Random Time

And now for a regularly scheduled Tuesday.  Time to get all random.

• Monday nights are never fun.  Better than Monday mornings, but done all by myself?  Yeah, they seem a bit hectic. We managed though.
• There are currently two stuffed animals lost in the camper--most likely rolled up in sleeping bags.  They will be rescued when Nick gets back. I need his help opening up the camper to retrieve said sleeping bags.
• We have been getting just enough rain the last few days to make it so we don't have to water as often.  This will help the water bill. And the plants grow better with rain water.
• Turbo goes to the orthodontist today.  Kind of nervous about that trip, but we knew it was coming.
• The nights are too short, the days are too long.  I think we need more vacation. Or scheduled naps for the grown ups.
• I need some good chocolate. Or maybe ice cream.
• I still have a ton of mountain dirt to get out of the car.  It ran shuttle to the bottom of the river run for the raft trips this weekend.  Lots of dirt tracked in.  The water has dried out, but the dirt stayed.  At least I have good floor mats.
• I ran a mile and a half yesterday morning.  (And it felt almost good, but you tell anyone and I'll deny it to my dying breath). It didn't feel like I was trudging.  And 1.5 miles.  Last year when I started this, I could barely go a half mile. So, go me.

So that's my random for the week. Go see Stacy for more.

And join up with Shawn and Impulsive for Talk To Us Tuesday. No rules, just fun, link up.

Happy Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend. There was lots of good food, good times and sunshine. Even the rainstorm couldn't keep us down for too long.
We escaped Wednesday evening and headed up the mountain.  When we got to our campsite--we found we got the better one just a bit further up the road.  Shade in the morning and shade in the afternoon.  River right there, convenient for kid to play in and for floating the river.

Launch of the first float.

Take out for the first float.

Dam building.

Getting bigger

Quite the impressive dam.

Supervising the building is tough work.

Good food.

My goofball.

Chilling and relaxing.

Captain Cool.

It was a much needed break, not necessarily everyone's Fourth of July, but it how we like to do it.
What did you do?

WWTK--Summertime!

We Want To Know time again.  Happy day before The Fourth--the last work day of the week for me.  Long weekend here I come--as soon as going home time hits.  Now to watch the day crawl by.
Let's do something to pass the time shall we--answer questions!

1.) Now that it is officially summer, what season is your favorite and why? I like fall.  Ours are usually nice and not too hot and not too cold.  We do get snow, but it tends not to last. The kids go back to school, routines are reestablished, and things aren't so crazy for us.

2.) What does summer look like in your house? Sound like? Curtains closed to keep the heat from the sun out during the day, wide open at night.  Twilight lasts forever here and things cool down so nicely that's when we hang out outside, water the gardens and grass. Let little boys run around with squirt guns.  Shouts and yells, laughter and giggles. Spraying water, skipping/running feet.  It's all summer sounds and feelings. The smell of left over sunscreen, bug spray, dinner on the grill.  Summer.

3.) Recount a summer memory from your childhood.  We had a nice hill in front of our house that was grass covered.  I remember rolling down it as a kid during the seemingly endless twilight that we get here due to the mountains that hide the sun long before it goes down. After the heat of the day, evenings in the summer are my favorite.

4.) Do you have fourth of July plans? (If not in the U.S. what are you doing this weekend?) We are escaping and heading to the mountains for four days of camping and playing in the river and hanging with friends.  I expect us to come home filthy, tired and sunkissed (if I wield the sunscreen enough).

5.) Does it get super hot where you are in the summer and how do you deal with it? We usually don't get much above 80-90 degrees here. We have had more days like that, but normal temps are in the 70-80s. The nice thing is it cools off into the 50s at night.  Open the windows and it cools things down.  Without that we would melt.  We also have a basement that stays cooler and we retreat to it when it gets hot.

Now you grab the questions and play along.

Link up with Kensie and Scriptor.  They would love to have you join in.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

So, after getting through Monday, the rest of this week should be a breeze.  After all, it's a short week. Tomorrow could be the longest day in a really long time.
On to the random:

• Migraines suck.  
• Our Fourth of July will not have Fireworks, but I think glow sticks for the kids are in order. 
• I really want today and tomorrow to fly by at work.  So far, not so good.
• Turbo has been in demand this summer.  Birthday parties, sleep overs, just hanging out.  It's nice to see him have friends.  Keeps him busy and reduces the amount of screen time he has. As long as the playing happens out doors.  Bruiser is a bit jealous, he doesn't know that many kids his age.  That will change when he goes to preschool. Which is in two months. Nope, not thinking about that.
• Moving on, we have had some thunder storms that have wet things down here and cooled things off.  One came with significant hail, but Nick's Tomato plants should survive.
• Nick bought a used kayak last night.  He and Turbo cleaned it up and are planning to take it with us this weekend. Turbo is very excited Bruiser is less so, because he doesn't have a kayak of his own.
• I drove Nick's truck yesterday.  It wasn't bad, but my depth perception is off when I'm in it.  It's just so big and I'm not used to it. If I drove it more it might be better for me to drive.  However, the likely hood is small that I'll have to drive it too much. Nick is so much better at it than I am.
• Looking forward to getting some reading in this weekend.  Also some TABs and good times with family.

So that's my random for the week. Go see Stacy for more.

And join up with Shawn and Impulsive for Talk To Us Tuesday. No rules, just fun, link up.

Prepping for Fun

This last weekend was all about getting ready to head out for a long Fourth of July Weekend. It was a good weekend, but sort of over shadowed by the fact that we all can't wait to get to the mountains on Wednesday.
Saturday started out with a trek out to the local garage and yard sales.  I went with a friend and while it wasn't a particluarly good day, I found a few things that were worth the trip.
While I was out, Nick's cousin stopped by for a visit, bringing donuts and two week old kittens that the boys got to help her feed.

Saturday afternoon Turbo had a birthday party to attend and we got the camper opened up so we could clean it up a bit and then pack it up for it's trip up to mountains.
Saturday night we had a thunderstorm come through, Nick stayed up way too late watching the lightening.  Storms fascinate him.
Sunday, I got the grocery shopping done and then we packed up and headed up to put the camper in the spot we want to camp in.  We are going back up on Wednesday, but if we wait until then to go up, all the good spots will be taken.

Our lovely spot.

A very dirty boy.

We are right next to the river and will be taking advantage of that to cool off, play and clean up, as the camp spot has fine black dirt very available to little kids. It also holds irresistible allure to kids.
Coming back from the mountain we hit rain and some light hail, but once we got home we found we had missed a major thunderstorm that came complete with a half inch of rain and a bunch of hail.

Snow? Nope, hail.

I conquered the laundry and over all had a busy, but good weekend.  Too bad Monday had to roll around.

Time to Confess

OK, so this week Friday is so appreciated.  It has been a very long week. Parts went smoothly, but others were rough. I'm just ready to be done.  And in that vein, let's get to the confessions:

• I missed last week.
• we were field tripping for work.
• It was fun, better than sitting in front of the computer.
• Bugs suck.
• Bugs in my house suck more.
• Especially bugs that bite me.

My arm Wednesday morning.

•  I got the above on Tuesday night when some sort of bug bit me.
• I reacted to it in a not so good way.

My normal arm.

•  Better now.  
• Still not sure what got me though.
• I'm thinking spider, but not too hard as that give me the full body shivers.
• I also got my hair done this week.
• It was time for my annual perm.

From this...

...to this.

•  The poodleness will fade as it relaxes.
• I also might think about color, but not til this fall.
• It's much closer to my natural color of dark blond now.
• CAn't wait to head out camping next week.
• We really need the break.

Join in the confessing fun with Aubrey at High-Heeled Love.

Spin Cycle--The Great Outdoors

The Spin Cycle this week is all bout the great outdoors.  Anyone who's been here recently should know that we here at the Jones house are no stranger to the great outdoors.  We try to get there as often as possible.  In fact, we will be spending four days over the Fourth in the great outdoors.
For those who might not have some of our recent forays into the Great Outdoors, here are some shots of the fantastic playground we have within a half hour to an hour of our house.

We play, summer or winter.

The view is fabulous. The mountains are nice too.

Our Great outdoors.

Marshmallow cooking.

Rocks to scale.

One of our preferred modes of transportation through the Great outdoors.

THe fam enjoying (mostly) the outdoors.

Kicking back at camp.

Streams hold a definite allure for boys.

Throwing rocks in water will always be a favored activity of small boys.

Pretty cute kids.

You can see forever.

The river right in town.

So that is a peek at our outdoors.  We get out to visit it whenever possible.  If you enjoy the great outdoors, spin it up and let Gretchen know.  She'll link you up.

WWTK--Randomish Stuff

Wednesday and half way through the week.  Can I get a Woo Hoo!?
Now on to the questions:

1. What are a few things on your bucket list that you hope to accomplish this year? Well my bucket list is here. Doable this year are the crocheting, and learning about wine. Travel--at least long distance, expensive travel--is not really on the schedule.
2. What would you rather have, a short order cook or a maid? A maid.  I don't mind the cooking, but hate, hate, hate the never ending dishes, laundry and cleaning that comes with a house. I do it because pig stys are not comfortable places to live, but it's not the highlight of my day.
3. Are there any projects you hope to do this summer? We are planning to re-carpet our stairs.  I want to keep my strawberries alive. Enjoy summer to it's fullest.  Yeah, that's our main project this summer.
4. What do you want your next big purchase to be? Probably new chairs for the living room.  Ours are showing their wear, but it will most likely be a new four wheeler and trailer to haul both four wheelers next summer.
5. Why did you start blogging? For the outlet.  I have a hard time connecting with people in my town.  A changing population in a college town has something to do with that. I needed a way to vent frustrations and to feel not so alone in those frustrations.  It's nice to know that there are others like me who can commiserate with the day in and day out of life.  I have made some great friends and I hope to meet more in person as time goes on.

Now you grab the questions and play along.

Link up with Kensie and Scriptor.  They would love to have you join in.

Tuesday Randoms

And we made it through another Monday. This one was better than the last one anyway. And now it's Tuesday and time for the random party!

• This little post right here is my 1000 post.  Not really sure what to feel about that.  Excited some, mostly surprised I have had that much to say. Looking forward to the next 1000. 
• Squirt gun battles have been big at our house.  Bruiser loves to sneak up on his dad.  Turbo loves getting a good ambush in.  Wet fun for all involved.
• The Fourth of July is sneaking up on us. We are taking a long weekend and going camping.  Along a river--splashing and floating on a raft are in our future.  So looking forward to getting out of town. An even bigger bonus is that Fourth of July weekend is not laundry weekend for me. Score!
• Hair cuts for my shaggy boys:

Before

After

•  They totally needed a haircut.  Of course Turbo went for the classic buzz cut. He misses his hair, but is getting used to it being gone.
• Still not much improvement on the potty front with Bruiser. He starts preschool this fall, so maybe that will motivate him to get with it.  Nothing else has.
• Sadly, we still feel like we are on the merry-go-round and it just keeps speeding up.  I really want off the ride. Does it ever slow down?

So that's my random for the week. Go see Stacy for more.

And join up with Shawn and Impulsive for Talk To Us Tuesday. No rules, just fun, link up.

Of Birthdays and Weekends

So this last weekend was very much a weekend, with the added fun of having Nick's Birthday Friday and celebrating it with his family on Saturday.
Friday Nick and I had a field trip for work and then team building which consisted of drinks then dinner that work paid for.  Not a bad way to spend the day.
Saturday, Nick was up early and cooking breakfast on the griddle we got him to go with his two burner stove.  It will be fantastic for camping.  Isn't too bad for making breakfast in the back yard either.

Nick's folks came over Saturday afternoon and we had fried chicken, corn on the cob, and there was chocolate pie for the birthday boy.

They got Nick a wench for the four wheeler.  We spent the rest of Saturday installing it.  The directions that came with it were awful. Thank goodness for Google. I was able to find a decent set of directions that saved us untold headaches. 
It is on and working.  Nick really want to go play in the mountains now.
Sunday brought smoking meat and several squirt gun battles. Summer is definitely here.

It was very hard to face Monday morning.  After a weekend like this one, Mondays should be outlawed.
How was your weekend?  Great, or are you happy to see Monday?