This is Joe's Grandma Inez Zollinger who is 90 years old and the reason for the reunion. Tess is looking at the Loft and wondering why Betsy gets to play instead of posing for this boring old picture.But since that entailed camping in the rain and having multiple kids throw up in the tent we aren't counting that. (It's called Herpangina -thanks for the tip Lisa- including blisters on the tonsils, fever and vomiting and I have a sneaking suspicion it has to do with catching fish in the sheep pond, handling them and then, with the power out, not being able to wash hands before lunch, good times . . .)
We did however LOVE getting to see all of Joe's brothers, sisters and Dad. Gunner was in heaven surrounded by hordes of fun male cousins. One night I eavesdropped on he and two of his cousins sleep-over in the neighboring tent. I heard a few "she's hot" comments and the usual number of "retards" and "dudes."
This last week has been packed with good times and not the ulcerated tonsil kind. We picked and ate our fill of Rainier cherries at the neighbor's
and 
with the shy Seattle sun shining a bit more each day we took some friends up on an invite to a $10/person day at Wild Waves, the local theme/water park. Everyone had a terrific time and came home with a nice "red" tan (we call it that so Gunner will quit worrying about skin cancer at age nine but Stevo, you should know that that "pink chicken" mom and dad were always feeding you was cooked Salmon.)
The before and after "Tan" Read: Sunburn
Gunner, again in heaven with boys to play with, took off with a pair of swim trunks and an inter tube not to be seen again. I did hang out in "Hooks Lagoon" for wee swashbucklers longer than I would have liked but the company was good and I got my chance at two of the hydro tubes. What is fun about getting water shot into your nose at high speeds only to plunge into an ice cold pool? I don't know but it just is. A good friend actually had her top shoot off clear up to her neck and endured the cat calls of the nearby teenage boys without regret because it is just that fun.
Even Betsy liked all the rides they would let her on and if we put her in a pair of platforms she'll enjoy even more next time. 
The scrambler proved to be the hands down winner in the 6-10 year old boy category. We lost these three boys at one point and I eventually found them here.
As if all that wasn't fun enough we decided to hit the Zoo on Friday. Perhaps we should have spread that out a bit since the fun of Wild Waves is nothing like the smelly, hot, fun you have watching animals do their business through glass. I'm not sure what possessed us to go to Seattle at 1:30pm with no snacks but we did. Only to arrive and find we'd forgotten our membership cards.
I'm not sure how to explain the parental hypocrisy of sneaking in through the exit of the zoo with a large crowd of foreign exchange students, eating the pickles and sugar packets left out at the various zoo refreshment stands for lunch, and foraging for berries near the flamingo exhibit but I'm sure I'll come up with something. We made do with the two packs of Sugar in the Raw by periodically giving a whiny child a hit like so many stinky penguins. And when your child will eat relish pickles meant for zoo hot dogs you can be certain their ravenous hunger is genuine. Gunner got extra marks for the day by finding five overripe "thimble berries" hidden in the Zoomazium backyard.
And yes we are too cheap to buy food at the zoo and it wouldn't have made much difference since our credit cards were likely in the same place as our zoo passes. Starvation and deceit at the zoo isn't the heady wild fun you have on a water slide but fun all the same.
To put the finishing touches on the week we blew up the cul-de-sac of a nearby neighborhood with what appeared to be hundreds of dollars worth of terrific fireworks and good friends. 
Each of the kids got a chance to burn themselves and their neighbor with a high-powered sparkler bartered for at the "Res." 
Thanks to Mike, Sean and Brian for a terrific show. As if the week wasn't fun enough we threw in a reunion BBQ with old friends and finished our baseboards and Tile. Can it get better you ask, you'll just have to wait and see what the Ellsworths pull next . . .
We did however LOVE getting to see all of Joe's brothers, sisters and Dad. Gunner was in heaven surrounded by hordes of fun male cousins. One night I eavesdropped on he and two of his cousins sleep-over in the neighboring tent. I heard a few "she's hot" comments and the usual number of "retards" and "dudes."This last week has been packed with good times and not the ulcerated tonsil kind. We picked and ate our fill of Rainier cherries at the neighbor's
and 
with the shy Seattle sun shining a bit more each day we took some friends up on an invite to a $10/person day at Wild Waves, the local theme/water park. Everyone had a terrific time and came home with a nice "red" tan (we call it that so Gunner will quit worrying about skin cancer at age nine but Stevo, you should know that that "pink chicken" mom and dad were always feeding you was cooked Salmon.)
The before and after "Tan" Read: SunburnGunner, again in heaven with boys to play with, took off with a pair of swim trunks and an inter tube not to be seen again. I did hang out in "Hooks Lagoon" for wee swashbucklers longer than I would have liked but the company was good and I got my chance at two of the hydro tubes. What is fun about getting water shot into your nose at high speeds only to plunge into an ice cold pool? I don't know but it just is. A good friend actually had her top shoot off clear up to her neck and endured the cat calls of the nearby teenage boys without regret because it is just that fun.
Even Betsy liked all the rides they would let her on and if we put her in a pair of platforms she'll enjoy even more next time. 
The scrambler proved to be the hands down winner in the 6-10 year old boy category. We lost these three boys at one point and I eventually found them here.As if all that wasn't fun enough we decided to hit the Zoo on Friday. Perhaps we should have spread that out a bit since the fun of Wild Waves is nothing like the smelly, hot, fun you have watching animals do their business through glass. I'm not sure what possessed us to go to Seattle at 1:30pm with no snacks but we did. Only to arrive and find we'd forgotten our membership cards.
I'm not sure how to explain the parental hypocrisy of sneaking in through the exit of the zoo with a large crowd of foreign exchange students, eating the pickles and sugar packets left out at the various zoo refreshment stands for lunch, and foraging for berries near the flamingo exhibit but I'm sure I'll come up with something. We made do with the two packs of Sugar in the Raw by periodically giving a whiny child a hit like so many stinky penguins. And when your child will eat relish pickles meant for zoo hot dogs you can be certain their ravenous hunger is genuine. Gunner got extra marks for the day by finding five overripe "thimble berries" hidden in the Zoomazium backyard.
And yes we are too cheap to buy food at the zoo and it wouldn't have made much difference since our credit cards were likely in the same place as our zoo passes. Starvation and deceit at the zoo isn't the heady wild fun you have on a water slide but fun all the same. 
Each of the kids got a chance to burn themselves and their neighbor with a high-powered sparkler bartered for at the "Res." 
Thanks to Mike, Sean and Brian for a terrific show. As if the week wasn't fun enough we threw in a reunion BBQ with old friends and finished our baseboards and Tile. Can it get better you ask, you'll just have to wait and see what the Ellsworths pull next . . . 
5 comments:
Manth the only thing that helped ease the anguish of you not coming to newgene for the fourth was the delightful blog post that you just put together. You've outdone yo'self again. And my key word that I had to type in was mulerest!? wow
I'm exhausted just reading about what you did this week. Bravo! That's what summer is all about. Glad to have joined you in a few of those, although sneaking into the zoo sounded like the most fun!
It's my pleasure to identify special summertime viruses that get shared between friends and family. I also have no doubt that "she's hot" likely came out of Ethan's mouth. He's heading into that phase. . .
I never fail to laugh out loud at your blog posts. New posts on The Choyle are a discussion topic in our house. Seriously. Even Ryan checks your blog regularly. Yes, it's that good. Very impressed with the food scraps you found at the zoo. Still wondering how four kids and two adults (one being SUPER tall) stealthily snuck through that gate.....
Summer is great. I'm glad I was able to be part of a few of your comical adventures recently. Keep up the witty posts, maybe I should have you start writing mine since I never seems to do it.
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