The Mummy

Last thanksgiving Sally ran out of the room and said she was going to go dress up like a mummy.  So here's what we saw a few minutes later, Sally's version of a mummy ... (also quite possibly my favorite picture ever)

Baby Molly

So ... Baby Molly came to town this summer.  She came in April and then again in July.  I don't know which trip these pictures are from, but you get the idea ... Molly comes to town and we dress her up and take pictures.  Molly did not take kindly to the crown.  Molly did take kindly to Sally, Holly and Sally's friends who all vie for her attention.  When Molly is here she's the most popular girl in town and Sally is soooo proud to show off her cousin.  Maggie was gone when they came, I think she was in Florida in April and during their July visit she was away at camp.  

Millard Falls

Tony and Sally and Holly have been taking Saturday morning hikes out to Millard Falls lately.  It's a gorgeous 2 mile long hike through the woods that ends at a waterfall.  Along the way is a big rock to slide down and a meandering creek to cross.  I pack a 'surprise' for them to eat when they reach the falls, although Sally usually tells me what the 'surprise' should be.  Today it was chocolate pudding.  

The Fort Party

We're making plans for Maggie's 12th birthday (we think we're going to rent an RV and take a bunch of her friends camping at the beach for the weekend - it's a little bit of an insane idea, the image of Tony driving a 30 foot RV up the coast is a bit of a stretch, but we'll keep you posted.) Anyway, with that day drawing near, I thought I should probably post pictures from her 11th birthday party, which was a fort building party.  We gathered a bunch of random materials - pvc pipe, x-mas lights, animal print fabric, toilet seats, barbie doll, etc - and split the group into 2 teams, each with a pile of stuff that they had to use to build their fort.  There were rules - each fort had to have a door, a window, a mascot and a useful function.  It was amazing to see what they came up with!  One boy, Alex, put the toilet seat around his neck and was that team's mascot, named Potty Mouth.  Hilarious.  

Picture Day

It was Picture Day at Walden last Friday and we got a few pictures of the girls before school.  They looked gorgeous!  

Driving the boat

This year at the lake, Grandpa Jim let all the little girls - Sally, Elizabeth, Annie and Payton - drive the boat.  They were so excited and so ... fast.  They got a few turns and at first they were a little tentative, speeding up slowly (except for Elizabeth who gunned it the whole time having learned her speed lessons from her mom).  But after a few turns they were all speeding around the lake, doing zig zag turns and probably causing other boaters to mutter under their breath, "who the hell's driving that boat? A 5 year old?"  Um ... yes, actually.  Even cute Payton took a turn(with her big sister's help, of course).  Next year the little girls will probably be old enough to go tubing with the big kids!

The Bracelet of Hate

We went to Legoland a few weeks ago.  Maggie's a little old but Sally's the perfect age and we were in San Diego for the weekend so we thought it would be a good way to spend a Saturday.  The night before I went down to the hotel concierge to buy tickets and they said they sold 'move to the front of the line' bracelets.  They only sold 75 of these a day and all you had to do was flash it and you could instantly get on the ride.  Now, I know how to spend money.  A penny pincher I'm not.  But even to me, the cost of these magic bracelets seemed crazy.  But so did standing in line for 45 minutes on a hot summer day.  I hemmed and hawed for a few seconds, made a few thousand rationalizations in my head, decided that the elitist message I would be teaching my kids could be counteracted somehow ... okay fine I bought them, whatever.  We get to the park and split up. I take Sally and Tony takes Maggie to ride the roller coasters, we agree to meet for lunch.  Well ... Sally and I float through the park like a couple of movie stars.We flash our magic bracelets and gain access to the wonders of the helicopter rides, the jousting, the driving school, you name it we did it, sometimes twice, cause you know, why not, there's no wait.  And yes, I did feel a little bit like a jerk as I breezed on past the sweating, waiting families, but I'd just smile and say excuse me,  I was the idiot after all, at least they'd be able to pay their mortgage that month.  Anyway, Sally and I floated to  lunch on our cloud of entitlement and what we met up with was the miserable faces of Tony and Maggie.  Yeah they rode the roller coasters as often as they liked, but the fun was ruined by the hateful glares they got from the 'regular people'.  Maggie dubbed the armband the Bracelet of Hate and an important lesson about elitism was learned that day.  Sally and I are elitists and Maggie and Tony are just plain folks.  They can visit our castle any time they'd like ...  Here's a picture taken on the first and only ride the four of us went on together, the boat ride down the fairy tale river.