Easter camping. and candy.

I'm not really sure how we ended up with no pictures of our Easter weekend, but maybe some will show up. We surprised the kids and took them to Nana and Pa's house in Gilmer. Jack Jack had been asking about camping and got the other kids talking about it. So Friday evening Jack's dad set up a tent in the back yard, found sleeping bags and a cot, helped start a fire, and got smores ingredients together. Nana helped the kids find chairs and roast marshmallows. She told them all kinds of stories about their dad when he was a kid and they were in heaven.

I'm really not sure how I ended up sleeping outside in a tent in a cot with a kicking child a couple of yards from a house with a warm bed in it, but I made it until about 5 am and then found a blanket on the couch. I remember being awake most of the night and being cold. I remember the smoke and dirt. But mostly I remember that it was fun being outside with the kids and seeing them so excited. They thought (and still think) that it was the best night ever.

Is it possible to romanticize camping? I love the idea of camping. I have great memories of the one camping trip my parents took us on when I was a kid. They had some persuasive friends, and we had great times on the Texas-Oklahoma border at the Red Rock Canyon. I have great memories of Girls Camp as a youth. I loved it so much that I went the required four years, two more years as a youth leader, and another year after my mission as a ward camp leader. I went camping a couple of times while I was in college, once in the winter when I thought I was going to freeze to death while simultaneously awestruck at the beauty of snow in the mountains in the moonlight, and once in the summer with a group of friends to help someone fulfill a rec management class requirement. I would repeat any of those camping experiences in a heartbeat.

Even the morning after "camping" at Nana and Pa's, even remembering the cold and the no sleep, just thinking about it made me happy. My girls already think it is completely unfair that Jack and Elijah will have myriad camping opportunities with scouts and the father and son's campout. I remember thinking exactly the same thing. Hopefully there will be more camping in our family's future. (Jack is reading this and shaking his head. No romantic ideas about camping on his part.)

And if the kids didn't receive all the desires of their little hearts camping, all their hopes and dreams came true Sunday after church when all Daddy's cousins arrived with their kids for lunch and the Easter egg hunt in Nana's front yard. Candy and quarters. Need I say more?

Grateful for love

I'm so glad we went to see Jack's brother get married last weekend. Such a cute couple. Also, I am glad that out of the very few pictures we got of our kids, they turned out like this:

And this:

I forgot the shirt that normally goes under Rose's dress.

And this:

And this:

The other picture I have of Jack shows him picking his nose. Hmm.

And of course we have no pictures of Jack and I, even though people were snapping pictures right and left. Thanks for inviting us to your wedding, William and Jessica!

Visitors at Nana's

Since we've been at Nana and Pa's house, lots of family have come to visit.

Uncle Richard came home from his first three months of training in the Marine Corps.


Aunt Jenny came all the way from California for a visit.


Aunt Savannah, Uncle Jeremy, and Kason came to play and eat with us all.


While Jenny was here, she had a baby shower! The kids played and got along great with their cousins. Ellen took 427 photos documenting the entire afternoon. Everyone ate cupcakes, chips and queso, and watermelon. Yum! The air conditioner stopped working.

This is going to be Aunt Jenny's first baby, a boy! We're so excited for her and Uncle Eric!

Blue

Because playing at the spray park in 100+ degree weather just feels cooler if you take all the pictures in blue.

Or if you're trying out settings on your camera, and it's so bright outside that you can't tell what the pictures look like until you go back and look later.

Professional

It won't be long before Ellen launches her new career as a professional photographer.

She has unique perspective,

composition,

ability to capture the subject,

And a smart Daddy who taught her the first rule of taking pictures: Keep the camera strap on your wrist at all times. This makes me just a little less nervous about handing expensive equipment over to a child. Nice pictures, Ellen!

Believe it or not . . .

This was what I was doing on New Year's Eve 2009:

Yep, that's me and my "alien arm*" crushing my sister-in-law in an arm wrestling match to win two spaces in the game of Dicescapades. Believe me, no one was more shocked than me. Except maybe Jack. He was absolutely blown away. It's a wonder he had the presence of mind to snap a quick photo documenting the event.

*More to come on this topic.

Nothing like a good breakfast.

This is why we go on vacation, right? So we can stay up late, sleep in, and walk into the kitchen to find our kids feeding themselves Blue Bell ice cream. In cones. With knives and spoons. For breakfast. And be okay with it.

More Yamboree!!

Jack's Granny:

Jack preparing for. . .

The fire truck. At the 4th of July parade, they honked just as they went past us and scared the bejeebies out of Jack. As soon as he saw the truck at the starting line, we saw the beginnings of a meltdown, so I told him to cover his ears, quick! He kept them covered for most of the parade.

The Yam Queen!

Apparently yams are pretty important to the economy of East Texas, since they have a whole festival and pageant devoted to their celebration. Kids get out of school for this. It's serious.

East Texas Yamboree

Texas Tech had Fall Break on a Monday and Tuesday last month. Conveniently, Jack only has classes on Mondays and Tuesdays, so he had two weeks' worth of Fall Break.

We decided to take a mini-vacation and head east for the great East Texas Yamboree. I've heard all about the Yamboree since it's a big deal where Jack is from, but this was my first time experiencing it in person.

The kids loved the food: corn dogs, funnel cakes, sno cones, lemonades.

Ellen loved the carousel and the kiddie rides. Jack rode the carousel under duress and cried any time we suggested riding a motor bike or boat with Ellen.

They really liked the parade.
Pa:

Jack preparing for the loud fire engine:

Nana and Ellen:

Me and Rose (and Daddy and Jack in the back with their cool shades):

Definitely fun.

My city kids

don't know country fun when it comes roaring up the gravel driveway.

We live in the city. Nana and Pa live in the country. There are lots of fun things to do in the country that we don't get to do in the city, like riding in the tractor with Pa while he's mowing the yard.

Jack and Ellen were very interested in seeing Pa drive the tractor. They could hear it coming up the road. They had to sit on the porch and watch the entire mowing process in the August heat and humidity, but they wanted absolutely nothing to do with actually riding in the tractor with Pa. Not even the air conditioned cab could tempt them.

Terrified that I'm going to force him to ride in that huge, loud, scary thing:


Still worried, but not wanting to go inside (it was hot out there):


Mowing that long country grass:


Also concerned, and refusing to acknowledge requests for photos in the tractor with Pa:


What's the big deal, kids? Rose is completely unfazed. She was the only one who would go with Pa.

We'll give it time. It's only a matter of time before they'll want to be driving the monster themselves.

Fall football

Around this time last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that, this is what we were doing:

Ellen and Jack's Uncle R. is number 74!


After the game


Baby Jack can't take his eyes off the actual playing field.


This is the first fall that none of Jack's brothers and sisters have been involved in high school or college football, marching band, drill team, or twirling. It's kind of sad, and I don't really see any of our kids growing up to be football players.

Ellen still loves wearing her "Starks 74" T-shirt, though. Usually I let her sleep in it, since she hasn't actually grown into it yet.

Reuben

Jack's mom and dad have a chihuahua named Reuben who terrifies Ellen. Jack Jack, however, spent every possible opportunity chasing him around and laughing. And sticking his tongue out and chewing on it. And negotiating obstacles like shoes. And long pant legs.



Thank you, Reuben, for entertaining our child and providing him with a compelling reason to walk and (dare I say it?) run.

¿Dónde está Reuben?

¡Aquí está!

Mother's Day = Picture Day

Since we started growing our family, Mother's Day has become a good day to take a family picture. Here are a few reasons why:

(1) It's a Sunday, so we're all dressed up for church at some point. That makes for a respectable looking photo.

(2) It's Mother's Day, and thus more likely that I, the mother, will be humored in my documentation efforts.

(3) It's a day when I'm thinking about how nice it is to be a mother and how my kids are growing up so fast and won't always be living in the same house as me, so I'd better take a picture so I can remember when they were small and cute. Or something like that.

Jack's parents' verdant front yard provides a picturesque setting.

The camera and the rest of the family approach.

We're looking to see if they're really approaching.


Ellen is alarmed at earthworms we have disturbed who are wriggling their way to the surface to check out the situation and refuses to sit back down. I was wearing flip-flops for the picture and a little hesitant to sit back down myself.


Let's don't all look at the camera at once, ever.






Jack, look at the camera. Jack, where's Papa Starks?


Jack: Do you think Mom's going to make us do this every year?
Ellen: Yeah, probably. We should just humor her.
Jack: I wanted to play with the earthworms over there.
Ellen: Look how funny Mom looks jumping up and down.
Jack: Be glad you don't have to wear a tie.