The Dog Days of Summer

In the midst of falling behind much has transpired. As we are preparing for our upcoming vacation to the east coast we had been praying fervently for God to meet our needs both financially for this trip and for a new vehicle....as ole karate man wasn't proving to be so efficient where gas was concerned. Despite the fact karate man has taken us all over the state and been to Tennessee and back Brad was still not so enthused with taking it as far east as the coast...since it was only getting around 8 miles to the gallon when pulling the trailer. Since we now pull the trailer into town for grocery trips we were able to experiment with it and had quite the reality check when we all watched in horror as the gas gauge visibly headed speedily to the empty state before our very eyes. It was a little disheartening to say the least. The van was undoubtedly road worthy due to all of the work we have had put into it and that Brad himself has put into it over the 2 years we have had it but it still wasn't quite what Brad had in mind when it came to far distance travel. In the midst of all that has taken place over the last few weeks our van prayers were left a little to the wayside. But while in town with just sweet Aubrey a week or so ago we came across a monster of a diesel van sitting quietly by the road with a "For Sale" sign screaming loudly at Brad. I must admit I was a little wary...as we had just gotten our van up to a great reliable condition and this was a foreign van with no known history to us. Upon checking on it and knowing the sellers through multiple friends we felt confident that God had indeed blessed us quite heavily on the vehicle end of things. It housed only a few minor issues Brad could easily fix and we would have a great diesel van with a deer guard thrown in....which is becoming increasingly more important as we live through many deer seasons in these parts....and take out our fair share of them in there. I laugh at the thought of how I used to want a deer guard just to look tough and cool on the road and now I just want one for sheer survival. Granted, the little guard on this won't offer much protection against a full size deer but it will deflect it a little.....maybe. Brad has plans to make a bigger bumper replacement for the van similar to what is on his truck but, for now, this small chrome one might help a little....at least one can only hope. I guess it beats nothingness for sure.

I still have yet to get used to the monstrous diesel engine. It is quite an all empowering feeling as you listen to yourself going down the road sounding as though you could take out every car in front, beside and behind you if the urge ever fell upon oneself. And we actually have working doors with no metal chain and bolt clanging around on the back door as we hit 75 cruising down highways. Gone are our redneck ways..although not entirely, given the fact that not all of these doors lock either, the speedometer doesn't quite see the need to work and the AM/FM radio works though you have no idea what station you might be on given the fact that it does not light up to reveal anything about it. So with the difference of what we bought the van for and what we were able to sell the other van for Brad went and bought a GPS system that reveals both time and speed. A little disappointing for me since speed guessing had become the children's all time favorite thing to do in the new van. And amazingly once we had the GPS we had all been pretty much on target in speed estimates. Who ever said homeschooling was dull and boring? If any of them ever choose to become policemen they'll be quite educated in their estimates of speed. Now the radio station guessing is still holding its appeal. They have all become amazingly good listeners in an effort to beat out their siblings as they listen for the DJ to announce the station name and yell it out before anyone else does.

Overall, the van is in great shape and a huge blessing that came not one moment too soon. God does indeed incline His ear and meet the "needs" of His children. We had all agreed this was most definitely not a "need" but was classified as a "want". If we are to make the east coast trip then it made the change to "need". And our need was met.

The same day we listed our old van for sale it sold to another large family. We loaded everybody up for a day road trip and took off for Austin to hand it over. I think we picked the hottest day of the year to make the trip. Once we wound our way through the Texas hill country and arrived at our destination the temp signs were reading 107 and 108. This would not have ordinarily have been an issue except for the fact that given the heat neither of the vans can handle putting out really cold air while they idle so it quickly grew to a humid, muggy temp within the van. Children grew restless as we waited so we finally unloaded everybody in our empty car lot meet up place and let them run. Though at this point running had pretty much been taken out of the equation as they all crashed under the shade trees next to the gas station while the wind blew in a fashion that resembled a bathroom hair dryer set on low. It was enough to just have some air movement though and the stretching of the legs did everybody some good. Soon enough keys were handed over to the new owners and red cheeked children with hair pasted to their heads by sweat began to reload and buckle in car seats. With icy cold air now blowing once more we gladly left the crowded suburb streets of Austin and headed back out to the desolate, drought ridden hills that would take us home. Children played obnoxiously in the back while little ones came up with games of their own. Brad and I were just able to sit and talk. Huge sprawling ranches dotted the sides of the highways we traveled as we sat, content to enjoy the noise of the backseats, the rumble of our "new" diesel van and the company of each other.

I have to say though that I am kind of missing my little karate man. Somewhere in there and the joke that it was I became attached to the little dude. Now we are just the normal family in the tan, boring, unmarked van going down the highway. Gone are the days of being unmistakable.

So, on to other happenings. We bought a large pool many weeks ago but that, also, has been left out due to life happening. After some wise advice from a friend Brad and I had to agree with the fact that buying a huge pool would still be cheaper than making town trips 3-5 times a week while paying for 7 children to take swimming lessons. But their lack of swimming abilities greatly concerned both Brad and myself. Each summer it became more and more of a necessity rather than a luxury. Children must know how to swim. With much trepidation Brad set the 4 ft pool up as close to the house as he could get it. It took less than 2 hours for Grayson, Evye and Aubrey to go from amateur swimmers to total athletes in the water. They quickly went from just getting used to it to diving little fish. The 4 little boys were much more of concern. Armed with life jackets they entered the water on that first day with little control..even with life jackets. In only a matter of an hour or so they had become as daring and lively as the older 3. They are now jumping from the ladder and being thrown across the pool plunging under water only to come up laughing begging for more. Brad and I have been consistent with getting in the water and working with them without the aid and security of life jackets. That did take a little longer but Garrison and Grant are now swimming somewhat well. Garrison has a bit of an advantage given the fact the pool is only 4 ft and he can bounce his way to the edges without truly swimming. Grant is still quite a bit shorter than Garrison so when he stands on the bottom he is fully submerged. They both can actually truly swim for short distances. Garrison can go from one side of the pool to the other while Grant can go from about the middle to the side of it. But they both have great breathing control and, more importantly, neither of them freak about being under water in the middle of the pool without a life jacket. Both know how to safely reach the edge by themselves. Both have a very healthy respect of deep water. They are still far from being aloud in the pool without a life jacket if there is no adult out there but we are seeing much progress on their parts. Garrett is a little slower in learning but he also is getting there. He has yet to truly take off swimming like they have. And Gavin.....well, Gavin is just him. Not in a great hurry to conquer anything that looks terrifying to him. But due to the fact we have all been in the pool everyday for weeks now he is establishing a healthy love along with a huge dose of respect for deep pools of water. He can sit in his turtle floatie and laugh hysterically as he is thrown up and lands with a huge splash sufficiently soaking everyone within a 5 ft radius. He also is ok with being thrown into the water without his life jacket. He goes under quite a ways and comes back up composed. I wouldn't exactly say he's a great fan of it but he is learning to hold his breath and figure out what it is to be in the water and under the water. And he does love life in his floatie as everybody fights over who gets to pull him around next and do water derbies as they compete with the speed of his turtle. Somehow Grayson and Evye manage to make the float go from turtle status to speeds that rival the bigger swimmers in the pool. He is in love with this game. And once again I am absolutely amazed by Grayson, Evy and Aubrey as I watch them stay so intuned to each and every swimmer in the pool. IN some ways it is like having 3 of me out there. When life jackets come off Grayson will assign himself a swimmer and Evye will assign herself a swimmer and they stay with them, teaching them and working with them. I think they have done more good for the little guys than Brad and I could ever do on our own. Something about learning from a sibling that makes life so much more fun and the motivation to learn that much more.

Our mission was accomplished in that they all feel comfortable in their life jackets and can easily and effortlessly float in them while maintaining control. And we have swimmers out of the deal. Being comfortable in a life jacket was a big thing for us since they will be playing in the Atlantic Ocean in only a matter of weeks and we will be taking 3 different ferries to different ports within it. The big ferries seem reliable enough that I have no real fear of these but the little pontoon boat that goes from land to cape is enough to make a parent ensure that all children are comfy and educated in the event they need to float awhile.

The new ride

How you know Gavin's been in the bathroom

Heading to Austin...more historical landmarks to fill the pages of our landmark book


The caravan to Austin....new van, old van. I still think the old van looks bigger and felt bigger. Brad sticks to the fact they are exactly the same. He said the color plays tricks on the mind. Doesn't really help that we cut off the front of the new one in the pic.

More landmarks for the book...this one was really interesting.

Lazzy finding Aubrey wherever she sleeps

Days lived in the pool....pardon the sagging trampoline enclosure. They seem to completely not understand what it is NOT to play Spiderman on the net.

Early morning hours out helping Grayson before the heat sets in

Filling it up

Happy happy kids to have water. Notice the life jacket being worn on the kid to the right. Yes....in the 6 inch water. What can I say....their daddy's a paramedic.

Waiting on Grayson

Who knew one could get so entirely bored that they would start taking self portraits??? This would be while we waited on Brad to get the stuff to defunk the swimming pool only days after we set it up and it turned green. Lovely. We then learned you have to jump start salt water systems with a little chlorine and then maintain with the salt system. And....it worked! And we get some funny pics out of the deal. This is about the equivalent of doing those little mall picture boxes. It is quite the source of entertainment for everyone in the van.

Discussing the need to get out of the crib

Giving sweet kisses.

Good morning baby!

And how you know Gavin's been eating the cat food.