Vacationland Part III

And then there are the family visits.  And that isn't even counting my parents and niece.  We got to have an ever-so-brief visit from Jean and Warren, Terry and Cindy, and their kids Jack and Andy.  (Jack's quote and Makili's new favorite line is: I'm the master of stupid stunts and bad ideas.)  My yard looked like a trailer park with my parents RV parked there and two more pop-up campers outside to keep it company.  We of course were able to sneak in a quick game of Oh Hell after the kiddies were in bed, and of course played by international rules.  Simultaneous to that brief visit was a visit from the Romanians - Tamara's sister and family.  We hung out with them all together, grilling at the beach, and then celebrating Tamara's niece's 9th birthday!  And helped them prepare for a camping trip, which was completely entertaining.

And then Tim gifted my child Parcheesi.  And there has been NO looking back for him.  It is all Parcheesi all the time. 

We really are lucky:)

Vacationland Part II

And we get visits from old friends, which is what college friends now are I guess.  I've gotten old enough that I call my college friends old friends.  I have to think about that.  In any case, I do appreciate these old friends who go out of their way to pay you visits.  To squeeze your children and make them "flying M" t-shirts.  These friends are those with whom you can just pick up where you left off with no bad feelings about poor correspondence in the intervening months (or years!)  I guess I just feel lucky to have friends, old friends, who make an effort to keep me in their lives.  Thanks Emma.

Vacationland Part I

 We live in a great place, which means we get pretty great visitors too.  Or is it that we're great and that is why we get great visitors.  Either way, we get great visitors, like my darling cousin Caroline and her boyfriend Jake who have the bodies and other worldly expressions of adults while harboring souls of children.  My kids seriously think they're tops for helping create such timeless games as "chase baby," "magic babies," and "sharks."  And on top of that, Caroline managed to whip up a blueberry tart.  She totally rocks.  I wish she would visit more.

Summer Video Moments

Mini-golf, Puss in Boots Dance Fights, Farm work - just a few of summer's moments.

Mafia Man

 I'm not proud of it, but I find my little one's naughty antics totally hilarious.  I mean look at this little face.  He's just funny.  Funnier when he spends an hour digging at the beach, and when asked what he's doing, replies: "I'm digging a hole to bury Makili."  "Why Remick?" we ask.  "Because he's mean to me he replies."  At which point, Makili starts freaking out and asking, "is my head going to be above the sand?"  Remick curtly reponds, "no."  So then Makili starts trying to fill in the hole.  Good times.

 Or when he walks around the beach checking out what other people have in terms of toys and food, and when you ask him what he's doing he replies, "looking for something to steal.

 Or when you tell him to stop doing something (like eating dirt, or drinking stagnant disgusting water off the top of something dirty in the yard, etc.) and he tells you to go on the other side of the house for a minute so that he can continue to do what he was doing without you seeing.

 Or when you ask him what he wants for breakfast and he says "You pick."  So you offer cereal (or toast, or yogurt or fruit) and he is indignant with the offer and freaks out saying "NO!" and then you ask him what he wants again and it starts over.

So you see, I think I might have a little mafia man in training around here, which at the very least keeps us laughing.

My niece Casey

While my niece Caset was here, we did a little photo shoot.  It started of like any other pile of cuteness.U

Until the 10 year old starting coming out. Things digressed a bit from there.AU

Until we starting flipping hair.  Then we had endless photos and laughs.  It was really quite fun.  Such a silly thing, but very fun, and I think some of the photos are pretty cool.  She's really a natural beauty.