This strange week so far

The other night as Emma was showering, we heard a yelp and a call for help to her dad. Well, that's not normal practice for a girl in the shower. Turns out, after she wrapped herself in a towel and came into the den, the shower head just blew off the holder! How the heck does that happen? Just BLEW OFF. So then water went everywhere and then there was just a single stream of water coming out of the spicket. It took 15 minutes to fix whilst Emma stood in the den with wet hair. Ridiculous. I need a new word other than ridiculous for the ridiculous things that happen here at our house.

Then two nights ago our new resident, Milo the black and white kitty disappeared. He was nowhere to be found in our yard or nearby. We called and looked, but to no avail. This morning he reappeared, after a 36 hour unexplained and unexcused absence. He looks MUCH the worse for leave, and moves like a 90 year old man. He's sleeping a lot and only moves when he has to. I fear his story, and the mystery of his whereabouts will never be revealed.

Then last night Dale and Whitney were walking in a nearby subdivision and came across this little feller.

That my friends is a tiny little pencil sized Copperhead, and according to Whitney, it's name is Martha. I however believe poisonous snake's names should be more like Butch or Chainsaw or Fang. How could it's name be Martha? Anyway, after Dale sent me a picture of it, John, Olivia and I jumped in the car to go have a look see and relocate the bugger. John, who many years ago worked in the snake house at our local zoo, is adept at picking up poisonous snakes WITH a grabber thingy. The tiny snake was placed in a minnow bucket with a secure lid, and then Olivia and I made John sit in the backseat with the bucket securely in his grasp. You just can't have poisonous snakes getting loose in the car. It would not be good.

Well, John decided to take it to school this morning to show his toxicology students. Which brings me to what Emma said to her father on the way to school. And I quote, "Just a typical day riding to work, me, Dad and a copperhead." So when he showed the little snake to his class this morning, they were shocked and dismayed to learn that copperheads cohabitate with us in our neighborhoods. But surely they do. And so do their parents. So, step lively!

Which now brings me to tonight and the movie, Moneyball.

Loved it.

And now I'm finished.

Back to the labor day journaling

While Melanie was setting up for the group photos, I was taking some of the riders. Team work. It's awesome.

Lots of cute girls ready to ride. Not sure Ava feels that way.


Cutie pie.


Someone's up to no good. I'm talkin bout Dale, not Ava.


Ben, Brooke and Lola. When I say Lola's name or see her in a picture, I begin singing Copacabana, because "her name was Lola." It's frustrating.


Waiting and ready. I love these big random group photos.


John's taking this time to meditate. Ava's getting excited, Lydia's trying to escape.


Let's see that close up. Yep, excited.


I'm sermizing that Connie's counting the crazies and wondering, "Is there still time to escape with Lydia?"


Close up please. Clearly Connie's counting and plotting. Ben just looks happy.


I'll need that closeup of Brooke, Olivia and Maggie.


Thank you...all 3 of you.


And then I thought I'd take the opportunity to take a pic of Maddie, Mollie and Becky....it was a disaster. I have no idea what Becky was doing here. When is a teeth clench ever a good photo idea? Maddie's turn to close the eyes. Dale's still up to something.


A little better but still not the money shot.


Rebecca! THIS was the money shot!


Ugh, it's become impossible to get this pic in good form.


But now Jared's mugging in the background, two clowns jumped in the middle and it's OVER. Jared in the background, clowns in the middle, closed eyes in the foreground. You can see the disappointment on Maddie's face. She's thinking, "Amateurs."


Group photos are a must for every hayride. It's a great way to "take roll" and remember everyone who was there. As you'll see in the following pictures, there were many people on the trailer. That's why in the last few years we've had an "annex" vehicle. Hayrides are fun, especially when you ride in a car, which has become necessary because our group's gotten so large we can't fit on one trailer. And think about it, having two trailers, one behind the other, would just look silly. And the Billie June needs a comfy place to ride...and so do I.

Everyone looks close to ant size in the full group shots. I've done some cropping so we can have close up views to search for interesting looks. So let's get started, shall we?

People are still milling, looking as small as ants.


Not much going on here but nail biting and eye gouging.


Maggie's suiting up with glowing neon, Carlie....that's just awkward, Mollie and Emma....I'm sorry. Whit and Otis are excited and ready to ride, little girls looking cute.


Seniors to the right please.


Pea sized people.


Randy and Carrie have classic closed eyes. Me thinks Ben suspects someone of being gassy. Lindsey's still working on that fingernail.


Peeps at the other end are mesmerized by my story telling. I'm out of the frame cause I got sick of cropping the same stinking photo 40 times. Ava's adorning herself in neon. Emma and Ella were photo ready.


Peeps in the middle, boring. Except for Maggie who's obviously comparing her fists.

Props to Emma who came up with the fists commentary. I totally missed it and was completely disappointed in myself.

People down yonder way.


Jeff looks forlorn. Lindsey gleeful. Randy and Tori are thinking, take the photo already!


Lip lickers to the left please. Owen, you know how I feel about closed eyes. Maggie's happy she figured out her fists. Why is Bill in time out?


Dale and Ava were both checking to see if their tongues were in working order.


Yep her's is.


Just a few more to go.


A little closer please.


Cute.


The other end almost had it together for a great pic. OWEN! EYES OPEN!


This is the money shot even though it's far away.


Yep, all eyes open and ready.


Yes! I think we have a winner.


One more try.


Everyone's excited it's almost over.


The end of group photo taking is almost here.


People dispersed after the group shots and jockeyed for positions.


Heading out any minute. Watch that step Rebecca.


Cute.


Looks like everyone's ready and then something terrible happened...Bill checked to make sure he'd worn deodorant.


"Oh man!" He realizes he forgot. Looks like Jeff had already figured it out thinking,"Dude you stink."


But Bill's decided to play it cool.


And point the finger at Lindsey being stinky.


So we had truck riders, truck bed riders, trailer riders and car riders. Although we have no pics of the car or truck riders, a terrible oversight.


So off we went, trailer and car, winding down old pitch dark dirt roads.


Blurry evidence we were hayriding, without hay.


People must hang on carefully.


I like these next 4 pics of the hay riders and truck bed riders taken by the car riders.


Can't sneak nothing past the Beckster or Maddie...both pointing at me sticking out of the top of Melanie's car taking photos.


Once more with feeling.


We stopped to do some star gazing and even took a wrong turn that ended us up in someone's front yard....with a no trespassing sign.

I would say seniors in the truck bed. But since Becky's in the pic, I'll refrain.


Sorry Emma but this photo of Ava amused me and the reaching hand as well.


I like Carlie in the background, Ava in mid tongue check and Emma's? I don't know.


Once again Ava's cracking me up with that face and those hair flippers on either side.


This also amused me....Mollie dreaming of she and Whitney living in separate houses.


Much better.


Maya just told the funniest joke.


Cute.


This became a photo shoot of Maggie and Maya.


And then just Maya.


Pictures like these on hayrides amuse me greatly. Pitch black and then BAM! A flash of light and people are instantly blinded .


Cute pic.


Another cute pic.


While Jared and Carlie are posing, Maya's standing guard in the background.


There's a lot of enthusiasm is this photo.


At one point in the trip, Ava began tossing glowing neon over the side. We suspected she was leaving a trail in case we got lost. Smart kid.


Surprise!


Gotta love hayride pics.


Another good pic. In the background, Maya's still on duty and Maggie's star gazing.


Close up!


Otis' tail went with.


Love this.


There were no dentists on the hayride Carlie.


Ava's reaching out to her peeps.


Otis came with his tail.


Otis again.


Ava's having neon jewelry issues.


Maddie's being vocal about something.


Still having issues.


Wind is always a factor on hayrides.


Bug in the eye! But still cute!


Ha ha ha this makes me laugh.


Cute again.


Taking inventory of the neons.


And just when everyone was as dusty as possible, we got back to the farm late enough that it took until 2:00am for everyone to get a shower!

Yep, it was fun fun fun.

There was still time for swinging.


And sitting on the back porch.


Competition for the shower got fierce.


Let's see that close up.


Shameful father and daughter fight. Carlie beat down the senior.


And there you have it. Once again this took forever to complete. I'll be checking later for typos. I'm sure there are some. But frankly, I'm sick of it!