The Cuckoo Bird Is In The Banana Tree (Days 12-16)

I'm so behind and have so many things to talk about that I don't know what to write about first. I guess that's a good thing. Anyway, let's browse through the pictures to see what I've been doing lately....

Ah yes, now I remember. Last Thursday we had the skate park because it was no longer raining out, and the kids were eager to skate because a lot of them just got back from trips and vacations, and Wednesday we had no skate park because of the rain. Here are some pictures from Thursday.
So that was a most excellent (most hot) occasion.

Friday David was coming over, so I cleaned my room up and prepared for a sleep over of epic proportions and caliber. He came a little later than expected because of an incident involving some extra spicy nachos from a gas station. Ooo, not pretty.

Anyway, when he got here, we excitedly embarked on an exploratory mission in to the pine forest near my house. We ended up exploring to see what else there was back there, but didn't find much more than spider webs and really hot weather. We had fun, but were out there for at least an hour and came back to the house looking for some down time.

What we did at that time has completely escaped me. The little rascal is hiding in the bushes somewhere, but I can't seem to see him. Well, no matter. What happened later is of greater consequence.

As daylight started fading and summer heat began to diminish, we again set out. This time, after we'd gotten some taco bell I believe, we went to the area behind Spruce Run where no one usually goes. We followed the paths past the pond I found on one of my adventures and went deeper into the glades. It was fun having someone along with me this time. We tried to explore this really nice area with trees and fields, but it's private land apparently. We were rather disappointed, and I still really want to know what that place is. There was some sort of building back there, and cars drove up to it while we were back there. I'm thinking binoculars and much more exploring is in order for the future.

When we had given up on that area we went deep into the glades to see if we could get to the main lake of Spruce Run. Eventually the glades came to an end and we found a path going into the woods. We could see a large body of water through the trees and I was sure it was the lake, but we had to get through somehow. We continued to follow the path to a little clearing that looked like it would be great for camping, and lingered there for a couple minutes. Soon we found that the path continued past the clearing towards the lake. We followed the path and came to a small sort of beach line, complete with trees hanging down over the water, really clean water, amazing views and an awesome sun set.Soon we had to get going because we were running out of daylight and we were tired and covered in ticks. While we were standing there we kept finding them on our clothes. On the way back we got to see even more amazing sights of sunset.
That was it for our exploring that day. We were exhausted, so we went back to the house and watched the movie Push which is very original and very well written. If you haven't seen it, it's one of those less popular gems that not many people know about it, but it's definitely worth it. It's sort of like a superhero or graphic novel movie, but so much more.

When that was done we wasted some time and then had to go pick up some friends from New York who had just arrived in Clinton at the bus stop. It was great that David was sleeping over this weekend because it ended up being an even more epic sleepover than we had originally planned. In total there were 15 people at our house this weekend. I'll walk you through it. Our family is 8- That's Dad and Angie, me, Daniel, Evan, Forrest, Grace and Daisy. After that there were Evan's friends Josh and Ben, and Forrest's friend Richard. That makes 11. Then we had our friends from NY: Sumi, Natasha and William. That's 14. Finally there was David, my friend, to make a total of 15 people staying out our house this weekend.

So it was like a math problem trying to figure out where everyone would stay and sleep. Our house is big (three stories with three bathrooms and five bedrooms), but it was still hard to find a place for everyone. Here's how it worked out. Evan, Josh and Ben were on the third floor (which we call the attic, but it's more like a second living room--stairway, 34 inch TV, carpets, games, etcetera), Forrest and Richard stayed in Evan and Forrest's room; Daisy and Grace were in their room; Dad and Angie were in their own room; David and I stayed in my room and finally Sumi, Natasha and William stayed in the living room on the couches; not my first choice for two women over the age of 18, but what could we do? Still, they're good sports and were fine with it.

Saturday was hot, so David and I hung around the house and played some Worms (the video game) and watched some youtube stuff and listened to music until it wasn't so hot out. Dad, Angie, Sumi, William, Grace and Daisy went to a rodeo in south Jersey. I know, weird right? I didn't know they had those in NJ. South Jersey is like a different state, I'm tellin' ya.

Later in the day David and I wanted to go exploring again, but this time we brought Natasha and Evan along. This is getting a little lengthy so I'll tone down the narrative and show mostly pictures.

We went to Hoffman Park, which is right down the road, but is really pretty. There's a rail line that goes right by it, and then the park it self is filled with over 500 ponds, some really pretty bird watching fields, and other interesting things. We saw some cool stuff. Here are some pictures:








We found an abandoned barn thing and also a house that we didn't have time to explore, so we're going to go back sometime. Overall though, we got to see a lot there, and we were there for at least an hour, if not two. At the end, when we got back to the house, we were all thoroughly exhausted. David had to go home and I just vegged in front of the tv or my computer because I was too tired to do anything.

Sunday I went to church with the whole family, along with Sumi, Natasha and William, and later ran the skate park again. At the beginning it seemed that it would be too hot for a good day, but soon we had a lot of new arrivals to the skate park and it ended up being great. I was also really excited to see my friend Chris who I haven't seen since December! I got to meet his girl friend for the first time, and hopefully I'll be hanging out with Chris again soon!

In the midst of all of this weekend craziness I realized that I have less than a month till I go back to school at Asbury. To be completely honest I didn't realize how short a time I have left, but it makes me really excited! I will miss having free time and hanging out with David, but I am eager to go back to school so I can really sink my teeth into my major! Plus, I love living away from home, I love Kentucky, and I love all my friends at Asbury! I can't wait to go back; but on the other hand, I can't wait to see all of the adventures the rest of this summer holds!