Mmmmm! Roasted hot dogs and marshmallows!

 This weekend we got rid of our cats.  Wooh-hoo!  Alright, now don't get me wrong.  I really like cats.  I like having pets and I like our kids having pets.  But.  Our kids don't take care of them!  So, it's just one more thing I have to police.  And our cat had kittens last year and we never found new homes for three of them.  So, yeah. Four cats.  Except the momma didn't like her kids and she didn't come around often.  But we caught them all, loaded them up into two boxes for the trip over to Tropic and their new home, one of the barns on Ryan's family's farm.  And he even built them up a bit of a house with a bunch of bales of hay before we let them go. 

After that we headed out to the hills around the old coal mines for a cookout with Ryan's parents.  Emmett, needed to plan and cook an outdoor meal one for one his achievments for cub scouts.  And you wouldn't thing January was a great time for a cookout, but it was a great day!  It got a bit cold when the sun started to head down, but we had a nice warm fire.  There's nothing like a roasted hot dog, right?  And some nice and brown marshmallows?  Mmmm mmmm. 

                  Zoe loves her Grandpa
                 Franz and is often found
                    leaning against him or
                        sitting in his lap.

See, doesn't that look good?

Obviously she's a bit of a fan!

Oh, and she liked the marshmallows, too.

I think what the kids love best about cookouts though is the exploring.  They scamper and run over the rocks and trees looking for secret hidouts and forts and such. 

 

Ryan was worried Molly was cold so he tucked the cute little monkey in his coat.

My favorite part is that we're together.  And there isn't any TV or computers or housework or anything else to distract us from each other.  We talk and laugh and, of course, eat. 

Sometimes we also have to put each other out when we start on fire.  And when I say we I mean Me.  Yep, my the hem of my jeans started on fire. I got a bit too close to the coals.  Luckily my sweet husband noticed and let me know.  But since he's always being funny and teasing me....I didn't believe him.  Then I saw the smoke.  He was also nice enough to put me out.  And while doing so he had to inform me I was "really hot." 

*groan*