camping in august

camping in august at the top of the white mountain peaks...

means 1 thing, which results in two things.

1.  LOTS of rain and hell. (mispelled on purpose)

and

2. MUD.

and special thanks to these guys for leaving me a present outside my tent every morning & mid-afternoon.

they also provided us with entertainment...

CHASING

and RUNNING FROM.

camping also involved many other activities...

1.  riding bikes & 4 wheelers.  safety first, people. safety first. 

2.  crawling in the dirt & mud.  (some more than others)

3.  hanging out with the greats.

ps.  have you ever seen a watermelon peeled? 

it was a first for me too.

4.  driving through the wilderness...checking out fire lines, streams, & old dirt roads.

5. climbing to the top of a HUGE mountain and checking out the scenery.

6.  watching a HAIL storm from the comfort of a trailer.

which resulted in some wet bedding & slight flooding of the tent.

7.  Riding 4-wheelers to streams & rivers.

8. Playing frisbee,crocquet, & roping rocks.

9.  cooking & eating delicious food....usually while holding ms. dotti.

10.  watching a 7 pound pup act like a cow dog. 

which reminds me...ever read the "hank the cowdog" books?...classic stuff.

11.  basically a lot of exploring & chasing this cute, muddy butt around the campsite.

camping in august with the reidhead family is a ton of fun.

can't wait till next time.

sometimes...

sometimes i take pictures.

like a lot of pictures.

then sometimes i forget that some of the pictures of the "day to day" are nothing less than amazing.

(and pretty damn cute)

sometimes  i like to take close-ups. 

and sometimes ms. dotti likes to eat dirt...

and sometimes mr. brody gets sick of me taking close ups...

and sometimes brody and i like to play catch and miss.

check out his form.

if you have amazing eyes and enjoy things such as "where's waldo" you may be able to spot the ball...

and sometimes dot likes to stand here while i'm cooking.

actually she really likes it.

i think the expression on her face says it all...

and last, but DEFINATELY not least, dotti likes to eat black beans.

she likes them a lot.

sometimes my kids make me laugh.

the boy turned 4

so if you didn't hear...the BRODSTER turned 4 on July 1st.  and just so you know, what the 4 year old wants, the 4 year old gets.  he wanted a "fishing party" and thus he got one.  

they got to fish in a murky pond.  i would like to say that they were all successful.  i mean look at those faces...success is right.

we played a little game i like to call "fish, fish, SHARK"...

we blew out the candles on the awesome fruit fish cake.  we also ate "worms in a bun" and drank ocean water.  it was real ocean water, ofcourse...but for some reason it tasted a lot like blue Kool-Aid.

weird.

we opened presents...such as water guns, robots, a fancy scooter, a swimming blow-up dolphin (complete with a dorsel fin), play-doe [my personal favorite],

and a REAL fishing pole.

we finished the party off with a huge chunk of cake, or a cupcake...or both and then a nice ride down the ol slip n' slide. 

brody & co. had a great time from what i can tell.  but what do i know?  i'm just the mom.



80's? yes, please.

so i was born in 1983 (give or take a few months). that said, i am not aware of all the true 80's stuff, but i remember a few things:
1. pegged pants
2. my favorite babysitter rocked the aqua-net hairsprayed "wings" in her hair.
3. stonewashed pants with no pockets on the butt...which made a size 0 look like a 20 when viewing from the rear.
4. bright colored hightops...actually, bright neon colored everything.
5. scrunchies and more hairsprayed big bangs.
6. shoulder pads...some belonging to the dallas cowboys...some belonging to my mom's full piece jump suit with neon paint sploches and sparkles.

however, a few nights ago we were asked to an 80's themed party. will we go? absolutely we will...and we will rock it.
HIGHLIGHT: When we walked in...an hour late...everyone stopped, jaws hit the floor and expressions on faces turned into "WTface". Apparently we had over-dressed for the party...by like 5 layers of make-up and 2 cans of hairspray. Try not to be jealous of my lacy, itchy dress, banana clipped hair, trace's slicked back hair, kelli's make-up, or spencer's hat. also, please note spencer's fannypack.
i'm sure this dress got a lot of whistles once upon a time...a long time ago. 80's prom king and queen? i think yes...we danced. we sang 80's stuff. we ate good food. it was a good party.

{Special thanks to Trace for wearing the outfit kelli and i spent all day searching and digging through thrift stores for...you looked hot, dear.}
{Other special thanks to awesome nikki hughes for inviting us to your fiesta.}

dear June Oh-11

i must say, June, you sure have been one crazy month for the trace & tara porter family. you don't believe me...let me show you. (picture style)
brody was on the Little Dragons t-ball team. trace was one of the coaches. needlesss to say there were many great time had. brody can hit the ball and run super-dooper fast. [even if he does get out and proceeds to run the bases like he slammed a homer.] He'll always be #1 in my book...dirty hands and all.This is his "game face"....I think mine is better. His will develop with time.pep talk by THE coach.total awesomeness...Goooooooo Little Dragons. our little DOT turned uno [for those of you who don't speak spanish that means 1].
Perfect family picture opp...don't you love how i randomly get a cowboy little boy? I do.And this little dolly...she has given me one of the best years of my life. i love her. i love her "man-laugh-chuckle". i love her little dimples. i love her kisses. and i loved that she has tripled weight in the past year. this is the "dot" cake that i tried to do...don't look to close. but scroll down a few pictures and you will realize that it doesn't even matter how cute the cake is. she pretty much eliminates the poor thing.her method: get a handfull, try to get as much of that handful in the mouth as possible. Making progress...if you ask me, the cake didn't have a chance. also, i am pretty sure she enjoyed it...a little. we sent her down the slip-n-slide. she had no complaints so i think she liked it. we also opened presents...she got a walker (not the old lady kind either), clothes, and a little lady bug toy.

So June- back to you- you kept this gal quite busy. thanks for the fun. PS. Tell July to take it easy on the heat...my poor trailer house is like a pepsi can (colder inside when it's cold outside and HOTTER inside when it's hot outside.)

[blocks & brody]

Brody is a builder.
He LOVES to build things:
1. castles.
2. houses.
3. barns.
4. temples.
5. elephant cages.
6. house-trailers.
7. pirate ships.
8. and stuff, and stuff.
We busted out the blocks the other day and let our creative juices flow...
This is HIS masterpiece...a castle for his elephant. (killed 2 birds with that stone.) Like I said before, he LOVES to build.I like to build stuff too...but not so much a castle or anything cool like that.
I built this baby blanket for a dear friend.

and that's all...