Saturday, October 17, 2009

Saturday Morning - the weekend starts for real!

Grandpa feeds his mind while...

...food for his stomach is being prepared.
Too bad the stomach can't hold as much as the mind - that was a fantastic breakfast, Sylvia!

We be off to see the bees.

(Dad announced that he would be interested in going to visit the local bees and would also be willing to take any passengers. Well, the amount of Martins who be interested in bees turned out to be more than we would be able to fit in our van. Therefore, it became necessary, since every last Martin be interested in bees, to take all the vehicles that be around.)

After driving through bee crossing...

...we all swarm around to see a bee swarm.

Gloria, very skeptical that bee stings can cure warts.

55,000 miles of flight be represented by that jar.

Our guide told us that they have never quite figured out why honey gets put in bears: "Around here, we don't like bears very much!"

Tasting Time

Hmm... it tastes like...

Ahh... honeysuckle!!

We smiled when we arrived; they smiled when we left.

Our taking some of their honey sticks with us probably added to their joy.
After lunch, the scientific society convenes and opens the proceedings with a balloon blowing pantomime.

Next on the agenda, three stalwart scientists set out to prove F = mg.

Ah, yes... gravity works.

But, to become a scientific law, a theory must be tested over and over again.

Incredible!! It happened AGAIN!

"Never, never, never, never give up." -Winston Churchill

Gravity does make it rather painful to sit down on thin air.

Trying to convince Kendall that he "sees a bear."

(Yes, Bohannons, we still do that to people occasionally. ;-)

Candace's Portrait

Fellow Canon Powershooter
Sylvia - a great CatchPhrase player. She always gets her phrase across.

Kendall, smug with the knowledge of the correct answer but not about to give it away to the opposite team who is floundering in confusion (they don't know enough about science, you see).

Concentration

The babies of the family: youngest "child" and youngest grandchild.

The skill gets better every time. This game ended 25-27 I believe.

Now Dad's always been very dominion-minded... BUT... weeding the volleyball court - that's got to be a first!

Gloria entertaining...

...both baby and babysitter.

Me and my great aunt Gloria.

(You wouldn't think by looking at us that she is three generations older than I, would you? ;-)

More of Gloria's auntics.

(Sorry, if some of you don't get that one. :)

The Quirky Quarter Quest


I'm still shaking my head over this part of the weekend - learned some new things about my relatives through it. Either they're a very thrifty bunch or just a very determined family... But you don't know what I'm talking about... yet.

Here's Dale who started it all by throwing a quarter into the yard for the younger cousins to find (and keep).

Well, his wife was one of the first ones to organize a search since, in her words, "I didn't know we have money to throw around!"

The grass-combers bow to Dad's superior quarter hunting methods.

Caught you, Sylvia!

(And she wasn't the only adult helping. I think every single relative was out searching at some point!)

"There it isn't!!"

Many false alarms and earthworms later...

...Gloria finds a quarter!

But what's this?? A black X?

Searchers: Dale, was there a black X on your quarter?
Dale: No indeed!

The counterfeit quarter planter is discovered.

Even Grandpa's spotlight didn't bring the real thing to light. Some folks are already planning to take the metal detector along if we go again in two years.
Makeshift Hooks

Tallest sister and shortest sister.

"Sorry it has to be this way sis."

It's really time to go, but these guys are die-hards. The fire even died before they did.

Speaking of die-hards... here's my uncle, who started it all, still searching for his quarter the next day. The question was raised as to whether or not it was ethical to be searching for this quarter on Sunday. My one uncle thought that "if you put it in the offering plate next Sunday" (assuming you find it) then he thinks it would be all right. :-)

And what do you think we did the day after we got home???


Why, we went to a Martin family gathering, of course, and saw almost all the people we had said goodbye to the day before! I know, some of you think we do nothing but go to family gatherings.

Attraction #1 - the alligator

Attraction #2 - Uncle Ivan, because he brought the alligator.

Grandpa keeps reptiles at arm's length.

And now, The Saturday Evening Post brings you coverage of something you probably never saw before: the bottom of an alligator!

This isn't another family gathering.

(We don't have any relatives in Shadowland that I know of.)

A giant phantom hand grabs a ball from an unsuspecting maiden.

Hey, where'd it go?!

I want my ball back...

The gigantic phantom suddenly becomes malicious, but the maiden stands firm.

Eventually she begins to give beneath the heavy hand. Farther...

Farther...

...Squashed.

In the shadow of a famous painting.

American Gothic becomes American Graphic.

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Sorry to end on such a violent note, but the end it is.
God Bless.
Carmen