As Promised..American Idol Look Out!

I am attempting to post a video clip of a recent performance by Mator. This was taken during our Foster family vacation to Tennessee this year. We have a talent show every year and this year it extended over a period of several days.

Mator chose to do a singing / dancing routine that, like all of her performances, are completely unrehearsed. This was the final performance of the evening and has been edited from a 6.5 minute routine down to a 3.5 minute piece. For those of you not interested in all that, the final 45 seconds is really the best part. I have attempted to translate and put the words onto the video (as much as I can) but because it is saved as a windows media file (much smaller than my original file) some of the resolution has been lost. I think you'l get the idea though!

Introducing: Mator! Her act was preceeded by that of her lovely cousins, Justine and Jill singing two numbers from the Broadway musical "Wicked". Also performing were the Foster trio (Jared, Justine and Jill) singing their version of the old classic, "Skunk in the Middle of the Road". And the theatrical debut of Justine, Muffin, Annabelle and Wilson in the "Question and Answer Report". Now heeeeeeeeere's Mator!

We like to call this little number, "You thought I wasn't listening but I heard everything you said!"

Summer in the City (and the Country)

Back in June we were able to go to Berkeley Springs, WV to spend a weekend with my dad's cousins and their families. My dad's cousin Chris set everything up at these neat old farmhouses (and one barn) for some 25 humans and three dogs. All five of our family slept in one bedroom at at farmhouse where my parents and my aunt Susie were staying. It was just up a dirt road from the house shown above where another six of the family stayed. This is where we did all of our eating and activities-both of which were well received by everyone in attendance. My kids will not soon forget the artfully placed bowls of peanut M&Ms that were found around seemingly every corner!

One of the highlights of the weekend was definitely a "ghost walk" planned by Chris. Sometime after the sun had completely set and darkness covered the surrounding woods, all 25 of us gathered our torches flashlights and glowing bracelets and set off on a 2 mile roundtrip to the cemetery and back. Some of the group dropped out about halfway but we persevered. No ghosts were spotted although several cries of "CAR!" quickened our hearts and had us heading for the ditch. I hadn't realized the impression that it had made on Mator until a few weeks later, when we were in TN with my family and we were out kind of late. We got back to the house after dark and Mator asked, "Are we going to go on that walk to the church now?" All this traveling is getting her confused!

Another highlight was spending time with second cousins and third cousins and whatever! Fun people! We got to swim in a little pool, have a "Christmas in June" birthday party and swim in the "hot" springs (really only 75 degrees but I suppose that felt good to George Washington!). Doodle was really taken by Cheyanne who was so patient and shared her cool hula hoops with the girls. All the kids loved meeting and playing with Kaia and Merek and were fast friends. Isn't that the neat thing about family? I hadn't seen them in about four years but it was so fun and easy to just hang out together.

Here's the pool that Mator, Doodle and Muffin loved with the view of the mountains:Here are the little elves after celebrating Kaia's 6th birthday with a Christmas themed party(top-bottom: Doodle, Mator, Muffin, Merek, Kaia):The spa at the hot springs- The five of us in one tub along with my parents and Aunt Susie. They heated the spring water to about 102 degrees:Outside the spa were the actual "hot" springs including this one where our first President liked to come and bathe:The springs were channeled through these canals for the public to play in. Here the girls were fishing for minnows and craw-dads.
Now I've gone on and on and will have to write another post about where we went when we left West Virginia (hint: it wasn't home!)

Foster Family Vacation-2009

Tennessee style. Sweet tea and southern drawls accepted here. Yes, this year the Fosters took their annual vacation to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. This was actually a repeat destination (different house) from our 2002 trip. That year the kids were 8 months (Muffin), 1 year (Jared), 3 (Justine) and 7 (Jill). This year the kids were almost 3 (Mator), almost 4 (Wilson), 5 (Doodle), 6 (Elle), 8 (Muffin), 9 (Jared), 11 (Justine) and celebrating her 15th birthday, Jillian.

My photographer friends will appreciate this amazing feat. This picture was achieved in one shot on the top floor deck of our house. Seriously. When I saw it I knew that it couldn't be any better (short of substituting a few family members for members of the Angelina-Brad Pitt clan) so I didn't even take any more than this one. Wow!And what a week! Our house was huge, 8 bedrooms, 4 floors-and we used every bit of it with the 16 of us. The indoor pool was freezing the first couple days and then they figured out the heater and it was amazing.

I'll try and make a montage of pictures to post because of course, I took about 300 and once I see everyone else's pictures that number will be gigantic. Be prepared. There will be one edited video of Mator that brought my entire family to hysterics of laughter. I hope the video does it justice!

Hocking Valley Railroad

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day that we got to spend on a train with some of our favorite people. My mom got some tickets for the Hocking Valley Railroad and we all met in Nelsonville for a ride. My brother Frank, his wife Andrea and their two cute girls went with my parents and our group of five. Pictured above are Andrea, Wilson (3) and Grampy (otherwise known as my dad and who, despite his expression, likes both trains and his grandchildren-the latter a great deal more than the former!)
Once we got on the train we rambled along for about 1 1/2 hours. The kids did a pretty great job. They colored, acted silly, ate snacks, tried to stick body parts out the windows without being caught and only screamed a few times. The picture above shows Annabelle (5) and Muffin acting silly and growling at me. We stopped at Robbin's Crossing for an all too short 30 minute visit around a mini-historical village. There were 8 or 10 buildings to explore and my girls totally DIG this stuff (we went to Colonial Williamsburg this summer too). Here is Mator climbing to a loft in a house.
Here the photographer (that's me) was trying to balance composition and lighting and ended up with some portable toilets in the background. How cute!
Here Doodle is playing with this old fashioned toy-is she happy or what!
Muffin managed the stilts for a moment and even took one step. She practiced this about 100 times at Williamsburg this summer.
Mator taking a break on Daddy's shoulders.
Five of the Eight Foster Grandchildren...Mator (2) Doodle (4) Wilson (3) Annabelle (5) and Muffin (7)
Here everyone was trying to stop the caboose from running over Wilson on the tracks!
We had a great dinner in Logan (I know, that sounds ridiculous but it is true) and had another adventure when we got home but that is for another blog posting!