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June, 2004
(Hold your mouse over a picture for its
caption.)
June 1, 2004
Happy Birthday Uncle David!!!
There's a fabulous new pool in town that's designed strictly for kids. Check it out!
To calm things down a bit, I pulled out some "fuzzy" posters for the kids to color.
June 3, 2004
Nothing like a lizard outside the window to get the "children's" attention.
June 4, 2004
We've discovered the best putt putt during a heat wave - air conditioned! It's under black light, and the kids had a blast checking out all of the white on their clothes - not to mention the neon props all over the place.
June 6, 2004
Let me introduce you to Ryan Thomas Finster, our newest nephew! He was born to Mike and Mary Beth on Thursday, June 3 and all are doing well. With three older sisters, whatever are they going to do with a baby boy in the house?! LOL
We also had an exciting day today. Alex had his big end of the year guitar recital. He had been very blasé about the whole thing, and plays his song from memory without any trouble. So I was a little surprised when he brought his music on stage with him, and played very tentatively. Mark asked him afterwards why he had his music, and he said because he was "really scared." He did great, despite his nerves, and we're really proud of him! (So proud that I'm going to torture you with video, yet again!)
Performance
"America" ("My Country Tis of Thee")
June 9, 2004
Mom and I braved the heat wave and took the kids to the zoo today. We only had time to feed the giraffes (their absolute favorite thing), go to the petting zoo and play on the playground for a few minutes before a storm moved in. I had a closing at 4:30 in the same city, so we had to find something to do until then. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the mall in blissful air conditioning. It's a good thing I got a year pass to the zoo so we can go back and see the rest!
Patch was too cute tonight. He had already had two Gogurts (yogurt snacks) and wanted another. When I said he could have one, he skipped over to the fridge yelling "Tic tac toe, three in a row!"
The boys spent quite a while on the
"spider web" at the playground. Patrick was hanging from one of the ropes
and I called him a monkey. He said, "I'm a spider monkey!"
I've got my furniture moved away
from the wall so I can do some painting. Grendel is thoroughly enjoying
the close-up view of the mice in their cage!
June 12, 2004
We've had a wonderful, insanely busy day visiting all kinds of loved ones! Poor Mark, though. He's been on a business trip in Salt Lake City for the past week, and got home at about midnight last night. We dragged him out of bed this morning and hit the road!
We started off in Brooksville for our long-time friends' son's birthday party. It was a skating party, which is always a hoot! The kids actually made great strides (pun intended LOL) in their skating skills and even tried in-line skates.
From there we drove down to Tampa for our niece, Danielle's, second birthday. All of the cousins were there (except for 9-day-old Ryan) and we had a wonderful afternoon.
We headed home this evening to some doggies who had been very lonely all day. As hard as Grendel tried, she didn't finally settle down until after midnight - boy I wish I had puppy energy!
June 13, 2004
The kids wanted to make a "beware" sign for their clubhouse, and they also wanted to "play with Daddy's tools." So Mark combined the two and they worked on a sign with letters made out of screws that the boys screwed in.
Patch has found a new way to aggravate Alex without getting himself into trouble. Here's an example. Tonight, Alex and I were having a disagreement over how much allowance he was due. Patch had to add his two cents: "Alex, you should just be happy for what you got and thank Mommy."
June 14, 2004
The boys and I went back to the indoor putt putt course this afternoon. There's nothing like having to endure the remaining 16 holes with the ego of a 7-year-old who made a hole-in-one on the second hole!
June 15, 2004
My boys are turning into multitalented musicians! They've been expressing interest in each other's instruments, so we talked to their teachers and today they swapped lessons. Both teachers raved at how well they picked up the second instrument. I just sat back and beamed!
We celebrated Mark's birthday a day early, since I won't be home much tomorrow. I had planned to make him his favorite dinner, but at the last minute he got a call from an old colleague inviting us out to dinner since he's in town on business. We had a wonderful dinner and visit, then came home to cake that the boys helped me make.
June 16, 2004
Happy Birthday, Daddy!
Mark is the best husband in the world. Today I had a hair appointment, then a closing, then a night out with the girls to play Bunko (a monthly "obligation"). Not only did he not complain once, even though it's his birthday, he even watched two of our neighbors' kids tonight whose moms went out with me! I knew there was something special about him!
June 17, 2004
Happy Birthday, Uncle Mike!
No doubt, Mike's having a great birthday with that new baby boy in his arms!
June 19, 2004
We drove over to the River last
night for a weekend with Mark's parents. Everybody went out in the boat
and swam their hearts out while I stayed behind and enjoyed the A/C at the mall.
The boys hadn't had enough and went
out in the paddle boat and swam off the sea wall. They were doing crazy
jumps into the water. Patch's favorite was the "banana," and Alex just
liked spinning in mid-air.
June 20, 2004
Mark's parents went to stay with Mary Beth today to help her with the kids and the baby while Mike's on a business trip for the next couple of days. We joined them on our way home and finally got to meet the baby!
June 21, 2004
Our sister-in-law, Stacie, is in town from San Francisco for a wedding, so we met up with her at Universal Studios. It was such a treat to see her, since we live so far apart. Fortunately, none of us melted in the heat, and we had a terrific visit! There was a very long line for one of the rides, and they had a DJ playing music and keeping spirits up while the crowd lobbed beach balls around. We actually had fun while in the long line!
June 22, 2004
The daily "gathering of neighborhood children" ended up at our house today. Alex was showing off the snakes.
June 23, 2004
My cousin's kids are visiting my aunt (their Grandmother) this week, so Mom, the boys and I headed over for a visit and some time in the pool. Since my cousin moved up to Michigan, we don't have much of a chance to see them, so it was a special visit.
June 24, 2004
My neighbor and I momentarily lost our minds and took the kids to Chuck E Cheese's today. Actually, the heat has been so unbearable this summer that I've scrapped most of my summer plans and am now looking for any air conditioned activity I can find!
June 25, 2004
We packed up and headed off for a weekend in the woods in the camper. It stormed all the way to the campground, but the skies cleared just as we arrived. That was fortunate, because we found out at the campsite that the power cord for the camper had jostled out of its slot and dragged along the road and was ruined. So our camper turned into a glorified tent as we slept with the windows all unzipped.
June 26, 2004
Mark took the kids to the beach while I packed up the camper and took it to have the power cord repaired. (Believe me, after a long night in the heat, I got the better end of that deal - my patience was looooong gone!) The repair went quickly and by lunch I had the camper back up and the A/C cranked! Things were lookin' up! We basically hung out and enjoyed the peace and quiet the rest of the day. Another storm moved in (not unusual around here) right after dinner, so we headed into our wonderful cool camper and played games until bedtime. A vast improvement over last night!
June 27, 2004
We checked out a local fort this morning, then packed up camp and headed home. Boy, it's good to be home!
June 28, 2004
The boys got themselves grounded today after having a knock-down fight that landed both of them with ice packs on swollen spots. Tell me again when school starts?
I guess Grendel missed the mice while she was at the kennel. She's been eyeing them all day!
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