My Eleven Year Old

We took Luke out to Ihop for a birthday breakfast. Bright and early on a summer morning... and no one even complained about getting out of bed! His quotable comment on the meal: "Now this is fine livin', right here." We're not quite sure where the southern accent came from all of a sudden. Note the LARGE sundae at the top of his plate. Not only did he order the large breakfast sampler (pancakes, hash browns, two eggs, ham, bacon, and sausage) as well as at least two cups of cocoa with whipped cream and chocolate chips, but they gave him a free sundae as well.
He was quite thrilled with the first present he opened; a check. Apparently he had never had a real check made out to him before. He was also thrilled with his other presents, which included an ipod that is now permanently attached to his ears.

I've attached a short video of his birthday cake; forgive our singing. We're readers, not singers, in our family!

Laziness

I don't have much to write about, which is the way summer should be, I guess. We're just hanging out, playing on the slip n' slide, swimming in the evenings, going to ball practice and just generally avoiding other commitments. Trying to keep the schedule free, you know? Poor Jerry still has to go to work, but the rest of us are livin' the easy life.

The basement is still in the process of drying out; I sincerely hope they come and take away the fans this morning. They are loud enough that I hear them constantly on the main floor - kind of a constant buzzing in my ears. Yet another reason to hit the pool! It looks like the carpet will be fine, but we had to tear out the pad. We also have a spot on the basement wall where we had to remove sheetrock a couple of weeks ago from a leak in the main water line. Perfect time for a basement remodel, huh? I'm collecting paint samples and ideas for making the basement more attractive. The carpet down there has kind of a pinkish caste, which is not what I lean towards when picking colors. I keep bringing home paint samples that have a goldish tone, which just doesn't work. Maybe I'll try for a greenish paint? Hmmm. I'd also like to hide some of the clutter on my desk. The desk I currently have does not have any storage at all, so everything is out in the open. I'm gathering up my courage to give it a skirt so I can store things under it. Maybe Aubrey can sew it for me....

Aubrey's friend Amy from Syracuse is here for a week or so. We plan to go to Leoti sometime next week and spend a few days on the farm.

Nevermind

Our basement has lots of water. Think it came in under that door to the outside. Ugh.

Pictures and Storms

One of my favorite pics from our weekend photo shoot with the fabulous Tori Mathias, a friend from Syracuse. She does such a great job! If you're on facebook you can look at the rest, or email me and I'll try to send you the link to the album.

We had a bit of weather last night; for a while there the sky was positively green. Hutch reported 90 mph winds, but I don't think we had any damage. Our neighbors lost a big tree and several businesses downtown had considerable damage to their roofs. We had about 2.40" in the gauge.

Disney Pics...finally!

I finally got some Disney pictures on here for you all to see! I have tons more to sort through, but here's a sample. Jerry and the kids are at the entrance to Epcot below. Luke's seizure happened on a ride right after this picture was taken.Disney was very kind when Aubrey and Jackson and I went back to Epcot later in the day. They got us in to see all the characters without waiting in line; in fact they gave us "Fastpasses" to anything we wanted to do.
Here we all are with Mickey.
Pluto had to sign on his nose, which the kids thought was hilarious!
Minnie kissed Jackson and made him blush.

Donald and Jackson had a little fight over the markers.
Goofy and Aubrey
Eating some ice cream, courtesy of Disney
Jackson's favorite ride at Epcot, the GM Test Track.
A kind cab driver who took Aubrey, Jackson and I back to Epcot after we left the hospital arranged for a limo to take us to the Magic Kingdom the next day.Oh yeah, it was nice!
Here we are, along with a few other people. Sorry about the sideways shot, just turn your head!
A street parade at the Magic Kingdom. We sure felt sorry for those dancers and characters... I imagine it was VERY hot inside the suits!
The kids with Rafiki. Jackson wanted him to sign his shirt, but he wouldn't do it.
My sons, the criminals.
The kids all had their faces painted at Disney.
Superhero Luke
Tiger Jackson
Tinkerbell Aubrey
I think this was on the bus to Hollywood Studios. Obviously Jackson was thrilled to have his picture taken.
Luke would have LOVED to ride this ride, but it was a flight simulator so we said no. He loves Star Wars.
Did I say he loves Star Wars?
At A Bug's Life playground.
The streets of New York.

That's what I call controlling your overhead

Just got back from Luke's neurologist appointment. He got a good report; his MRI and EEG were both normal. The doctor's opinion was that tiredness was the biggest risk factor in his seizure, so we'll have to make sure he gets enough rest. His first question was if he could still have a sleepover at Mason's house, my answer was not for six months or so. Tough to be limited at eleven!

Anyway, I noticed a sign in the pediatric doctor's waiting room that said: "Please use only one crayon when coloring on the handout sheet. Return crayon to box when finished." A little ironic, considering his fee for the office visit was $340.00. I think he could afford to let the kids use more than one crayon, don't you?

Just trying to get there...

So, by now you have heard that our trip to Disney World didn't go exactly as we had planned. We started off by arriving a little late at the Wichita airport. We ran up to the gate as they were boarding our plane, and were told that they had oversold the plane and we would not be getting on. This was a puzzle to us, as we had purchased, and PAID FOR, our tickets a month earlier. Also, they let other people board after us. Whatever. So, we were re-routed through Denver for a later flight to Orlando. We got to spend a few fun-filled hours in the Wichita airport. Playing games on our phones,

doing crossword puzzles,making lots of phone calls to rental car companies and hotels,

and eating soft pretzels.

We made it to Denver late due to weather delays, and found out when we got there that the lady in Wichita who re-routed us had not CONFIRMED our seats on the Denver to Orlando flight, so we were flying standby on that plane. Of course it was overbooked also, and we were once again left setting at the gate. Oh, there were tears. Lots of tears. So, the airline sent us to a hotel in Denver for the night, and put us on a noon flight to Orlando the next day. We spent another few hours watching planes in Denver.

Sometimes, a few tears can get you somewhere. Like, first class.
Oh, those first-class seats are roomy. And they come with actual blankets, not the flimsy see-through ones you have to beg for in economy. Also, did you know that first class passengers get warm cookies and milk? And nuts, slightly warmed in a pretty little bowl? And tablecloths? And cloth napkins? And all the pop you can drink?
Also, they let you listen in on the communication channel so you can hear the pilots talking to air traffic control. Pretty cool!
We finally arrived at our hotel about 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, twenty-three hours after we were supposed to be there. But we made it!

Luke's Baseball

Luke's baseball season has begun. He plays third base for the most part.
Jerry is helping coach; I think he's watching the other team warm up. Checking out the competition.


Every time there was a time out on the field, Luke and his friend Mason would scoot closer together so they could chat. All discussion was about strategy, Luke assured me. No frivolous talk.
Jackson took over the camera:
I got a great shot of him getting ready to hit the ball over the outfielder's heads below. Jerry was coaching first base and they were hollering and high-fiving each other when Luke ran to base. Wish I had a shot of that!
Luke pitched for an inning... not his best pitching night- he was disappointed. He's been practicing though! Here's the wind-up:
the throw:
and the follow-through!
My new camera somehow makes the fence disappear and focuses on the player, but it's kind of grainy when it does that. I'm still learning how to use this thing!