Indiana Jones & The Lost Treasure of Snake Hollow

Impossibly, our son turned 8 today. I can remember his birth as if it were yesterday....my having contractions and walking around the park & sidewalks near the hospital...a nurse scolding me to come back into the hospital (I was supposed to be walking in the halls but it was SOOO nice out and I was tired of the scenery inside...did I pass on this mischievous behavior to our little boy?)...my husband phoning up his assistant football coach to tell him that he didn't think he'd make it to the first game of the season that night........Cyrus arriving exactly 1 hour and 3 minutes before kick-off......me in euphoria after a speedy delivery and a big healthy baby boy, giving Mark my blessing to get to the game and do his coaching thing....me holding our new son in my arms and listening to the radio as Daddy's team beat Wauzeka 27-8 (hearing later how Mark ran onto the field just as warm-ups were over and the game was about to begin, shouting "It's a boy!" to the cheers of his players). Cy arrived fast & furiously and has not slowed down since.

I think I've mentioned that Cy likes super heroes. This year he's been on an Indiana Jones kick, which is great for his parents, who get to re-live the good old movies. Like Indy, our son wants to be an archaeologist and is constantly wearing this old brown fedora from my costume collection. (Did we get him a whip for his birthday? I think not.)

This past week I have been on my own creative binge, planning a scavenger hunt filled with challenging adventures that our own little Indy would have to complete (with his buddies) to get to the ultimate treasure--the Lost Ark of the Covenant (see previous post). I took the former name of Potosi--Snake Hollow--and ran with it. Yesterday we had a party and turned this place into "The Potosi Museum of Natural History".

Stealing a few ideas from other mommy bloggers, I tweaked them to fit our situation (of course). Long story short: The ancient Viper Tribe of Snake Hollow stole the Ark & it became Indiana Siegert's mission (along with his esteemed colleagues) to find it. The biggest challengers to the mission were the Sugar Spirits, who could injure or kill with their poison marshmallows....but who could in turn be destroyed by getting them sopping wet (like a dissolved sugar cube)!

As you can see, the girls had no trouble playing the part of brother's enemy.

The first challenge was to practice the ancient Viper Tribe belief of mummification (I had inserted a clue inside 4 toilet paper rolls). You'd think a bunch of little boys would love the mummy wrap game, but it pales in comparison to shooting water at a bunch of girls.

Thankfully my brother & his bride-to-be were good sports, or we would have never found the first clue and continued on the Adventure!

Off to the Viper Tribal Burial Grounds we went, digging for 10 gold coins which spelled out the next clue in ancient Viper code. (Good thing 9-year-old cousin Payton was there to translate into English for us!) We found out that a 4-year-old is superior in digging skills when compared to his older counterparts.

The next challenge was destroying Chief Cobra with poison darts, because legend held that cutting off his snake tattoo would lead to the next clue on the Adventure.

Note to self: Leftover interior house paint (although a suitably safe "poison" when applied to a q-tip) is not machine-washable. My sincere apologies to my mom-friends/sisters.

Next stop: across the snake river. You can't have an Indiana Jones party without lots and lots of snakes!!

Then it was down to the creek to cross Python Pass (Mom Disclaimer: the pasture was Dad's idea). The official party photographer was busy hanging up clothes and watching our 2-year-old, therefore no pictures were taken of this segment of the Adventure.

On to the pines....... (Somewhere down at the Python Pass, our Sugar Spirits "saw the light" and joined forces with Indy & company)!

...and finally the trek into Snake Hollow Jungle to recover the lost Ark. ("Beware the dung of sacred cow. The arrows will show you where and how."

What was in the Ark? Why, a few plastic snakes, frogs, light sticks, and the 10 Commandments, of course!

Mission Accomplished: Time for some cake...

...and some cold Eyeball Stew!

Woodworking with Dad

Double duty: 4-H fair project ....

...and nifty prop for his Indiana Jones birthday party next week!

...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. --Philippians 1:6

Long Live the 80s !!

Well, we didn't have time to make a letterbox and plant it at the park on Saturday, but sometimes it's better to just "let go" and be spontaneous, right? We had a great day at our class reunion, starting with Mark going golfing with classmates in the morning. The family picnic was a great time to see classmates with their children. Most of us have young children and are still in the running-after-them stage. Mark managed to keep all 4 of our girls occupied at the same time for a few minutes!

Then we hung out at my parents' house (love the free babysitting, thanks Grandma and Grandpa!) while I made a trip up to the local pub to clean tables and decorate a bit for the reunion. The kids and I mod-podged copies of pics from old yearbooks and scrapbooks around soup cans to make vases. My mom and I cut some fresh tiger lilies and phlox (orange and black were our colors so the lilies looked great).I spraypainted cardboard frames for posters blown up from pics (plug for Copyworks). It was a pretty low-budget deal, but I think it looked festive!

A few hours later two of our guys (classmates) grilled steaks & chicken, 8 teachers & spouses joined us, and we had an excellent meal and lots of good conversations. Twenty-five classmates out of 36 surviving (we had 38 in our class) showed up, so we had 69% attendance...pretty good! It was great seeing everyone and laughing so hard my sides split during the class auction (thanks to our "auctioneer" classmate who made old memorabilia, posters, and miscellaneous items seem so darn valuable)!!Then we watched DVDs that Mark and I had made from old video footage of our high school years (sports, concerts, skits, prom, etc.). The big hair, the music...ah, the 80s. Gotta love it!

***THE CLASS OF '88***

Hard to believe that it's been 20 years already, but I think everyone looked pretty darn good. (Nobody grossly overweight or chain-smoker-looking...yet). My husband and I are the only ones in our class to be married to each other (I had a crush on him for 3 years in high school, but we only dated twice then--junior prom and senior prom). I know I'm biased, but I think he's still the best-looking dude in our class :)

All in all, it was a great reunion and I can't wait till the next one!

Okay I can. I don't want to be 5 years older.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.--Ecclesiastes 3:1

Family Fun Week

Every year the first week in August is Family Fun Week. It's the one week where Mark doesn't have to work at summer school, right before football practice starts. This year we went on little "day trips" and gave the kids clues to our whereabouts as we traveled to get there. Here's a re-cap of the week:

MONDAY

We went out for ice cream and rented a movie, "The Waterhorse". Overall family review: 4 stars (a little too scary for our younger children, and mom doesn't like dinosaur-looking things). But the historical features and storyline were pretty good.

TUESDAY

We visited Spook Cave near MacGregor, Iowa...then swam at Bear Foot Bay (indoor water park) in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. After a stop at Cabela's (live fish + stuffed wild animals = free entertainment!) we ate supper at Friederick's Family Restaurant in Fennimore on our way home. Overall family review: 5 stars for everything!!

WEDNESDAY

Dad was gone visiting his brothers, so Mom selfishly picked the destination: Dubuque, Iowa for shopping! (After all, who doesn't have fun watching Mom try on potential outfits for her 20th class reunion coming up on Saturday?)

We went to Target, Sam's Club, Petco, Michael's (bought wooden crafts for the kids), Old Navy, Goodwill, and Aldi's. Then on our way out of town we ventured over to Grand View Park and had a picnic which abruptly ended with a thunderstorm. Oh well, it was fun anyway! Mom's rating = Five stars (scored a clearance skirt at Old Navy & a matching top at Goodwill). Kid's rating = Three stars (had to wait for mom a lot & didn't get to play a lot at the park due to the storm).

THURSDAY

We went on our 3rd letterboxing expedition at Mound View Park in Platteville. First we had a picnic and enjoyed the playground. The letterboxing hunt was really challenging; we had to back-track 3 times but finally found the hidden letter box! Overall rating = Five Stars (gotta love a challenge)

FRIDAY
We ventured a few minutes southeast of town to the Potosi campground and rode bikes. Always a family favorite! OVERALL RATING = 4 stars because we didn't get started much before dark, and a Friday night at a campground is pretty busy. However, the river was peaceful, the campers were friendly as usual, and the scenery was gorgeous! We finished off with ice cream from the Sportsman's Shack. Can't beat their 25-cent baby cones!

SATURDAY
We haven't gone yet, but today is Mark and my 20th high school class reunion (yikes, I just gave up my age). We are taking the kids to the family picnic scheduled at noon in Belmont, and we hope to create our own letterbox to place at the park over there. Then the kids will be staying on Grandma & Granpda's farm while the grown-ups go to reminisce and laugh. Should be a good time for all! We'll give you the rating later!

First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage...Baby Carriage!

I know that's an antiquated notion to some these days...but what a beautiful plan that God has designed for His people...to be in a family together!

This past weekend our family got to meet our new baby niece/cousin Kierta for the first time. She is beautiful at 3 weeks old, and she is a very content little girl. Her mother looks fabulous and her daddy is as proud as ever. Congratulations to Greg & Marin!

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.--Psalm 127:3

And then we got to celebrate another life milestone...the engagement of my brother Tim to his soulmate Maryellen. They are truly a match made in heaven!

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.--Genesis 2:24