Adventures in bad decisions that make good stories

Every now and then, one of those days comes along where we are faced with split second decisions. Yesterday was one of those days. Everything started out situation normal. A friendly gather of moms and our kids at the park for some play time in the sun (for the kids) and a bible group/knitting session for the moms. We must have been pretty content working on our awesome knitting projects, because it took us about 10 minutes to start wondering where the smoke alarm we had been hearing in the background was coming from. Now... I'd like to point out that our smoke alarms go off easily - We all live in cookie cutter military housing and you could probably set a clock by when everyone's smoke alarms are going off. It usually has something to do with cooking breakfast or dinner - but this was around 11am and that should have been a clue to us that something wasn't quite right. Eventually we start to try and figure out where this sound is coming from, fearing that perhaps in our rush to get our kids out the door we had somehow managed to set our own houses on fire. Turns out it was coming from the house directly behind where we were sitting. (This speaks volumes to the sound insulation of our homes, and I must say I'm a little relieved that I know the whole neighborhood can't hear me when I'm yelling at Soph and Bee) So once we start putting the pieces of the puzzle together we realize the lady who lives there is also at the park and is completely unaware that the alarm is coming from her house - after all, it took us a good 10 minutes to notice and we were much closer to the sound than she was. While we were all sitting and knitting, she was actively playing with her son - making us look bad, yet I am somehow totally fine with that.
I digress.... So one of our group informs her that her smoke alarm is going off and she runs into the house; as soon as she opens the door smoke comes rushing out. Now - logic and reason definitely dictates that when there is smoke billowing out of a building it is best to call the fire dept and not enter. Clearly logic and reason were not on our side, as one of my absolute dearest friends Alister (which is not her name, but more of a term of endearment) ran into the house immediately following the resident so she wouldn't be alone. When neither came back out after about 15seconds I then ran in after both of them. Seriously?! I have no idea what made that seem like a good idea at the time, especially since the end results could have been horrible. Thank God that everything was fine and that the only negative results of the adventure was a trip to the ER after poison control informed us that we could have been poisoned. Oopsie.
Just in case anyone is concerned at this point - there was no fire. She had made the same mistake that all of us with kids have made a hundred times over. Pacifiers were boiling on the stove and she forgot. What resulted was a saucepan that had no water, but charred black plastic completely melted to the bottom. It was a nice saucepan too.  So - here is what both me and Alister learned from this adventure :

1. Any 6 year old will tell you it is a bad idea to run into a smoke filled house
2. Any doctor, firefighter or person with common sense will also tell you it is a horrible idea to run into a smoke filled house
3. Doing so will result in Poison Control telling you that it was a bad idea and you need to go to the ER.
4. The ER will tell you the same, but can be a highly entertaining adventure as long as you don't think about the burning sensation and nasty taste that just wont go away.
5. When put in a "fight or flight" situations both of us fight. Some people think then act, we clearly just act.

Like I said, thank God everything was fine, the air quality in the house is safe and none of us have been seriously injured - next time we may think twice before acting. In reality... we would probably do the exact same thing.

Adventures in a nutshell

We have had many adventures in the past 3 years. More than I could ever recall. For the sake of bringing folks up to speed, I decided perhaps a pictorial account of a few of our adventures was in order. Alas! Here we go... in no particular order.

May of 2009 we coordinated a "Safety Day" for the community. The idea was to teach the kids about fun things like stranger danger and other good stuff like "when smoke goes up, you go down". McGruff the crime dog made an appearance (you can see his nose behind my face) and it was a pretty great day.

The awesome Presidio of Monterey FD came out and let the kids work the hose. Clearly Soph is a pro.

Bee needed a little help, good thing the hubs is almost as good at manning the hose as Soph.

Most of the kids loved McGruff... Bee - not so much. She was pretty much terrified.

She does love cupcakes. Then again... who doesn't?

Every Halloween we host a big party for all our family friends. This was from 2009. The House in the background was our 3rd house in Monterey (we're on number 4 currently). Soph was a scarecrow and Bee was going to be a crow, while making her costume out of a witch costume she noticed the hat and well... I didn't have the heart to tell her crows don't wear hats. She was a witch instead.

Autumn is quite possibly our favorite season. I can't even count how many times we went to the pumpkin patch so we could acquire more pumpkins for baking, cooking and freezing. This picture was taking this past October at an awesome little farm about half an hour from here called Crystal Bay Farms.

The Hubs took the girls to another sweet farm called Uesugi Farms in Morgan Hill. They had some really fun things for the kid's to do. I'm not sure why I didn't go... kinda bummed out though because I definitely want to ride the cow train.

Bee is riding in front with our good friend and Soph is right behind them. Seriously, I missed out.

We often go to the beach. Yes... that is Bee in a jacket at the beach. Regardless of the sunshine, the average temp here is 53 all year. Surprisingly it is warmer now than it has been most of the year. Something is wrong when we go to the park and the girls complain that it's too hot when the temp is 70. I guess you could say we've acclimated.

We go to the park a lot. "A lot" may actually be an understatement. Our house is in the background (on the right). How can we not go to the park when it is literally across the street?! 

June 2010 Soph decided to participate in Operation Lemonade. Do not be confused by the sunshine. This was possibly the only sunny day we had the entire month of June. It definitely worked out in her favor (not so much mine as I ended up matching the playground equipment), and she raised over $500 for pediatric cancer research. If you are ever looking for a great cause check out Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.

Every December the base has a "Winter Wonderland" Event hosted by the housing folks. Last year it rained... and rained and rained. This year, it was beautiful. I fully realize that all these sunny pictures make me look like a liar - I'm not. Really.

Santa makes an appearance, arriving on a fire truck. Very fun.

Our local neighborhood Patrol Car (PC) comes out for the occasion as well. Curiously enough, Bee wanted nothing to do with the man in red and everything to do with a RC patrol car that talks. 

Bee and her friend NZ running a muck at Winter Wonderland. Situation normal.

We've been to Disneyland quite a few times. Luckily I've been successful convincing my family that they want to "spend time" with the girls and now when they go down to LA to visit, they go to Disneyland together. Disneyland just isn't my favorite adventure. The girls love it.

And there you have it. In a very very tiny nutshell. If it weren't so late I could perhaps continue adding pictures - but it is, and I don't feel like it. I fully anticipate the adventures of the future to be far more entertaining - and with any luck they will be well documented. G'night and God Speed.

Adventures of Plenty... Take 2

Once upon a time... about oh 3 years ago (give or take), I started a little blog called "Adventures of Plenty". While the adventures of life certainly are plentiful, I've come to realize that most of them build character. Actually, most things in life that are adventures gone bad seem to be the things that build the most character of all. So - here I am. The (still) homeschooling, stay at home mom of 2 and Army wife, once again sharing my adventures with those who choose to follow along. Come along on our adventure, and perhaps through laughter you too shall find yourself building character. If not, well hopefully my exercises in patients and character building will bring you some entertainment - after all, sometimes that's all any of us really need :)