A Latesummer Weekend's Fun

...Does that title sound anything like 'A Midsummer Night's Dream?'...
I don't know, sometimes I don't quite hit the mark.

Anyway, we got a very awesome invitation this last week. JC's sister was heading to a local resort for a night's stay with her family. The family friend they had planned to go with had to back out last minute.
They kindly invited us and we were so excited.

And...for the record, I would like to count it on my 'spontaneous things' list that proves that I do, indeed, do unplanned things. Even though we had more than an entire day's notice...it counts.

Here you see...we were ready to go!

Bethany was quite concerned that Scout would miss us overnight.
I told her that he would probably enjoy the quiet evening and be happy to see us back the next day. But she still wanted to spend some time saying goodbye.
Cute girl and her cat.

She loves him.

He loves her.
Can't you see it in his face as she picks him up?
(...He really does though, I promise...)

The kids each got to take their own little rolling backpack with their pj's, stuffed animals, blankets, toothbrushes, etc. They got to load them up themselves.

Once we got there, we had to kill some time until check-in, so some cousins jumped in our van and made things more exciting!

Here, Colton makes Ben laugh.
Ben has always loved Colton. I need to gather together all the pictures I have of Ben laughing with, smiling at, giving high fives to, or sitting with his cousin Colton.

Um, and yes, also pictures of them being adorable and walking through the parking lot together to go find our rooms. Colton held Ben's hand and walked across the street with him.
In front of them are Bethany, James, JC, and Brittney!

A little while later, after some big fun at the resort's water park (yep, that's right, water park), we expended the energy we apparently still had in the hotel room!
Brittney and Bethany, going NUTS! It was so funny to watch them feed off each other.

The boys followed them around, going a bit crazy themselves!

They also played a game that Grandma Teri had brought. They loved it!

James, being silly during the game.

Ben, being 'oops, I said the word hate and I know I'm not really supposed to say that, sorry Mama' during the game. It was cute.

Aunt Melissa got everyone's interest with some fantastic games on her phone.
It involved making pictures of everyone look hilarious.
Doesn't get better than that!

James...became preoccupied.

Until it was his turn to take a picture and make it funny.

Guess who he took a picture of? Yep, his mama.
Don't I look lovely?

After exhausting ourselves with laughter, it was time to settle down a bit.
James pulled out the hide-a-bed. He may have had some help, but don't tell him that.

The boys settled in for a movie while Brittney and Bethany spent some quality time together and us adults-and-almost-adults played games!

A while later, we had this:

The evening was a lot of fun, and it wasn't even a horribly late night! Everyone slept pretty well until Ben decided it was daytime at four am.
But he went back to sleep. :)
Then everyone gathered for some morning cartoons!

The morning was laid back and nice. When you are away from home, you really have no choice but to be lazy because what else can you do? It's nice to have an excuse to just sit and enjoy!

Later that evening, back home and well-rested from a rest time in which we all dozed off a bit, we ended up with some fine entertainment. We put in a DVD Polly had given us of the footage she and Mason took when she went to pick him up from his mission in the Philippines. It was a lot of scenery which was cool to see, but also some of him talking while he taped. The kids thought that was pretty cool!
Even cooler was when we actually got to see him on the video.
I knew Bethany would especially love it and I had the camera ready.
Here she is, getting a glimpse of her Daddy Mason in action!
So sweet.

After a while, things calmed down to the point that it was just about bedtime.
But then.
Rain.
So, we had to go outside! There was a lot of lightening though, so we stayed on the porch and enjoyed ourselves there!
(Bethany saw these pictures and pointed out, 'I didn't need to go potty, I was just holding up my pants off the ground.' So, keep that in mind, per her request.)

James' train came to enjoy the festivities.

And festive it was!

A favorite past time...sidewalk chalk on the wet ground.

Lately the kids have been loving that song about the raindrops being lemon drops and gum drops...they loved having an opportunity to really live it:
"STANDING OUTSIDE WITH MY MOUTH OPEN WIDE!
AEH AEH AEH-AEH AEH AEH-AEH AEH AEH-AEH!"

(remember...she is just holding her pants up...)

It all added up to a pretty enjoyable weekend. Water park. Family. Daddy Mason. Rain.
Yessss.

Cell Snapshots: The Great Outdoors...Vegetation

It's no secret . . . I can't ever pass up an opportunity to photographically capture anything lush and green, especially on my own property.
In honor of it almost being planting time again in the Ballard Garden, here is some of what I found on my memory card from the last few seasons!

Pomegranate Tree beginning to bud. I love the phases of green and red the leaves and blossoms go through.

The pre-bud stage. Waxy, red leaves ring in the growing season.




The buds are so sturdy and shiney-looking. Not at all delicate.

Now for some foliage that is actually not on my property. . . these cutsie blossoms grow along my across-the-street neighbor's driveway. We love them almost as much as the bees do. During the spring, these bushes buzz and shake, they are so full of bees! So we keep our distance somewhat, but still visit! Usually on a bike ride around the cul-de-sac.

(The kids look so baby-like and fuzzy-headed in these pictures from early last year!)

The Plum Tree in blossom. Sweet and delicate.

The Plum from a short distance with the good old Peach Tree the foreground.
May he rest in peace.

I loved that tree.

A straight-down shot of the Tangelo's strong leaves. And... my foot.

Plums changing color.

And in all their purple glory.

Remember when we tried growing a sunflower house? But started way too late in the season as it turned out? At least we got this one. Not exactly a house but...the kids thought it was pretty cool.

Before we even got started on our garden this year, my parents had theirs in full swing. We spent lots of time visiting their produce.

Isn't it amazing?
They've kept it going strong all year! In fact, right now we have cucumbers in our fridge from their bounty!

We finally followed in their footsteps and got our very own garden going. I am sure you remember this. I made a ridiculously big deal out of it.
Here, a picture of our very first transplants. Lettuce! It all looks a little sad here...newly transplanted and wilting a bit...

But, eventually, things perked up and more was added! That whole center section was supposed to be carrots and radishes but we didn't have luck with those. Human error, pretty sure. Hopefully there will be less and less of that as we progress!

But, still, it was a happy little garden box.

You can see, as the season moved along, we got our tomatoes and cucumbers climbing those lines and...

...getting all nice and bushy!

And big!

Just north of the center of this cell-captured shot, we have a little baby cucumber! It was very exciting. Though . . . our cucumber plants all got some sort of fungus that I didn't know how to handle and died prematurely...we didn't get to partake this year.
Oh well, next time! It was still fun to watch this little guy grow for a while!

We had better luck with our tomatoes! They grew in bunches...

...and got to be ripe and tasty!
The kids ate every single one. We were lucky if they made it in the house to be washed. Most of the time, they were plucked and popped straight in their mouths! I loved it.

I find that my love for the outdoors, based more on landscape and vegetation than bugs and wild animals, increases with every season that passes. Even this scorching summer we are still in the middle of has brought a newfound appreciation for my desert home. That's certainly a first!
And with how gorgeous our autumns, winters, and springtimes are, it's only going to get better through the next few months.
So . . . stay tuned for another installment. :)
Particularly as we get tomato plants in this coming month! Time for harvest once more!!