Busy Weekend

Last weekend was one of those weekends that sent Dave to bed early.  See, I’m used to all the activity and noise and bad manners and unexplained odors and foul language (kidding!) (well, mostly kidding---Jack’s been saying DANG! a lot), but when one is locked in a calm, quiet, nice smelling office all week, well, you might just need a little time out every now and then.  But this weekend was short on time outs. 

I already told you about our Scout cookout on Friday night, but I didn’t tell you about what happened when we got home.

All week, Jack had come home from camp begging us to let him buy a carving kit from the camp’s Trading Post.  By Friday, he had worn us down, and he came home with a small carving knife and four pieces of balsa wood.  Dave discussed rules with him, like, “This knife is used only for carving and only in the presence of mommy or daddy” etc.  And then he and Dave sat together to do some whittlin’.

Jack was very excited! At one point Dave got up and came inside to use the bathroom.  Knowing Dave, I’m positive he left Jack with strict instructions to wait to carve until he came back.  But before Dave was even out of the bathroom, Jack was back in the house crying. He had cut himself, and pretty deeply, enough that Dave made a run to the drugstore for some butterfly clips.  Even though they didn’t carve again that night (since Jack had not listened) and even though his thumb was throbbing, Jack begged and begged to be allowed to finish his carving. 

He and Dave finished it the next night:

                                                                He used his own blood to color the necktie! 

The Carving Master is currently in the brainstorming process for a new whittling project, but I think this one is going to be pretty hard to top.

On Saturday we headed to the State Track Meet in State College.  Maddie’s relay team was there to run the 4x100 in 105 degree weather.  We stayed in the shade as much as we could and we drank all afternoon and hardly needed to pee, since we sweated everything out.  Was that too much information?

Maddie hands off the baton to Amelia.

Beaver Stadium in the background.

Camryn, Amelia, Ashton, and Maddie                                                                                    Maddie with Coach Bill

They came in 2nd Place, shaving 2 seconds off their fastest time and missing First Place by less than a tenth of a second!  We were very proud of these speedy girls!  Afterwards, we went to The Creamery for the hugest ice cream cones ever:

FYI, Butter Pecan is the ice cream flavor choice of champions.

On the way home, I decided I might need to invest in actual full time (not just reading) glasses.   The first time we passed the sign below (when it announced the exit in one mile), I thought it said Old Fart.

Old Fart.  My home sweet home.

Sunday gave us a little bit of a break, although I decided to invite some kids over to play with my kids, so we ended up with a houseful of kids (seven to be exact) and that’s when Dave wisely took a little nap upstairs.  Behind a locked door, I believe.

By evening, only one of those extra kids was left (Kelsey on the left in the photo above) who was staying for a sleepover with Maddie.  We decided it would be fun to break out the sparklers! 

UNFORTUNATELY, the ground was too dry and the grass caught on fire!

That’s Dave running with a bucket of water to put out the fire.  I am helping by taking a picture of it all.

What lessons have we learned this weekend?

1)  Fingers are good things.  Don’t cut them off.

2)  Old Fart is a funny name for a town.  Old Fort is a boring name for a town.

3)  A burning lawn makes for an awesome photo opportunity.

4)  Children are mentally and physically tiring.

P.S.  Dave decided to “take a business trip” this week.  I wonder if he is giggling maniacally in his quiet hotel room right now.