Eskimo Kisses

Cyrus spent most of the day today recovering from yesterday's harrowing experience...surviving the thunderstorms.  As I was walking by his beloved sleeping place...MY bed...I couldn't help but smile and grab the camera to get a shot of him giving his favorite stuffed animal an Eskimo kiss.  He LOVES his liger (lion/tiger = liger) and sleeps with it every night.  As a matter of fact, at 10 p.m. each night, he grabs his liger, parades around the dining room table, pausing in front of our coffee table like he's wondering if we're coming to bed, and then off he goes to cuddle with his liger...in MY bed.  I wonder if he can secretly tell time.

Hide and Seek

Cyrus has become a bigger baby than he already was.  For some reason, he is now scared of clouds.  It began last year then he became afraid of thunder...which progressed into being afraid of lightning...which progressed into being afraid of rain...which has since progressed into being afraid of clouds.  Seriously.  I now have to give him Valium to try and help him cope with storms.  He starts to shake when he looks out the window and sees dark clouds approaching.  He shivers, pants, and tries to dig furiously at anything and everything while looking for a place to hide.  Today's storms found a new hiding place for him...under our plant.  I have to give him credit for originality.  Since it doesn't seem like his Valium is calming his nerves, I think I'll give it a try to see if it calms my nerves.  My patience is wearing thin...and it's not even summer yet.

Happy Harry Fest 19

Harry Fest 19 was a fun time on Saturday.  Food, drinks, rides, live music, a poker run, and a silent auction...it had something for everyone.  Matt, a.k.a. the President of the Harry Stout Foundation, has been logging some long hours for the past couple of months.  The goal of Harry Fest is to raise money while celebrating Harry's life.  For those of you who don't know about Harry, he was a classmate of Keaton's who passed away suddenly at the age of 12.  Matt (and Harry's Dad, Joe Stout) coached Harry in basketball.  It was a tragic loss here...but Joe found a positive way to celebrate Harry's life and keep Harry's compassion alive.  When Harry was in elementary school, he asked if he could buy a pair of shoes for an underprivileged classmate.  Harry then put the shoes in the student's locker anonymously.  WOW!  That just shows what an awesome kid Harry was.  So, this led Joe to form a non-profit organization that helps kids around the area.  Harry's Foundation donates shoes to the 'First Day Shoes' program in Kalamazoo...a group that gives new shoes to underprivileged students for their first day of school.  They offer senior scholarships to students in Plainwell and Otsego  (Harry went to Plainwell and Joe attended Otsego).  They give money to area school band programs...Joe is a drummer and music was such an important part of Harry's life.  It's just an all-around feel-good organization that lives by Harry's code:  Eat, drink, and be Harry!

Our Trip to Hell and Back

We went to Hell and back last weekend.  Seriously.  We visited Hell, Michigan while we were camping in nearby Pinckney.  Matt and his partner (his adventure race partner...this isn't Jerry Springer) had their Spring Fling race last Saturday.  (Hey, wait a minute...Spring Fling?  Matt doesn't have a "partner".)  Matt and his partner (maybe I should clarify...his race partner) were in the lead after the canoeing portion of the race.  They said they did well biking.  But, orienteering was challenging for them both.  Each had ideas about where they were and the best way to get there.  They couldn't agree quickly about the best route to take.  (I personally think they're beginning to sound like an old married couple.)  Over the winter, they took a search and rescue class and are now officially certified not to get lost in the woods.  Somehow, their training didn't really give them extra help and they finished five minutes after their allotted time.  They were so disappointed.  So, after they showered and dosed up on ibuprofen, we went to Hell.  We stopped for ice cream (who knew you could get ice cream there?) and looked around a bit.  It was interesting...not as hot as I was expecting.  There wasn't any fire or brimstone.  Nobody with horns.  It was actually a cute little drive-by kind of town.  I imagine my hell would be something completely cluttered, disorganized, and dirty...and I wouldn't have any cleaning supplies or my label maker.

So, we enjoyed our first weekend of camping for the year.  Keaton came home to babysit Cyrus.  Keaton had some friends over and this time none of the neighbors called the police.  Whew!  We came home and Keaton had a nice big bag waiting for me for Mother's Day.  He bought me a plant, some jewelry, and (best of all) a Snickers.  He just may win the "Son of the Year" award again this year.  Matt washed the motor home and I got to spend the rest of the day watching movies that Matt and Keaton won't watch with me.  Cyrus, however, cuddled with me and enjoyed watching the movies.  He just may be my favorite now...until someone brings me a Snickers.