4th of July Vacation Day 3

the weather looks to be hot, hot, hot today...more typical summer than we have been having. I've been playing 'I spy' with my niece Macy while simultaneously trying to scan the weekend Journal. The article 'Giving Till It Hurts' caught my eye and has made me rethink the endless list of 'needs' the boys keep plying David and I with...a new boat, barn, lake house, dirt bike, etc etc. When all that really seems to be required is the company of other kids, space to run and decent weather. Adults are not so different.

Baby Mark is growing and soon will be out of the precious almost-always-sleeping baby stage. It is fun to hold him but be able to give him back for the sleepless night part!

We are working on adding short videos to our blog. That way all can enjoy the pictures of Michael doing his 'tantrum' (aka back flip) on his wakeboard and crashing into the water. Yesterday the dads took all the kids out to the lake on two boats - our current old one and the previous really old one (which was handed down from Kelly's ultra-hip grandma, who last I knew was still water-skiing at age 75)! Cale insisted upon resurrecting the really old boat after finding it deep in the recesses of John's garage. So my brother, being the softie he is, towed it into town, powerwashed it, and prepared it for a rebirth on Milford Lake. We were all a bit skeptical - although it looked darn good - we remembered having to bail it out after each ski run last time we had it at the lake. As it turned out, the leaky hull wasn't as big a problem as the engine that kept running hot. John, with his share of the 8 kids, would run it for a few minutes and then have to cut the engine and float and wait until it cooled off. No big deal for a content lake floater like me but it seemed to try his patience a bit. After a big, post-lake family dinner at the local Pizza Hut last night he towed it straight to the boat repair shop for an overhaul. Perhaps it should really go to the final resting place for boats though...or be converted to a pontoon with sails!

Today we will visit the farm, retrieve our boys, and cram ourselves back into the truck for our drive back to KC...with another year's worth of 4th of July antics to laugh about and discuss!