Plan B

We had a family camping trip planned with our good friends this weekend to Pacific City. Unfortunately, Kelsey got sick yesterday, so the girls and I stayed home. Kelsey asked for takeout from Red Robin since she was sad that we weren't going to be able to go out for dinner tonight like we had planned. You know Kelsey is really not feeling well when she takes a couple of bites of her fries from Red Robin, puts the fry down on the napkin, and says "I'm full." We were hoping to join everyone tomorrow if Kelsey were feeling better, but it's not looking very promising. I guess it's meant to be that Peter and Conner have a "father/son" weekend :)

Goodbye to Emma and Time with the Hearings :)

Our internet was down for the past couple of days, and Peter finally got it to work again (after several hours of troubleshooting)! I'm so glad he knows what to do when things like that happen. Today was McKenzie's last day to spend time with her friend Emma, so she had one last sleepover. I had the morning off from work today, so I delivered "room service" to the girls. It was cute to see how excited they were with pancakes (1/2 of them cold) and a few blueberries :) I'm glad they're so easy to please. Mary, Sara, and Alex came over for a little play time, and Mary brought pizza for everyone which was a nice treat. I love the picture of Conner and Alex smiling while sitting together ouside. I spent the rest of the evening visiting families at the migrant camp for my job. I've been working lots of extra hours. It will be nice to have a bit of extra money, but I'm pooped! It's only 8:52, and I'm ready for bed.

Fun with our Cousins

Today Jack and Elie came over for a play date, so Katie and Tyee could go on a date. When Jack first got out of the car, he was screaming and laid down on our front porch and screamed. After a few minutes, Tyee carried him inside and tried comforting him. As Jack kept screaming, I took Jack so they could made a quick exit. He stopped crying in less than one minute after they left and never asked where they went or when they would be back :) We had lots of fun together - we went to the park, played soccer in the backyard, baked brownies, played with skateboards, and went "fishing" with a bucket in the hallway. Elie was fussy the second half of our time, and she only wanted Peter. It was really cute because she was very attached to him! When Katie and Tyee came back, Jack said that he didn't want to leave, so I guess it wasn't so bad after all :)

Great Day at the Beach

Today I took 6 teenagers to the beach for the day, and we had a great time. Kelsey decided not to go since she was invited to spend the day at a park with her cousins. At the beach the first two hours were sunny and windy, but the rest of the time was sunny and warm. Conner got a picture of me with the wind blowing through the hood of my coat - I look like a smurf :) Conner and Josh had fun playing soccer and went on a 4-mile run as part of their training plan for soccer. They were supposed to run 7 miles today, but they figured 4 miles on sand was the equivalent of 7 miles on concrete - works for me :) I couldn't run 1/4 of a mile in sand! The girls were crazy, of course, and had fun doing jumps off of logs, throwing sand in the wind, running along the waves, eating elephant ears, writing in the sand, doing photo shoots, and singing to their favorite songs in the car.

Almost Time to Say Goodbye

A week from today, one of McKenzie's very good friends is moving to Indiana. She and her friends took this picture the other day - they have been inseparable for the past week! Their plans before her friend moves have included sleepovers, playing "house" in the model homes in one of their friend's neighborhoods, an all-nighter, trip to Seattle, a going away party, a get-together at Bethany Village, etc. Tomorrow I am taking the girls to the beach for the day. McKenzie is really going to miss her!

Whoopie Pies

A few weeks ago Food Day had an article about whoopie pies. Supposedly these are the new thing, and cupcakes are on their way out....so the article says. I loved the picture on the cover of Food Day (and the recipes that went along with article sounded delicious), so I decided to give them a try. Kelsey and I made them for McKenzie's softball party. They were just like the tops of cupcakes and were very easy to frost. They turned out delicous, too, but next time I will put more frosting between the pies and buy sprinkles rather than using the colored sugars. I like the taste of the sugars better, but the sprinkles look better, don't you think?

All Smiles

Last night the families played against the girls from McKenzie's softball team. We usually end the season this way, and it is so much fun! I love seeing the parents trying to bat, catch fly balls, and run around the bases. There was so much smiling and laughing on everyone's part (I'm the only one in the pictures not smiling - I was really concentrating on running the bases!) I was able to capture everyone else's smiles, though :) One of the player's 76 year-old grandma pitched for the parents' team and stayed afterwards for the second round of play (pitching about 2 hours worth of softball!). She was a pitching coach 40 years ago, and you could tell that she had such a great time. A fun time was definitely had by all!