The zoo

Yesterday we went to the zoo with Kelly and Meagan. The kids had a blast. We stayed all day and rode the miniature train afterward. I'm pretty sure it was 100 degrees! Maddie's favorite thing was the carousel ride, Ryan's was the train, Meagan's was the cheetahs and mine was the cotton candy, ice-cream and popcorn. Kelly bought the kids stuffed penguins when we left. Maddie named hers "Kailey", Ryan named his "penguin". The kids were SOOOO good. Tori finally passed out on the last few minutes of the train ride. See pic.

While we were at the zoo Mike and Sam went pageant dress shopping. They actually found one at the first store they went to and after we looked at the picture of Sam in it on her cell phone and liked it she decided to buy it. The store was all the way in Dallas so Kelly called to see if they could ship it and since there's no sales tax in MN they actually got the dress cheaper shipped than if she would have bought it here and taken it back with her! The dress is beautiful. We'll be looking for Sam in the Miss Minnesota pageant in November!

Meme's Retirement Party

Last week Meme retired after 31 years of service at Methodist Mission Home. Here are some pictures from the reception. Take a good look at the plaque. They named a room at the agency after my mom!

Kelly, Sam and Meagan

Kelly, Sam and Meagan are visiting! They flew into town yesterday, rented a car and stayed last night at our house. We went swimming at the pool, had a great dinner, and then Mike took the kids to Braum's while Kelly and I took a walk with Tori. This morning they left for San Antonio where they will visit with Mike's parents and mine and spend the night with Uncle Pete. Then they'll be off to the coast for a few days, to Austin to see old friends, and back up here for the weekend. Maddie and Ryan are counting the days until they're back here again. They fly home on Sunday and then we fly up there 3 days later for a week vacation at their lake house in Northern Minnesota. We can't wait!!

We are about to begin our 2nd week of VBS. Last week the twins went to VBS at Maddie's preschool. The theme was "Friendship Trek" and they learned all about Jesus and our friends. They learned lots of songs during the week and sang them at their closing program for the parents. This was the first time that I have ever seen them actually singing the songs at one of these type of programs. I loved it! Tomorrow they start VBS at our church and I will be volunteering. Hopefully Tori will do better this year. Last year they had to page me to come to the nursery every day except the last one because of her crying. She's making progress in the nursery though. Today when I picked her up after church she didn't start crying when she saw me and she happily said bye to all of the nursery workers.

We had friends over last week. Cynthia, Lincoln and Lawson came over for a swimming playdate. The kids had a blast at the pool and then we came back to the house for Papa Murpy's Pizza. If you haven't had their pizza before, give it a try, it's awesome! We hope ya'll come over to play again soon!

Tori in pool

My neighbor took these pictures of Tori at playgroup the other day. She had the best time playing in the backyard pool!

Is this a mistake?

We made the twins' beds into bunk beds so they could have more space in their room. Tori easily learned how to climb the ladder to play on the top bunk. How long do you think it'll before there's an accident!?

Beach Babes

Just call me "Supermom." I drove down to SA by myself with all 3 kids, spent the night with Meme and Papa and drove on down to the coast with them the next day. We spent 2 nights in a condo on the beach and had a great little vacation. Aunt B and the boys met us one afternoon for swimming and dinner. She was staying in Corpus Christi for a church meeting. All the kids did great swimming in the pool and playing in the ocean. (or should I say gulf?)