EFY, Skillet Tossing, and Jumpin’ in the Rain

EFY

We took Kayla up to St. Peter, MN for EFY and we spent 2 days at the Mall of America. I posted the pics and info about that trip on previous blogs. She had a wonderful time!

Skillet Tossing

Yep, you heard me….skillet tossing! Marisa attended the National Skillet Tossing Competition with the single adult group. She actually got a one point. You throw skillets at basketballs on scarecrows. So funny! We have barely seen Marisa’s face the past 2 weeks as she spends all her time dating these amazing guys and doing cool stuff with the singles group!

 

Jumpin in the Rain

Last night we got our 1^st real rain in about a month. We were so excited cause the grass is dead and the garden is suffering. We usually have June Gloom every year- but not this year. The kids celebrated with some jumping on the trampoline in the rain and loved every minute of it.

Stupid Stinging Wasps

Tyler, our master BBQ chef had a tough week this week when while BBQing, the wasps who have taken up residence under our grill, chose to sting Tyler for “heating up” their home.  He was not amused.  Then Bob went out and went all ninja on them!

New Fav Dessert?

Chocolate chunk brownies with fresh sliced strawberries with melted choc fountain choclate and spraying whip cream!

OCD takes over

During Spring Break, we usually do a deep clean on the house. This summer my goal is to organize, simplify, and clear. So I have been going through every single inch of this house and clearing out all the crap. Its cathartic but exhausting. I am in awe how much crap one family can accumulate over time. Long story short- the shed is stuffed to the gills. That is the project this week. Then I should be done and ready to focus on the fun projects I want to do.

Before pics of the storage room:

MOA- Day 2

Nickelodeon Universe and Entirely Too Much Shopping (but not enough according to Marisa)

The “SPLAT-O-Sphere” which scared the living daylights and her screams could be heard miles away.  But later that day, she rode it again several times!

The Orange roller coaster which goes around the whole park

The Ninja Turtle airplane ride (Alayna was too scared to try the 1st time, but went several times after)

This was what I call the Death Drop roller coaster.  Only Ty and Bob did it.  This was the best shot I could get (Front row- the two on your right)

Bob, Ty, and Alayna spent the rest of the time riding more rides and having a blast, while Marisa and I did 6 hours of shopping.  I’ll give Marisa credit- she doesn’t tire easily.  We hit probably every clearance rack there was.

Its 11PM and we just got back home to Iowa and dang is that a LONG drive!  The kids were great and we had a blast!  Kayla seems to be loving EFY and had a dance tonight.  We also hit the GINORMOUS IKEA store by the mall and have the plans for my dream home!

Mall of America Day 1

Wow this place is HUGE!

After a long drive up, and dropping Kayla off at EFY, we are “thinking happy”

The pineapple is real?!

I had to FORCE them to get pictures with the Ninja turtles. What has happened to our youth?

Alayna trying the Hot Tamale love machine.  Marisa registered as “fiery”.

At the “peeps” store where we got free samples.  Do you know they even have chocolate dipped ones?

Ty took this picture for Kayla

All of these are made out of LEGOS!!!

Every color lego you could ever want!!

This transformer LEGO is 2 stories high!!  How awesome is that!?

Lunch at the Magic Pan Crepe STand and the food was to die for! (Pizza Crepe, strawberries and cream crepe, and Chicken Santa Fe Crepe!)

Lego  Helicopter

Made it to the hotel, did 2 hours of swimming.  Now to crash!

Tomorrow Nickelodeon Universe and lotsa shopping!!

Why I like Summer and how Murphy’s Law Ruled the Week!

Why I like Summer and how Murphy’s Law Ruled the Week!

Why I like Summer

Summer is finally here! It is my favorite time of the year (not favorite season) for many reasons- its warm, its sunny, I get to spend time with my kids, I get to organize, and I do NOT have to work!

The teens had their friends over for a free car wash for several hours. No one took them up on the offer which is too bad. But my cars got cleaned, and they had a great time having a water fight, so I count it as a success!

This week we were able to start our annual family workouts and fun summer time. We played tennis, did the track, went on bike rides, etc.

The best part is that we finally decided to get a trampoline!! We are trying to stay active and the kids were excited about it. Its “easy assemble” instructions were ridiculously Uneasy. It took us forever to get it together, but we have it up and love it!

Murphy’s Law Rules the Week

We started out the week working 4 hours again at Polk. We scanned and boxed over 4000 books! The kids were a tremendous help and we were able to get so much done!

That night we went to the Sprint store and upgraded the home phone, my phone, and Kayla’s phone. They all weren’t working well so it was time for a change. There weren’t many options for our plan so Kayla and I had to get the exact same ones. Bob started not feeling well at all.

That night Marisa accidentally dropped her phone in the toilet and it stopped working. Alayna was up during the night sick with what I call a mini-flu? Kayla was down too….

The next day at lunch, Bob took Marisa to get a new phone, she also had to get the exact same phone (so yes we had to order covers to tell the difference). While they were getting hers, Tyler raced into to bath because he was sick with this flu thing. I grabbed his clothes and threw them in the laundry unaware that his iPod was in his pocket!!! I didn’t check cause we had just finished playing tennis and I didn’t think he even HAD pockets! So, his iPod died a terrible death and he cried. (his new one arrived this weekend- I replaced it because I felt like it was my fault.

Bob and Tyler were sick the next day, then Bob and I were sick the day after, and Bob again the day after. We just cant seem to keep him well. We all seem to be well now and hope it stays that way!

Memorial Day and lots of odds and ends!

Memorial Day

We had a fun-filled day with family! We launched 2 rockets (and lost them both)

We did a fun experiment from a kit with super-absorbing gel.

And then we blew up Ivory soap in the microwave!

Lots of Odds and Ends

*Tyler auditioned for the high school show choir. He practiced hard all week and even had his sisters and “adopted” sister practice with him for hours and HE MADE IT!!! We are so proud of him and excited for this new adventure!

*My dad brought us some beautiful gifts from Ghana. He brought me these amazing hand-carved bookends!

*Alayna finally decided to play the viola! We got her viola this week and are very excited to have another orchestra member in our family!

*Kayla interviewed and got a job at Hyvee! She started this week and I think she really likes it so far.

*I was finally released from Primary! The relief lasted all of 2 seconds and then they called me to be the 12-13 Sunday School teacher. I will reserve my thoughts on this until a later date.

*My boss hired me to work some hours this summer. One of the elementary schools closed. The librarian who had been there had NEVER weeded, which by the way, is an essential part of being a librarian. I am not kidding when I say that a good portion of the books I had as a child. The average copyright date is probably like 1970. I took Tyler and Alayna on Friday and we worked for 4 hours. We scanned over 2000 books and packed up 45 boxes!!! We work all week next week too!

*The girls attended Mormon prom on Friday night. I wasn’t here to get any pictures and I don’t think they took any…