Our Trip to Bar 10 Ranch

Tisha and I had a blast in Las Vegas. Well that's not completely true. We actually spent very little time in Vegas at all. It was the surrounding areas we had all our fun in. Here are a few pictures of our adventure to Bar 10 Ranch. I'll write more about it in a few days.


To view all the pictures, click here.

Ian's Birthday Party

The West's, the O'Donnell's, and Michael (one of our neighbors also known as our 4th child) got together to celebrate Ian's birthday this past week. Here are some pictures of the fun and festivities:

Ian and Michael.

Ian opening the watch we bought him. Ginger is also getting an early look at the baby jumper she'll be getting when Grandma Mickey goes to Brazil to see her 4th Grandchild.

Mom helping Ian set his new watch.

Ian's Zelda Shield Cake made by Tisha "The Queen of Birthday Cakes" O'Donnell.

All the kids ready for the birthday song.

Happy birthday Ian!

To see more pictures, visit Jim's Photo albums on his Facebook page.

Fun on the 4th of July

The O'Donnell Clan had a blast at the lake this 4th of July weekend! We had fun fishing, swimming, and watching fireworks at Grandpa Eddie and Grandma Mickey's lake house. This is one of our favorite holidays!

Besides the fishing and the swimming, the real fun starts when we get together with some of the neighbors and head out for the fireworks show. This is put on by a local business owner, and it's turned into quite the event. They shoot off thousands of dollars of fireworks and the show lasts about 25 minutes. They shoot them off literally one after the other and lead up to a grand finally at the end. Personally, I'd say this show rivals any I've ever seen with the exception of Disney. You will see some pictures of this toward the end of the slide show, but it doesn't do the show justice.





Thanks, as always, to the Moore's for their generosity! Every year they feed us and take us out on their pontoon boat for this event. They have created some wonderful memories for my family!

The two songs included in this slide show are from the Shrek movie soundtrack. To see a complete list of the songs on this album, or to purchase a copy, click here.

Camping with Ian

There are few thing I enjoy more than spending time with Ian. He is one of the most fun loving, energetic, creative kids I know. He has really embraced the Scouts and their ideals, and I'm proud of him for it.

Our trip to Camp Bob Harden was an adventure. When we got there, we were under the impression we would be sleeping in an Adirondack. It turns out we were bumped to a tent, or kind of a tent anyway.



The problem wasn't the comfort, we are used to roughing it, it was the breathability. It was 98 degrees that day, but with both sides of the tent opened up, we did okay.

Ian was a pack by himself this year, so we were teamed up with some other loners. One didn't show (guess it was too hot), but Ben did come, and Ian made a new friend.




At the opening campfire, the staff always does some skits for the Scouts. By far, the favorite was Sugarboy. Sugarboy passed out during the skit, and the only way the other actors could revive him was by pouring sugar down his gullet. In went the moonpies, the honeybuns, a can of coke, and finally straight sugar.



The young man (Andrew) was hence forth known as Sugarboy, and everywhere he went, the Scouts would chant, Sugarboy, Sugarboy, Sugarboy.


Part of Webelos Camp is classes. Ian had two clear favorites. The one he liked best was boating. This is the first time he has had the chance to go out in a canoe, and he loved it. The coolest thing we learned was how to help someone that has capsized in their canoe by dragging their canoe across ours to empty any water out of it, and then helping them get back in without tipping it again.




After boating, Ian liked Ready Man best. This is were the Scouts learn how to administer CPR, how to deal with crisis situations, and how to generally be aware of their surrounding. I think, more so than just the fact that this is a topic of interest to Ian, that he liked this class because of the teacher. Dave really enjoyed teaching the kids and they could tell it. Kids are not dumb, they can tell when someone is genuinely interested in them, and Dave really poured himself into each of the Scouts. He's a very impressive young man.




Anthony, the activities coordinator, is another great example of someone willing to pour himself into the next generation. He donates 8 weeks of his time each year to help Scouts grow and mature (the rest of the time he works in drug enforcement). This year the camp had a Pirate theme. You can tell he is dedicated! He wore this outfit half the day in 100 degree heat!




One of the highlights of our stay was we did get to move into an Adirondack, which was fun, I've never slept in one before.




Our least favorite part of our stay was a latrine.




Let's just say Ian and I are still pumping ourselves full of laxatives to get over "holding it" for a while. :)

Would I recommend Camp Bob Harden? Absolutely! Ian and I had so much fun! The camp is older, but very well run. The staff is great, the director was dynamite, and we learned a lot. I look forward to going back with Aidan one day.

Going Camping with Ian

Ian and I (Dad) are headed to the mountains for a few days of camping. We'll be bunking down in an Adirondack shelter with another pack of Webelos because Ian is the only one going from pack 79 this year. I'll be off-line for a while because of this trip, but I'll have my camera with me, so expect some pictures.

Mia and Doctor Ben

Okay. Here's how it all started. Yesterday, Mia had an appointment to get a filling at Doctor Ben's office. Everything started out fine, but rumor has it, Mia received some unsettling news about needles from her older brother that apparently didn't sit well with her. So when Doctor Ben got ready to numb her up, Mia freaked out. She clamped that little mouth shut, and nothing would convince her to open it. Now Mia is usually very good about things like this, but she had a bad infection a few months ago that required a very painful shot in the leg, so needles are not on her "happy" list right now.

Doctor Ben gave her a hug, told her we'd try again tomorrow, and sent her home. Well that night Mia got a good talking to. We explained what Doctor Ben would do and assured her that he wouldn't do anything to hurt her, he only wanted to help. In fact, Doctor Ben is known as "Gentle Ben", and the nickname fits!

Well , Mia said she was sorry and promised to do better when she went back; and she did.

Here she is in the chair getting ready for Doctor Ben to come in.

After he laid her back, he put the numbing agent in her mouth to get her ready for the shot of novacaine.

When the shot came, Mia tightened up her fists and took it like a big girl.

When everything was done, she and Doctor Ben gave a big thumbs up!

It's hard to be brave sometimes, isn't it Mia? I'm proud of you though! You overcame your fear and did what you needed to do. You're the finest young lady I know!

A Date With Aidan

It's not often that we get some alone time with Aidan, but with Ian spending the night with his friend Charles and Mia spending the night with her Grandparents, we had him all to ourselves.

We started our date with a trip to the Olive Garden.

He spent most of the meal telling us about all his future plans. Most involved Indianan Jones, Ironman, and Spiderman of course.

We then finished our night at Brewster's for some ice cream. Aidan chose the dirt sundae.

You will never meet a happier or more imaginative child than Aidan. He's a source of inspiration to us.