What to do on summer vacation...

I am already hearing some faint rumblings of, "What is there to dooooo?"

The other day, Jillian asked if they could play with a box that had been in the basement.  She took it outside and all the kids started playing with it.

Just for the record...my best parenting advice?  Give kids boxes.
Lots of them.
And let them play for hours.

I just might go and BUY some boxes at a local moving store if necessary.
They are worth their weight in gold.

Back to the story...

At first it was used as a fort.
Then they decided to play some variant of 'tag' where the person who was 'IT' had to tackle and drag the victim to the back steps.  Zoey was IT pretty much the entire time because she LOVES any excuse to tackle her siblings.  Not sure what role the box played in this part of the play time.

Zoey enlisted Jillian to help her carry those who were 'out' because Jillian decided she didn't want to be tackled.

"I'm coming for you, Jakie!"

"Down you go, Jakie."

Jake fakes an injury in an attempt to salvage a bit of dignity after being taken down by a girl.

They played that game for a ridiculously long time because Zoey didn't get tired out.

After a bit, Jordan wandered back over to the box and tried to stand up and put it over his head.  No matter how hard he tried, the box kept collapsing.

Seeing his problem, Jillian came over to help and soon he was in business! 

Two kids fit nicely in the box so they thought it would be super fun to walk back and forth across the yard in the box.

It was their very own little Flintstones 'car.'

Or something.

Oops...over they go!

Boxes are FUN.

Go get some.

No need to thank me.

Kiddo Status

About half of the kids are still sick. ugh. Jake's ear hurt over the weekend so I took him to the doctor. Result: double ear infection. Poor kid.

Just when SaraGrace and Kate seemed better, they both started running fevers again. Sigh... They just can't kick it. Whatever the virus is, it is going on and on. Poor babies.

Sorry I didn't report back on Ryan's PT run last week. He did not pass it. However, the sargaent didn't say anything, so Ryan is unsure what to think. He does know that he cannot graduate from this phase of training until he passes the PT.

Yesterday while making dinner, the kids came running in yelling with excitement. "Snake! Snake! There's a snake in our playhouse!" Ewwww...

I grabbed my camera and ran to check it out. I saw the kids like this:

Sure enough...there was a garter snake. It couldn't get out of the playhouse and kept slithering back and forth. We were all strangely fascinated. Finally the call rang out to get the teenager to come and catch it for us. He reluctantly complied but insisted on wearing gloves to avoid being peed on. Whatever...,just come and catch it!

Some were brave enough to touch it. It was twisting and turning quickly, which was a bit unnerving.

I don't want to think about how close I had to get to the snake to get this shot. I didn't have my zoom on the camera at the time. Ewwwwww.... I can't stand snakes. They are so creepy and...well, slithery. Shudder.

Spring has Sprung

Spring is coming to Massachusetts! I am so excited to see daffodils and crocus' flowers, grass greening up and a few buds on the trees. It was nice enough yesterday to try to feed the swans, so we headed over to the bog with bread.

We soon found out that Mama swan is nesting, so only Daddy swan swam over to see us. It will be fun to see the babies when they hatch. The kids had fun just running around and watching the waterfall. And I took a boatload of photos.

"I have a secret to tell you, Katie-bug."

"You can't catch me!"

"Mom, take a picture of me sleeping on this gate."

Checking out the waterfall from the safety of the bridge

"Yep...you caught me eating the bread that is supposed to be for the swans."

Little boys, rocks and water are a perfect combination

Climbing hills takes lots of concentration

Falling down is just as fun as climbing

Pass the Bucket

Pass the bucket 'cause we have another barfer. Kate woke up with barf in her hair this morning and all over her bed. Ewwwww.....

Jillian and Molly are also sick with horrible stomach pain and body aches, so the three of them turned Mom and Dad's bedroom into a sick bay. I felt so bad for them and hate it when I can't give them any medicine to alleviate their suffering. Well, I DID offer to go get some Tylen*l suppositories, but they said they would rather suffer.

Poor Katie-bug, it's her birthday tomorrow, so I am hoping she is feeling better by then. If not, we can delay celebrating until she feels better. Hoping the rest of us don't end up getting it. ugh.

It warmed up into the 40's, so I decided to take the non-sickies out for some fresh air. (And to get the smell of puke out of my own nose.) A little theraputic photography helped too.