Chairs, Cousins, Car Rides, Camp, & Contest Winner

Guess one could call this the 'C' post.


First up is a pic of Aiden trying to sit on a dollhouse chair. He played with that chair for well over 30 mins; setting it down on the ground, turning around, trying to sit, turning back around the assess the situation and then trying over again. It was the funniest thing.Cousins: This past weekend my sister's kiddos, Shayna and Shelby, came up with Nana to our house to spend some time with the cousins and their favorite Auntie Uncle Joy.

Nana, Alexis, Shelby and Shayna had to pose for a picture before we set out to celebrate our 4th of July. I just love Shelby's scrunched up happy face in this picture. She is just the cutest little thing and calls me 'uncle joy' in the most adorable voice.

The boys wanted to get in on the picture taking action too. All the kiddos dressed up in their red, white and blue.

Rare picture of Nana with the kiddos. I was looking through all my old picture files on Nana's birthday and it became clear to me that I have not taken a picture of Nana with my kiddos in ages. She is up here almost every weekend but our time with her is usually pretty short and the camera just never makes it out.

After the picture parade we headed over to our friend's house to have some food and watch the fireworks from their backyard. Aiden was really too young to enjoy them or really know what was going on last year, so it was great to see the excitement in his eyes as he watched the pretty colors in the sky. We are far enough away from the show that the sounds really didn't bother him.

What was bothering him was his diaper. During the show he had a blow out but neither Dale or I wanted to take him away from the fireworks early so he ended up leaking. Of course I was not prepared for an outfit change so he got a diaper change and made his way home in his diaper and shoes. He was of course asleep before we made it off their street.

Uncle Dale didn't get to spend much time with the girls since he was at work the three days they were up here. So, when he came home early on Sunday, I tortured him with a picture. Shelby just loves her Uncle Dale (which I have been trying to get her to call him Aunt Dale since she calles me Uncle Joy. No such luck YET).

The plan was for Nana to take Alexis back down with her to San Diego when she left with Shayna and Shelby on Sunday. Alexis was eager to go spend time with her cousins; Desiree, Caleb, and Tatiana. Here she is sporting her sense of fashion by wrapping her blanket around her neck like a scarf even though it was 100 degrees outside.

Car Ride: All three girls were strapped in and ready to go on a fun ride to San Diego. I guess it didn't turn out that way. Instead there was lots of picking on each other by the sisters, crying by Alexis, and shot nerves on Nana's part. That must have been the longest 100 miles of my mom's life.

Camp: Today we got Andrew all packed up and ready to leave for 4 days at church camp. He has been excited to go and time couldn't go by fast enough this morning as he awaited his 11:15 departure.

I was a little worried that he would have a hard time leaving since this will be the first time he will be away and not at a family member's house. He hooked up with his buddies right away and seemed pretty confident that all was going to be ok. He did get a little teary eyed when I was telling him goodbye, but I am sure he will have a great time.

They got all loaded up in the boy van and were on their way. But wait, is that a little stow away in the van? No Aiden, you can not go with your brother and his buddies to camp. Andrew won't be back till Thursday so it should be interesting to see how Aiden does without his big buddy for 4 days.

Contest winner: Sorry if I bored you with all the other 'Cs' first, but now for the big announcement. I numbered little orange pieces of paper for each comment entry and placed them in a hat. (*Remember I don't have one of those super high-tech husbands like Heather who runs a computer randomizer thingie. I am sre he could figure it out if I ever gave him a chance to get on the computer long enough).

So, right after Dale got off work and was changing Aiden's diaper so we could go out for the night I had him pick a number out of the hat. (*And yes, immediate family members were not eligible to win the contest. They just wanted to have fun getting in on the commenting action.)

And the number that was drawn.......

#29, which would be Nicole!! CONGRATULATIONS Nicole on winning the $15 giftcard to Starbucks. Dale would like a tall Caramel Macchiatto upside down with extra caramel, and I would like a tall Strawberry Lemonade blended with Raspberry. :) j/k

Maybe I could save a stamp and just drop it off later this week? Let me know what day works best for a stop by or if you would like me to drop it in the mail.

Thank you to everyone for playing along. Based on the strawberry pie suggestions I think I am just going to stick with Marie Callender's strawberry pies from now on. Plus I need to focus on making my hubby his French Silk pie for our anniversary on Sunday since he so kindly pointed out to everyone that I forgot to make one for his birthday in May. Sorry hun!!

Now I better wrap this up so I can go cuddle on the couch with my hubby since there aren't two extra kiddos climbing all over him.

Ciao!