Diaper In The Air

Weekends with children are a very busy time especially if you sign them up for sports.  We try to sign our children up for one activity per season to keep them active and to support the oil and gas industry.  We go to school, home, practice, home, games, practice, extra practice, games, other people's games, etc...fill the car up with gas and start all over again.  This weekend my husband planned a family outing.  We have a gigantic pond and it is void of vegetation and sufficient fish to control the algae, so we went to what I will call, "POND WORLD!!"

Jaws the Koi

More large Koi.  Prices ranging from $800-$1200.
We bought......NONE.

Beautiful water plants that cost $50...we bought NONE.

More beautiful plants...I got 1!!!!!!!

I really wanted this one, but $79 was not an option. 

The alligator Brett wanted to buy for the pond,
"Mom, it is only $500 on sale!!"

The rock I WANTED, but did not buy.

Baby Tree Frog....FREE
(he eluded capture)

First, we attended Chloe's volleyball game where, although they lost(we don't keep score), all of the girls played very well.  We were pumped!!  We jumped into my husband's CAR to go to POND WORLD.  Do you notice a problem, yet?  We drive over one hour due to bathroom breaks, food stops and poor navigation(I was driving) to arrive at the Disneyland of pond stores.  The entrance looks like a tropical paradise and the sound of trickling water coming from every corner of the property makes you wonder if you actually have to go teetee or to sleep.  As we approach one of the in-ground ponds, a large(think Jaws) Koi surfaces to check if we are offering food.  Brett says, "That is the kind of fish we need.  We can ride it like a dolphin."

We walked around the picturesque property trying to find the best and most affordable plants.  We found many options and ended up taking home about ten different plants and NO Koi.  We wanted to take a baby Tree Frog home, but he eluded capture by jumping into the plant abyss.  Brett was disappointed.  The woman who works at Pond World was very helpful and kindly informed us that Brett's new turtle, Turtle Lee Stricker, is not a great creature to have in the habitat as he will eat the plants.  If he is spotted eating the expensive water plants, he will be Turtle Stew Stricker later this week.

After we select all of our plants it takes about an hour for each plant to be removed from its location and careful packaged in clear plastic for transport.  One of the plants is over six feet tall.  We walk over to the CAR and begin to plan a tetris type loading system in our heads as we mentally realize we are in the CAR and not the SUV.  I'm happy to report that our children did, in fact, wear a seatbelt, but they where riding in a jungle for the entire one hour drive home.  I regret not taking a picture of Jungle Book in the backseat.

We hurry home to unload our new treasure and change gears to attend Brett's flag football game.   As I've mentioned before, I was not all that excited about watching flag football because my son is often more entertained by the outdoors than the game.  Today was different.  I'm watching Brett stand facing the other team ready to start the play.  He pulls his mouth guard out and says something to the player on the other team and sticks it back in his mouth and then sticks to that kid like glue for the play.  This scenario occurs throughout the game.  My son is either trying to intimidate the other players OR is he offering advice about the feeding and care of a frog?  We get through the game and we ask, "Brett, what were you saying to the other kid?"  He replies, "I was saying things like DIAPER IN THE AIR!"  Oh, ok?  So now my kid is a trash talking tough guy who dominates the line?  I can't wait until the  next game to see what Brett does to surprise us.  Pure entertainment.

One last stop.  The grocery store and then home to cook dinner and hopefully bed before 11pm.  The best part of today was the family time.  Everything is fun when you do it with the whole happy family!!