Stormy Afternoon

We really got hit hard by this afternoon's thunderstorm!  There are thousands without power in our county as the storm just barreled through leaving a wide path of destruction.  It was as dark as night right smack in the middle of the afternoon. The lightening storm was quite impressive. We have a couple of trees down in our woods but other than that we escaped the worst of it.  The storm kind of put a damper on our outdoor projects so the girls and I ran to do some errands. We really had a HUGE LONG list of shopping to do at Sam's Club and we also had to go pick up some more seeds for the garden but first we started our afternoon with the most important errand of all..... a matinee! Yes, we left the boys at home and headed to the movies for a 1:30 show.  We made it just in time and really enjoyed our little break from work. We loved the movie and we were super glad we went!!!  We then headed to Sam's and filled up FOUR carts worth of food and supplies. We had a list a mile long and it took forever.  I was impressed with my older daughter's packing skills as she got every last item into our car.  We were packed to capacity! I think we are all set for a while now.  It took forever to unload and get everything put away but thankfully everyone worked together and we can cross that one off our list.  The boys are back at the pond just beginning today's work on the ladder project for the dock.  I am off to shuck corn and bring back this evening's feast.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a DRY day so we can finish our dock project. Once we get that crossed off the list....the bedroom remodel can't be too far behind!!! YES!

Very Late Start - Very Good Ending

We woke up to dreary rainy skies. Everything was wet with no sign of stopping. Our early morning plans to get the dock finished were literally washed out. We quickly moved onto Plan B and worked on indoor housecleaning projects. I think in retrospect the rain was a really good thing because we got SO much done inside! Much progress was made and we got a good portion of the kitchen organized, cabinets cleaned out and the pantry all neat and tidy. My younger daughter was absolutely brilliant and worked super hard to get it all done. We were finally blessed with a break in the weather and headed back to the pond just a little after 4:30 and got to work.

This is how the dock looked this afternoon. A lot was done yesterday!

The very fun job of picking up all the wood pieces that fall into the pond.

An awesome push off from shore. This is in preparation for the hardest part of the dock building. Working on the dock from the rowboat.

Yes. Yes. You are seeing this correctly. Mr. Yesteryear Acres is chainsawing from the rowboat. The kids had to make sure the boat didn't rock at all.

Final touches from the boat.

Really looking good now!!!!

Cutest picture ever!!! He is so happy! Tomorrow we have some finishing touches and hopefully we will install the ladder onto the end of the dock, but for the most part, our dock is finished! I ended up making General Tso's chicken for dinner with some fresh beets on the side and we ate dinner out.......on....... our dock!!!! My cooking has never tasted better. It was the best dinner and the best night ever. We all sat out on the dock until the sun set and darkness fell. Happiness surrounded us all.

Sooooo close!

The sun was BLAZING hot today and the sweat bees were totally relentless but through it all the dock work continued. Board after board after board got nailed to the base.  It is looking SO good now!!! It DEFINITELY doesn't look the same and has really changed the look of the entire pond.  The dock is really wide and nice and long. I am sooo in love with it. My hard working dock builders have done a fantastic job.  We are down to just ONE MORE board on the top and the top will be finished!  Tomorrow Mr. Yesteryear Acres will put on the side trim work and then the final piece...the ladder! I can't believe it.  An actual project finished.  It is a miracle!  I am planning on taking a ton of pictures tomorrow. I am super excited.  While the dock work progressed, my younger daughter and I took care of all the puppies and took new pictures for the website. Our double doodle babies are getting a little bit bigger now and are nice plump little cuties.  Scarlet is a great mommy and she makes our job really easy. We also worked with the older pups and did some more housebreaking training and leash work.  Along with that we took excellent care of the dock workers.  We made a delicious lunch of grilled chicken wraps - with sliced marinated chicken and fresh picked thinly sliced cucumbers and then for a late day snack we made homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. It was most appreciated by the dock builders!  This evening, we picked some fresh zucchini, 2 onions and a few precious tomatoes for our dinner and then roasted them with a bit of fresh lemon.  We then added some fresh cooked shell pasta and voila!  Dinner at the pond was served.  The dock wasn't quite finished enough to eat dinner on the dock but we are so close!  Dinner by the dock on Dock Day #4 was delicious. As long as Mother Nature cooperates...tomorrow we just might finish!

Dock Day #3

And so it continues.  The long arduous dock building project lives on for another day.  A lot of progress was made today and it is finally time for the top boards to be added.  The base is done!  Mr. Yesteryear Acres got everything set up all by himself bright and early this morning.

My older daughter helped load all the lumber onto the trailer which took a long time.  I believe that lumber loading most definitely qualifies as a workout!  The top boards started to go on late this afternoon.

It is going to look AWESOME when it is all done.  We all have big hopes that tomorrow evening we can set the picnic table on the dock and eat dinner overlooking our beautiful pond.  It might actually happen!  Tonight my younger daughter and I whipped up another fabulous picnic dinner that we ate back by the pond.  We had marinated grilled chicken breast, fresh beets with caramelized butter and a homemade redskin potato salad. The worker bees were quite pleased with our spread. We all worked hard today and of course no day would be complete without a little help from our doodles.  Here is one of our grown double doodles.  He is a big teddy bear and such a lovebug!

You can just see HOW hard he worked all day.  Tomorrow if we are super super lucky....I will have pictures of the final completion of our big project and our dock will be finished and we can cross that off our summer to-do list!

Dock Day #2

Dear Weather System of the week, As much as I appreciate the credit I have taken today for watering the garden and as much as the corn and tomatoes appreciated the lovely water that fell down from the sky......did you not notice the immense spread of equipment and lumber and power tools that were spread out all over by the pond? The mid-day shower could not have been more inconvenient.  It takes over an hour to get everything loaded onto the trailer and hauled out to the pond.  Then it takes a while to get the sawhorses set up and get everything laid out for the day's work. Just about the time everything was ready.....down came the rain.  We had to put everything back onto the trailer and get it covered with tarps.  We spent the better part of the afternoon inside waiting for the rain to pass. Now I can't say that I suffered while I was inside as the girls and I got caught up on some super cheesy chick flicks - but it didn't really help much to get our dock finished.  We all headed back out to the pond this evening and got allllllll the stuff back out and Mr. Yesteryear Acres got a little bit more done on the dock.  I helped by making my NON-picnic dinner into a picnic dinner.  I have to say it was the most interesting picnic meal we have had as I would not consider our meal picnic worthy - but miraculously, it all worked. We had Beef Stroganoff and Noodles, Fresh peas and for dessert - cupcakes that were professionally decorated by my girls. We brought it all out to the picnic table by the pond and ate dinner as the sun set.  It was really nice.  Tomorrow - we are all on the same page as we attempt Day #3 of building the dock.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will have our dinner tomorrow night ON our dock!  Wish us luck!

20 Miles

I am SO tired!  I must have walked 20 miles today! Okay Okay - not 20 exactly - maybe like 18 miles. Alright - maybe not 18 miles but I walked back to our pond so many times I have lost count. Today was work on the dock project day.  We have been trying to build a dock out on the pond for YEARS and today was dedicated to try to finish this long awaited project. My older daughter and husband spent most of the day back there and will be working long into the night until it is just too dark to see. Tomorrow - more of the same.  I love my husband. He is the most optimistic person you will ever meet.  Yet somehow optimism does not equal realism.  He was convinced they could get the dock almost finished today - yet each time I make the long trek back there - it looks exactly the same. He is now convinced that they will get it done tomorrow.  Hmmmm. How many people think that will actually occur? You have to give him credit for trying though!  He has been working non-stop since mid-morning.  He had to redo all the baseboards as they have warped since the project was started WAY back when. So I am sure that was loads of fun for them.  Do you know that if you replace one board with another board that looks exactly the same as the first board- I cannot tell the difference?  You should see the look of delight on Mr. Yesteryear Acres' face when I say, "Hey this looks the same as when I came out here an hour ago."  Really.  The love just pours right out of him. My daughter too.  They just love my visits.  So I was errand girl today.  Every time they needed some tool or drink or snack or what have you - I brought it to them. Sometimes I would JUST get back IN THE DOOR when my phone would ring and guess what - they forgot something and could I please bring it to them RIGHT away.  I ended up bringing a different puppy and/or doggie with me for every trip and worked on leash training.  The dogs loved it and were glad for the walk.  The puppies - well they loved running between my legs and around back and in front and making my trip about 100 times longer as I stumbled and tripped my way to the pond carrying a load of whatever it was I was asked to bring.  I have to say I made good progress though and by this evening we had some very well behaved puppies walking properly with their leash on. We ended up having a picnic dinner by the pond and admired the dock work.  I decided to not say it looked just like it did yesterday but rather say something like "WOW, I can tell you worked hard today."  Of course I meant that because they were very dirty and sweaty - and well - that must have meant they worked very hard so I thought they would enjoy the compliment.  I also think that if either of them read this blog post, I might be in slight trouble. So dearest husband, if you are reading this post today - Your dock is fantastic!  It is the best dock I have ever seen.  I can't wait to see what it looks like when it is finished. Tomorrow I will still be your faithful errand girl and bring you snacks and drinks and whatever you need to get your project done. You are an awesome dock builder and I thank you for working so hard!

Zucchini, Zucchini, Zucchini

Our garden is really coming along nicely now.  Our corn is now in full tassels, our green beans look delightful, our romaine lettuce is almost ready to be picked and we have enough cucumbers to feed our city. It looks as though we will have at least 5 gigantic Jack O'Lanterns for the fall.  They are already bigger than large watermelons.  It is so much fun to watch everything grow.  My son is particularly proud as he has put tons of hours into caring for the garden.  Tonight I decided to make Zucchini Egg Foo Yong for dinner, so we went out to the garden to pick a few fresh zucchini.  We just picked the garden the day before yesterday and WHOA - we have been overrun with zucchini!  We have some so large that Mr. Yesteryear Acres has been fondly referring to them as "speed bumps".  We picked our trailer load of zucchini and hauled them back to the house.  My daughter grated the nice sized ones for our dinner tonight and of course the Egg Foo Yong was delicious.  Some of the bigger zucchinis will go to the big doggies tomorrow for a treat.  They love to carry them around outside and then eventually get down to the business of eating them.  We have several doggies that LOVE LOVE LOVE zucchini.  They are very happy doggies at harvest time.  It is hilarious to watch them trot around with the zucchini in their mouths with their tails wagging 100 miles an hour.  They are quite proud of themselves. The rest of the zucchini will be turned into zucchini bread and zucchini cake.  Tomorrow will be a busy baking day!  Now if I can only figure out what to do with our truck full of cucumbers. We have had cucumber salad and cucumber sandwiches every single day.  I am going to have to dig deep to come up with some clever ideas.  The doggies aren't big fans of cucumbers so it is up to me to find something delicious for humans. Cucumber cake doesn't quite sound as if it would fit the bill of things delightful to eat.  Cucumber bread? Nope. Cucumber sundaes? Um no. Oh well - guess tomorrow will be....Surprise! .....MORE CUCUMBER SANDWICHES FOR LUNCH!!!!! Gee my family is soooo lucky!

Roller Coaster Fun

The day at the amusement park was a major hit! We arrived right before the park opened, and I, being a roller coaster enthusiast - planned to head straight for one of the big attractions before the lines got too long. My children however were still not too convinced that this day was going to be fun as they don't have much experience with roller coasters. They decided they wanted to start out slow and easy. Okay - I can do that.  So instead of riding The Beast or the Racer or a big thriller of a roller coaster with NO lines.....we chose to start our day in Snoopy Land. We were pretty much the first ones to arrive and walked right on the Woodstock Express. It is a very small coaster with very small seats. You know - the kind designed for VERY SMALL people. Anyway as we started up the tracks with the infamous "click, click, click" I hear - "I don't like this, I don't like this, I don't like this" and as soon as we started down the first hill - along with the deafening screams I hear "HOW CAN THIS BE A RIDE FOR KIDS????  HOW IS THIS FOR KIDS? WHO does this to a little KID? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"  I, of course, being the best mom in the whole world - was crying. Not out of sadness. Not out of worry because we just paid for the admission tickets and all 3 of my children were already done in SNOOPY LAND. Nope I was crying because I was laughing hysterically. It was worth the price of admission just to see all 3 of my kids screaming from the coaster in Snoopy Land.  Honestly it was priceless! We then moved onto a suspended coaster - still in Snoopy Land of course - and I pretty much got the same reaction. So I said, "Let's GO DO SOME MORE!"  We went from there to a log ride and I almost won them over at that point. I still heard "I HATE THIS PART, I HATE THIS PART, I HATE THIS PART" as we clicked up the track and then of course the deafening screams during the descent but the fact that out of the 4 of us, I got COMPLETELY soaked was a major plus. I looked as if someone threw buckets upon buckets of water on me - and I exited the ride DRIPPING wet. Well what is more fun than that? We kept on progressing in ride thrill factor and I kept asking them if they liked the rides.  My son let me know that he had mixed emotions about the rides.  At one point he said "I still don't know how I feel about roller coasters but for some reason, I still want to go ride another one."  As the day continued the screams of terror actually turned to screams of delight and by the end of the day I had 3 bonafide roller coaster enthusiasts with me.  We rode all of our favorite coasters several times and never stood in line for more than 15 minutes.  By the time evening hit, everyone voted the Beast as most AWESOME and we all wanted to ride it just one more time.  We didn't ride every ride as we saved some of the really over the top coasters for a future visit but we did ride some of the faster coasters and my kids even did the invertigo roller coaster that did flips and 360* inversions.  It wasn't their favorite ride - but they all wanted to ride it and see what it was like.  When it came down to choosing our very last ride of the day we decided to save the very biggest, tallest and "meanest" coaster for our next trip and thought it would be fun to end the day with the Woodstock Express back in Snoopy Land.  This time it was all laughter with no screaming and all our hands were in the air as we flew down the first hill. My son thanked me for kidnapping him and said he had the best time ever. We drove home totally exhausted as we had all spent every ounce of energy we had and left it back at the park.  Once we got home - I think we were all sound asleep before our heads hit the pillows. I am so glad we took the day off to do something that was so much fun. This is probably the very last summer that all 3 of my children will be home at the same time. I am pretty confident that they will remember their day at the amusement park forever.

We Are Actually Doing It!

I can’t believe it. All the stars have lined up and we are actually doing one of the fun things we talked about doing this summer!!! We are off to Kings Island for the day! Mr. Yesteryear Acres who once again is the best best best husband/father /puppy caretaker/ friend is staying home to care for all the animals so that my children and I can go to the amusement park for the day. Without Mr. Yesteryear Acres – there would be absolutely no way we could ever be gone for that long. THANK YOU Mr. Yesteryear Acres!!!!!! So we are off! We are off for the WHOLE DAY! My son is actually apprehensive because - One: He doesn’t like to take the day off of work. He is a very good worker and is very dedicated to caring for the puppies and doggies. He feels guilty leaving Mr. Yesteryear Acres home alone. Two: The last time he was at an amusement park he was in a stroller with the most adventurous ride being something like the choo choo train or the carousel. Not too exciting. Three: He has never been on a roller coaster and has NO idea how much fun they can be. So I am kidnapping him. I mean it is for his own good because I know once he gets on a roller coaster ride he will be grinning from ear to ear. I just know he will LOVE it! My daughters are excited about the day and are planning on spending a lot of time at the water park that is included in the admission. We are looking forward to the boogie board/wave rider action at the water park. It looks like TOO much fun!!! We are going to squeeze every ounce of fun we can out of the day. The weather looks great and the tickets are in my hand. We are off!!!!

Hair Be Gone!

So we totally walked on the wild side today. My older daughter decided that she wanted her hair shorter.  We just went to the salon last week so she didn't really want to spend more money on another haircut but she really wanted her hair about 3 inches shorter. So - what to do? We got out the scissors!  Now maybe this doesn't sound all that daring - but let me assure you that it was.  First - I am not a licensed beautician. Not even close. Second - I had a horrible experience as a child when I was trying to be helpful and gave my sister a trim. We had REALLY long hair when we were young and her hair was past her waist and she wanted it a little shorter. Evidently  (or so I have been told MANY times) I cut her hair crooked. As in a diagonal.  When my mom came home the only means of rectifying the situation was to give my sister just about the worst shortest most awful haircut ever.  My mom gave her a....BOWL cut.  Yep. My sister had to walk around with a super short hair cut when just that morning she had hair down to her waist line.  I still doubt that I had cut her hair QUITE that crooked - but the short haircut was the end result.  I actually felt bad about that day for years and years.  It took until I was a grown adult before I forgave myself.  So anyway - today my daughter asks ME to cut her hair.  You can imagine my slight apprehension!  But she said she trusted me and gave me her scissors and we started in on the new look.  I have to say - I am actually NOT BAD!  Her new hair cut is super cute and we all like it a lot better than how it looked when she came home from the salon. It is a better length and really flattering.  She loves it. I love that she loves it.  So we spent the day admiring her new do.  Loving the new look. And then....well I decided MY hair was way too long. So I turned over the scissors to my daughter who is NOT a licensed beautician but luckily has no emotional childhood scarring and felt confident she could work miracles.  I have naturally curly hair and it is tough to cut.  I have had many hairstylists look at my hair and pass me onto a different hairstylist.  Evidently thick very curly long hair isn't that much fun to cut.  My daughter however felt differently.  She said she loves my hair and wanted to cut it.  I said take off 5+ inches and go for it.  And so she did.  I sat on my stool as the hair fell away and wasn't nervous once.  I looked in the mirror when she was all done and I LOVE IT!  She did a fantastic job! It is actually one of the better haircuts I have had.  She listened to how it needed to be cut (where usually I have to argue with the stylist) and man it is great.  It is now about 2-3 inches below my shoulder and without all that weight, my hair is even curlier.  I really like it and am so glad I turned the scissors over. Mr. Yesteryear Acres said WOW when he saw it and he was all smiles and absolutely loves it. The whole family loved our new dos and we are both glad we took the risk.  Now my only question is.....I wonder if the Naval Academy will give my daughter leave when I need a trim?

A Day for 3

Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my younger daughter have been busy getting their advanced scuba certifications and were gone today leaving my son, older daughter and I home for the day.  We had a super busy day full of puppy work, puppy visits, puppies going home and good ole regular farm chores.  We started the day with me working EXTRA hard to water our garden. I mean I put my heart and soul into getting the garden watered this morning. I did such an awesome job that our creek that has been dry for over a month is now full and the stream is running smoothly.  An entire inch of water was added to the rain gauge. The corn thanked me for my excellent drink of water by tasseling and we are that much closer to the corn being ready to eat. It honestly looked like the corn grew inches taller after the rain...I mean WATERING... this morning. The puppies were SOOOO much happier after the rainstorm passed.  The temperatures dropped by almost 10* and it was SO much nicer outside.  We all went for a walk and we couldn't stop talking about how much better it felt.  We all got a little spring in our step and were quite grateful for the break from the oppressive heat.  Tonight the three of us prepared the most delicious meal.  If I were to give it a rating - our dinner would totally receive 5 out of 5 stars.  I made homemade rolls. My daughter made roasted potatoes and onions.  She cut the potatoes into matchstick pieces and diced the onions really small.  We then added a little olive oil and seasonings and roasted them at *450 until crisp. OH they were GOOD!  I then made some artichoke hearts for a side dish and my son topped off the meal with the most perfect steaks ever.  He cooked them all by himself and they were beyond delicious.  We had absolutely no leftovers and practically licked our plates clean. We were very proud of ourselves and had the best time enjoying our feast.  Tonight we are anxious to hear about the Scuba Adventures and maybe we might even pop a little popcorn to complete our perfect day for 3.

Full house

I was thinking about how much I enjoy the interactions of my full house. Dinner time seems to be just that much more interesting. Breakfasts are just a bit more eye-opening. And all the times in between - just a bit more richer.  The dynamics between older sister and younger sister are the same yet more respectful and meaningful.  Since my younger daughter has experienced the week at the Coast Guard Academy - she and my older daughter have so much more to talk about.  My older daughter is seeing my younger daughter with new eyes and my younger daughter sees her older sister with new eyes as well.  Each has come to appreciate the others strengths and goals and dreams. They feel connected and they are closer than they have ever been and yet the same underlying Big Sister/Little Sister dynamics still remain. My son who works harder than any other 14 year old I know has gained the respect from his older sister as she can see just how much work he does each and every day.  Their relationship has also become more connected yet once again - the constant teasing and relentless ribbing one another never stops. It is fun to step back and watch how mature and responsible each of my children have become and then in an instant have that interaction turn into a complete 100% full onslaught laugh fest. I am filled with happiness as each of my children are in one place, all together, being complete kids again. There is nothing that exemplifies being a child more than the moments you spend with your siblings. Siblings get one another. They hassle each other more than any other person ever will - but then love each other with the same intensity.  Siblings can band together and roll their eyes in unison at their parents and then one second later totally empty their frustrations and stress onto one another. They can fight amongst each other but at the same time will defend each other to the end. I know that my three children will be the best of friends, the closest of companions and each other's confidantes forever. I feel lucky that I am surrounded by such love. When my husband and I watch their silly moments at the dinner table and we are all laughing - I am smiling to the depths of my soul. I think how lucky my children have been to have grown up in a house full of love. I think how lucky I am that they are mine. I know that in these moments - all that I ever wished for in life - everything I have ever wanted ... is right beside me.

SWEET CORN TIME!

Thanks to my most awesome neighbors, we had delicious fresh picked sweet corn for dinner tonight. It was the kind of sweet corn you dream about. Sweet tender little kernels that just pop in your mouth. It was so delicious. Here at Yesteryear Acres, we take eating corn on the cob to a new level.  I know most people eat 1-2 ears of corn, but we consider that an appetizer.  We are professional corn on the cob connoisseurs. When the corn is picked at just the right time - so all the kernels have JUST THAT SECOND become ripe for eating - so that no kernel is too big or tough or old - well that is when corn on the cob consumption is at its finest.  The record for the number of ears consumed during dinner time stands at 19. Yes that is right -19 ears of corn eaten by one single individual.  My older daughter and Mr. Yesteryear Acres decided to go full out and see who could eat the most corn for dinner and Mr. Yesteryear Acres actually had his fill first and my daughter won.  She is still proud of that record.  This summer with our sweet corn looking ever so promising, the record once again might be tested.  We never cook less than 2 dozen ears for dinner - but with the record on the line - we might have to up our serving size to 3 dozen. We have some serious corn on the cob eating to get accomplished this month. Lucky us!!!

Looking Good

This morning we had an awesome time with my sister and her family.  We had a lovely breakfast and then Mr. Yesteryear Acres gave everyone a wagon ride out to the pond and garden.  My nephew was quite the excellent young farmer and really enjoyed pulling up some onions for tonight's dinner.  He also helped cut some cucumbers, peppers and zucchini.  We then walked over to the pond so we could feed the fish and I think the enthusiastic response from our fish surprised everyone.  Our fish swim from all directions and you can actually see the ripples in the water as they head towards the fish chow.  They really love fish chow!  My nephew made sure they were well fed.  We were going to head back to the house on the wagon ride when my neighbor drove up through the back field in his gator. Ooooh - I love his gator!  He was nice enough to give my nephew a ride around the fields and when he got back I told him that one day I wanted a ride.  He asked if I wanted to go right then - and I told him I was too busy - BUT then he asked me if I wanted to DRIVE the gator.  As I was shaking my head "NO" the words "YES YES YES!" came out of my mouth.  I got to take it for a nice spin and I have to admit - I LOVE THAT GATOR.  It was really a lot of fun.  I wonder if he will let me drive it again? It is FUN!  We then all headed back home and made fresh sliced cucumber sandwiches for lunch.  Even though my sister's family were slightly skeptical as to the deliciousness of fresh cucumber sandwiches, I quickly won them over.  They were YUMMY! After everyone was well fed, my sister and family loaded up and headed off for Tennessee.  I then took my girls for haircuts as they both have been really wanting shorter looks. Of course the new haircuts look smashing.  We took before and after photos and everyone was very happy with the new looks. I got home in time to head over to the arboretum with my son and doggie companion and we had a great time talking and walking together.  It was a lot of fun and we plan on doing that together more often.  We usually just walk around here as we like to take multiple dogs and puppies on our walk but he enjoyed working with just one doggie and got some good leash training work done. We stuck to the wooded trail and saw 6 bluebirds, 2 cardinals and a warbler. The doggie saw...SQUIRREL SQUIRREL SQUIRREL - so a good time was had by all.  Tonight I am making zucchini egg foo yong for dinner. Mmmmmm.  I love summer time!

Party of......10!

Guess who came for dinner tonight????? Well since I would not have been able to guess - I am sure you will not be able to guess, so I will just tell you - MY SISTER!  Yes - my sister, her husband and my nephew arrived at my door this evening in time for dinner. Now THAT is a surprise!  She lives in Vermont so as you can imagine, she doesn't just pop in for dinner.  She and her family are on a trip to Tennessee and they stopped by here on the way. It was an awesome surprise.  My parents came over to eat dinner with us as well so we had a very full table for dinner. It was especially nice since my older daughter just got home - so she had a lovely family reunion happening tonight at dinnertime. My nephew hasn't seen her in a while so they had a lot of fun catching up. And by catching up - my nephew was "Tickle Me Elmo" and my daughter was the "tickler" and yes - the laughter was non-stop.  My sister and her family are all staying the night tonight and hitting the road first thing tomorrow morning. Well not FIRST thing because I am making blueberry stuffed french toast for breakfast - so maybe SECOND thing in the morning. I don't remember the last time I had such a little one sleeping over in our house. My nephew looked so small on our guest roll out bed. Usually we have high schoolers or midshipman sacked out on the bed and they are of course hanging over the sides as our extra bed is a bit smaller than a cot. I forgot how well it served the purpose back when my kids were that small. I had fun tucking in my sweet nephew and he was OUT before the covers hit him. My sister was next.  She was too tired to even change into her pajamas. It took almost 13 hours for them to make it this far.  Having JUST made several long road trips - I knew just how they felt.  Hopefully tomorrow they will be well rested and ready for the final leg of their journey. I will be sure to send them on their way well fed with a cooler full of yummy treats to keep them going. I wonder if I make the treats EXTRA yummy....they might stay an extra day??? Hmmmm. One quick overnight stopover doesn't quite seem long enough. I wonder if they will notice if I hide their car keys? Hey! I know...maybe the DOGGIES will hide their keys! Who can be mad at cute doodle doggies? Certainly not me and certainly not my sister.  I believe I have stumbled upon a most awesome plan.  I will let you know how it turns out!

Endless Tears at Dinner

SHE IS HOME! YEA!  My older daughter is home from the Naval Academy.  We picked her up late yesterday afternoon and made the drive back from Annapolis today. Although the music choice was a far cry from what I would have chosen....the trip home was a lot of fun. Having my two daughters in the car with me was perfect. The minute the car was in our driveway, my daughter ran out of the car and gave her daddy a gigantic bear hug. For a second I wondered if she would knock him off his feet! Next was her brother's turn and then she ran to see the puppies. She missed her home and the puppies so much and was very happy that we had puppies waiting to greet her. Juneau is now officially hers and she is really excited to raise her for the next few weeks. There was a lot of happiness in our yard! I have to tell you that this evening when I was setting the table for dinner, I grabbed FOUR bowls ...and then I remembered I needed FIVE bowls. I about jumped up and down for joy!  Our dinner tonight was HILARIOUS.  I mean really hilarious.  All five of us had tears rolling down our faces from laughing so hard.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres had the best time. My son had the best time. My younger daughter had the best time. My older daughter had the best time. And me - well - of course I had the best time. Along with the laughter and the joy - I felt that all was right in my world. My family is complete. We are once again a Party of Five. Life couldn't be better.

Rushing out the Door!

I got a text from my older daughter very early this morning letting me know that she has been granted leave early!  As in TODAY!  As in ACK I am not ready and I need to rush out the door ASAP!  I am so excited. My younger daughter and I are running around like crazy trying to get everything done so we can hit the road.  The puppies could not have been any better this morning and everyone did their business OUTSIDE! YEA!  That was soooo nice of them. We got all the puppy chores done and cleaned up the kitchen as fast as we could. We just finished making our lunches and are now packing up a dinner for THREE and we should be out of here in less than 15 minutes if we are lucky.  Everyone is so happy and excited. Mr. Yesteryear Acres is making the essential JAVA for the road so we should be all set!!!! Travel Tunes - Check.  Popcorn - Check. Dinner - Check. Lunch - Check. Cheesy Book on Tape - Check. Endless Smiles....CHECK! Annapolis....Here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hitting the Road

I think perhaps I might have a career in long distance driving.  Seems like I have been on the road more than ever lately and honestly I don't even like to drive!  I have however found ways to make my driving more enjoyable.  Good music is essential.  Awesome tunes can make even the longest drives much more enjoyable.  I have created some really great playlists that keep the smiles going and the singing rocking. I also have a few cheesy books on tape which really make the time seem to go by much more quickly. Good company is a HUGE bonus.  I have been really lucky that on the last few long drives, I have had an awesome co-pilot. Tomorrow I will find myself once again hitting the road with my co-pilot. My younger daughter and I are off for the best long distance errand of the entire summer.  My older daughter has been granted leave for the next FOUR weeks and is coming home from the Naval Academy! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sooooooooooooo happy!  She will be home for much longer than we thought and I am so excited!  Four weeks with our table set for five.  Four weeks with a house full of laughter. Four weeks with an extra hand to help out. Four weeks with nothing but family family family!!!!!!!!!!!! My heart will be full. My heart will be complete. There is no greater happiness for me than to be surrounded by my children. My son is soooo excited to tell his sister everything he did at the Naval Academy.  My younger daughter is sooo excited to tell her sister everything she did at the Coast Guard Academy.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I are soooo excited to hear everything that our daughter did on her Protramid Rotation. I can hardly wait!  My younger daughter and I are hitting the road tomorrow afternoon and if all goes well, I will be picking up my midshipman early Tuesday morning. By Tuesday evening we should once again be a party of five. And for the record, yes, 5 is my favorite number.

Who doesn't love the State Fair?

It is almost State Fair time!  Man there are just some things I LOVE about the State Fair.  I know most people go for the rides and games.  We always see tons of people on the midway riding the Ferris wheel, trying to knock down milk bottles, spinning in circles in whirly-gigs, going through the fun house, or walking around with gigantic stuffed animals on their shoulders. It is a piece of Americana right there.  Our family never goes to the midway section of the fair.  I believe we might be the only ones.  We always start our day with the agricultural display buildings.  We love to see the prize winning roosters and chickens, the bunnies, llamas, horses, pigs and cows.  We usually sit and watch several final judgings for the blue ribbon livestock winners. I especially like the junior animal handlers.  You can see just how hard they worked and how much pride they have in their livestock. I also really love seeing all the baby calves at the fair.  The Brown Swiss Cattle babies are SO adorable.  I just love their big eyes.  My kids always go and take a turn at milking the cows.  It is a fair tradition.  After we see all the animals we spend a good portion of the day with all the agricultural displays.  I mean how can you not look at all the blue ribbon Tomato winners and not compare them to what is in your own garden.  You would be surprised at how much time we can spend looking at green beans, beets, corn, eggplant, pumpkins and tomatoes.  We always make sure to cast our vote for the best farm display. Once we have exhausted the entire agricultural section of the fair we head on over to the Natural Resources area in the fair.  We have never missed a lumberjack show and are always the first ones to the fishing hole. We finish off the fair by visiting the Youth Center where all the 4H, Scouting and FAA projects are displayed, the craft building where the quilt entries, homebaked goodies and canning displays are found and the fine arts building and miniature train exhibit. We are lucky because our kids have always enjoyed going to the fair and love to do the exact same things we do. We have never once been asked to buy a ride ticket or play a midway game - and I think the kids can spend more time watching the newborn piglets than we can! Now before you think that we forgo the MOST important enjoyment of the fair - let me assure you that the FAIR FOOD is DEEPLY enjoyed by every one of us.  Food requirements of the fair include:  shoestring french fries with tons of vinegar and salt, corn dogs, lemonade, more shoestring french fries, dumbo ears, sweet corn, more shoestring french fries, cotton candy and let's not forget the most important fair food - shoestring french fries with tons of vinegar and salt. Mmmmmm.  That is my favorite in case you couldn't tell.  I can eat a bucket full! I think it is time to put down FAIR day on our August calendar! I need my summer fill of fair food and fun!

Study Day

My daughter was busy studying all day today so I didn't get to spend much time with her.  I am used to hanging with her all day long so today was a bit different with her being occupied all day. She is going for her Advanced Scuba Open Water Certification next weekend so she has a lot of classwork to get done before then. The Advanced Certificate allows her to dive below 80ft which evidently is WAY cool.  She has to take a refresher course this week and then will be diving by next weekend.  Both she and Mr. Yesteryear Acres are quite busy trying to get all their schoolwork done.  I am super excited for them as this is a passion they both share and do together. As the timing gets closer, I can't tell which one is more excited. It is really nice to see! My son who is not much of a swimmer, has now begun to show interest in swimming more so that by next summer he can get certified as well. I think he is getting the point that he is missing out on some fun times. Both of my daughters are really awesome swimmers so I am glad my son will be getting on board with some pool time. I think once he starts swimming in earnest, he just might find out that he is particularly good at swimming and maybe just maybe he might even like it. We have a good swim team program at the high school and I would love for him to swim and maybe add another Yesteryear Acres swimmer to the record board. I suppose time will tell. While my sweet scuba students were busy studying, my son and I worked together for pretty much the entire afternoon and then spent some time playing with the dogs and puppies.  Despite it being ridiculously warm outside - we had a really good day together.  We got a lot done and made the most out of the day.  Tonight my son and daughter are going out for ice cream - just the two of them. Nothing like a delicious ice cream cone to celebrate a job well done. I just might have to put in an order to go. Hmmmm Chocolate/Vanilla Twist Cone or milkshake with candy bits?  These are definitely the kind of decisions to have!