Nieces

I usually get to spend time with my nieces and nephew over the course of a week at the beach and maybe one more week at Mom's. However this year they were only here for a week and came to my house for one night. So, needless to say what ever they wanted to do they pretty much did that night. We normally do jacuzzi bubble baths but since we were going swimming the next morning we skipped it this time. The boys wanted to play video games and the girls wanted to play spa. We set up a pedicure station complete with foot spa, nail station (Esirae) and I did hair. They had a ball. They read books and magazines while they had their foot spa, then moved to the hair styling station and nail painting station. We also put gems on their nails.
When the boys saw how much fun the girls were having they wanted pedicures too. I took pictures but promised them I wouldn't post them. As you can see, Wanda also participated. She chose red nail polish. When we finished, we ate pizza and junk food, played outside and had popcorn and a movie. Great fun was had by all, especially Aunt Sherri.

Outside fun

I am very behind in blogging as this was the cousin visit in early August. However, all of the kids came to our house one night and we had alot of fun. These are pictures from the outside adventures. The boys had light saber battles and the girls enjoyed the arctic cat. The battery on the car was almost dead, but that didn't stop them. They pushed it up the hill, all climbed on and giggled all the way down. It looks like they didn't mind.

Hanging Rock

When my sister comes to visit every year we try to think of something special that would be fun for all of the cousins to do. I was trying to think of something that they hadn't done and I remembered Hanging Rock. Hanging Rock is a state park with hiking trails, beautiful waterfalls and a lake. As children we went swimming in the lake and really enjoyed it so we decided to give it a try. It was supposed to rain but ended up being a great day! Aunt Jennifer, Rehm, Charlotte, Eliza Claire, Ruby, Esirae, Zander, Brady, Riley, Rosie, Vicki, Alana, Summers and our friend Brian were in attendance.
It was just as I remembered. The lake was roped off and although you couldn't see the bottom, it was nice because you could see where it was shallow. We took buckets and nets and the kids chased fish and salamanders more than they swam. The adults actually got to stand in the water and catch up with each other. Esirae and Brian however took advantage of the shade. For some reason I was too lazy to take pictures at the lake but remembered to snap a few at our picnic lunch. Zander is already talking about wanting to go again.

Big 10

 

 

 

 

When I was a little girl, my sister and I and my cousins, Vicki and Tracy stayed at my grandmothers house during the summer while our parents worked. Things were quite different then and most days we were sent out to play and didn't come back in until lunch. Then we usually went back out and stayed until the late afternoon where my obsession with General Hospital began. That is a story for another day.
One of my favorite things to do was to go to Big 10. What is big 10 you ask? Big 10 is what we called a large rock that was by a creek behind my Grand parents farm. Some of my favorite memories are there and it continued to be a special place for me as I got older. I took a few special boyfriends there to show them my special spot. None of them seemed very impressed. I also found it quite comforting to go there when things in my life weren't going right and I needed to be by myself with the rock and the water. I can't imagine how it will be when my grandmother is gone and so will be all of the special spots but not the memories.
When my sister was here, we decided to take the children to share it with them. It was alot of fun. We walked in the creek to Big 10. The kids had a ball walking in the water and most of them had walking sticks. PaPa helped them find a crawdad and we took pictures and videos of them having fun. It makes me sad to realize that my son will grow up so very different than I did and won't get to know about summers on the farm and lasting relationships with cousins and siblings.

Happy Birthday Charlotte

Zander's Grandma Sandi recently returned from the rainforest in Indonesia. One of the many things that she sent to Zander was a drum. He puts this big heavy drum on and walks around the house playing forever! It is really heavy and it makes a big red mark on his neck, but he doesn't care and he won't let me put anything there to keep it from hurting his neck.
This week was cousin Charlotte's 4th birthday. Zander, of course wanted to go to Texas for her party, but I told him he would have to just sing happy birthday. So, here is his song to you Charlotte. Happy Birthday!!!
PS. Thanks for the drum Grandma!

travel day

We went to breakfast on Sunday morning and gave Daddy kisses and then headed for the beach. It was quite uneventful. Zander did great. He watched The Jungle Book and then the Lion King. We stopped for lunch and before you know it we were at the beach. Believe it or not, our room was ready. Zander did not understand that we had to unpack our things and eat dinner. He thought we were going in the ocean. After all of that it was time to go to bed.



On Monday morning, we woke up and met Jenn and the kids for breakfast. After that we came back and went to the beach. It was fun but, it was really rough. We had to stand right with the kids or they would wash away. They have pumped sand up onto the beach and it was really deep right at the edge. They had a great time, except for the babies. Eliza wanted no part of it, so they went in for a nap. After lunch and naps we went to the pool. Chalotte and Rehm have learned to swim, Zander did great with his life vest on and the babies want to swim. Mom got in the water with us for the first time in maybe 20 years or more. It was a great 1st day at the beach.

Memorial Day Weekend

Over the Memorial Day Weekend, Zander had alot of fun. The fun started with a play date at the Richardson-Vogler compound. I took my camera with me, but was too busy and forgot to take pictures. They had planned a camp out for their children and Zachary. Zander was invited also, but I decided that since he had been sick earlier in the week that probably was not a good idea. The kids played and played until dark. After dark, Ms. Alana got out the glow sticks and the kids wrapped as many as they could around them and just ran all over the yard. It was fun to watch. Zander took his home and we hung them from the ceiling fan for him to watch while he fell asleep.

The next day, we filled up Zander's new pool and turned on the sprinkler for him to play in. Those of some of my most fond memories from my childhood. Jenn and I always had a pool and we would stay out there for hours. I am so glad that he has Rosie and Riley to play with, because it is just not as much fun with one.

On Monday, we did errands in the morning and then went back to the Richardson-Vogler compound for the evening. They had their little pool set up to play in. Then they hooked up the water hose to the slide and made a water slide. That was great fun for all. We set up the big pool and started filling it. It should be ready for the kids to swim in by next weekend. That ought to be interesting.

After that, we went to CiCi and PaPa's to eat supper. PaPa grilled hamburgers and CiCi made all kinds of good eats to go along with them. We had a great weekend. After chasing Zander for 3 days, I will be ready to go back to work on Tuesday.