Duck Command Center

Duck Commander Headquarters.  This is where a lot of the shows are recorded.

Inside the warehouse Logan was given a gift bag with lots of Duck Dynasty goodies before the guys came in.  His first (and favorite) Duck Dynasty star to meet was Uncle Si.

 Then of course the star of the show, Willie!

 Then brother Jase, the joker! (Logan said "Man, these guys are TALL!")

Logan was even able to meet the patriarch of the family, Phil.

 All the Wish Kids with the the Cast that were able to be there today.

 Logan really enjoyed meeting the guys, but he wasn't sure what to talk to them about.  They are a bunch of normal dudes, just like him....

... but when the basket ball came out, Logan found his grove.  I have some video, but it's a big file so I will need to figure out a better way to upload it.

After meeting all the stars, we got a tour of the warehouse.  Logan sat in Si's chair...

... and put together some duck calls.

Amanda thought it was pretty cool too...

... until she saw this alligator skin.  Not cool.  So not cool.

Last stop on the tour... Willie's desk.

Best. Day. Ever.

Lunch At Willie's Duck Diner

Killing Time...

... while we wait to meet the Duck Dynasty guys.

Traveling In Style

Limo ride to the airport!

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Tomorrow we will be picked up at our house and driven to the airport for Logan's Wish Trip through Make A Wish.  What did he wish for?  Well, after much deliberation and trial we discovered his wish to co-pilot an airplane (first wish) and fly with the military in an F-22 Raptor (second wish) were not attainable due to liability issues.  His third and final wish:  

To meet the men from his favorite show.

To be continued...

Camping in the Rain

We took ALL our Monkeys camping this past weekend and while it rained a lot of the time we were still able to get in some quality fun.  The 6 of us (2 parents, 2 kids, and 2 golden retrievers) went on a morning hike that ended with 4 of us getting a shower.  Bet you can tell from the photos which 4 need to clean up after our hike.

 At first, my children tried to stay clean, hopping from rock to rock, climbing on fallen trees over the water, at least making an attempt to stay dry.

 But not these two monkeys!  They made no attempt whatsoever to stay out clean and dry. 

 And I was none too surprised to see Logan and Amanda quickly following their dogs' example.

 It was a wet and wonderful adventure, but back at the campsite we had some dirty little monkeys that needed a shower.

 After cleaning up and drying off we headed down to the lake for some quality fishing time.

 It was rather late in the day before we were able to wet our lines so the fish were done eating.  All except this little catfish that Eric caught.

 Kissy, Kissy!

The next morning we had more success, but we had to contend with the rain, but the fish didn't seem to mind it.  Guess it has something to do with them already being wet, huh?  

Learning Some New Skills

 We have had a very busy first week of Summer.  Adding to the swimming, camping, fishing, and exploring, I also took to the kids to my favorite nature center to learn some outdoor skills.  They were already familiar with the canoeing, archery, air rifles, and such, but this new sport was new to me and them.  It's called an atlatl - smaller than a spear, larger than an arrow and oodles of fun.

First Swim Meet

The kids (and us) experienced their first ever swim meet on Wednesday night.  It was chaotic, exciting, and exhausting.

 Amanda participated in two relay races and both times her team came in first.

 She also swam the back stroke (we need to work on that), freestyle, and the breast stroke (that she remembered halfway down the pool was NOT the freestyle race).

 Logan also swam the backstroke, freestyle, and breast stroke races but there were not enough boys in his age group for him to participate in the relay races (take 4 team mates) this time.

 They both really enjoyed the competition.  I hope this is something they will keep up with as they grow since I can handle watching my children compete in the sport of swimming a lot better than the more aggressive sports like wrestling or football.