a duck the kids enjoyed looking at while at mabry's mill. 

daddy, logan, & adam roasting hot dogs 

getting food (clockwise) ethan, amanda, me, & elise 

enjoying the cookout 

"nanny" holding libby, and visiting with grandma delia 

is it monday?

since i didn't get back home until yesterday evening, today feels like a monday. between laundry from my trip & cory's and then house work in general, i'm swamped. to top it all off i, unknowingly, did something stupid. i have this "squishy" pillow that cory got for me. its sort of a lycra or spandex material, and it feels so soft and "squishy" and is the perfect size and shape to take in the car. unfortunately, the kids had gotten some kinds of chocolate and other various food items on the pillow, so early last week i decided to wash the ball. when i looked in the washer after the load was complete, i was stunned to see a zillion poppy seed sized styrofoam balls all inside the washer. apparently there was a hole in the ball that i didn't know about and the contents got all out in the washing machine. considering the size of the pillow, i was lucky that more didn't come out. nevertheless, there were a lot of balls! since we were leaving on our trip, i just ran the load again, hoping the ball would somehow get out of the washer & then left the clothes there while i was gone. upon checking the situation this morning, i realized that the washer & clothes were still covered in those pesky styrofoam balls. my next idea (since that load was only a medium) was to add more clothes to the washer and try again. this work about as good as the first time, only now i had more clothes covered in the balls. realizing the washer trick was not going to work i began the annoying task of shaking out each item of clothing as best i could & placing them in the dryer. (obviously it is impossible to get them all out, and it is equally impossible to get them all in the trash can.) the semi-deballed clothes are now in the dryer and my washer is still coated with them. next i'm going to get the vacuum cleaner out and vacuum out the washer. this should be lots of fun!

relatives

we had lots of relatives come into town last wednesday night. my mom's brother wayne and all his family got in late wednesday night for a visit. i visited with their daughter, lisa (who is my age) her husband shawn and their three children, halle, luke & liberty for a little bit before we all crashed for the night. on thursday, we visited some during the day, getting reacquainted and better acquainted and then went out to eat at a local restaurant called the depot. the food is delicious & the atmosphere is really nice, especially for a large group (like ours). after a fun meal of chatting & chasing kids, we walked around the depot grounds, admiring the scenery. there is a neat gazebo where we took pictures and a puddle that ian had fun playing in. the adults enjoyed each others company & the kids liked playing together.

ian swishing his hand in someone's cup at the depot, while elise looks on (or encourages it!)

aunt nancy, and my cousins amanda & daniel enjoying their meal.

my cousin nate, his wife alayna, and grandma delia

the whole kit and caboodle

uncle wayne

grandma delia & ethan

ian & adam

alayna & nate playing with halle & elise

lisa, amanda, and uncle wayne, resting in front of the depot after a good meal

ian & ethan

family pictures of everyone but mama & aunt nancy who were our photographers extrodanaire for the evening

still newlyweds, nate & alayna

the kids love amanda (from left to right) halle, amanda, elise, luke, and ian