Party Central

It's been party central around here. We headed north on Friday so Dave and I could get our eyes checked. Dave ordered new glasses. His new glasses are black plastic on the outside and clear plastic on the inside. He is going to look even more spiff. The appointments went well.

We stayed with Bill that night. He's the Bill aka Bill's Rainbow Rambling Rows. I really hope he likes the blanket. This was the first time we'd been to his house since Ruth passed. I miss her. We had a nice visit. The kids got to try out croquet for the first time and pick blueberries.






Saturday morning we went to visit Grandma Sue at work. That was fun to see Sue in her work environment then we went to visit Gramps at home.

Gramps has always loved gardening for as long as I can remember. We had two gardens when I was little. We'd head of Dad's six foot six inch metal anti deer nibbling fence from Bill. Deer run wild in their area so Dad has devised a fairly secure garden environment.



Yes there is a moat of sorts around the inner perimeter due to a high water table and flooding last summer. It's quite the set up.




On to Aunt Katie's Graduation Party! Unfortunately Aunt Katie has bronchitis. Boo. Sick Aunt Katie, who is otherwise fine and in one piece after her whirlwind trip to OZ for World Youth Day. I've asked her to be a guest blogger here to share her experience and some of her pictures.

So sick Aunt Katie spent most but not all of her party not at her party. She eventually got a mask of some sort and joined the fun. Oh the food, there was so much food. There were biscuits, I'm not spelling it right but it's like biscuit but it sounds Italian. When I find out the correct spelling I'll fix this.

Biscuits are pepper cookies. I'm finally ready to learn how to make them and have two members of Dave's Mom's side willing to share the recipe and show me how to make them. All I know so far is the recipe takes five lbs of flour and must be crossed three times during a specific stage. I'm not Catholic and the dough is notoriously fickle. I'm afraid the dough is going to know I'm not Catholic and I will have to bring in a Catholic friend to do the honors. That and it sounds like a kitchen full of bakers kind of event. Seriously 5 lbs of flour for one big batch.

Back to Katie's party. The party was fun. Lots of family and a TON of food. Oy the food. So good. Oh and I worked up a mock up of my college binder organization system for Katie. The basic idea is to keep everything together so you can find it quickly and easily. Keep things simple so you can focus on learning and then have more time for fun. College should also be about fun, not just hard work.

But wait there was another party the following morning back home. We decided to drive home Saturday night. It was us and the trucks. The kids slept and Dave and I enjoyed the quiet and later our own beds. Yeah!

Which brings us to this morning and a highly anticipated by E but dreaded by me birthday party at the local swanky fitness center. Oh the swankiness. The birthday girl was one of E's preschool friends, lovely little girl, very outgoing and always saying Hi to us, especially Henry.

I'd been dreading this party. E's been having a hard time for months now. When she is on she can be amazing, clever, resourceful, compassionate, creative, boisterous, inclusive and just a joy. When she is not on things get ugly fast. It's so frustrating. Dave and I are doing the best we can but it's so hard some days. I was worried about E melting down at the party and she did melt down a little from time to time but overall she did great. It was a huge relief.

I did not know if I'd know many people at the party and it turned out I knew quite a few, including my Knitting Buddy J, Hi! We both had our knitting and got to knit a bit. The kids got to play and we got to chat with each other and with other parents. It was fabulous.



There was open play in a gymnasium followed by pizza and cake topped off by pool time. There were lifeguards everywhere and E fresh out of 2 weeks of swimming lessons and wearing a life vest in shallow water filled with kids and parents I was able to sit on the side and let her just play. She had so much fun. It was a lovely party. I'm glad I screwed up my courage and went.

Henry stayed home with Dave and went grocery shopping. Dave worked on the lawn and I finished catching up on laundry. I work my butt off blessing the house before we leave for a weekend away. It's so nice to return to our own home and our own beds. I love visiting but I also love coming home.