Monday, Monday

The weather is just awful here today.  It's pouring rain, and kind of chilly (you know, the 50 + degrees we would have loved two months ago ).  So, instead of running out to the post office and library--which absolutely MUST be done today), I figured I'd blog.

 

We did actually have fabulous weather last week--lots of outside time.  And, I finally made use of the clothes line that I have:



The kids have only 3 weeks left in Awana, but Patience still needed to take 2 hikes to finish her Hiker Badge.  Two weeks ago, we went on a hike in Charlestown.  A lot hillier than we expected! 

 

 

Steve has finally joined the church softball team!  After 4 years of the kids and I cheering on the team, now we can cheer on Daddy.  Well, that's if he ever gets off the bench. :)

On Tuesday, Eli had his orthodontist appointment.  He's doing well, just (of course) needs to brush a bit better.  We go back in June.  I realized, though, that I forgot (2 months ago...sigh) to pick up his prescription for a flouride treatment that he's supposed to take every night.  Whoops.

 

Wednesday, we got to go walking with my friend, Sue, and her kids.  That's always fun, and we usually do a kid swap afterwards.  A nice break for all of the kids.  My kids didn't have Awana that night, so that was a nice break, too!

On Thursday, we took the kids down to Beaver River in Richmond.  Just for a quick walk before we went to see my parents.  We did catch a toad, and it peed on Steve, so a good time was had by all.

 

It was great to spend some time with Mom & Dad.  I went with Dad to bring their dog to the groomer, then we picked up lunch for everyone.  Now that they're back at the old homestead (instead of living below us in the duplex), it's nice when we have time to just hang out with them.

I had a show on Thursday night with a friend of mine, Leslie.  It was a ton of fun, and the Lemon Blueberry Trifle was absolutely delish!

Friday was a busy day!  My friend Sue picked us up in her minivan (I shall not covet, I shall not covet..........), and we went down to North Kingstown for a field trip to the Lafayette Hatchery.  Aside from the icky smelling fish, it was great.  The kids asked a ton of questions, I got to see a few moms that I hadn't seen in a while, and the kids got to touch fish.

Here's Patience with her friend, David:



Lots of little fish--about 80,000 in 3 tanks!



Fish that would not cooperate with the photographer:



We followed that with a picnic lunch, and a drive over to the Fisherville Nature Preserve for a hike. 



If you look closely, you can see the snake on the ground in front of them.  Fun!

The area is just gorgeous--here's a picture of the lake:

Saturday was another busy day.  We were able to attend a educator's preview of the new IMAX movie, Dolphins and Whales 3-D.  We met Sue and her kids (I think we saw them almost every day this week! LOL), and my friend Tanya and her kids.  The movie was very interesting, and the kids enjoyed it.

Eli went home with Sue, and I brought Tanya's daughter (and Maddie's friend), Bethany, home with us.  While we were at the mall, we stopped at Build-A-Bear (had coupons, got $30 worth of accessories for $10!), and a Webkinz shop.  Then we had lunch at Subway. It was a fun girls afternoon!

Until we got home.   The girls went down to the park with the walkie-talkies, and some kids were bullying them.  And throwing sand at them.   I don't know why they didn't call me right away.  They just called me once they were walking home.

They spent the afternoon hanging out, playing with their dolls and making jewelry.  Steve was headed home early, so I left the girls for about 15 minutes--I had a baby shower to go to.  A lovely couple in our church is expecting their first baby, a girl, in just a couple of weeks.  Ulana was so surprised and blessed by the shower!  It was a fun time of fellowship with the ladies of our church.

I ran to Wal-Mart on the way home, and then we all just got to hang out for the evening.

Yesterday was church.  The pastor's daughter and her husband dedicated their daughter--so cute.   After some fellowship after the service, we headed home for a nice, relaxing day!  I even got to take a nap. :)

Today has been a bit rough.  The girls desparately needed to clean their room--they have pack-rat tendencies!  It took about 2.5 hours for the job to be done properly, so they're still working on their school work.  Eli, who didn't have to clean his room, finished his work this morning. 

I must go to the library and post office, so as soon as they are done, we'll head out.  I'm pretty sure tonight's softball game will be cancelled because of the rain.  I'll confess that I won't be too upset--we don't get too many nights home as a family between Awana, my job and softball.