And so July 2010 explodes into oblivion...

Before July ends, I am compelled to post one more memory of it, specifically, an event that occurred on the 4th of July. By the late afternoon that day, one of my sons was subdued to the point of meltdown... Perhaps it was the aftermath of a daylong celebration of patriotism beginning with a performance of Ralph Vaughn Williams' "Testament of Freedom," then involving many waves of guests through our home, and culminating with the highly anticipated but still out of reach trip to the lake to watch the fireworks. Or maybe it was the result of the piling-on effect caused by a stretch of several days of near nonstop activity. But most likely it was directly related to the sad fact that very early the following morning we all would be forced to wave good-bye again to our dear friends from Libertyville-now-Connecticut... And we hadn't even had a chance to do everything we wanted to do with them yet. It just didn't seem fair. Or festive. Or patriotic. Well... you get the point.

Whatever the reason, on that funky and humid evening of July 4th, my faithful-friend-for-all-time Jodi and I felt compelled to make an emergency run to Walgreen's to purchase the goods (two-liter bottles of Diet Coke and packs of Mentos) that would allow us to indulge one of our kids' collective childhood dreams: to do their very own explosions. By this point in the day, six kids were left at the party, so that allowed us half a dozen attempts at perfecting the strategy.

Our brave 6-year-old friend/cousin Jeremy was the alpha tester.










Then the fearless beta-testing girls took their turns...











And then came the big guns... the three intrepid 10-year-old boys who had been dreaming and planning for the day their mothers would allow them to try this crazy thing for as long their dear little brains could remember. Good thing clever Jaki innovatively experimented with the funnel action or none of the kids would have produced more than short little squirts!

With each try, the explosions got a little more exciting. All of the kids were giddy with the anticipation and the unscientific measurement of the height their own personal explosions! (If you click on a photo, it will enlarge so you can better see the expressions of joy!)










And next time we try this experiment, we will rely on our data and start off using what we now know is the secret to getting the highest flare on the first try: Duct tape!

KABOOM!

And about an hour later, KABOOM again!

And that, folks, is what is known as the pursuit of happiness!



Let's hear it for July!

Wordless Wednesday

I like rocks

OK, I admit it. I like rocks. Looking at them, comparing them, touching them, getting them wet, walking on them, skipping them, making faces with them, taking pictures of them, collecting them, thinking about how they got to be the way they are. Yep, rocks make me happy. I guess I have my Grandpa Guy to thank for passing on to me a true love of rocks. The neat thing is that this fascination with rocks seems to have transcended to his great-grandsons, too.















One of my favorite family stories is that after we'd come home from a camping trip and we'd show Grandpa Guy our latest (usually rather pathetic) additions to our rock collection, he'd admire them and say, "Oh, those are some great leavrites." Thinking we'd discovered something unique and amazing, we'd say, "Wow! What are leavrites?" And he'd reply, "Those are the kind that you should 'leave right' there."

Water is good...

On this hot day, let's review some of the watery places we've visited this summer...

7/22/10 -- Riding a friend's surf bike on Blue Lake, Minocqua, Wis., just yesterday!

7/21/10 -- Smiling and splashing in Lake Superior at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Testing the lake water. Soon, six boys were out swimming so I stopped snapping pics to keep track of heads!

Instinctively building a castle & moat out of rocks. If time had not been running short, this fort would have become much more impressive!
I have a photo of the boys at age 2 doing this same kind of concentrated effort in almost the same pose, different Great Lake.





We hiked along the Presque Isle River Trail to get to Lake Superior. Some unusual rock formations on the waterfalls.


6/24/10 -- "Saving" a great friend who accidentally-on-purpose fell into the lake at Independence Grove, Libertyville, Ill. Just like old times!
The girls-only paddleboat!
The boys' paddleboat crew!
Plus a little bonus video of three buddies pulling into the dock...


And yet another watery event... 6/21/10 -- Crazy fun chasing around avoiding (and not avoiding?) the unpredictable water squirting at Crown Fountain in Millennium Park, Chicago!