Differences in penmanship one day to the next ....

The story of my hollyhocks .......

years ago my mother planted some hollyhocks at the cottage. I personally can't stand the things. When they flower they are beautiful but before and after they just look like an ugly weed.

They also spread , and I wanted to keep them in one corner. So everytime I cut the lawn I would mow down the ones I didn't want. But every week they would grow back.

So next I tried to dig them out, but the roots go down almost two feet and I couldn't get them all out.

So next I tried gasoline, just a dab and a quick light with a match. Sadly they came back even faster.

I ended up transplanting everything else in the garden, and letting them go wild. We still have to cut them down with the lawn mower as they continue to pop up 3 and 4 feet away in the lawn.

So this is my garden of hollyhocks .....

Sliding in to the river ......

Thanet Lake

We spent the day Sunday at Grandma and Grandpa's up at Thanet Lake. The kids had a great time swimming in the lake, Scarlett was allowed for the first time to swim without a life jacket, so was so excited when she swam out to the floating dock and back.

It's amazing how much fun kids can have with a paddle boat. Once your done with paddling around the lake , why not pull it up on the dock, empty it out just to put it in the water again.

You would swear my guys had never seen shells before, they had quite the collection going before we left.

Not sure why I can't get this video to work, but its supposed to show Scarlett diving into the lake, again first time we've allowed her to go that deep without a life jacket.

Cedar Park Resort .....

We spent a great day on Saturday at Cedar Park Resort for Justin's first birthday. For $7.00 you get entrance to the park, and I doubt you could find a better deal anywhere.

The park has 3 large slides for kids 48 inches and taller, so Scarlett and Victoria could go on those, and they must have climbed up those stairs at least 40 times over the course of the day.

For the smaller kids there's a water park with 4 smaller slides, lots of spray guns and the large bucket that tips every 5 minutes.

My brother Kevin and his daughter Alexis.Scarlett and Victoria doing what they do every time they get together, playing mermaids (or horses). Of course this time there were no grass stains or rips to the knees of their pants.
Away from the water slides was a set of small wading pools.Alexis taking a bit of a break, the water was pretty cold so she decided she needed a short snuggle.
Kaleb and Brayden had a blast trying to get everything one with the water guns.
Scarlett showing off her yellow band, she passed the swim test so could go in the deep pool, and dive of the diving board.




Grandma and Brayden playing in the splash pools.

Poor Justin had hand foot and mouth disease for his birthday, he had blisters and a rash all over his body, so he just sat on the side lines getting lots of cuddle time with everyone in the family.
Brayden, isn't he just the cutest kid you've ever seen.
My brother Kevin and Alexis, she was afraid of the big bucket of water that dumped on the water park. Here she's debating whether or not to risk trying it.


Kaleb waiting patiently for his turn down the slide.

I kept trying to get a picture of him on the slide, but eventually had to give up and get one at the top.