Make-up and Catch-up

Hello Everyone,

Things are sort of back to normal I suppose, though don't ask me what normal is. The only thing that stays the same no matter what is that God is in control of everything.

I'm posting fairly much this week. You can say I'm trying to make up for last time if you want, but really I'm just trying to catch-up on my photos and cover a bunch of stuff. I definitely have a lot of photos from the day we spent with the Raines. Our families have a lot of fun together as you might be able to tell from the pictures. ;-)

July 3rd: Boating with the Raines, etc.

Raine Bucket - a caption in itself!

Hmm... I wonder why they are all so eager to go in our boat?

But Candace, Emma, and I were the fortunate ones.

A little splashing between sister ships...

...turns into a desperate race between bitter rivals.

(By the way, those of you who know Mr. Raine, it looks like he knows what he's doing, doesn't it? Do you think it could possibly have anything to do with that rowing machine down in his basement? :)

"Oh no! I think they're pulling ahead."

(And we'll end that story right there... while we're ahead. ;-)

After that, it was smooth sailing for us girls, until we spotted these roguish pirates through our toe-escope. They gave chase.

(Candace has this tendency to take feet pictures at Middlecreek. Remember? You've been following this blog for a while if you do.)

To add injury to insult, they started shooting us with their Canon!

Back on shore, laughing about the lady who put her motor home in auto-pilot, went back to fry eggs, and then sued the company who sold it to her (what's worse is that she won!).

Ohhh... I get it... she crashed.

Also, reading corny riddles in the Fishwrapper like "What are you supposed to do with stones?"

Eat them, of course!

Feeling his way towards the water.

The water feels good in a way.

Elias has the camera;
Now he isn't sure,
If he wants to keep it.
He doesn't have it anymore!

Conrad didn't take advantage of the opportunity.

Later, when Candace and I discovered the Raine's camera lying unused, we lost no time! Only problem was: the batteries were dead.

So, since we couldn't take pictures with the camera, we took pictures through the camera.

Boys will be boys.

Farther proof of above statement.

On July 3rd of the year 2009, Conrad set out on a life-changing voyage.

He came back a few minutes later seven years younger. Now that's time travel for you!

Runaway stroller or runaway boy? - I'm not sure which.

Mr. Raine's Epic Voyage

Mr. Raine embarks on his first voyage without adult male supervision.

Mrs. Raine isn't too sure about this.

Astounded Elias: "WHAT does he think he's doing?!"

"You're supposed to do it like THIS!"

Ahh... things are looking up.

But not for long. Mom and Dad sail to the aid of the floundering Raine Bucket.

As before, I will end before anything truly dreadful happens. ;-)

Mr. Raine Finds Our Camera

*shocked* "What are YOU doing behind that camera?!"

Once more engrossed in their watermelon.

Attempting to look "contemplative" for Mr. Raine.

"Oh well, I was just trying to make a tributary."

The lake in blue and black.

What usually happened to the ball despite Mr. Raine's careful illustrations of how to spike. :-)

"Dad, please... please! I'm sure it would work.

Warning Label: Warning! Do not hold fireworks in hands while detonating.

"...and the rockets red glare..."

"...the bombs bursting in air..."

Gave proof through the night
That the fourth was soon there.

July 4th

I was feeling more like having pictures taken of me than taking pictures myself. ;-)

Which is why there are no pictures from the family gathering we went to and only a few from the celebration at the Stoltzfuses. Here, folks are gathering ammunition for what I have heard called "the Great Balloon Toss of '09."

Considering it was such a momentous event, it is a shame I got so few photos.

Click here for my friend's very complete coverage.

Awards for the winners of the men and boys' shooting contest.

That's my brother!

This photographer was being so annoying that he was locked up behind bars. He kept right on shooting though. ;-)

Well, we've been hearing about an awful lot of shootin' but here's more.

Mr. Rea's pretty incredible water balloon cannon!

Since those of you who have a special interest in the photos from this event have probably already seen over half a dozen photos of this technological marvel, I will stop with these. :-)

Speaking of Technological Marvels...

The old way things worked: soda bottles, sore backs, sticky fingers, and bad odors.

Let me introduce you to ground-breaking inventor Conrad Martin, as well as his latest invention of the Potato-Bug-Sucker-Machine!

Here's the new way things work:

Leptinotarsa decemlineata

Going... going...

Gone!

Warning: A willing (and patient) assistant to hold the bottle upright and keep a lookout for the bugs being missed is a vital component of this wonder machine (and, at present, is not available for purchase at any known location ;).

Yeah, there's a few bugs in the system...

...but nothing a little duct tape won't fix.

Mom waxes eloquent on the follies of the wonder machine. :-)