A New Era Begins

For the first time in twelve and a half years, I do not have a little Heathen at home.  Heathen #3 became an "offical kindergartener" last Monday.  He was more than ready to go.

He fought with some nervousness the day or so before he boarded the big yellow bus.  But on that morning, he was too busy running around with the other kids at the bus stop.  The photo below shows my youger two Heathens and my neighbor's three (her youngest also started kindergarten).

Heathen #3 managed to snag his foot running over a backpack and fell on the sidewalk.  He smacked his head on the concrete and brush burned his knee.  As soon as he hit the concrete, I heard the school bus start up the street - go figure!

I stood him up and checked for blood - there wasn't any.  He was still sniveling when Heathen #2 herded him onto the bus with the other kids.  He didn't have time to be scared.  He was still rubbing his knee and his forehead from falling.

I'll admit to a few sniffles and tears of my own after the bus left.  It was a very long, quiet day at the zoo by myself.  Turns out, I really do like the Heathens after all!

Later that afternoon...

Around 3:45, the school bus returned to Shady Lane with the Heathens aboard.  Our neighborhood children don't walk off the bus, they swarm off the bus.  The littlest Heathen came running up the front steps yelling, "Momma, it was AWESOME!!!" 

My Heathens came inside and immediately began handing me papers and talking at the same time.  I finally got to ask Heathen #3 what was his favorite part of his "awesome" day.  (I'm listing the possibilities in my head: art, recess, gym, etc.)

With his arms spread wide, a huge smile on his face and sparkling eyes, Heathen #3 announces, "They give you all your food at once, even your dessert!  And you get to pick what you put on your tray!"

Only my Heathen's favorite part of the day would be the cafeteria.

The Last Huzzah

My Heathens never sleep well the night before school starts.  They are awake for ever, all worked up about the next day.  This year, I decided that we weren't staying home and we were NOT going to bed at 8 pm.

Instead, we drove almost three hours to attend the Renaissance Faire near Mount Hope!  August 28 and 29 was one of the themed weekends: Pyrate Invasion!  So the Heathens and I went to the local thrift store and put together pirate costumes to wear.

We invited the Grandma to go along with us.  She didn't go in costume, but she did make and take a pirate flag.

We arrived around 11:30 am and we didn't leave until after 8 pm.  We saw singers, musicians, sword swallowers, jousting, knights, pirates, queens, peasants and SO much more.  The Heathens decided that they would like to go back again.  The only bad part of the day was when my camera broke.

The younger two Heathens attended pirate school and learned how to fight with the blow-up swords they were given.  We all did a pirate treasure hunt to search for the secret word that opened the treasure chest.  All three Heathens went to sword school with the actors who taught them how to do mock sword fights for spectators.  We had an amazing day!

Motor Homes and Canoes (the canoe part)

After the trip to the water park, and two days at the beach, we headed home.  It was time to trade in the mode of transportation!

For the past three years, we have gathered the camping gear and the canoes and headed for Kinzua Reservoir.  It is one the Heathens favorite places.  Every year, we load the canoes with all the gear and paddle to a "boat only" camp ground.  It is so peaceful and quiet and we simply turn the Heathens loose into the woods and water.

We had a new member of the paddling team this year:

We took the Travelocity Gnome with us.  He was a huge hit with everyone we saw.  We had wanted to take him to Assateague with us, but he didn't arrive in time.  The Gnome spent the trip as a hood ornament on Heathen #1's kayak.

Since we were able to spend an extra day on the lake, we took a day trip with the Heathens and paddled across the state line and into New York.  We went to the Onoville Marina for ice cream (it's only 5 miles each way...)  Onoville does have a really cool feature - they have a bald eagle that makes it's nest at the marina every year.  We saw it flying, but never low enough to get a picture.  The nest area was posted around on the shore side, and there were buoys around the water side.

This year, we had a really cool neighbor named Mike.  Mike built his own house boat and lives at the lake for weeks at a time.  He goes home for breakfast and supper, and his wife comes out for the night about once a week and gathers up his dirty clothes.  He was quite a hoot!  In this photo, Mike is showing the Asst. Zookeeper his $7 map of the lake that was supposed to show him the good fishing spots.

The Heathens are already making plans for what they want to do at the lake next year.  I can't wait to see what they come up with!

Motor Homes and Canoes (the motor home part)

We made it home from vacation just over a week ago - and that week was the whirlwind of getting ready for school to start.  But many of you have asked about the trips that we took and looked at the photos.  Time to share the stories:

Water Country USA
We left on a Friday afternoon around 3pm and took "Rover" (our motor home) to Williamsburg, VA were we found a WalMart to park at for the night.  You must try it, we found the perfect WalMart.  We were one of approximately 30 campers in the back corner of the lot.  We were about 50 yards from an IHOP (where we ate breakfast) and in the same parking lot with a Starbuck's.

We finished the drive to Water Country USA.  Upon arrival, the Heathens changed into swim trunks and we smeared everyone with sun screen.  Since we are not a family that tends to burn on average, I had purchased a bottle of sunscreen to take to the park.  And since the activity was "water park," I purchased water-proof sunscreen.

The Heathens and the Asst. Zookeeper looked like I had coated them with plastic.  The sunscreen was terrible.  It was really sticky.  And then further into the day, it started to FLAKE.  But no one got burned!

The boys had a really great time.  And so did the Asst. Zookeeper.  :)

After leaving the water park, we headed further south in Virginia so that we could cross the bay into Eastern Virginia.  The Heathens thought the bridges that changed to tunnels were really cool.  On our way, we found this lady:

Make sure to read the license plate.  And I can answer the questions you have running through your minds:

1.  Yes, we passed her.

2.  Of course we looked.

3.  And YES, she was.

Assateague Island

Despite the enjoyable traffic, we made it to Assateague Island without trouble.  The Heathens have a mixed beach history.  Heathen #1 was at the beach last at age 5, loved it and remembers it clearly.  Heathen #2 was at the beach at age 1, loved it and has vague memories.  Heathen #3 had never been.

The boys loved camping on the island with the wild horses.  We saw quite a few.  The Heathens also read the handout about not getting too close because the horses can bite - and spent the rest of the time pointing out the "stupid" people and wanting to wait to see if they were bitten!

For those of you never lucky enough to meet Rover in person, here he is!  The Heathens just love him and already plotting trips for next summer.  We even have the vintage owl lights that my father-in-law unearthed from his basement!

Heathens and Arrows

Every year, the Heathens attend Cub Scout Day Camp at New Germany Grove.  One of the favorite activities at day camp is the chance to shoot the bows.  While we do actually own a bow and target at the Zoo, I do discourage the Heathens from playing with them.  For sone reason, I sea nothing but disaster every time I look at them.

This year at Day Camp, Heathen #2 did a phenomenal job shooting.  Each turn the boys have to shoot, they shoot three arrows.  Here is one of the sets of three that he shot:

And this is how close the one arrow of the three was to the center:

Last Year's Mission

My mother's birthday is the very beginning of June.  And like most people my age, I struggle with the "What do I get her?" issue.  She has reached the point in her life where if she wants or needs something, she buys it.  Makes it a little difficult on my end.

Last year was no different.  The Heathens and I were having no luck.  So, we decided to be ORIGINAL, and buy her bedding plants.  At least that's how it started, before the Heathens imaginations joined in.

As we were heading to WalMart to purchase the flowers, one of the Heathens decided we should plant them for her without her knowing, thus adding to the surprise.  (Okay - no problem.)

BUT!  She would see us out the window before we could finish and it would ruin the surprise.  We needed camo to help us hide!  (Absolutely!  This could get interesting.)

At this point, we were at WalMart and picked out the flat of flowers.  We also picked out two little rabbit statues to place in the garden.  I tend to be an impulse shopper and my Heathens have inherited that from me.

We checked the toy section - no camo costumes.  And the ones in the outdoor section where too expensive.  We headed for the makeup, where I grabbed cheap eye shadow in brown, green, and black.

After paying at WalMart, we headed for Toys R Us.  We found four camo costumes in the dress-up section.  The costumes had vests, hats, plastic knives, binoculars, compasses, etc.  They were very cool.  After paying, we headed out to the parking lot to put on our gear.

After suiting up (myself included!), we headed for Grammy B's house.  On the drive over, the Heathens decided that they needed code names.  At this point, I don't remember what they were.  The only one I recall is that Heathen #3 was Rudolf.

We parked at the very end of the driveway in the trees and applied our "camo paint."  Then the mission began.  The older two Heathens spent the next twenty minutes sneaking around my mother's house and peaking in her windows while the youngest Heathen and I planted her flowers.

When finished, we knocked on her front door and brought her out to see our work.  My dad said they had seen the boys running around in the yard and had wondered what we were doing. 

The night wasn't over yet!  We decided to get ice cream just down the road from my parents' house.  The boys went in their camo and face paint.  And so did I.  Needless to say, we drew a few odd looks.  But the boys had a great time.

My mother took some pictures that evening, and I just managed to lay my hands on them.  Here is the team from the mission:

Refrigerator Art

It's nothing new for some one's child to say they are the "meanest mom in the world!" I remember flinging that at my own mother - and her simply shrugging it off with a small smile. I always thought that comment should have seriously wounded her, and yet it didn't.

Fast forward to current day - any current day at the Zoo - and the comment has changed slightly. It is now, "You are the meanest mom EVER!" And while it does sting (don't you dare tell my Heathens that!), I have a ready reply.

"It's Grammy B's fault. She taught me to be a mean mom."

Grammy B happens to be my mother. :) And she has heard me say this, and she smiles and then tells the Heathens that I'm right! Bless her. Being a mother never really ends.

Last week, Heathen #2 was upset with me. I can't even remember what he was upset about (he gets upset over just about anything). He went downstairs for about 10 minutes, and then came to find me in the kitchen. With a very dour look on his face, he presented me with this drawing:

It doesn't scan very well - sorry for the quality. But I'm sure you can still see enough! I wish the "I" in "Evil" was visible (Heathen #2 actually spells very well!).

This situation could go one of two ways:

Option #1 - yell at the Heathen for being mean to me. OR

Option #2 - compliment his drawing skills! Not only am I depicted with a witch hat (complete with SYMBOLS), but I also have the tell-tale wart (with HAIR) on my nose and the required wrinkle on my cheek!

I'm pretty sure you can guess the option I chose. He did draw me with a necklace (the Heathen knows my love of jewelry!) and he signed the top corner with "Love, Gavin."

This photo has been hanging on the refrigerator for all to see as they enter our Zoo. Heathen #2 is now taking pride in his drawing and he knows I love it. He still gets upset with me, and I don't think that will ever change. But I have definitely "one-upped" my mother!

Grammy B never got such great art work from her children to verify she was the meanest ever. I actually have PROOF!