Brilliant....

Buddy had the swell idea to climb the mountain behind his cousins' house today....

In other news, there is a 100% probability that I will be so sore tomorrow that I won't be able to walk. So all in all a super fantastic, climbing every mountain is no song and dance, day!

Impressive....

Even though Buddy has had no sleep since taking the red eye from Kona last night, he has still found time to regulate the core temperature of a baby duck....

 Wrangle some sheep.....

Now he is watching an episode of Simpsons before he falls into a comatose stupor! Seriously, I took a nap already and I'm beat, I'm not sure how that kid is functioning, but then again no one is letting me wrangle sheep or regulate duck temperatures, so maybe that's on me! So all in all a super fantastic, great beginning to our vacation, day!

Schoolin'....

Today was Buddy's last day of school , he even won an award for the top HSA (that's the standardized test) reader in 3rd grade! Which means that he's not only cute, but he's smart too! Buddy is really going to miss his teacher. Mr Hartman has been a serious Godsend to one little guy that used to hate going to school! 

Buddy was encouraged to think outside of the cookie cutter box, and was praised for it (go figure). Buddy even for the first time in his life was complimented on PAYING ATTENTION IN CLASS. I got to see first hand several times why the kids absolutely adore him while we were on field trip and Mr Hartman was the only teacher actually running around and playing with the kids (of course all the girls have a crush on him, but seriously, I'm pretty sure if he were my 3rd grade teacher I would've had a crush too)! So now we are off to Utah to begin our Summer Fun Fest! So all in all super fantastic, going, day! 

One last hurrah....

Buddy and I are leaving on a jet plane to Utah tomorrow, and seriously, that's not soon enough! We have been ready to go since Christmas. Today we had our last Pack Night before summer (and possibly my last one as Cubmaster). We did an obstacle course to go with this month's fitness theme....because seriously, I am a creative thinker that way (as in, not creative at all)...

(That's bubble wrap the boys had to roll over)

The ending was a little anticlimactic....would you feel better if I told you all of the boys were carrying a waterballoon the whole time? Hmmm, how about if I told you they got to go sit in the shade afterwards and have an Icee Pop? How about, I let them pounce on 200 feet of bubble wrap? Ok, much better, and a whole lot cooler! Also, in very important news, Buddy earned his Bear badge and is now (or will be as soon as we reconvene after summer break) a Webelos......I'm hoping a little certain someone I know will be his leader. 

Also, is it just me, or is it totally awesome that I'm still using a megaphone to talk to a kid less than 1 foot away from me? So all in all a super fantastic, Hurrah, day!

Medical Assistance.....

Buddy told me he helped save someone's life today. His friend got a bit of road rash on her leg from a dirt bike accident over the weekend. and  allegedly, she was picking at her scabs during recess. According to Buddy it started bleeding "profusely", so  Buddy grabbed a wad of grass (since they were outside for recess) and put pressure on the wound until it stopped.  After the bleeding stopped he cleaned her off with his water bottle and several more wads of grass. Hmmmm, perhaps we should add grass in our first aid kit since Buddy seems to be proficient in its uses. In other news, we went to the skate park again today....

We like to live dangerously.....well, not too dangerously, thus the helmet! So all in all a super fantastic, life saving, day!

Overachievers unite....

Went to a birthday party today that I think had a theme to it....I don't know, it was hard to tell. I mean, kids were walking the plank....

  Busting cannon balls with their butts.....

 Eating food with weird names like the black pearl and the crispy dagger......

 Yep, still not 100% sure what the theme of the party was!!!!

I do know the kids had an absolute blast, that, and the ante on awesome party planning has been raised! So all in all a super fantastic, swabbing the poopdeck, day!

I'll have what he's having.....

Today, Buddy went to the orthodontist to get fitted for headgear....

The awesome boy that he is, he decided that instead of waiting for the cover of darkness to wear his headgear, he would march proudly out of the orthodontist's office....and straight into Costco to test the limitations of his newfangled device.....

Let's just say the newfangled device isn't exactly beverage or lip friendly. I don't know what that boy has been taking for his self esteem because I guarantee if I had to wear that when I was his age I probably would have never left my bedroom, much less the house wearing it. He just takes it in stride, or maybe the post traumatic stress of the whole thing was getting to him at Cub Scouts tonight....

Yep, that's him wearing the box on his head....of course he wasn't wearing his headgear at the time....so maybe I should come up with a new theory that my boy may be a little on the goofy side. Nevermind, that's not new! So all in all a super fantastic, head geared up, day!

Not excited at all....

Shane broke out this bad boy yesterday (I'm talking about the airplane, not Buddy....Buddy breaks out all the time despite our best efforts-yes, that is a joke)!

It's been 3 years since that plane has been flown, and Buddy was just a tad bit excited to help! So all in all a super fantastic, let me help, day!

Manly....

Buddy caught a fish this morning during his Father-Son Camp out.....

 

He was so excited to come home and cook it up. Thankfully, all my years of growing up in a coastal state being boy crazy and hanging around the boys after fishing finally paid off....

Yep, that's right, I taught my boy how to scale and gut a fish like a real man. I cooked it up for our lunch where Buddy exclaimed....."but I don't really like to eat fish"! Perhaps I should blame myself for that one. I seasoned the fish with a "Hawaiian Seasoning" which I think if I read the label would just say salt, in a salt base, with a side of salt, on top of a pinch of salt. In other words, I over salted the fish! In other news, Buddy came home and came up with a really fun, new game...

It's called "make your mother pull everyone that lives on the street around the block as fast as she can"! Pretty sure everyone was a winner but me in that game! To get him back, I had him mow the neighbor's lawn....

With supervision of course, because small children shouldn't operate heavy machinery! So all in all a super fantastic, overly salted, day!

Vacation.....

The boys went on a Father-Son Camping trip today....

Which means I am having the girly movie marathon! So all in all a very super fantastic, very girly, day!

New man.....

Buddy got his braces off today.....

He was a little excited about that......of course, I think he was probably more excited that he missed a whole day of school, but hey, whatever! So all in all a super fantastic, straight teeth, day!

Tidy...

I think Buddy has decided to test out how many uses you can get out of a park intended for solely one use....I mean, after all, it really isn't fair to the non-skaters of the world....of course it's not fair to the ripped pair of pants either.....

FYI- the rain only made the park more awesome in the boys' eyes, I on the other hand cringed at the sopping wetness of them all and hoped that their mothers wouldn't kill me for allowing this kind of shenanigans to occur on my watch! On a side note, I'm not dead yet. 

This morning I got to chaperone another field trip with Buddy's class....

Turns out showing the famous Makali'i was truly just a ruse to get some help untangling these knots....

Hmmmm, that was an ingenious plan, why haven't I had a fake field trip where a bunch of kids come over just to tidy up a few things? So all in all a super fantastic, tidied up, day! 

Reading problems.....

As soon as Shane got home from work today, we took off for a family bike ride....

This time we ended up at the local skate park...

Apparently we need to reread the definition of what a skate park is! On second thought, I think we're good!

So all in all a super fantastic, family time, day!

Rested.....

Buddy has been sick the last few days (I'm starting to think his immune system is just as crappy as mine....amazing how genetics works that way). Anyway, he went to school this morning and then I took him out early so he could "rest". Shane apparently has a different definition of "rest" than I do...

The boys had fun and Buddy says he feels better.....at least until it's time for school tomorrow and then I'm pretty certain this cold will be back in action, full swing (that is, if I know my overly dramatic child like I do). So all in all a super fantastic, rested, day!

Drivers Ed.....

Buddy has been hopping in the drivers seat anytime we jump in the car to go somewhere, so today Shane handed him the keys and told him to drive us to our destination. Buddy started the car with a little bit of coaching from Shane. While he was fiddling with whatever buttons and levers he could find, he mentioned he "didn't think it was a good idea for him to drive". Of course that didn't stop him from pushing and moving EVERY SINGLE BUTTON AND LEVER and saying repeatedly how much fun he was having! Thankfully, we arrived at our destination safely.....

Perhaps not safely for my bathing suit though that has a special sand trapping feature in the bottom of it! After a few rounds of body surfing, my suit had so much sand contained in the bottom of it, it looked   like I had an accident of the stinky and large kind in my suit. Oh well, I have long since lost any sort of ability to be embarrassed about my outward appearance or possible misappropriated body functions! Buddy had a swell time though. But then when your mother saves your life at an early age.....

You're bound to enjoy the little things in life! Also, yes I have used the above picture numerous times in my posts, but it really doesn't make it any less funny (at least in my humble, very biased opinion)! Now for some seriousness.....tomorrow is Mothers Day, so I need to tell someone very special to me, "Happy Mothers Day"....

Mom, I'm not sure I can express how much I love you in words, so when I come out to visit in June, Buddy and I will perform an interpretive dance in honor of you! Just kidding (not about the love, about the dance)...if you want us to interpret anything it will probably include lots of farting noises, but I know you'll love us just the same. Thanks for always being my sounding board and keeping me awake on my drive home from working a night shift! We love you! So all in all a super fantastic, Happy Mothers Day Mom, day!

Word....

I've been picking up some extra hours at work this week while Buddy has been at school. Thankfully, that means I can now afford a new pair of glasses that Buddy has so desperately needed!

Sheesh, they were a little pricey, but I think his new glasses make him look a lot more mature, don't you think? Just kidding, I have a metal-mouth masterpiece to pay for! Phase one of Buddy's masterpiece will be completed on Monday....that's right his braces are already being removed on Monday. I'm kinda feeling jipped on the whole deal, and even though Buddy's teeth are straight, I almost feel like he should wear them several months more so I can really get my money's worth! So all in all a super fantastic, looking cool, day! 

Grand Occasions.....

I went to work for 3 whole hours today, then I picked up Buddy from school and celebrated all of my hard work by spending the rest of our daylight hours at the beach! We had a blast boogie boarding, body surfing, turning our clothes into flotation devices....

Then pretending we were pregnant?

Hmmm, I might think this kid is a weirdo except for the fact that the first thing he wanted to do was attack me Sumo Wrestler style....or wait, should I think he's a weirdo because the first thing he wanted to do was attack me Sumo Wrestler style?  Unfortunately, his Sumo plans were quite foiled by my very misplaced hard jaw! I ended up with a split lip (but thank goodness still all of my teeth) and he has the beginnings of a black eye (he, of course, is hoping it swells and gets darker to show off at school tomorrow)! So all in all a super fantastic, living it up, day!