Screaming

I would like to remove the vocal chords of the person who invented the scream!! What a horrible thing to start and share with others. It's like a nasty Bologna sandwich with mayo-yuck. So we finally made it to the library(the way COOL library that used to be someones mansion)Grant had wanted to go for a while but with Brig being sick and then Grant and Claire being sick we never could go. We were finally there. I came prepared or so I thought with a diaper and wipes. Brig had already had a stinker not long ago so I thought the only one that will maybe need a change will be Claire-wrong!! Both had horrific smells coming from their diapers. So armed with 1 diaper I changed Brig in the bathroom and headed out to the car to change Claire. I did and left her diaper under the tire to take home with us-it would be too cruel to throw it in the library's garbage can-yes it was that bad. So on our way back into the kids room I decided I would make a pit stop myself. I couldn't just leave Claire and Brig outside the bathroom(like I had left Grant in the kids room this whole time) so they came in with me. Here come the screams!! Oh what fun it is to SCREAM and LAUGH in a deathly quiet library bathroom that echos so well!! They thought it was funny and I was furious! I finished as fast as I could washed my hands and started drying them with the dryer(all the time telling them to both stop right now, while they just kept on screaming and laughing) While I was drying my hands a knock comes at the door!! (CRAP I think) it's a librarian and she is really mad because some obnoxious kids are in the bathroom just having a ball. I opened the door and much to my relief it was just 2 teenage girls. We went back to the kids room and all was well. Even before the bathroom though..we had just gotten there. The kids were playing with toys and I was looking for some books to check out. Brig got the great idea that he is going to wander over to the librarians desk and check out the stuff on top. He finds a little vase-full of water-why not-there were NO FLOWERS -just water waiting to be tipped!! Here we go-he tipped it all over the desk-which had books, papers, all sorts of junk, and a COMPUTER on it! I raced over with my handy dandy wet wipes and started mopping water as fast as I could. (note to self and anyother human that carries wet wipes around on a regular basis:they don't mop up water very well-duh!)I told Grant to RUN to the bathroom and get a ton of paper towels-he came back with a wad of toilet paper-which I later understood why-no paper towels just dryers for hands. I continued to mop and move stuff including the computer and everything else. Luckily we were the only ones in there at the time. Why can't kids just leave well-enough alone! While there a little girl-Brigs age came in with her mom? and two other "girls" none of them were that old. She kept trying to put a construction hat on Brig and he didn't want it so he kept saying "no,no,no" finally one of them slapped her and she said "stupid"! Way to go-what a word for your 1 year old to learn! And ya wonder why America is so messed! Poor kid she was really cute but has a long up hill road ahead of her.

Prelude to a Post

The Great Weekend Adventure

Warning: Contains Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease, High Fevers, and Sore Throats. Read at your own risk! We were going to start our weekend out by going camping with some people from the ward but Brig got sick and so we ended up not being able to go. Grant was crushed! He had been looking forward to going so much. So we decided to set up our 12' by 10' six man tent in our living room and "camp". We could barely move from the dining room to the living room but we got the tent up. We cooked hot dogs on the stove and had indoor S'mores. The kids watched a movie in the tent and fell asleep during it. Cam and Grant slept in the tent and Audrey and Claire slept in the kids room. Little sleep was had and 6:30 a.m. came early. We had promised Grant we would take him fishing so we loaded up and headed off to Punderson State Park for a day at the beach and fishing. Brig was immediately magnetized to the water and never left it except for an occasional sandy cracker snack attack. We caught an enormous "panfish" that measured about 4 inches--fought like the devil. We watched a Division of Wildlife Officer ticket a Canadian guy who wouldn't stay within the buoys to swim. Among other things we had some annoying kids whose dad was out kayaking on the lake take our shovels and sand toys to play with. He would get mad when Brig went to play with the stuff! Audrey basically ended up babysitting 5 or 6 kids it seemed. Brig and Claire had a ball and got sand everywhere you could imagine. Grant enjoyed fishing and we tried to have patience as we untangled line caught in the weeds from stray casts. We got home and decided since we hadn't done enough already we'd go shopping to get Cam some new church clothes. We stopped at probably 6 different stores and the volume level increased with each stop. Claire was true to form in Bath and Body Works and screamed the whole time for dad. Had it not been for the loud music in the store it would have been quite a scene. We then got home scolded them soundly and put them to bed--Not before Grant had a sore throat and Claire felt like she was going to throw up! Grant and Claire ended up with blazing fevers and Tyrannasaurus sized tonsils. Audrey slept with Claire in her bed and discovered a new definition of bunk-bed back. We ended our weekend taking the kids on a walk to get the sickies out of the house. As we left the house, ominous black clouds were gathering fast. It didn't take long and we were in a deluge of Ohio rain, running with Claire in the double stroller Grant riding his bike and Audrey carrying the trike. Ahh, memories. We had dinner, popped popcorn and watched part of good ol' Swiss Family Robinson. Motrin is going down like water around here...each of our kids has their dispenser cup of it. Good Night Nurse! The Beck Family

Saturday in a Nutshell

Saturdays are always a mixed day of fun, tears, dirt, sticky faces, driving and a myriad of other things. Today was just one of those Saturdays again. Cam went to help a family move in the ward and then we planned to head to the Akron Zoo, then back to feed the missionaries dinner. Grant is a total addict when it comes to Saturday Morning Cartoons, so it does not matter if your bladder is going to explode or if your sleep bugs are out of your eyes yet or not. Grant is on his "spot" on the couch at dark-thirty(with CRANKY Claire) at his side for cartoons. After that it's pancakes for breakfast. Dad leaves for the move and all heck breaks loose. Mom tries to pack for the day, take a shower, put out fires, change too many diapers and keep the kids out of the candy cupboard, and their fingers out of slammed doors(Brig got the finger slam today) Our day was over and it wasn't even 11:00 yet. Cam gets home and we are off to the Zoo. We went to the Akron Zoo because we have a pass to the Cleveland Zoo and we can get in for free at the Akron one so we thought we would give it a try. The drive was nice. Brig was sooo funny. He kept pretend sleeping! I have never seen a kid that young do it. He would close his eyes like he was sleeping and then open them to see if we were looking at him. He did this for about 5 minutes and then was OUT. Claire was soon to follow-she is a perma-tired girl. What would a trip to anywhere farther than 30 minutes be without a trip to a eatery of some sort? Poor Cam was beside himself with hunger so we stopped at the Golden Arches and got two large fries. (Not just for Cam mind you, he did share one of them with the fam) We made it to the Zoo finally, they were having a bike race and every road we wanted to turn on was blocked for the race. At least the officers were nice and told us how to get there. We were excited because they had a jelly fish exhibit that was cool. The kids had a fun time. Grant got to feel a star fish which he loved, and Claire was not going to give up her marker at the coloring table for anything. She was rather snobby about it too!! Brig was loving running around getting in peoples way and just being cute. At one point we all sat on a bench for lunch. Brig was next to me and I think I put a little too much jam on his sandwich. It was all over him and all over me. Some drops of jam landed on my shorts so I stared flicking them off , I felt so bad for Cam, I didn't realize that I was flicking them onto HIS shorts!(He was now standing trying to help clean Brig up) OOPS!!! It was pretty funny! The highlight for Brig was a worm. He would pick it up and throw it up and let it drop to the sidewalk. He did it again and again and thought it was too funny. We had a good time but we would not go back again. On our way there we passed a Krispy Kreme shop and you know what that means. We had to stop on the way back. Claire was having so much fun eating her donut in the car while her hair was flying all over. She sure does have fun.

Dream Home and more!

In our many travels throughout Ohio, we came across a home that we have claimed as our "Dream Home". We plan on purchasing it at some point in our delusional lives. We love how it has such a HUGE yard and is perched on a little hill. The old architecture is pretty cool too. Brig is King of the Hill around here it seems. He thinks he can eat whatever he wants whenever he wants. T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

Recent Snapshots from Saturday

We did a triathlon on Saturday! We started out at the local library for the Big Rigamarole Truck display. They had fire, police and garbage trucks on display which the kids enjoyed seeing. After that we decided to head to Patterson Fruit Farm where we found some lunch and some delicious doughnuts. They had some trails so we went on a little walk and saw a few ponds and an apple orchard. It was a nice break and it was good to be outdoors. Audrey then went with the missionaries and we had a "backyard blowout" as the kids called it--basically a no holds barred water fight. It was a day. Today, Sunday, was good. Happy Father's day to all the great fathers in our lives!

Beck Kid Pictures

A friend took these pictures of the kids. Enjoy!