A moment of silence, please! Kate Plus 8‘s Tuesday, December 29, episode began with a funeral. Well, actually, it began with four funerals as Kate Gosselin and her family said goodbye to all the fish that died over the winter and had been awaiting their burial in the freezer.
Holy Mackerel
“I appreciate the kids really value our pets. They value life,” the 40-year-old mother of eight said proudly on the TLC series of her kids’ touching tribute to the pets. Of course, the task of dumping the beloved fish from their bowls into the “burial blankets” made of paper towels fell to her, and she was soon gagging at the smell.
Kate Plus Kate
Burying the deceased animals wasn’t the only thing Kate had to do on her own in the end. She had ambitions of redoing the front yard, bringing in a landscaping company to help. In an effort to save money, she enlisted the kids to move the rocks from the lawn to the driveway leading to the horse stable.
“How long is this going to take?” whined one of the sextuplets, to which her mom replied, “As long as you make it take!” Kate described how this was a normal Saturday for her growing up, so she had no sympathy.
To get the kids more into the project, Kate decided to operate a chainsaw, wanting to look “cool” for the boys, especially. “My goal is to expose my kids to as much as I can,” she explained. “It’s facing your fears, and much of what we fear is not as scary as we make it out to be.”
Unfortunately, the trees Kate intended to uproot came from the kids’ prized “Secret Hideout,” so her children were much less impressed with her skills than she’d hoped, and she went ahead removing the trees on her own.
“This show should be called Kate Plus Kate because Mommy does everything,” said Leah bitterly in their confessional.
Turning Over a New Leaf
Without the twins, the sextuplets and Kate headed out to look at plants for the new front yard. Alexis loved the idea of shopping for plants, but the other five were less enthused. Hannah complained she wanted to go home and go back to bed.
Suddenly, the kids found lamb’s ears plants, and their attitudes shifted. They became “very invested,” in Kate’s words. Each of them got to grab one plant and bring it home, planting six in total.
It’s Raining, It’s Pouring, These Kids Are Never Boring
When they got home, they got ready for a family cookout and swim session, but out of nowhere, it started to rain! She had made the kids haul food to the grill all evening, so Kate decided to go ahead with the original plans. After shucking corn in the storm, the kids put on their bathing suits and ran around in the rain. During a break in the downpour, Kate managed to grill, and the night turned out perfectly.
“All in all, the cookout was wet, windy, delicious, and turned out great,” said Kate, and the kids ended the night in the pool.
When Life Gives You Limónes
Lisa, a family friend, came by to teach a yoga class in the yard. Between eight rambunctious kids and one wild dog, it was almost impossible for anyone to relax, but they did have fun! Collin was even able to get into a full headstand.
After yoga, everyone was feeling pretty zen and giving. After a great idea from Aaden, the kids made a “lemonade stand” as a way to thank the landscapers, providing them with free lunch and drinks. The landscapers, in turn, used the lunch break to teach the little boys Spanish.
At the end of the episode, Alexis found a snail in her lamb’s ears plant, and Kate conceded that it could be kept as a pet, perhaps because the kids were still so mad about the loss of their secret hideout. Little did they know, Kate hadn’t completely destroyed the hideout at all. Instead, she got each kid a large stone with his or her name on it. They placed them in the hideout as a special place for each of them to sit, and everyone relaxed and admired their beautiful new yard!
Tell Us: Would you trust a crew of children to landscape your yard?
Kate Plus 8 airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST on TLC.
