Festivities

This has been a week full of picnics and parades, all part of our town celebration. And what fun we've had! Monday night was the family picnic in the park. We showed up with our fried chicken and enjoyed local talent (gong! - inside joke ha ha). Wednesday night was the BBQ dinner in the park, so we once again returned to get fed and entertained. Thursday night was the horse parade, which goes right in front of our house. We invited friends over for a BBQ and enjoyed the sights (and smells...). We did get rained on a little.Friday night was the Miniature parade. Here's Ellie looking for the beginning. And here she is as the flag goes by. I realized that I seem to cry at every parade I go to... whenever the flag goes by, or veterans, or anything else remotely patriotic. I guess I'm proud to be American, but boy I feel a little silly wiping at my eyes. Does anyone else do that or is it just me? I was particularly proud to see my little girl with her hand over her heart in respect of our flag and country.

And I've decided that suckers are great for entertaining Marens at such events. We were all sticky afterwards, but it saved us from wrestling a wiggly girl. She sucked that thing clear down to the tootsie center.

And finally, one more parade on Saturday morning. Ellie is still asking "When is the next parade?" She'll be happy to know that it is only a few days away as we'll be attending the Freedom Festival parade this Saturday. Party on!

The best part of it all was spending time with all our town-dweller friends. Thanks Suchers, Hamptons, and Grandpa Johnson for spending time with us.

Up To

I decided to sew Maren a dress, and it came out cute! I do not claim to be any kind of a good seamstress (I was a little worried this dress would fall apart in the wash), but I did have fun making it, and would like to do it again sometime. Ellie enjoys playing with stickers, but can never come up with something good to put them on... except her baby sister, that is. What you can't see is that Maren's back is also covered in stickers. What a good sport.And here's Ellie with her cousin, Seth at Grandpa's house.

We have been partyin' hard this week with the town's celebration going on. It's been a load of fun - you all can look forward to that post in a few days.

Getting something accomplished

Time for Nick's semi-annual post.

I actually got something done! Last weekend, Wendy and I started digging footings for the future pergola that will go over the future patio. We had to go below 30 inches deep, but from about 5 through 25 inches, we hit rocks, compacted rocks, and stones. The pick axe was handy, but that little project took all day -- just for the first 2 holes. I started to put the rebar in and pour concrete as I heard thunder. I decided since there was a little bit of daylight left, and the clouds didn't look too ominous, to do the second footing. I started mixing a couple more bags of concrete mix when the rain started. But it worked out before I got terribly soaked.

Fast forward one week to last Saturday. I began digging another hole. And to my great astonishment, no rock layer! I got the third hole all deep and beautiful and square, and started on number four. Actually, I started to dig down to the top of the soil level so that I could begin on number four. Turns out I had placed a pile of road base on that spot previously (remember the future patio?) Then the rains came. And came. Noah probably didn't have to pour concrete as he worked in the rain.

Today is now Monday, and I decided to take the day off. Wendy says I need to start using what's left of my vacation days to do something fun, and not just work in the yard. She's probably right, but how could I relax when this project has been looming over my head for a couple of years now? Anyway, I finally made some progress. I finished digging footing number four and poured the concrete into three and four. And no rain.

Then, thanks to a laser level on a tripod, I set the tube forms for the piers to the same height and poured concrete for all four piers on top of the footings. Now with the base for a pergola all set, I can finally begin the work on the patio itself. Just need to spread out the road base, grade it, compact it, lay sand, and then the pavers. We may just pull off a patio before summer's over.

Indoor Entertainment

Here's what's been going on around here the last few days - a lot of hangin' out inside the house and out of the rain and thunderstorms. I was so proud of Ellie the other day when a big thunderstorm rolled through - she was standing at the open window and not acting scared at all. The next minute she was missing and I found her in her bathroom (no windows). When I asked what she was doing she said, "The thunder can't hear me in here." I guess she was a little frightened after all!

Maren is everywhere. She loves to explore and entertains herself that way for hours. She walks along just about anything she can put a hand on. She will stand by herself for several seconds, but then usually does a controlled descend. What a sweet, happy girl.

Strawberries

When life gives you strawberries (all picked from our very own garden): Make strawberry shortcake! My Maren LOVED this stuff, and just couldn't get enough. Then she was hamming it up for the camera, so I had to include all three cute shots.

YUM!!! Doesn't it just make you want to eat strawberries, and rub them all over your shirt?

Air Show

On Saturday we went to the air show.

After waiting in a very long line, here's Ellie sitting in the cockpit of a big helicopter re-fueling plane - I wish you could see all the dials and such in front of her. It was pretty cool. (Worth the wait? We are still debating...) I think Ellie was a little worried. Can you tell from her expression? She was really excited to see the airplanes and even mentioned them in her prayers later.

And here is an even bigger (much, much bigger) plane we wandered through.

The highlight of the show: the Thunderbirds. My girls didn't even flinch at the noise. Maren even decided it was a good time to take a nap.

Afterwards we picked up dinner at the Burger Bar (which I believe is worth the trip in and of itself -mmmm, yummy buns...) and ate it at a nearby park. Ellie had great fun at "the park with sand at the bottom of it" - she mentioned it in her prayer too. What a fun day! We will certainly be doing this one again.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies

We had some brown bananas hangin' around, and found this recipe online at simplyrecipes.com. It was so yummy, I thought I'd share:

Banana Cookie from simplyrecipes.com
½ c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 c. mashed banana (app. 2 ½ bananas)
1 tsp. baking soda
2 c. flour
Pinch of salt
½ tsp cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves
1 c. pecans (and/or chocolate chips)

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat. In a bowl, mix mashed bananas and baking soda. Let sit for 2 minutes (allows soda to react with acid in bananas). Mix banana mixture into butter mixture. Sift flour, salt and spices and mix until just combined. Fold chocolate chips or nuts into mixture. Drop dollops onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 11 – 13 minutes or until golden brown.