Life Goes On Even When I Get Really Old

Just got back from 5 days at Scout Camp. There are some things that are totally new to Scout Camp and things that just never change. Here's a list:

THINGS THAT DIDN'T CHANGE IN THE LAST 15 YEARS
- Staying up way later than you should
- Waking up way before you want to
- Disgusting mess hall food that barely qualifies as sustenance
- Older kids bully younger kids
- Younger kids bully even younger kids
- Mosquitoes that suck, literally
- Extremely lame camp songs, including that one about the sharks and swimming away from the sharks
- Merit badges, including the basketry kit and leather making kit
- Boondoggle key chains (I can't believe this is still happening)
- Trading Post where you buy tons of soda and candy to make up for the crappy food
- Flag ceremonies
- Communal showers that no one uses, so everyone stinks

THINGS THAT DID
- People asking me how old I am
- Having to tell bullies to stop it and being authoritative
- Taking kids to hospital when they get hurt (twice)
- Pretending to like the weird songs and activities in order to encourage youth to go to them
- Herding kids from merit badge to merit badge
- Being the jerk that wakes you up at 6am for breakfast
- Nicer tents and cots to sleep on
- Wishing you had cell phone service

It was a good week, but very stressful and exhausting. I don't know if I could have made it the entire week. 12 kids, at least half only 12 years old. I need a vacation from that vacation.

Baby Cub

Where you at baby boy? You are at your first Cubs game! My work had a night out and we decided to all go to a Cubs game. It was an awesome night, except for maybe the humidity that gave me butt rash and chaffing. You know the feeling. Otherwise, couldn't have been more awesome. Max was the perfect fan - giggled, smiled and ate his way through all 9 innings.

Another bonus? He got to meet my coworkers. Here is the Boj holding Max like a pro. He's getting ready to have his second, so he's been around the block when it comes to babies.

More classy coworkers, havin' some beers and watchin' the game. True.

My boss enjoyed giving Max bones and repeating, "this kid is ridiculous! Does he ever cry? He just smiles and smiles."

On our way out we got Max some memorabilia. He held it with pride.

Don't forget this picture with his name tag. I mean, wow. This kid is a ham.

Final Votes

We Mulcock's are fond of the secret ballot. Any time a tough decision arises in our family, we take it to secret ballot to decide our fate. During my vacation in KY (yeah, I know I said I was done but I realized I had even more exciting KY moments!!!) we were trying to decide what movie to see. It was between Date Night, Day and Knight and Toy Story 3. We all cast our ballots.

The results? Day and Knight won out.

But first we kicked it at Gumbo YaYa. If I had my way, I would eat at Gumbo YaYa every freakin' day that I'm in Lexington. It is freakin' fantastic.I mean, look at that. So amazing. Plus its like $6 for a massive amount of food. OH man I wish I had gumbo yaya in my mouth right now. But not in my stomach, cause there is a lot of masticated nachos in there at the moment.

Do you see how happy I am?

Then dessert. We were going to go to some cool cupcake place, but it was closed, so we hit up Krispee Kreme. Remember them? How long has it been since you've been in one of those?

They are delicious, let's be honest about that.

Devin freakin' agrees! He devoured his with vigor.

America, America - God shed his grace on thee (and thy donuts).

Wanna See My Midwest Foliage

Sunday night required a happy stroll through the rolling hills of the KY. A modern day southern belle, that's what Beeps is.

It really was a beautiful night, and you have to agree that KY is the perfect mix of Midwest, south and in some ways, east.

Fences, trees, sunsets - so romantic. Don't worry, no kissing took place. Family kissing is wrong.

A close up of the KY wild flowers.

The weeds, so plentiful and yet, majestic. Its almost as if I expected a group of wild horses to come charging over this hill.

The proper Mulcocks. So mannered, so composed. Slightly sweaty.

We hit right when the sun was starting to drop, so it made for good photos of leaves in the setting sun.

I may or may not have been judged by my family for wearing black socks with my linen shorts (lorts). Listen, it was Sunday. Its what you DO.

Then Shell got a hold of the camera and started practicing her skills again. A very well framed shot of mom.

And bros - using a map to find their way. So un-manly.

Remember what I said about the setting sun? Well BOOM IN YOUR FACE FOOLS!

Caitlin's favorite flower! It made me miss her terribly since she was in Idaho at this time.

You may not know that KY can also have some very wooded areas, not unlike the amazon jungle.

Beeps had to brave a path through the wilderness and did so bravely. Such skill in the world of pioneering and exploration. You should see her with a compass!!

And that was the end of my KY trip to see Beeps and Bodge. Love those guys to death. Love KY to death. Can't wait for them to come to IL again and see precious baby boy. I love having family all over the US sometimes - it just makes for great traveling.

Max and I go to Idaho!

While Jeff was working hard for the money, Max and I decided to take a vacation and head to Idaho! Max and I missed Jeff terribly, but we wouldn't let that stop us from having a good time. First we flew into Boise where GramPamsky picked us up. Grampamsky is very in tune to her daughter-in-law's needs and therefore she took us straight to Costa Vida (Boise's version of Cafe Rio.) We would spend the next 24 hours with the Mulcocks. We had a fabulous time and Max felt very adored and loved as evidenced in the pictures below.
Notice Papa D's awesome t-shirt- "Mi nombre es Papa D"

We woke up Unky Mike so that he could play with Max before we were on to the next adventure.

As you can tell, Max and Unky Mike got along very well! We went to lunch with fam Mulcock and then we were off to go with fam Winmill.

Hooray! Max finally meets a few of his Singapore cousins and see his Idaho cousins and Grandma! There were many reasons for this trip to Idaho and one of those reasons was to see my sister and her family. My sister Kristen and her family have been living in Singapore for almost five years and we only get to see them once a year if we are lucky. At this time, we would only see Claire, Eliza, and Ben as Kristen, Brady and my new nephew Will were in Africa.

Another reason for the trip to Idaho was to attend my family reunion outside of Hagerman, Idaho. Growing up, we would go camping a dozen times a year with all my cousins and aunts so I was excited to see my family who I haven't seen in years! These are the cousins that I grew up with: Jared, Brandon, Eric,and Shelby. It was fun to finally meet their spouses and children.

This reunion was extra special because we were also celebrating my grandparent's 70th wedding anniversary and 90th birthdays.

This is our family tree. Each color represents the family of each of their 8 children. My family are the green leaves.

Some fun photos of my grandparents.

After spending a fun weekend camping, we were ready to go to Pocatello to get showered and then get ready for our next adventure. While I was in Pocatello, I was able to see some of my favorite people. This is Whitney with her son Zen and Max. Whitney was my best friend growing up and it was so fun to see her. We also got to see some of my other dear friends: Juls, Kirst, Pam, Spence, Hailey and meet their spouses and kids.

After spending a day in Pocatello, it was time to head to Victor, Idaho where my sister and parents just purchased a summer home. Kristen, Brady, and Will would meet us there. Here we are at the Victor 4th of July parade. Siblings!! It is a rare occasion when we are all together as Jeff lives in DC, Carley in Boise, and Kristen in Singapore and soon to be moving to South Africa.

This is the pond just outside of the summer house. We had to get some pics of the cousins.

Papa and Nana with all their grand kids. Lydia is stoked about this picture as you can tell.

After spending almost a week in Victor, it was time to go back to Chicago. We had a fabulous time but we were ready to go back to Daddy. Thanks again family for such a wonderful time!

We love you guys and can't wait to see you in Hawaii in August!

A Modern Day Outrage

Do you ever question the quality and sanitary standards of the Keebler Elf factory? I mean, first of all, it's all happening in a gutted out tree. Second, and you've all seen the commercials, those elves are not wearing gloves while they handle those cookies covered in chocolate. Third, I believe I saw a few elves who were definitely too young to be working - and occasionally you'll see one fall in a vat of chocolate.

Honestly, it looks like The Jungle, and I just don't know if I can support them any more.

Explosive Like Fireworks

After dinner, we hurried off to watch the fireworks in downtown Lexington. As we were driving down, we saw a big group of people parked up on the hill next to the UK stadium. We knew it, we had the perfect spot. We sat down to watch the sun set and got ready for the display of our lives.

Tender moments in the grass. Has there ever been or will be bro-in-laws so close and tender? No.

Then night fell and this was our view. What the freak? We were like 9 miles from them and they were behind the stadium!

Seriously...what were all those people thinking? Had on person just sat down there and then hundreds blindly followed? I guess we did, so why not others?

Here's me being super duper duper excited by the firework display. But then in the depression of it all, we got a great idea. Let's take ridiculous jumping pictures! (this kind of reminded me of another fireworks display a while back).

Risking the chance that it would look like I was taking a dump, I squatted down to prepare for my huge jump into the air. Unfortunately, the only thing captured was my squat. Thanks beeps.

So I got behind the controls and captured this beauty. Michelle Jordan catches air!

Then Devin took this beauty. I'm glad that he was able to place my fat belly right in the center of the frame. Masterful artwork Devbodge.

Air Nelsons! It looks like these guys are jumping down into the very center of hell, and doing so with a vengeance.

Then it was time for on the ground jump shots, which really just turn into inappropriate crotch and butt shots, like the one above.

Devbodge butt view. Don't you like his J. Crew shorts?

Would any activity on this trip be appropriate and wholesome? Only time will tell in our next post...