Oink Oink and other things

Last Saturday was the first annual (bi-annual?) Creekside Pig Roast, and it was a great time! Basically, we and three of our neighbors all went in together to host a pig roast for our other neighbors, family and friends. It was nice because it never felt overwhelming to plan a party since the responsibilities were all split up (Jenny might disagree, but just because she and Dave freak out about things they don't need to!). We counted over 100 people there, and everything went so well.

For some reason, we had a red, white and blue mullet wig and everyone took a turn with it... Here's Rhonda

And Jenny looking sexy


And Rocky with some kid I don't know!

And Mayur

And of course Dave


Here's the cooker, chicken in the front, pig in the back.


Oink Oink!


Before the party started


And during the party!


And what would a party be without Dave dancing up a storm?


Needless to say, we all had fun. I didn't get to bed until 3:30 (3:30!!). I can't remember the last time that happened. Jenny and I cleaned up some before bed and then everyone was out Sunday morning finishing it up. Oh wait, there was one hitch... Sadie apparently had too much pig during the pig roast too and it impacted her digestive system. Dave has spent the last two mornings and afternoons cleaning up after the "treats" she left for us when she couldn't get outside in time. Thank God for Dave!

And on to other topics... I haven't yet posted about our new lawn ornament! Dave and Rocky are going to learn to never send Jenny and I shopping together. We came home with this, which we bought together. The kids LOVED it, but it is quite a pain to put away. Lesson learned: it better be nice ALL weekend to make it worth getting out!



Last week, we met Jen (my sister) and her three kids at Stonefire Pizza Company (Chuck E. Cheese, only much, much nicer) to celebrate Erin's second and Max's first birthdays. We did this for Nolan and Chad's birthday, too, and it's lots of fun. The only stressful part is trying to turn in the tickets the kids win from their games and getting toys. That part is crazy!

They have a room with face paint stuff... here's kitty Abby and Kitty Erin!

Conductor Max

Conductor Erin

The water table. The other problem with this place is that there's a lot of field trips. And the kids don't usually have enough supervision. Such was the case at the water table! When it seemed like Max was done, I took off the thing that was keeping him dry. Meanwhile kids kept splashing other kids. But then Max went back, the kids had bad aim, and bam. He got a bucket full of water on him.



And here's his super wet shirt! He was fine, but I wasn't happy about it.



Here's the big lego room. Abby and Cole and Nolan kept building towers for Max, and of course he couldn't resist knocking them down!


The kidlets being crazy



Max's favorite ride. I couldn't resist! It's the place where you put the kids when you're going to the bathroom... in the stall with you, all buckled in. I've seen them before but never used one, and he loved it! When I came out, Jen asked me if someone was taking pictures in the bathroom. Oops! Yup, that would be me. I guess that's frowned upon in some places!


And here's party central. The restaurant won't let you bring presents in if you don't have a party booked, so we do it afterwards in the back of the van. Thank goodness for big vans and little kids!


Here's the kiddos at the beach today. Ah, the beach. I've actually taken the kids there enough this summer to have warranted buying the season pass! It's a great place because Abby and Nolan can swim or play in the sand, and Max will play for hours in the sand. Although today, he ventured into the watered and kept wanting to go out further and further. Even after taking a header into the water, he was still happy out there!


I couldn't resist this picture of Nolan. :)


And here's what the kids did before dinner... Bella Dancerella! Abby found her dance mat and vido and put it in. But, I'm really not sure who had the most fun. At one point, Max was clapping and Nolan was dancing on the couch. Here, the boys are just awestruck.


Max on his new chair. This was taken before Abby had her digestive issue.


And that's about it! I realize I still haven't written about Max's birthday or fourth of July. I still will but the thing is, I've lost the camera with the pictures of those days. I bought a new one before Colorado, Abby used the other camera until it ran out of memory, and I put the old camera somewhere and that somewhere is eluding me now. I promise it'll show up when you least expect it!

But, I thought I would leave you with my list of the 5 things I haven't done this summer:

1. Yelled at the kids to get up and get going so they could get to daycare on time. We've had nice, liesurly mornings with relatively little freaking out.


2. Rushed around after work to pick up the kids from daycare on time, get them home, get them dinner and get them to bed so they can get up in the morning. They're outside late and up late... just like summer should be!


3. Watched as the kids go on field trips with the daycare people. We get to go on our own field trips!


4. Try to fit a million things into the weekends to enjoy the summer. Now, our weekends are actually our downtimes!


5. Worried about cleaning or organizing the house. I've gotten a couple of things done, but I'm really happy that usually, my house is no worse off than it was when I woke up in the morning.

If you can't tell, I'm really enjoying summer. The timing of being done with work was so nice because it was like being back in school when summer actually meant something! For those of you who have to work, I'm sorry! It'll all be even, I'm sure, when it's 10 below in February for the fifth day in a row and I'm stir crazy with the kids. But for now, I'm going to continue to enjoy it!