Memorial Day

How'd you spend your Memorial Day?

Boating at the lake?

Pool side?

With family or friends?

I spent mine in bed until almost noon (which was glorious) and then working in the yard. 

I know you're jealous.

We started the day with no plans besides yard work but a text from my cousin Amanda gave us a goal to work toward.  They had driven into town for the day and wanted us to join them for dinner.  I suggested Pop's and we set the time.  They went to the zoo but we hit the back yard.  That doesn't seem right. 

After they ended their zoo time early we quickly showered and headed that way.  Our group of 10 had grown to 16 before we knew it....and Pop's really isn't set up for large parties.  It's a gas station after all.  After waiting about an hour we were seated, at 3 separate tables.  And there was one person who only had one cheek on the booth the entire time we were there.  I don't need to name names. 

But you know what?  Everyone had an absolute blast.  Kennedy, Reagan, and their 13 year old cousin Skylar ended up at a table together.  They looked completely uncomfortable.  Kennedy and Reagan pulled out their cell phones and started playing while they waited for their food.  Skylar only spoke once during the in the restaurant time and it was to say he wished he'd had his phone, but he was grounded from it.  As soon as they were done eating they asked if they could go outside to a big grassy field and play.  We of course said yes and finished our meals and chatted before heading out.  By the time we got out there they had seriously bonded.  As in running around chasing each other.  For about 30 minutes.  Non-stop.  Then the bubbles came out and even McKinley played with them.  The adults spent a lot of time chatting, and me?  I of course took pictures.

So my Memorial Day was alright.  Good sleep, good food, fun location, yard work accomplished, and wonderful time spent with family. 

Who needs a crowded lake?

Not this girl!

Get A Clue

When we have family game night we usually stick with Farkle or a shortened version of Phase 10.  Every once in a while we play Life.  But really, when you're investing time in playing your Life, it needs a lot of time.  My two least favorites are Monopoly and Clue.  I would rather watch sumo wrestling than play Monopoly.  It makes me incredibly grumpy.  But it's one of Shawn's favorites, so I bite my tongue and enjoy the time with my family.  Now as for Clue...I just don't get it.  I'm pretty sure it's a fairly easy game to understand, but I just don't get it.  Shawn again explained it to me and I gave it a try.  I of course didn't win but probably won an award for asking which character I was too many times.  But the high point of the evening came when we saw this.

We're not sure when they wrote all of these things, but they were a wonderful walk down memory lane! 

I am happy to report that Mommy & Daddy are still together.  Gogo & Grampa are still together.  Reagan still loved Evan.  But the other two....they were so offended when they read what they'd written!

Air Soft

When McKinley and her friend and I got back from a day wearing me out at the mall, we found this in the living room and dining room. Remember the air soft guns and target? Well, here they are. In my living room and dining room. Not exactly what I had envisioned. Especially since it was over 70 degrees outside.

In December.

And that light next to the target? That was the light on the piano. It used to have a shade on it. But as we were driving down our street McKinley and Paige saw a boy selling the paper that they recognized as the new creepy guy from school. They rushed into the house, through the shooting area, and stared at him through the front door. When we were finally able to remove them from the entry way, Paige's jeans caught on the glass shade. Bye bye shade.Shawn of course challenged me, and soon it was my turn. I can hardly beat him at anything. Any-thing. He is quite competitive, in a nice way though. The bowling victory of mine a few days ago was rare. Rare I tell you.

I tried my best, but I came no where near beating him. And how, you might ask, do you know where a tiny little plastic pellet lands when you're pretty far away?

The videographer of course. Actually she wasn't video taping, she was just looking at the zoomed in image of the target and keeping track of the points on her Daddy's cell phone. The piano light was making it easier to see.

My man thinks of everything I tell you.

Everything.

Christmas Break

Usually during Christmas break we eat, stay home, and eat. But this year I vowed to do more. I set some money aside and started planning. It had to be close to the hospital since Shawn was on call. Or close to home so we could race home if we weren't in two cars. With everything we did, we lucked out. Love when that happens:D

The first outing was to Bricktown to see a movie, do some shopping, and eat dinner. Oh, and dessert of course.

I love downtown at Christmas. Since Bricktown was revamped and the canal was added it's so beautiful. And the crosses that have been displayed on the buildings since I was a little girl are still there. Every year I think some radical organization of some kind is going to find a way to make that wrong. When I was young I dreamed of someday working in one of those buildings and getting to be one of the offices to leave my light on.Oh the dreams.

We met Shawn at Bass Pro Shops so he could spend a $50 gift card first. I hate that place. I'm sure there's something in there I would like...but it's surrounded by about a billion things that bore me to death. Air Soft guns and a target were purchased, and I made it out alive.

After a quick dinner at Sonic we went to see Tangled. Loved it. All of us did. Sadly I was too full from Sonic to get popcorn. That depressed me on so many levels. I need another movie date in my very near future. Of course following the movie we went to Cold Stone Creamery so it was okay. Almost okay.

A few days later we decided to go bowling. I honestly think the last time I went was when we were still in the military. So it had been about 13 years. When you're not very good, 13 years is a really long time. We got set up (with three shoe changes for the growing Reagan) and got started. After Reagan had four gutter balls, she was done and hated it. I sent Shawn to the front desk to ask about bumpers. I'd had two gutter balls myself and it certainly couldn't hurt. The bumpers made all of us a lot happier. I'm ashamed to say they helped my game immensely. I even beat Shawn one out of the three games. That my friends, is a miracle. A Christmas Break miracle. Those don't happen often.

See, he has some serious skills.
I love this. Who hasn't leaned to one side hoping the ball would go that way. This girl tried to make it look cool, but found it was just easier to bowl normally. She beat me two out of three games. I am still trying to come to terms with this. And my growing baby. This was before the bumpers. Her face was not happy. We were two games in when I noticed this. McKinley, our score board setter upper, spelled her own name wrong. Ha!

And here is proof that I beat Shawn. I'm the first S. And yes, I know it's blurry. The board reset itself so I was in a hurry to snap. But trust me, I won.And just for fun.With friends spending the night, more evenings driving through Christmas lights, and lots of leftovers, we had a wonderful break.

How were yours?

Where Did Summer Go?

About the middle of April I am sooo ready for school to end. It's usually dress rehearsal time for the all school musical and we still have our regular lives to live. Field trips are starting and the end of year craziness is just around the corner. I long for the lazy summer days of sleeping in, spending the day lounging at the pool, and enjoying grilled evening meals under our Magnolia.
Then about the first of August I am so ready for school to start! We're all bored, no one wants to swim, it's too hot to do anything else, the girls are fighting, and I miss having a schedule.

We're there now. They're sick of the pool, they're sick of each other, and everyone is tired of grilled chicken and salads.

The girls and I are planning one last quick trip to Branson for some time at Silver Dollar City and a little back to school shopping. But they almost lost that opportunity the other day with a doozey of an argument. A little threat and they were perfect angels. Luckily for them I really want this trip as well.

Even though I'm ready for school to start and our schedule to be back in place, I still feel like summer has flown by. Anyone else feel like that? I don't feel like I've done everything I'd hoped to do. Yes I got my yard work done, and we had several big parties, but the little things like having friends over for dinner, and letting the girls have more sleepovers just didn't happen.

Every year I say that it will.

But looking through my folders of Summer '10 pictures, we did a lot. A LOT. We had lots of family in town staying with us, we had several small family reunions, we had our usual group parties, and we went to some neat places.

Maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

Here are a few of my favorite moments.

Cousin Logan loving the fountains in Bricktown.The remembrance fence at the OKC Memorial.Just a few pictures of the chairs. It's such a beautiful place.
Aunt Janis trying to give driving directions to two different lost cars of cousins.Even though we were together for a funeral, it was nice to have some extended family time.My sweet cousin Andrea. She's a generation above me but she acts younger than me! We were having a nice posed picture taken when she did this. Love her!This girl is the best watermelon eater I have ever seen in my entire life! Emily, you amazed me! There was only white left when she was done.The cute Ohio boys came to visit. They didn't have time during the summer to come because of soccer practice, but a death in their family brought them here. We were sad for the reason but so glad to spend some time with them.
McKinley knows how to impress the cute boys.They have noodle wars that hurt to watch and hear. I don't know how they get out of that trampoline still friends.Shhhh, Molli is meditating.It's always interesting to see all of our flotation devices in one place. On one body.I know I just shared these next two but they're so good I had to share again!Since Ashley's visit was a surprise she added her own welcome to the kitchen chalkboard.Remember the surprise?Oh that girl.We did make lots of trips to get snow cones. Today was one of those:)We once again lost countless pool toys.I took tons of pictures. This one might be my favorite. Gigi with all but three great grandchildren.Teaching the youngest generation the important things in life.We met our newest cousins who were just adopted from Africa. We watched one fly.We had lots of fire pit nights.There were cute girls all around:DWe ate lots of good food. Some ate more than the rest of us.The facial expressions after a booty bounce jump are always good ones.This man. He has skills. On the ground, in the air, and in the pool.Speaking of facial expressions. Really, do you think she's tired of just a simple smile?We call this Martha Washington hair. We see it a lot.And that's not our pool. I'm sure you all were confused.

I did tons of yard work. And cursed the day we bought oak trees for the front yard.
We rested more than usual.We took plenty of trips and made tons of memories.So I guess our summer was well lived.

Does it have to end?