The Ostlunds

This weekend was jam-packed with pure fun.
I started the weekend out by running home in the rain. On the way, I saw a small yellow rake on the side of the road about 4 miles away from my house. I stopped, went back and picked it up. I then carried it all the way home. I knew that fun things were in the cards for us!
The next morning, I woke up the boys and fed the breakfast. Dave needed to work on the truck, so he stayed home and worked. The boys and I went out to the firehouse on the Coast Guard base. They had every truck open and available for kids to check out. As we walked in, we saw friends coming out with balloons, fire hats and tons of shwag. We were so excited! We walked in to see the entire firehouse transformed into a exposition/carnival. We checked in, were handed some bags, oriented ourselves, then Lars was off to play with the toy firetrucks. While there, Dean painted Erik’s hand with a blue shark and Lars got painted with a red firetruck. Next door to the booth, a man was making balloon creatures. Then we went over to another booth to see what was happening. It looked deserted, but actually, the action was outside. They had a real fire that you had to spray out with a large fire extinguisher. They quizzed Lars on his phone number and address (he passed). Then, he got to spray out the fire. It looked like to much fun, that Erik got to try too! Wow! Then we headed back inside to take a look at the bouncy houses. Lars got sidetracked on the way by the fire truck! He was able to sit in the seat in the front, and the back. Luke, one of the firefighters let him try on his whole outfit. Lars was in seventh heaven. Erik got to sit in the truck too. Then we headed over for some chili and hotdogs. The chili was so hot that I think I had flames on my hair. The boys fueled up with hot dogs and chips so that the bouncy house could barely contain them. Erik crawled up into the bouncy house, but stayed really close to the edge. I took him out after a little bit. Then headed over to the obstacle course that Lars was going around repeatedly. I took off my shoes to join Erik, but as soon as we got on, he was telling the other kids to stop bouncing. We had to back off. Lars would come around, and go through again. Sometimes, it would take several minutes for him to come around again. Sometimes, it would be fast. I wondered what was going on in there. A friend offered to watch Erik while I went through with Lars. Turns out there was quite a climb in there. I think he was climbing it, but sometimes would get help (the fast times). We climbed up and over and slid down together. So fun! Then, we went through a little plywood playhouse that had pretend smoke (steamers), and had to stay really low. It was a great learning experience and so fun!
After that, we headed home for naps.
After nap, we hopped up and headed out to the fish feed on base. Again, we were totally surprised at the quality of this event. I thought it would be a little potluck, but actually FSCS Sullivan put out a huge spread at the Golden Anchor and there was lots of contestant dishes. The anchor was packed with tables and people. We had a fantastic dinner, then headed out to the fairgrounds. As we stepped out of the car, we heard fiddle music and a banjo playing. We walked in to straw covering the concrete floor, a plywood cow with rubber teats and some other carnival games. The boys loved the cow, so I bought some tickets so they could milk the cow. They spent lots of time milking the cow. Lars bowled a little and tossed some bean bags. Then we went over to dance and watch the band play. We had fun throwing straw and dancing around. At the end, I reintroduced myself to Leanne, one of the advisors, who pointed out Jane Eisman to me. I introduced myself to Jane Eisman, the FFA advisor (and bass player). They were cleaning up and putting instruments away. While chatting with her, Lars asked if he could talk into the microphone. She said “yes, what would you like to say?” He said “Sing!” “What would you like to sing?” silence… The guitar player said “I can play Puff the Magic Dragon and you can sing that!” I nodded yes, he knows that one. So he started and Lars began singing. Jane and I backed him up. It was fun. Jane knew the melody of the song a little better than I did, so at the end when wrapping up, I had to fade out a little. J Lars did not fade though, he was fantastic!
Lars was so jazzed after that. He grabbed a big double handful of straw, took it over to the just emptied trash can and tossed it in! I then said “let’s get out of here before we cause any more damage!” What a blast!
We then headed home. Erik noted that it was dark out. They went to sleep. The next day we greeted the day by taking it easy, hanging around the house. Did a little laundry too. While they were napping, I sneaked out to the quilt show and “Secrets of a Soccer Mom” play. It was nice. I came back, then we loaded up and went out to look for firewood. We found some nice places and mapped out a general plan to get it next weekend. We stopped by Safeway on the way home for a take away pizza. Then we settled down for dinner and bed. Whew! What a great weekend!