Oktoberfest 2008 & Pumpkin Seed Spitting Contest

Our neighbors, the Reneiros, had their annual Oktoberfest celebration last Saturday. Lots of bratwurst, beer and suaerkraut - yum! They had lots of games for the kids. A pumpkin seed spitting contest was the fave and they were all awarded gold medals for their efforts; even Lucy! We have hawks that hang out on our rooftops and make the worst bird noises that you've ever heard, so the hawk has become sort of a neighborhood mascot to the kids. One of the moms did a craft project with the kids and they made hawks to take home with them. Lucy and her buddy Jack are the two youngest and they are two peas in a pod. They adore each other! We had a great day and the weather was a little chilly. Perfect Oktoberfest weather!

"I Cweams" & Zoo for the Day

We took the girls to eat "I Cweams" (as Lucy calls it) at Maggie Moos on Saturday night. There is this great outdoor shopping mall called Southlands that is fairly close to our house. They have great shops and restaurants and a giant movie theater, not that I would know because I haven't been to a movie in ages, but there's really stuff for the whole family to do there. There are fountains of water that shoot up from the ground and in the warmer months you'll see kids in their bathing suits running around in them. It's a little too cool already for that now, although we did see some wet kids! We like to do dinner, walk around and then go for ice cream.

Sunday we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. This zoo is built on a mountain and is made to blend with the natural environment. It was really beautiful, but stinky. The coolest were the giraffes, which were standing down on a lower level so that we were eye level with them and could feed them. There was a carousel for the kids and lots of exhibits. We spent over three hours there! The funnel cakes with strawberry sauce were to die for. The girls loved the day and so did we.

Sick Girls and Crappy Labor Day

So, Ian had the bright idea of traveling to Arkansas for the Labor Day weekend by himself. Yes, I said by himself for four days over the holiday. When he was in the planning stages of this little trip I guess I wasn't really thinking clearly or was drugged or something because at the time I thought it was just fine with me. Besides, I was hoping to go on a trip with some girlfriends in late September, which is not happening now by the way. He departed on Thursday for a long weekend of fantasy footballing and poker playing with his Benton buddies from high school. In the meantime, back here in reality the girls and I had a good evening doing outdoor movie night with the neighbors. We had a fantastic time, then Lucy got sick from both ends. So, on Saturday we had big plans of going to the pool but since Lucy was sick from both ends we didn't think we should spread it around. Sunday I awoke at 4a.m. with the sickness too! I guess a stomach virus. So that continued all day but we decided we would go to the neighbor's Labor Day party and infect them too. Maggie was feeling her usual normal, healthy self. She NEVER gets sick and Lucy gets sick if I just say the word sick. I don't know how I had two children with completely different immune systems. Anyway, the next-door party was very nice and the kids ran wild and I ate way too much for feeling sickly. Everyone, and I mean everyone, asked "where is Ian," "he went where to do what," "fantasy football?" I'm sure my neighbors think we're totally weird for Ian having a guy's weekend on Labor Day. By the time Monday rolled around I was about to go postal after basically being in my house with kids and two of us being sick all weekend long. It was just about enough to make me lock myself in the basement until Ian returned. Luckily, the neighbor invited Maggie to the pool with them that afternoon so she got to do SOMETHING on the holiday. All in all Ian had fun and was glad he went but I informed him that there will be no more holidays spent away from us! He agreed.

Movie Night Part II - Hoodwinked

We had another neighborhood movie night on the neighbor's garage door. This time it was Hoodwinked. Tons of kids showed up in their pajamas and their sleeping bags and pillows. The kids had popcorn, Twizzlers, soft drinks, Junior Mints, Whoppers, your typical movie snack food. Lucy was cramming Twizzlers in her mouth so quick that I was afraid there wouldn't be any left for the other kids! She's the youngest kid on the street so she is a hand-full at events like this. I can't take my eyes off of her or she'll be destructing something. Unfortunately, she got sick in the middle of the night after movie night - it could have been all the candy she ate but it has lingered so I'm thinking it must be a stomach virus.

Maggie's First Day of 1st Grade

Three Weeks in Arkansas

We spent three wonderful, hot weeks in Arkansas in July visiting with all of our families and friends. Maggie and Lucy thoroughly enjoyed getting all the attention, hugs and kisses from all the grandparents. We were on the move the entire time. I don't know if we stayed in one place more than three nights in a row. They loved getting to see cousins Ryan, Betsy and Ethan. They all just picked up where they left off as if they just saw each other last week, like we never moved across the country.

Ryan and Lucy "cutting a rug" at Sam's Pizza. Maggie danced so wild and crazy that she flailed about and knocked a drink out of someone's hand. The lady was a little ticked off but there was a sign that clearly read "no drinks on the dance floor" ... so there!

We stayed with Dad and Anne for several days and they kept my kids while I worked in the Acxiom office. Uncle Bennett and Cousin Natalie were in town staying with Mawsy and Papa. For some reason Maggie is just now realizing that Bennett is my other brother and she thought that was just about the coolest thing she'd ever heard. She told Mawsy she thought maybe I was trying to keep him a secret or I was trying to keep her from knowing that he was my brother!

Yummy dinner at Flying Fish!

Cousin Ethan's 4th Birthday Party

The girls enjoyed going to Ethan's birthday party in Benton. Lucy had no fear in going down the giant slides at Party Central. Ethan had a great party and we were so glad we were in town to attend. He had an adorable Kung Fu Panda cake.