We went on a getaway earlier this week.  It can be exhausting waiting for the phone to ring or an email to come in about a job opportunity.  It’s important to keep your spirits up, so we’ve been trying to frequent parks and take in as much fresh air as we can.  That’s a difficult thing to do living in the city, so we decided to go camping.

We were headed up to OK, but found out there was a burn ban, and what’s the fun in camping without a fire?  We ended up at Martin Creek State Park, in one of their little cabins.  We like to do tent camping, but Illianna is still a little too young.  Illianna loved running around the cabin and exploring the woods.  She was collecting things and giggling at every corner.  I’ve never seen her so filthy, and let me say she is a regular mess pot, but this took the cake.  I turned a blind eye to the dirt until she grabbed some cereal which had obviously fallen in the dirt/ash and came up to me with dirty hands and a black mouth trying to spit it out.  Poor little thing.  She’s so well trained to pick her food up and eat it after it’s fallen on the floor.

It was nice to see trees older than a couple of years, and we almost had the park to ourselves, but there was a huge power plant humming in the distance and a stupid train announcing its presence every hour or so.  We were able to see some wildlife, roast marshmellows, hike around, and see a few more stars than we can see from our backyard, but we won’t be returning to that park.  We managed to take a pretty decent photo of ourselves.

          

I love kids in hats. From day one I’ve had Illianna in a hat. Unfortunately she’s figured out how to take her hat off, and thinks it’s a trick. Now I’m having to wear hats as well because if she sees me in a hat then she’ll leave hers on.

Yesterday it wasn’t too hot, there was a slight breeze, and a few clouds remained in the sky from a storm that passed through the night before, so we decided to go on a walk. I got us all loaded up, which was a feat of it’s own because once the dogs see their collars come out they start going crazy, and we were just about to head off, when Missy Moo looked up at me with an evil smirk and pulled her hat right off. I only have one hat, which after recently falling into the pool I found out was made of paper (I didn’t know you could make a *real* hat from paper.), so I was in a bit of a predicament. Fortunately I saw one of Ryan’s baseball caps in the entry. It did the trick, and she kept her hat on most of the walk. Of course she wanted to try on Dada’s hat at well.

          

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, \”What does love mean?\” The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

\”Love is that first feeling you feel before all the bad stuff gets in the way.\” Charlie age 5
\”When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn\’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That\’s love.\” - Rebecca - age 8
\”When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You know that your name is safe in their mouth.\” Billy - age 4
\”Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.\” Karl - age 5
\”Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.\” Chrissy - age 6
\”Love is when someone hurts you. And you get so mad but you don\’t yell at them because you know it would hurt their feelings.\” Samantha -age 6
\”Love is what makes you smile when you\’re tired.\” Terri - age 4
\”Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.\” Danny - age 7
\”Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss.\” Emily - age 8
\”Love is what\’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.\” Bobby - age 5
\”If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.\” Nikka - age 6
\”Love is hugging. Love is kissing. Love is saying no\” Patty - age 8
\”When you tell someone something bad about yourself and you\’re scared they won\’t love you anymore. But then you get surprised because not only do they still love you, they love you even more.\” Matthew - age 7
\”There are two kinds of love. Our love. God\’s love. But God makes both kinds of them.\” Jenny - age 4
\”Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day.\” Noelle - age 7
\”Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.\” Tommy - age 6
\”During my piano recital, I was on a stage and scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn\’t scared anymore.\” Cindy - age 8
My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don\’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.\” Clare - Age 8
\”Love is when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken.\” Elaine - age 5
\”Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.\” Chris - age 8
\”Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.\” Mary Ann - age 4
\”I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.\” Lauren - age - 4
\”I let my big sister pick on me because my Mom says she only picks on me because she loves me. So I pick on my baby sister because I love her.\” Bethany - age 4
\”Love cards like Valentine\’s cards say stuff on them that we\’d like to say ourselves, but we wouldn\’t be caught dead saying.\”
Mike - age 8
\”When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.\” Karen - age 7
Love is when mommy sees daddy on the toilet and she doesn\’t think it\’s gross.\” Mark - age 6
\”You really shouldn\’t say \’I love you\’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.\” Jessica - age 8
\”God could have said magic words to make the nails fall off the cross, but He didn\’t. That\’s love.\” Max - age 5

          

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered — Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives — Do good anyway.

If you\’re successful, you\’ll win false friends and true enemies — Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will perhaps be forgotten tommorrow — Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable — Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest man with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest man with the smallest mind — Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only hot dogs — Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight — Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you help them — Help them anyway.

Give the world the best that you have and you will get kicked in the teeth — Give the world the best that you have anyway.

If better is possible, then good is not enough.

          

Whether a man winds up with a nest egg, or a goose egg, depends a lot on the kind of chick he marries.
Trouble in marriage often starts when a man gets so busy earning\’ his salt, that he forgets his sugar.
Too many couples marry for better, or for worse, but not for good.
When a man marries a woman, they become one; but the trouble starts when they try to decide which one.
If a man has enough horse sense to treat his wife like a thoroughbred, she will never turn into an old nag.
On anniversaries, the wise husband always forgets the past - but never the present.
A foolish husband says to his wife, \”Honey, you stick to the washin\’, ironin\’, cookin\’, and scrubbin\’. No wife of mine is gonna work.\”
The bonds of matrimony are a good investment, only when the interest is kept up.
Many girls like to marry a military man - he can cook, sew, and make beds, and is in good health, and he\’s already used to taking orders.
Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age, and start bragging about it.
The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know \”why\” I look this way. I\’ve traveled a long way and some of the roads weren\’t paved.
How old would you be if you didn\’t know how old you are?
When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to your youth…. Remember about Algebra.
You know you are getting old, when everything either dries up, or leaks.
I don\’t know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.
One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.
Ah, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.
Old age is when former classmates are so gray and wrinkled and bald, they don\’t recognize you.
If you don\’t learn to laugh at trouble, you won\’t have anything to laugh at when you are old.