Our Weekend

Well, we had a great weekend, if a bit different than originally slated. We were supposed to head up the mountain to camp with Mo and the boys but since life (as it has a tendency to do) got in the way, we had to change plans. Unfortunately we had already told the kids we were all going camping together so we couldn't completely back out of it (as anyone with small kids understands).

So, with our numbers down and feeling safer in our own backyard, Jini and I carried on...not so much on the side of a mountain as the side of our house.  We roasted hot dogs and corn and of course, ate smores and slept on the ground, just like a real campout.  Sort of.  :)

If you had asked me five years ago if I would ever camp in my own backyard, I would have looked at you like you were insane and thought you were crazy to even think of such an idea...I probably would have opened my mouth to the effect too.  After all, what on earth could be the purpose of that? Well, ironically, here I stand to tell you, camping in your own back yard is full of great joy and fun! Kids LOVE tents and love sleeping outside! Even my girly girl thinks it is the greatest thing on the planet. When you do the greatest thing on the planet with friends, well, how can you top that?  That's easy, do it without the Dad's and still feel safe.

After camping, we headed out to see Mo and the boys for the rest of the weekend. Since none of the kids had ever been to Chucky Cheese, and Y was dying to check it out, we decided to give it a try.  The coins were certainly the best part...it was NOT the pizza.

Yeah, this was a horse race...Em didn't get far, but she loved it! 

The fact that he can't reach the pedals was the best part for me.  :-)

I always try to teach this girl to throw, so does her Dad, I am just not sure what goes wrong.  So why did I take her to the one place you have to throw eight balls in a row down a narrow passage?  Your guess is as good as mine.  She looks like she is doing so well too.

Look at that!  What you don't realize is that the ball you see is actually rolling back down toward us.  Yep, not enough umph to get over that giant hill up there.  I can do nothing but laugh!

So, needless to say, we abandoned the games and went for the rides. When the girls realized they could ride all the rides in the place, the coins started walking out the door at a rapid rate!

Em rode every single ride at least once and many twice.  She is the kid who asks me every time we go into a store if she can ride whatever ride is out front, I might give in once every hundred (or two hundred...I'm pretty chintzy) times we go, but she never quits.  I'm sure that's why God tells us to just keep asking...you never know, this might be the hundredth (or thousandth) time...the one when He says yes.

I guess this is how a boy rides a horse.  :-)  IDK, I asked M to snap a pic of Y since we didn't have one of him yet and then take the camera to the car so we didn't have to think or worry about it the rest of the time...this is what I got.  Pretty intense.  Did you know this little eight year old ran an 8:40 mile?  He didn't train or anything, just did it for track and field day...wasn't tired, just ran...that Ethiopian blood runs strong in this boy!

Well, my brother is still deployed and they still do not have the necessary paperwork to finish the adoption of their little girl...which has to happen in the next month or it will fall through.  Please keep their family in your prayers!  They are stressed and need your intervention.  God Bless!!