{A Memorable Weekend}

Last weekend was jam-packed with activities, and it was great! Jen and Adam and their kids came up to visit and got to meet Dixon for the first time. It was fun to watch how each of their kids responded to him. Aidan was sort of aloof. He acknowledged Dixon, held him for a bit, and then he was done and ready to go back to his legos. Kari was very intrigued by the baby and kept saying she wanted to hold him. But when we tried to put Dixon on her lap she would balk away from him. Eventually her curiosity won her over, though, and she held him several times with an adorable smile on her face.

It was this guy, Ryan, who seemed the most smitten by Dixon. He was the first to hold him and he was so gentle and loving. He covered Dixon with kisses and you couldn't wipe that smile off his face if you tried. What a sweetheart. What gets me is that I think Dixon resembles Clara, and Clara and Ryan look a lot alike. It'll be interesting to see if Dixon grows up to look like Ryan's brother and not his cousin. We spent Friday evening at my mother and Jim's house visiting with the yahoos. Whenever all the cousins are together the energy and noise levels instantly escalate. They LOVE being together and thankfully they play each other out so a good night's sleep is almost a guarantee. Now that Dixon is here we have an equal mix: three boys and three girls. Can someone please show me three more adorable girls than these three princesses? I know I'm biased, but dang if they aren't the cutest things ever!

On Saturday morning we decided to take the kids to Totem Pole's Community Fun Fest. There were lots of activites for the kids, like decorating crowns and masks and face painting. This is the first crown Sasha made. Somehow it got lost so she ended up making a second one. Go figure.

There was also a clown there who made balloon animals. The girls both asked for a dog. Wait - Sasha asked for a "poodle", and Clara asked for a "puppy". There is a difference, you know. The tail of the poodle has a ball at the end, but the tail of the puppy is just straight. Just thought you'd like to know that in case you ever encounter this clown and ask for a balloon dog.

It was a fairly hot day, so we ate lunch and then went inside to watch a magic show. The kids enjoyed it, and I will admit that the magician had a few pretty cool tricks mixed in with the cheesy ones.

Later that night we went to a friend's house for a cookout. While it was nice to hang out and enjoy the evening with a bunch of folks, I was somewhat nervous because there was a pool in the backyard. I hovered by Clara, who befriended an adorable little girl named Gabby, because she wanted to be right by the pool all the time. The two girls played with pool noodles, splashed their feet in the water, and stood on the pool steps to get wet. Eventually I got tired of being splashed by them and the bigger kids who were shooting super soakers, so I told Cory he was on pool duty. He didn't move closer to the pool, but he was watching.

But it still happened. Clara fell in the pool and not one adult saw it happen. Thank God Ryan saw her and yelled for help. Adam jumped in and pulled Clara out and she was fine. Three years ago the same thing happened while we were on vacation, only it was Sasha who fell in and Aidan who alerted us. Both times there was a group of adults RIGHT. THERE. And both times not one of us saw it or heard it. It just goes to show how quickly these things can happen. I went to bed that night thinking how sickeningly different that evening could have turned out had Ryan not yelled for our attention. So now for my summertime PSA: PLEASE keep a very, very close eye on your kiddos when they are near water!

This is my girl splashing with her friend just before she fell in the pool. Note the somewhat disturbing expression on her face: this is determination combined with pure trouble!

Finally, on Sunday we had a family cookout at my aunt and uncle's house. We all love visiting them, not only because we love being with our family but because we love where they live. Their house is my great-grandparents' farmhouse (see the Dixons in the previous post - this is their home). Several years ago my aunt and uncle completely gutted the house and renovated it for their family. It turned out fantastic, especially because they kept many of the original features that make it so unique. While we really like their house, we especially love the land. The house is totally surrounded by orchards and mountains, and there are no neighbors or roads within eyesight. It is serene, beautiful, quiet, perfect. And just down the road is the piece of land that Cory and I hope to build on someday.

So several of us decided to take a walk through the orchards on the dirt road that connects this house to what used to be my grandparents' house and my aunt and uncle's first home. This road leads to the land that my mother and Jim own, the piece that Cory and I covet. That's a cherry tree in the distance. I remember walking this dirt road countless times when I was growing up and stopping to pick cherries to eat along the way. Apparantly Cory's dad was also chased off this road when he was busted for picking cherries off this same tree when he was younger.

This is just one row of trees that surround the land. I think these are apple trees, but they might be peach trees. I can't remember. But I do know they are gorgeous.

This is the plot of land that Cory and I would love to build on someday. We'd ideally plop our home all the way at the back of the cornfield (which would no longer be a corn field, of course) at the edge of the mountain. The view from that spot is breathtaking: nothing but orchards and trees and pure beauty.

Now we just need to win the lottery so we can afford to buy the land, the infrastructure, and the home. Sigh.

Monday wasn't much of a holiday for us since Cory had to work. The girls and I hung out at home and did some small projects around the house. I thought about taking them out somewhere, but the thought of fighting all the crowds kept me happily at home. But my hat's off to all those courageous men and women who have served and are serving our country. What an honor!

It was a good, memorable weekend.

*** Just a side note: In the midst of typing this post I had the priviledge of being the target of Dixon's projectile poop - again. This time I got nailed from my right shoulder down to my foot and he managed to cover the changing table, the floor and a corner of the couch. If anyone wants either some good birth control or some good laughs, let me know and I'll email you the photos.