Cox Family Bi-Annual Fishing Trip (Part2)

The Zoo - On Wednesday, September 1^st, a group of us went to the Wildlife Park in Minocqua (http://www.wildwoodwildlifepark.com/), WI and had a very nice time. I generally enjoy going to zoos, but many times, I make comments about how poor the condition of the animal's cages are and how sad they look. This was the first zoo that I'd been at were the animals seemed to have adequate space, were well taken care of, and had clean stalls. I was very impressed on how well kept everything seemed to be.

Uncle Scott showing Gannon it was okay to pet the goats
 as Cameron looks on.

 As soon as we came out of the entrance, there were goats that we were able to pet and feed. One of the baby goats jumped in the wagon that we had rented for Gannon, and another naughty goat grabbed some papers out of the side of the backpack, which I had placed inside the wagon. I wrestled the papers out of the goat’s mouth, then shooed it away. I also nudged the baby goat out of the wagon, so Gannon could sit and ride. Within the petting zoo area, volunteers were there that were able handle some of the animals for us to touch, and pet. Although, I had my hopes set on petting a porcupine, I was unable to because the volunteer that was working had not handled that animal much, and didn't feel comfortable holding it while people were petting it; However, I was personally was able to pet a skunk, and a prairie dog! Royce and some of the others were also able to pet a chinchilla too. I thought that that was amazing. The group of children also was able to enter a bunny house to snuggle with the little creatures. 

Giovonnie loveing up one of the bunnies.

 For a zoo that is a smaller than that of a big city it still had many unique animals to look at such as zebras, tigers, and tortoises. The zoo also had a deer protection area were deer could roam freely, they could get in and out, but the people were kept out of their area. The zoo also had a number of different species of birds, and one of my favorite areas was the bird aviary where people could hold out their arms and the colorful little birds would fly over to perch themselves on it. I do have to admit it was a bit creepy when the birds would fly close to my ears and I could feel the tickle of the wind rushing by with each flap of their wings. Gannon would try getting the birds saying, “Shoo, shoo!” and waving his hands toward them, or he would try to stomp on them if they were on other peoples shoes. 

Giovonnie watching the deer.



Royce letting the birds peck at his shoes laces as he
 covered his ears because when the birds
 flew close to his ears it gave him the creeps.



Some of the pretty little birdies.

. It was the perfect ending spot before making our way back to the entrance/exit of the zoo. We passed through a cute gift shop, which surprisingly had some fair priced items, as we headed out to the parking lot where I allowed my boys to spend the money they had brought to buy a souvenir. Royce picked out a bag of magnetic “rocks” and a few snake skins, Giovonnie picked out a plush armadillo to add to his ‘zoo’ collection that he keeps at home on his bed, and Gannon picked out a little plush red fox that he decided he didn’t want after chewing on its nose. (I bought it anyway. How could I put it back with wet bite marks on it?) They even had a fishing pond were a few of the cousins went fishing and each caught a nice size fish before we left to go back to the resort.

 The Children's Museum -  

Royce, Andrew, Giovonnie tring to catch some plastic fish

while Gannon looks on.

 On Thursday, Sept 2, which was another rainy day Kelly (my sister-in-law) and I took the children to the Children's Museum in Eagle River, WI there was so many things for the children to play with and explore from dressing up, to crafts, playing pretend, reading books, sliding down the slide, and standing in bubbles. There were so many things for them to do that I don't think they got to everything before we had to leave, although we had arrived around noon that day and didn't leave until closing time, which I believe was 4:30pm.

Gannon takes his turn down the slide; one of his favorite activities there.

 

Royce was listening to a story being read to him over
 the phone while he was inside the story tree. 

 

Giovonnie playing with the dragons and the castle.



Royce inside a bubble.

Friday was our last day at that the resort, and unfortunately I had yet to get my homework done for my online classes, so most of my day was spent in Eagle River, WI attending online classes, researching and writing papers. Before I returned to the resort, I peeked in the local antique shop where I found a neat gift for Joe for our anniversary, a jack knife from around the 1940s and an old lighter make out of a large bullet shell casing. Once I returned to the resort, I couldn’t wait, and gave Joe his gift. Shortly afterwards was time for dinner, then we started packing up some of our things because we were scheduled to be checked out by 9am on Saturday. One the children were put to bed Joe and I stole away for a little while to have some alone time and celebrate our 11th Wedding Anniversary, and then later joined some others to play a board game, and hang out some more.


The Trip Home - Saturday morning after waking up was a rush about the place trying to get everything packed up and cleaned up before we headed back home. In the rush of things, we ended up leaving two of Gannon’s movies there, one being his favorite Curious George movie that includes a few Toad and Frog cartoons. We also forgot one of our duffle bags there, which was a piece to our suitcase set we got for our wedding that had all of our toiletry items in it.


Due to our blunder of leaving things behind, on the following Tuesday, after our return home, Joe called the resort to ask if they could ship us our missing items. The resort manger was kind that he spoke with, and agreed to ship the bag, as we were going to pay for it. At this time, she also brought to our attention that our group would have to pay extra cleaning charges due to the cleaning staff having to work longer then what they were hired on the three cabins in which we stayed. (This after I cleaned out the refrigerator, swept the floors, cleaned and put all the dishes way, and made sure all the trash was taken out of our cabin (as their request), and I also put some blankets in the wash due to a bed wetting. Not only was there going to be charges for the cleaning, but we would also have to pay for some damages done within the house first for the blankets (that I didn’t wash correctly (ok, my fault)), but also for other damages that occurred. One broken lamp (which no one in our cabin claims to have even seen), which was supposedly switched with the lamp that was in the room my boys were sleeping in. I only seen one lamp in that room the whole time we were there which was a metal yellow-based lamp with a square bottom. A toilet paper roll holder in the basement bathroom, which I know was broken when we got there because I used that toilet, a thought “What the heck? They didn’t fix this before we got here.” There were other things damaged as well in the basement, scratches on the tabletop, TV remote cracked, crocket set with missing pieces, and a cracked handle (this we saw on the first day, and stated how we wouldn’t be playing because of the missing pieces, and a chair with a cracked leg. The owner that spoke with Joe admitted that the listed damages were caused by other renters, except for the blankets, the wet beds, and the broken lamp. Joe and the owner agreed on a price, although Joe did not except that our family broke the lamp, of $75.00 to cover those charges. After a few weeks, and phone calls to the resort with no return calls, we finally receive our bag without the two DVDs and with a receipt with an amount charged greater than $100.00. We ended up being charged an extra $25.00 for a gauge in the wall as well. Joe called the resort to find out what was going on. He was told that they believed we were the ones who caused the damage to the wall, although neither Joe nor I saw the gauge in the wall the whole time we were there, and it was not spotted during the cleaning and inspection of the place after we left. It was discovered by the owners of the cabin. Now most people would probably think 25 bucks let it go, but we felt it was an unfair charge. Joe called a number of times after the initial call, without answers or return calls. There was no agreement to this extra charge, and no call to discuss it, or to notify us. We believe with the number of other damages from other renters that were not fixed before our arrival it could have been damage from other renters. Yes, our children as well as other children within the extended family enjoyed hanging out down in the basement, so they very well could have cause damage to the place, which we would be willing to pay for if it was brought to our attention. They did not do that in this case, now we feel as if they stole from us, and we can’t do anything about it. It’s so unfortunate that such a nice place left such a sour thought in our minds; where once we thought the mangers were kind and helpful we now feel like they violated our trust.

Cox Family Bi-Annual Fishing Trip (Part 1)

A photo the the living room area taken from the loft above.

Our family summer vacation was lovely, and relaxing. Although it was meant to, be a fishing trip, very little fishing actually occurred and very few fish were caught mainly due to the fact it rained most of that week, yet we still had lots of fun. The Cox family stayed at Maplewood Resort near Eagle River, WI (http://maplewood-resort.com/index.html) where the cabins were beautiful, spacious and homey, and there were even fireplaces in each of the cabins. Our family stayed in the Prairewood cabin, which had 3 levels: an upstairs loft, the main floor, and a basement. It was sweet.

Giovonnie and Cameron sitting on the window bench
looking out the gigantic picture window.

Gannon sitting on the window bench.

The Travel Game

Saturday was the arrival day to the resort. Our family spilt up the 8-hour drive by driving from our home to Grandma Cathy's home in Bloomington, MN and then headed out from after a delicious breakfast at Baker's Square. The plan was to arrive at the resort by 3:00pm Saturday afternoon. The trip went great, the boys didn't even fight 'til the very last few minutes of the ride, and Gannon didn't cry at all until the last 10mins of the trip. Giovonnie came up with this great game called Guess Which Animal I Am that we played most of the way there. The rules one person says, "I am an animal that...." and then gives a clue to what animal you are. Everyone takes turns giving out there guess, and then if no one gets it another clue is given. This is repeated up to 3 clues. However, if someone guessed right then it would be his or her turn to pick the animals and give a clue. The game worked well to keep the peace, most of the way. Finally, we were close to the resort, and the game ended so that dad could pay better attention to the road, and mom the road map/directions printed from MapQuest. (Yep, were still a family of the dark ages, and don't have a gadget in our vehicle to tell us which way to go.) Joe was driving faster then and the road were a bit more rollercosteresque in that area. This was a bit of a mistake because Giovonnie gets car sick, and by the time we were turning into the drive of the resort Giovonnie blurted out, "I don't feel so well. I'm going to puke." As Joe was pulling over the side of the drive, Giovonnie let it out on his lap, and the floor of the backseat of the truck. He jumped out and finished up, as I wiped down the seat, floor, and door with his blanket, which was all that I had on hand for cleaning up the mess. We checked in, and I finished the cleaning of the truck as Joe unloaded our belongings. The rest of the day was spent touring the place, and relaxing until dinner, which was kindly prepared and served up by Grandma Cathy. After dinner, almost everyone loaded up on the rental pontoon for a boat ride across the lake. Then we sent the children off to bed, and some of the adults stayed up talking around fire pit.

Rt to Lt: Randy, Mandy, Jamie, Kevin, and Joe Cox
hanging around the fire pit.

Our second day there we all got settled in and then did some grocery shopping and then after lunch Joe and I went diving around with Jamie (Joe's brother) and Mandy (Jamie's wife) to the town of Eagle River. We were going to go to a flea market, but we were late and the tents were being pulled down, so instead we went Mini-Golfing, and then looked around at Wave Runners to rent before heading back to the resort for the group family dinner. While we were out our boys went down to the beach with Grandma Cathy. She even went into the water with Gannon, who loved the beach. When we returned we had the boys clean up quickly, and then headed to Jamie and Mandy's cabin for dinner, and to hangout for the evening with the rest of the Cox family.

The Wave Runner

Rt to Lt: Grandma Cathy, Kelly, Kevin, and Mindy at the meal
Joe and I hosted.

The next day Joe and I rented the Wave Runner offered by the resort as an early anniversary gift to ourselves, although it was a bit more costly than some other places in town we opted for the convenience of the location and the flexibility of our 8-hour time span. After a quick lesson on how to operate the machine, and some basic rules we were off and it was great! I had never rode one before, and I actually drove it myself, and gave Royce and Giovonnie each a ride. It was exhilarating to be on one of those machines to fly over the water and have the water spray back on to me. I couldn't get enough, even though I was dumped off a total of three times, all while riding with Joe. (Not that it should reflect his operating skills of the watercraft.) Jamie and Mandy each rented a Wave Runner as well, so we took a tour of the 5 lakes, Mandy and Jamie each on their own rental, and Joe and me on our rental. We were cruising across the water and messing around; having lots of fun. We were on our way back jetting through a boat wide clearing of a real weedy area that connected one lake to another when Jamie flew up behind us, and took to the weeds in order not to crash us. Laughing I yelled , "You're not supposed to go in the weeds." Joe kept driving then we turned around to go back because we realized Jamie was stuck, and Mandy had stopped to help him. She then also floated into the weeds, so Joe and I said we’d go get a rope or something, and headed out to find help. We quickly came upon a boat, and the couple kindly lent us a rope to pull out our stranded parties. I turned around riding the Wave Runner backwards, and I tossed Mandy the rope with little warning, and she missed it, so we passed her to Jamie, a loop was made in the rope, and I tossed it to Jamie and he held on to it, and was on his cell calling the rental place. Joe asked, "Did ya get it? (Or something to that tune) and I replied, "Yep." before I tied it to the back of the Wave Runner Joe took off. Jamie not paying attention 'cause he was on the phone held on. As it tightened I held on to the rope too, knowing that if I let it go the lose rope could wrap up underneath, and cause problems (one of the basic rules we were told before using the watercraft, so I didn't let go), and off I went into the weedy water. I bobbed up laughing, and Joe hauled me back onto the Wave Runner. We finally got Jamie out of the weeds and to a dock where he could clear out the weeds from underneath the machine so that it would run properly again. Then we went back for Mandy, thinking I know what I'm doing this time I tossed Mandy the rope, and again it was missed, so I pulled the rope back in and Joe made a very sharp U-turn, as to stay out of the weeds, and off I went again; back into the weedy water. I laughed so hard I got a good drink of it too, which tasted just like it looked; swampish. So I swam the rope to Mandy and tied it onto the frontend of her machine, then swam back to ours where Joe again helped haul me out of the water, and back onto the Wave Runner. I then rode backward watching the Wave Runner shoot a streaming blast of water that rained directly over Mandy's head the whole way to the docks. Jamie caught Mandy and pulled her to shore, to clean out her machine too as Joe and I headed back to return the barrowed rope. We headed back to the resort, and I told Joe that I would like to drive it some more before it had to be returned, but it was our night to cook and host dinner, and that I needed to get it started. Joe offered to start the cooking, and let me ride and give the boys rides once we got back (it was so nice of him). I agreed and he stated that instead of pulling all the way into docking area he would just jump off, and I could keep going. We got close and Joe took the wristband safety switch off of him, and then hopped off. The Wave Runner tipped, and I yelled, "Joe, Joe, Joooeeee!" as I was leaning to counter the tipping (although some said I didn't, I did.) then bailed because if I didn't I knew it would have flipped anyway. Without the wristband on the safety switch did not shut off, and I ended up swimming after that darn thing as it was on autopilot, yelling, "Jo-seph!" I caught the wristband and gave it a tug and the thing shut off. I wriggled back up on it with Joe trying to give me a boost. I'm sure the whole story sounds like it was something out of a comedy. I had so much fun, I’m putting Wave Runner on my Birthday/Christmas list; this is definitely a toy for me!

to be continued...

Singing Solo

Every night I sing a little song to each one of my boys as I tuck them into bed, and each has their own song with a theme of “I love you”, and Joe usually whistles whichever tune the boys pick out usually Mario Bros theme song or one of the songs from Star Wars. Joe and I aren’t the only singers in this household; I’ve often heard Royce singing songs that he had made up (he even wrote a couple of them down), I’ve also heard Giovonnie signing and humming to himself from time as well, and this morning Gannon started singing too.


As I was driving the boys to school this morning when Gannon started signing nonsense words at first like “dodode, lala, haha” in the tune of the alphabet song, and then clearly, “I love Dada” “Nigh, nigh, nigh” “Royce nigh” “Giovonnie, Small Fry.” When he stopped Royce started laughing and said, “He closed his eyes, and is pretending to sleep.” Gannon opened his eyes, let out a giggle, and started to sing again. Royce joined in singing the alphabet song, but Gannon stopped him by yelled out, “NO! Stop it! Royce!” Royce stopped singing and then Gannon happily started singing again. Apparently, he felt it was necessary to do a solo.

Getting into Swagbucks

A while back, I viewed a website called Swagbucks, which was posted by Amber in her Journey of Grace blog. After reading what she had to say about it, I hopped over to the site and read the information, which was posted on the site. I then decide to give it a go, although I have my home site set to Google, because it's fast, easy, and I seem to get loads of information in just a click. I would use the Swagbuck site here and there, but not really trying to earn the "swagbucks" that they offer. In just a few months of using the site in a hit and miss fashion I've been able to earn some of the swagbucks, enough to make a couple of purchases in the swagstore. Thus far, I've purchased an mp3 song by Johnny Cash, and a $5.00 Amazon.com card, with only the cost of time I'd used for searching the net. Then I thought, "Wow, this is great. I should share it." So if you haven't tried it, or if you're not swaging yet click on the link at the side of my page and give it a go; you may like it too.

Family Updates..."So it's been a while."

Well, it's been a while since I've posted on my blog. I've been a bit busy as of late; I've been attending AIU online for my BFA in Visual Communications-digital design (which is graphic design, web design, and illustration). With that has come loads of writing 1-2 page papers (or 800 word papers), plus a main discussion board post and a number of response post (which also vary in length and requirements depending on the class. So far I've had a business class and two graphic design classes, a business law class which has to do with a lot of website, Internet, and other cyber laws (not my favorite class, but tons of good info)and now a computer design class. With that said you may understand why I've been lacking in the blogging world. (Writing/typing is one of the last things I really want to do.) Anyhow, I've read Amber's blog about her recent Photoshop experiences, and she's inspired me to post a few of my Photoshop CS (and ImageReady)creations, but I think I'll start slowly. (Notice my new little penguin animation. I so created that a couple of weeks ago...I'm so proud of my first animation! I made the penguin and rope in Adobe Photoshop CS before taking it in to Abode Image Ready to create my animation.)
I'm not the only one in my family that is in school; yep, both Royce and Giovonnie are back in school. Summer's gone and the school year is here. Royce is now a 5th Grader, and he turned 10 yesterday! This is a major big deal to him (Thank you to all of you who called to wish him a happy birthday.) In his words, "I feel taller, today.":)
Giovonnie is now in 2nd grade, and say that he likes it better because his "teacher is nice and pretty." When I asked, "Wasn't your teacher nice last year?" he replied, "Well, actually she was a bit crabby every day, and she just wasn't as pretty."
Gannon is now almost 2 years old (ok, I'm shy by 3 months, but whatever.), and has started working on the potty training thing. We got him this cute frog potty chair from one of the local thrift stores, and he likes to sit on it sometimes. I've started this 'cause a few months ago he started tell me when he pooped, literally he would say "poop on my butt." Now he say, "I pooped, even when he pee-pees." And he has pee-peed in his potty a few times. I've never had a baby train so early.
Joe is also keeping busy, taking on a new shared leadership role with the Legion Hall, as well as continuing to lead the Webelos boyscout troop.

Little Funnies

Oh, the CaR KeYs!!!
If you remember my key story from a year ago (yep, the toilet one) well I just have key issues, today I lost the key. Yep, Me (as Tanya S. could attest to, I was on the phone with her as I was searching the house for it... swore I put them on the end table in the living room, only to believe that Gannon (14mo old) must have taken it, so I call Joe to get the spare key, which he has hidden from me for this sort of reason, in order to move the car from the street back into the driveway so that I wouldn’t get a ticket for parking in the street. When Joe came home in the evening I still hadn’t found that key. We get the boys off to bed, and begin searching. Joe says,” You do have 'blond' moments, are you sure." "I'm pretty sure," I state out loud, and under my breath say, "but I don't know. Awe, Crap!” Then Joe digs all the stuff out of my coat pocket, which happens to be stuffed full, and "Ugh," I did it. I put them in a coat I didn't even wear when I went outside, "CRAP!" Ok so it's in writing...Joe was right… "CRAP!"

When do Girls have Cooties?
On one of those days that school was called off last week I took the boys with me to the store. As we're driving in the car the boys and I were talking and Royce asked some questions that I answered, which these kind a questions get the parents mind turning - questions about girls - Yikes! I then tease a bit saying to Royce, "I thought you told dad you didn't like girls?" I look in the rearview mirror to see Royce with a crooked grin, "Well, I do. It's just that Dad makes fun to much." I say, "So, who do you like?" He replies, "None of your business!" I say with a gasp,” What?! I'm your mother!" He says, "You'll just tell dad, and he'll tease on me." I say, "Oh, I already know." Royce nudges the back of my car seat with his foot, and states, "You better not tell Dad either." I smile, "Yes, I'll tell dad...Oh you know I'm so telling Dad."

Manly Boys
The other day I'm rocking Gannon in our blue rocking/recliner chair watching the tube when the boys get home from school. Royce comes in and says, "Hey, I don't have any homework can I play Wii." I say, "After the Cars movie is over that Gan is watching. Royce is like, "K." and leaves the living room. A short time later he returns and kneels next to the side of the rocking chair. He says, "Hey, mom..." I reply, "Hey, what?" Royce says, "Look at me." I look over at him and he continues as he rubs his upper lip under his nose, “I’m getting a mustache. Feel it, right here, little hairs...maybe next year you'll see it better." I say, "do I havta feel it." He grins, "Yep." I honor him and touch his upper lip, nod my head and say, "Op, yep, sure enough."

Holidays 2009

Ok, well I guess I'm always late, but here are some pics of the family over Christmas break.

Christmas Break Begins:

Gannon is Mama's big helper when unloading the dishwasher.

Hooray we rolled the dice playing Yatzee on family night.

Time out is no fun! (Actually Gannon put himself there)

Gannon's favorite place to sit.

Christmas Eve Morning:

Christmas Eve Morning Royce and Giovonnie opening their Christmas stockings.

Gannon gives his moose in his stocking a hug.

Daddy comes home from work and it's Gift Time:

Giovonnie hate his first gift of cloths, and tosses them in tears. (No more gifts for him...)

Gannon's getting this wraping paper ripping thing.

Gannon likes his maracas; shake, shake, shake.

Royce doesn't mind that he got cloths, but they were on his Christmas list.

Giovonnie changes his mind; cloths aren't so bad. "I'm sorry. Can I get more gifts now."

(Giving the Gift of Understanding..."Sure.")

Giovonnie likes his other gifts better.

Pokemon cards for Royce. Later when putting them into his book he said,

"This make's me feel much older mom."

Gannon and Daddy work on unwrapping another gift after Gannon put on his new christmas pjs.

"Whoa, it's just what I wanted!" Giovonnie gasps.

Royce: "What for real a DS Lite!"

Mom: Well it's coming soon."

Royce: "Awesome!"

Gannon shakeing is maracas again.

Gannon putting the puzzles he got together.

Royce helping Giovonnie put together his Dino castle.

Who needs toys when you got a big box to crawl and play in?

Royce and Giovonnie playing with the Dino castle after Mom put it together.

Christmas Day - At the Other Cox's house:

Joe and Andrew sledding down the hill at Scott and Melissa's house.

(Yep, a little hill right in the yard of Uncle Scotts house. Royce is back to begging for a sled.)

Royce and Spencer digging in the snow.

Andrew sledding down the hill with his dad, Scott.

Giovonnie burring Lexi in the snow bank.

Scott and Joe play a board game.

Nama Cathy and Papa Royce playing with Gannon.