. We'll have to tone her down before she hits middle school.
The kids always have a great time running and catching the parachute firework thingy.
Our annual girl picture (missing one girl that was washing dishes or something):
The clubhouse turned out to be the hotspot for watching Bobby's fireworks show!
It was a great one this year. Combined with our back yard neighbor there is no need to travel elsewhere for a show!
One more Boom's Day Extravaganza Celebration Jubilee down in the books! Tomorrow Bobby will be heading out to start collecting for next year and Good Lord willing we'll have another year of freedom to celebrate! Happy 4th of July!

Photos on the Beach 2011

These were some of the photos from our annual beach vacation. It's getting harder and harder to get the boys to cooperate for much longer than 24 seconds. Even during those 24 seconds it's all I can do to NOT get their forced smiles. You win some, you lose some....

Lanie was mostly focused on how she did not like sand on her hands.
She was most pleased with Grandma holding her for her pictures!
The gals
Me and my man
Kid feet :)
I attempted this shot 800 times and it never turned out just right. Please note the "2011" we wrote in the sand.
Our whole family
Tdubs and Jdubs

The Lift circa 1987. Nobody does it like Johnny and Baby but this was a close second.
Me.
The photo shoot suddenly turned awkward....
Mom and Dad

My precious.
Grandparents and grandkiddos



Crazy Aunt T.
I always love taking photos on the beach. Such great memories!