Our Perfect Girl

Today we went to our usual end of the year awards assembly. Mallory and Wyatt both got awards, as usual. But the most unusual award went to Delaney. An award I NEVER in a million years I thought one of MY kids would get - perfect attendance!!! Wow! She didn't miss one day! Way to go girl! I don't think anyone else in our family will ever top that. Pretty impressive.

Boy Berries

We have a TON of boysenberries in our backyard thanks to a start we got from Pops and Gramma Mary. The kids love to go out and pick them, bring them in to rinse them off and eat them immediately, still warm from the sun. They are SO good!
The other day John was in his office working and eating a bowl of them when Sadie walked up, "Dad I want some of those boy berries."

Home from the River

John went to El Salvador surfing with Pat and Scott Monroe and since it was a 5 day Memorial Day weekend with the furlough days, I took the kids to the river. It was a world record insane trip getting there. An oil truck overturned on the 91 spilling 8,ooo lbs of oil that caught on fire. It took us 9.5 hours for a 4 hour trip to the river. It was crazy!!! But the kids were actually really good. We had a great time. Brammy and Poppy were there, Billy and Tammy, Barrett and Lisa and kids, Jeff and Sara and the twins and the Ewells and Pucketts. The kids were definitely busy the entire weekend. We drove home yesterday and stopped at the outlets. Mallory, Wyatt and Delaney all got new backpacks/bags for school and Wyatt, Delaney and Sadie all got new outfits for the first day of school. Wow! Talk about planning ahead - we are prepared!
As soon as we rolled in to our driveway last night, Sadie came unglued! "No! I want to go to the river - not home!!!". It was so funny. I don't know where she thought we were driving to for the last few hours??? John was a little bummed since he hadn't seen us in a week that Sadie was so sad to be home, but after she settled down and we convinced her we would go back soon, we were all happy to be home and back together again. Only a few more weeks of school. Count down is on - can't wait for summer!!!

Mother's Day

At 6:15am Sadie came in our room all dressed and so excited to celebrate, Mother's Day. She woke up daddy and said, "let's give our mudder's day presents!". Luckily John got her to cuddle in bed with him and fall back to sleep.
Then John and Wyatt left around 7am and went to cook Grandma Mary french toast.
They came back and then made us all breakfast. I got yummy french toast on homemade bread in bed. Why can't we do this everyday?
Then dad gave me and all of the girls corsages to wear to church. After church everyone helped make me a steak and lobster dinner. Yum!
It was an amazing Mother's Day and I felt pampered and loved all day. Thank you!

Close the Window

Last night Sadie kept waking up and crying softly in her sleep. I went over to her 2 or 3 times and she had kicked the covers off so I promptly replaced them. By the fourth time trying to figure out what was wrong, I tried to wake her up and ask her. She just kept saying, "put the window up, please". I guess she didn't like the 2 fans on in her room at the river. I think she thought she was in the car. Oops!

Tacos and Beer is closed - now what?

We have been here at the river for six days now. Six glorious days. Of no demands. And no where to go or have to be. The closest town is Parker, Arizona which is about 10 minutes away. We have eaten at home each night but decided to venture into town and meet up with the Ewells for dinner. They promised the new, "Taco and Beer" restaurant (or Taco and Rootbeer as we like to call it) is good so we headed over. And then promptly found a sign that said, "closed". Now what? Not a lot to choose from on the Parker strip. The kids were chanting in the back, "McDonalds, KFC, Burger King" relentlessly. They know I can't stand fast food and we hardly ever eat it, at least with mom. But sadly, there was nothing any better and the local beef jerky stand was out of the question. Dad picked KFC and next thing I knew we were dining on a bucket of fried chicken. I stuck with the mashed potatoes, gravy and rolls. The Ewells opted out of KFC and ate leftovers at home.

The kids were delighted and thought this was the best night ever. We then went into our favorites of the week:

Mallory - stand up paddling

Wyatt - surfing behind the wave runner

Delaney - playing with Ellie and stand up paddle

Sadie - Daddy!!!

I love that a night on the Parker Strip at KFC brings so much joy to 4 little rug rats. And dad was more than thrilled that the night out cost less than $50!