Sixteen year olds CAN smile!

Clayton on his four-wheeler after working hard at the Lodge.

Joseph's birthday trip

Joel, Jayson, Clayton and Joseph

So all the boys are on the way upnorth to BearClaw Lodge and it just happens to be Joseph's 14th Birthday-Happy Birthday Joseph! No, you still can't have a Facebook!

And of course, McDonald's is a favorite place to go when you're 14, second only to Taco Bell.

There will be some more pictures of the boys I think, if not here then over at Non-Toxic's blog

Jayson and Clayton mowing the lawn at Rock Valley Youth For Christ to earn part of their way to Koinonia this June. They are willing to work hard to get there and willing to work hard at the practices. It will be so worth it. I have heard some of the music that Larry -the man in charge - picked out and it is going to be awesome!

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A Super-Duper Fun Weekend up at Non-Toxic's Lodge

Dave took our boys, Clayton and Joseph, and their cousins, Jayson, Joel AND EVAN(!), up north this last weekend to clear brush from Non-Toxic's property.

They worked really hard so Dave let them play really hard!

While Evan played in puddles-hey, he's eight!-the four older boys got to "clear" the trails with the four wheelers.

Clayton



Joseph, Jayson and Clayton (Thank you Joel for taking pics and video for us all!)


Jayson on my Honda Foreman



Evan, Jayson and Clayton
Clayton and Jayson got to off by themselves on farther away trails where they found puddles, ponds and lakes to go through. They had to get out and push each other out of the water sometimes so they got really, really muddy!! It's good to be a 16 year old boy, eh?



some mud, Jayson, some more mud and Evan

So can you tell they got a little muddy?

Clayton
Bringing back some mud with him. BUT-can you see the pretty trillium flowers behind him to the left? Those are really pretty flowers and they're all around the lodge this time of year.


Clayton


Joseph,Joel,Clayton, Jayson and Evan


Joel, looking for puddles and finding them.


This is my favorite picture!!! Joel coming up out the mud

You all can figure this out, right?

Seth's taking his piano to Nationals!

Here's a video of Seth's (friend of the family's) piano solo that he did this last Saturday in Waupaca. He scored high enough to be invited to National's in Orlando this August!!!!! Congratulations Seth!

The Mc's

The Flood's Buds, TJ McS....... and Seth McC........ and their human video duet:

Seth's Violin Solo and Guitar Solo

Here's the boys' buddy, Seth, playing his violin for Fine Arts
this last Saturday. Seth pulled the early slot and still did a great job.
Congrats Seth!



And here is his guitar solo. This year guitar category had way more students than in past years.
It's really great to see this growing category. But it was really, REALLY great to see Seth play.
He picked the guitar up in the last year or two and it is quite evident that he is no stranger to a
stringed instrument. He is playing in drop D, he plays fingerstyle and strummng and flatpicking!

Requisite table pic

It's the required table pic. The Floods and the Williams with Seth and Eric before Seth's guitar solo. They waited in the world's longest line and actually didn't make them feel less hungry joyog it was for a good cause- Speed the Light.

Waiting...

All is calm before Seth performs his piano solo.

Flood friends at Fine Arts

Seth and TJ - some best buds of the boys during their fine arts performance

The Mc's

Seth and TJ doing their human video

TJ and Clayton relaxing before TJ's and Seth's performance.

Gorgeous afternoon in the city

Doesn't this look like a wonderful way to spend a beautiful Saturday? While others enjoy playing and working outside we're in the truck in Chicago traffic after picking up some trail machines and parts from Michigan for Non-Toxic's lodge. By the way, Michigan is lush and green and feels just like Wisconsin unlike Chicago, Gary and northern Indiana. Those places look and SMELL different. Anyhow, we'll be home soon, right after we pay a month's mortgage to the Illinoise tollway :-)