Visit from Nana Pollan!!!

Our cute dogs. After taking this photo we thought it would be fun to take a walk for family home evening...It was getting a little late though so we thought we would make it a quick one. We headed up to the golf course and let the dogs swim in the scummy pond for a while, then headed back. On the way home Chewy, the little guy, got chased by a ferocious cat. He came charging to Carter who rescued him in the nick of time. Moments later we are rounding the corner and Jessie starts growling then we hear a scuffle in the bushes. A slow "phssssssszzzzzz" sound comes from the bush and just as we are saying oh no....the smell hits us. SKUNK or as Ali likes to call them since this incident, STUNK. Jessie got it right in the head. Not only did she get sprayed they fought and fortunately Jessie, she won. She didn't come out of the bush for a while. Byron sent me running home for a flashlight, Ali was crying because she was worried for Jessie. Once I convinced her we were on a mission like on her little cartoons then she perked up and started working with me. By the time Ty, Ali and I got back to the bush with the flashlight Jessie had come out and proudly delivered a dead skunk to Byron's feet. So, she will do a full retrieval on a skunk but a bird she only brings part of the way. Did I mention this is the night before my mother-in-law is coming for the week? Jessie didn't come into the house for about a week. Byron and the boys did a good job of hydrogen peroxide rinsing her but still she was stunky!!!! We got the smell cleared out of the house by the next morning though. It wafted in through the windows and cracks in the door frames, I don't know the house reeked so badly even though Jessie never came into it. So that was the fun family night we had. Byron and the kids working hard in the dark trying to get the skunk smell off of Jessie.

The men of the house ready to do battle. Man vs. Skunk....sorry but skunk won for about a week. It was horrid! Byron actually went back to the course and triple bagged the skunk to throw out. Luckily the next morning was garbage day. We have had better FHE's but probably none quite so memorable.

Tyler and an enormous big giant stuffed bear. He is acting like he is yelling and running away from it.

We had some free time while Carter was tutoring so we stopped in a little Boutique. Ali was playing in the flowers so we had to take a quick shot of her.

Where should we go for lunch? Noodles and Co of course.

Ali and Nana enjoying lunch on the deck.

We made it to This is the Place park. Nana Pollan is going on Trek with her stake next summer so we were doing Pioneer research. I think she got a few good ideas. We had a lot of fun enjoying the park when there were hardly any other kids there. It was great,
Ali on the pony ride. She has a good ride and gave her pony a kiss good-bye.

Carter with a soft fox for a scarf. So soft.

I am quite sure this man will never know what an effect he had on Tyler. Tyler has now decided that the best thing in the world would be to head up into the woods and become a mountain man. So he was asking me if he could do this and I said sure if he could get all his stuff together. He is fully planning on leaving us next summer to head out on his own and make a life for himself in the woods as a mountain man. He talks about it every day and he has invited his Dad to go along with him if he wants. So all he needs now is a boey knife and a horse. He even knows where he is going to get his deer skin from to make his clothes. One of his friends has a Dad who hunts deer in the fall and he is going to ask for the deer skin. I am really hoping he gets over this before summer comes again.

Nana and Carter are on the lookout for gold. We actually found quite a lot of it in the perfectly shaded and stocked stream. The kids had quite a lot of fun "panning" for gold. It was more like picking gold off the top of the rocks but they were very lucky and found lots of it.

Ali with tons of gold she found at the gold panning stream. She's rich! You get to change it in for candy which made her very pleased.
More ice cream...well technically frozen yogurt. The kids had a fun time showing Nana what a popping bo-bo is. It's like eating the little salmon eggs that you are supposed to fish with except it is sweet inside. Kind of weird.

Lagoon!
Can you believe that Nana Pollan rode so many rides? I had prepped the boys....Nana won't want to really ride the rides so much as watch your happy faces as you get off the rides.....she was a trooper. She was right there for nearly every ride. Way to impress the grandkids.

Ice cream ten minute before dinner anyone? Seriously we are at the amusement park does it really matter what order you eat your food in, it is all going to come back up mixed up anyway. Thankfully nobody threw up, which made me especially happy since I am the one usually upchucking into the bushes.

This torturous ride spins around a million times going forwards and just when you think you are done you get to spin around a million times in reverse. Seriously?!? I forgot my dramamine but with careful ride selection we all did well.

"Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly..."
This was the ultimate string party. It filled the entire upstairs, including laundry room and bathroom. Lots of winding, untangling and happy smiling children.

Ali did such a great job on her string this time. She didn't even need help. Now if only I could teach her how to put her clothes in and shut her drawers.

We were so lucky to have Nana Pollan come for a visit this August. We snuck it in just before school started. The kids had loads of fun playing with and entertaining their Nana. We couldn't brake tradition so the week also included lots of trips for ice cream. It is always a joy to have her.