What a FUN Weekend!!!

We just had what could have been one of the best weekends ever! It was jam packed with friends, family and food, and the weather was beautiful! Here are some photos! On Saturday, there was a "Best Of" party with several friends. Everyone brought their "best" or favorite foods to the party. It was quite a delicious hodge-podge. Here are just a few of the eats...French toast bake, pumpkin pie, Christmas fudge and Italian soup!

Ainsley's friend, T, was at the party. She was completely thrilled, as she is quite certain that he will one day be her husband. Move over, Cardboard Brian! I'm not sure T knows that Ainsley is planning to marry him one day. I hope he'll be okay with that! There was a game, a pop quiz of sorts, at the party. Here are the grown-ups, all busy quizzing. What is Bennett busy doing? Entertaining the quizzers of course!

The party wrapped up with a beloved game of Floamball. Floamball is basically Home Run Derby played with a tiny kids' bat and a ball made of Floam. Here are the some of the boys and a Mercury in the outfield.

More Floamball action. Little T is catching some air as he watches in excitement.

The dads were so kind as to let the kids bat a few times. Bennett was pretty good!

On Saturday evening, we headed to Grandpa C and Grandma D's house for some family fun with cousins. Here are Bennett, Ainsley and Cousin A settling in for yet another Gator ride. Baby Cousin S is getting strapped into the front seat. Yes, this Gator even has a baby seat!

Cousin A and her family brought their dog to visit, hence the little schnauzer in constant pursuit of the speeding Gator.

A game of Bocce ball went down at Grandpa and Grandma's. Let me just say that playing Bocce ball in the presence of a fetching German Shepard does not go well.

On Sunday evening, we headed to the other grandparents' house for an impromptu campfire. While the fire was heating up, Grandpa L and Ainsley decided a little tree climbing was in order.

Bennett decided to join them!

Ainsley enjoyed carrying logs for the fire. She has quite a load here!

Grandpa broke the old swing out of storage to create more campfire seating. The girls enjoyed laying on this, with the added comfort of an old cushion.

Eating hotdogs and baked beans with the boys on a beautiful evening...

Ainsley wrapped up her meal with a delcious smore!

Recent Randomness

Enjoy some random photos from the past two weeks! Ahhh, the first hike of the season! We LOVE to be in the woods!
The hike was also an attempt to find some morels. On our way, we prayed that God would bless us with but one beautiful little mushroom. God hears and answers prayer...we found but one beautiful little mushroom!

A robin has been making it's home above a buttress on our front porch. I'm not a fan of it's location, but it does make it easy for us to observe. I climbed up and held the camera over the nest to take this picture. Low and behold, we have a blue egg!

Ainsley is as domestic as a girl can get. She wants nothing more than to be a wife and mother someday. I love this, as she loves to help me with household tasks in preperation for her future homemaking. Here she is, feverishly scrubbing the spill trays from our stove.

And we'll end with something weird. We have lots of "weird" at our house...most recently a pink bunny in handcuffs lounging on Ainsley's bed. I asked Ainsley if she handcuffed her bunny. Her reply was "yes." I asked her why she handcuffed her bunny, and she just stared me down in silence. No idea what that's about, but good news! The bunny has been released after posting bond.

Birthday Bash Road Trip!

Over the weekend we hit the road, in search of a good party. Low and behold, we found one at Uncle J and Aunt L's house...Cousin A was turning 3! To give Aunt L some credit, here is a picture of the beautiful spread...the VERY PINK spread!

Cousin A got a new bike for her birthday. She was pretty pumped. Bennett was equally pumped to have access to a teeny, tiny plastic scooter-trike.

The girls had a birthday scavenger hunt that led them both indoors and out. Aunt L! Watch out for the bumblebees!!! Fear of stinging bugs is a family trait.

Ah, the scavenger hunt prize was found in the mailbox. The girls loved all of the little pink treasures they received.

Leave it to your cousin to steal the show at your birthday party. Cousin A wouldn't wear her birthday hat. No problem! Bennett would LOVE to wear the party hat. Bennett would also love to wear your pink dress-up poodle skirt. Bennett would also LOVE for everyone to see her wearing the party hat and poodle skirt. Who is having the birthday again?

The party was complete with a pinata! Here is Ainsley, taking a swing while wearing a wedding gown and big eyelashes. When is the girl not thinking about getting married!??!

Cousin A has a bounce house! This was another huge party hit!

Cousin A received a Disney princess nightgown for her birthday. She was so, so happy about it. Ainsley appears as though she thinks Cousin A needs to tone down the happiness a bit. Actually, Ainsley was thrilled to be "twins" with Cousin A.

Before heading back home from the fun birthday weekend, we stopped at a fabulous greenhouse. This greenhouse is so fabulous, it makes me want to move, just so I can go to the greenhouse any time I want to. Here are the girls in a sea of geraniums.

When we arrived home, we found a surprise by the garage door. Grandpa, who had to miss the birthday party because of field work all weekend, had dropped off something special for Bennett and Ainsley. They each received their very own bag of pop cans to cash in! They were so pleased...replenishment of their garage sale spending money! Thanks, Grandpa!!!

First Fire!!!

We had our first campfire of the season at Grandpa and Grandma's this weekend, complete with a weenie roast and smores! It was really fun! Here are the girls, roasting weenies with Grandpa.
The girls took some breaks from the fire to explore the cornfield....in flip flops! They loved looking for treasures out there.

Ainsley found something unusual out in the cornfield. A glass Christmas ornament. I bet if she'd left it alone, it would have been tilled into the soil and grown into a Christmas tree!


Bennett and Ainsley were THRILLED to spend time with Baby Cousin S. at the campfire. Ainsley gave S. and Bennett a ride in the little red car.

Now here is the picture of a perfect grandma!

Prom!

Several area schools held proms over the weekend. Our local high school had a "promenade" where the public could go to watch the ladies and gents arrive to prom, all snazzy. We decided that Bennett and Ainsley would enjoy attending this event. Bennett and Ainsley decided that they MUST wear "prom" dresses if they were attending. And here they are, all dressed up! Ainsley is wearing my senior prom dress with the help of several safety pins. The girls also had semi-fancy hair styles and a touch of makeup. Ainsley took a corsage she had purchased for 25 cents at a garage sale just that morning. Perfect timing. And of course, Cardboard Brian was forced to attend as the girls' date. He was really happy about it, as you can see.

Here they are, headed to the prom!

We arrived to the promenade a little early. It was hard for the girls to wait patiently, but they found ways to pass the time. One way...pencil sword fighting!

We saw many beautiful girls in fabulous gowns, most of them accompanied by extremely awkward-looking teenage boys who were trying their darndest to look cool, bless their hearts. This was Ainsley's favorite dress.

We did actually run into one teenage boy who really is cool. He had a sweet ride and he let the girls have their photo taken by it! Thanks, ML!

The prom theme continued after returning home. The girls had to dance with Cardboard Brian and his brother, Cardboard Grant. The song they chose to dance along to at prom? The Gambler, by Kenny Rogers. Nothing says beauty, romance, a magical night like The Gambler.

Camp Earn-Your-Badges

This morning, the girls decided to play "summer camp" with their cardboard family. It was a really fun time and it kept them occupied for hours! Here is Ainsley, hanging out in her "cabin" with her cardboard buddies.

While at camp, the girls spent their time earning badges. That is why Bennett named the camp "Camp Earn-Your-Badges!" Ainsley earned a cooking badge by making this delightful applie pie!

Bennett and Ainsley each earned their inventor badges by creating vehicles out of Tinker Toys.

Crafting badges were earned when the girls made paper kites.

This is a sight we're seeing more often around the house...Bennett reading to Ainsley. This activity earned them each a reading badge.

Presenting...the coveted badges! In addition to the above mentioned badges, Bennett and Ainsley earned some for fashion, pets, childcare and karate. It was quite a rewarding camp experience for them!

Easter!

Easter weekend was crazy busy for us. I think we are still recovering from it a bit. It was lots of fun...here are some highlights! Disclaimer: I forgot my camera when the girls got Easter baskets from Grandpa L and Grandma L! I'll try to post pictures when I get them from Grandma's camera! We celebrated Easter at Grandpa C and Grandma D's house a couple days early. Here are the girls, posed with their first round of Easter loot!

Ains was a bit concerned as little Cousin S made several attempts to bombard her Easter goodies.

Uncle C helped Ainsley retrieve an egg during the backyard egg hunt.

Bennett proudly displays an egg she found by the disfunctional satellite dish in Grandpa and Grandma's yard.

Two silly girls, posing by the Easter bunny cake Grandma D had at her house.

At church on Easter morning, Bennett and Ainsley got to serve by passing Easter candy out to people as they entered the auditorium. They were thrilled!

The girls took in another egg hunt at Aunt K and Uncle C's house. The competition was pretty stiff with so many cousins competing!

This is the ridiculous amount of candy that we acquired by the end of the weekend!