The Kids Grow Up by Trish Hanan (books like harry potter txt) 📕

Summer vacation came and the whole group went to the cabin at the lake to go camping and this year they were going to do a little mountain climbing. The kids were all excited and had all their gear. A few of the women thought eight and nine were too young but Harry was there and he could catch them if they fell so it was alright and the men said they were going to be using safety lines so the kids would be safe so they smiled and crossed their fingers.
The first mountain they took the kids on was a cliff face with a ledge and it was really steep with lots of hand holds for them to hold onto and the kids all looked at it and grinned. They could climb this easily. Jake and DJ went first to put in the safety lines and then the kids began to climb starting with the older boys first. Harry, Steve and Charlie checked their lines and harnesses and let them have at the wall while the women watched with bated breath.
“This is so cool,” Jackson told his cousin Stevie who grinned at Martin and the three boys who were all twelve and a half began climbing at the same time.
“Look at them go; they look like little monkeys,” Kathleen remarked and April giggled.
“That looks like fun, maybe we should try it,” she gushed and Joon laughed.
“Maybe we should, why should the kids and the men have all the fun?” she agreed. The boys easily reached the ledge and everyone cheered. Now the three girls, Emma, Stephanie and May got hooked up and attempted the wall and just as easily as their brothers and cousins, the girls climbed the wall. Everyone was impressed.
One by one the thirty children climbed the first wall and then the second steeper and harder cliff face until they reached the summit and everyone cheered and celebrated with juice and snacks. Then they got to repel off down and that was even more fun. Then they went swimming in the lake. It was a great day.
The next day they tried a different way up the same mountain and this was more of a challenge. The ladies wanted to join but Harry made them go back to the first way and practice that way first because he said they weren’t ready for this way yet. This pissed them off until the kids challenged them and they all laughed and the challenge was on and they all returned to the first side and had races to the ledge. Cassie surprised everyone by winning first place with Jackson in second.
“We’re not raising children, babe, we’re raising little monkeys,” Jake remarked and everyone laughed while the children beamed with pride.
The third day they made it to the second side and everyone climbed and it was the most fun they had ever had.
“This is great, sweetie, is your harness too tight?” Grace asked her daughter Irene who giggled.
“No, Mom, its not,” she said and rolled her eyes at her cousin Ruth who giggled.
“That’s the trouble about bringing moms along, they nag,” Ruth complained. Nyla laughed.
“I heard that,” she told her daughter who laughed.
“I meant for you to,” she informed her and everyone laughed.
When they left camp two weeks later all the kids hugged Harry and Jake for their great idea.
“Thanks, Uncle Harry, I had a great time,” Martin gushed and Harry hugged him back.
“You’re very welcome, Martin, I had a great time too,” he told him and it was true, Harry loved being with all of the kids. He loved all of the adults too. They had a great group and all enjoyed one another’s company.
Fall harvest came and the pumpkins were picked. This year they had an eighty-four pound one and all the kids were excited about winning the contest. All of Harry’s children were excited about the pumpkin chunking contest and the trick they were going to play on their grandmother.
“Oh, man, this is going to be so cool, I can’t wait to see her face,” Jackson gushed and Emma giggled. Harry grinned. Jake wasn’t in on the great secret but he had been hearing the giggles all month and couldn’t wait for the unveiling. He smiled at the kids in the car and laughed at Harry’s face.
“It’s that good huh, babe?” he teased and Harry giggled with the kids. Danny giggled the loudest.
“Granny’s going to rule the day she messed with us,” he declared and all the kids cheered. Jake raised his eyebrow giving him a devilish look.
“Well, I can’t wait to see this, you kids haven’t let me in the barn for weeks,” Fran complained from the back seat. Cassie giggled.
“It was for your own good, Frannie, if you had seen it, we would have had to kill you,” Sean said in a serious tone and all the kids broke out in laughter. Fran laughed too.
Finally everyone was out in the field and the giant pumpkins were brought out. Farm One had a sixty-five pound one which Carl booed as a weakling. All the kids laughed and Max and Charles glared at him. Then Farm Two brought out their seventy-three pound beauty and everyone gushed over it.
“That’s a beauty,” Phillip declared and everyone swore it was the winner. Then Farm Three brought out theirs and it weighed sixty-eight pounds and Farm Two looked smug. Then Farm Four brought out their pumpkin and everyone gasped at the size of it and Max laughed.
“That looks bigger than yours, Carl,” he sneered and Carl flushed. Then they weighed it and the meter read eighty-four pounds and everyone gasped.
“What the hell are you feeding your crops, Harry?” Carl demanded and all the kids laughed.
“Why, Carl, we feed our crops love, right, Team Four?” Harry shouted and they all cheered and clapped. Everyone laughed.
Then the pumpkin chunking contest began and everyone brought out their machines and the real fun began. There were catapult and cannons and all kinds of weird designs and some of them worked and some of them failed and all of them got laughs and moans and they had lots of fun. David Marshall’s design, a machine that swung the pumpkin around crashed the pumpkin right into Max’s SUV and took out the rear window.
“Marshall, you idiot, you’re paying for that window and you’re cleaning up that mess,” he shouted, his face growing redder by the second. David giggled and everyone laughed.
Kate brought out her machine with the help of her sons and this year it was a swinging design, they seemed to be popular this year. This one was very tall and swung the pumpkin high and then let it go. She grinned when her pumpkin reached the two hundred and fifty yard mark and shot Harry a smug look. Then his kids rolled out their machine and uncovered it. Everyone took one look at the giant sling-shot and laughed.
“You’ve got to be kidding, Henry, that thing isn’t going to work,” Kate exclaimed and giggled. Harry shrugged and Jackson and Adam struggled with a big pumpkin and he helped them to put it in the middle of the leather strap. Then all three of them pulled the strap back and on the count of three released it.
“Holy crap, look at that pumpkin go,” Carl exclaimed and they all watched the pumpkin sail up in the sky and clear out of the distance and away.
“Is it going to land?” Davy wondered aloud but it didn’t look like it. They all looked at Harry’s sling-shot with awe. Kate snorted.
“I don’t believe for a second that thing sent that pumpkin that distance,” she declared. DJ, who was in on the gag, went and picked up another pumpkin, struggling with the weight and they did it again. This pumpkin went as high as the last pumpkin and they all gasped with wonder as it sailed clear out of sight. Then Kate stomped her feet and walked over to the pumpkins and picked one up. She brought it back to the sling-shot and put it in the middle of the leather strap and struggled to pull it back.
“This is very difficult,” she muttered. All of Harry’s kids stood behind her with their hands over their mouths and everyone looked at them and began to realize that this was all a gag and began to laugh.
“Do you want some help with that, Mom?” Harry asked cheerfully. Kate shook her head.
“No, thank you, Henry, I can do it,” she replied and Harry grinned behind her back. She pulled the strap back all the way and released it. The pumpkin immediately fell to the ground in front of her with a big splash and all the kids and Harry laughed and she got a confused look on her face as the whole town laughed. Kate turned around to see them laughing and glared.
“What is the meaning of this, Henry?” she snapped. Harry giggled.
“It’s a joke, Mom, we played a joke on you,” he informed her. He turned to the crowd. “The first two pumpkins had lifts in them; that’s how they soared out of here like that, they were booby-trapped. DJ was in on it,” he told them and everyone laughed. Kate was not amused and that made it all funnier. Then she saw the humor and pointed her finger at her grandchildren.
“You little devils, I’ll get you one-by-one for this little gag,” she promised. Sean giggled.
“Oh, yeah, grandmom, I’m really scared,” he retorted and they all laughed again. Then they brought out the real machine, a giant spring loaded device and it sprang an amazing three hundred yards and won the contest and everyone cheered and it was placed in the place of honor for the year. They put the giant sling-shot there too just for fun because it was so cute. Some of the older boys went searching for the pumpkins and found both of them and brought back the lifts. Harry really appreciated that and gave them free shopping in the store of their choice, they picked Tower Music and had a blast.
Halloween came and all the kids had picked out their costumes and Ryan and Sean wanted to be cowboys. Harry was in the sewing room finishing up their shirts and had just handed Sean his shirt when the little smart-ass thanked him by saying, “Thanks, Mom.” This had pissed Harry off considerably and he jumped up from his machine, unzipped his jeans and pulled out his privates and waved them at his son.
“Excuse me, young man, but do these look like the genitals of a women, no they do not, these are my balls and this is my cock and a woman doesn’t have them,” he snapped. “I am your father, not your mother and from now on, you will call me dad, or father but never mom or mother, do you understand that?” Sean looked at him and his penis and nodded.
“Yes, Dad, I understand,” he said and Harry nodded. Fran stood in the doorway.
“You have a very pretty penis, Harry, nice and straight,” she observed. Emma and Cassie giggled. Harry grinned.
“Why, thank you, Fran, Jake likes