Party Party Party!

We had Hailey and Makayla for the weekend last week while Amy was out of town. What better way to celebrate Brinlee's birthday! We had one long celebratory weekend. We started out by going to The Rave. Brinlee was unimpressed by the subzero water temperatures.

Hailey and Makayla were non-stop motion.

They didn't seem to mind the cold water.

Hailey got into trouble helping for helping Makayla across this floating bridge. It seems the lifeguard is offended when you do her job.

And the birthday girl continues to shiver.

The Rave has this terrifying purple slide

which Hailey forced me to go down.

 You slide down on a two-person inner tube so that if one of you dies, you're both history. We went down 5 or 6 times and lived to tell about it.

When we got home, Brinlee showed off her computer savvy.

She had no problem at all changing screens, pushing icons,

 and finding her favorite show--Super Why.  Um, Brinlee, can you show me that a little slower just one more time???

She can also find her way around an iphone.

Yep, my granddaughter is one smart two-year old.

See that black eye? No one told Brinlee you can't walk in front of a swing in motion. She's so tough, she got knocked down a couple of times.

Makayla kept telling us she wanted "wheat bread" so we made some! There was a little dough-eating going on

and dough sharing. Quick, Brinlee! Stuff it in before someone bigger gets it all!

By evening, I thought it would be a great idea to burn off kid energy by walking to the school.

Someone needs to stop me and end my hare-brained ideas.

This is our own kids' elementary--the one that is uphill both ways during a severe storm warning.

 Now this is a great idea--

this gravel playground just shouts

"walk on my bumpiness with those tender bare feet!"

What cute girls!

Hailey seems to have fallen into a coma. There are only so many pushes in those arms.

Three cute blondies.

After Ashley put Brinlee to bed, Hailey 

and Makayla

worked on a birthday banner. I'm going to be sweeping glitter off my floor for the next 3 years.

Finished project.

Close-up.

 Makayla is especially proud of her "h" in birthday.

Once again, at the end of the day, only one person was exhausted. Someone please stop me from encouraging those wear-out-the-kids activities.

We celebrated Brinlee's second birthday on Sunday the 23rd. Unfortunately, someone prematurely woke her up from a needed nap.

Don't fall for the who, me? look. This girl is guilty!!

Even the sight of the cake didn't cheer Brinlee up.

Neither did the candles.

Nor did the fact that Brinlee's Daddy had joined us.

"All this partying is giving me a headache!"

 It doesn't even help to get kisses from her favorite people.

Even Grandpa was not curing the grumpies.

Finally! Here's something that may help!

Gifts! Gifts always make a girl feel cheery!

Ta-da! All smiles again!

Happy birthday, Brinlee! Thanks for letting us spend your birthday with you!!

Cousin Lalapalooza

Chaos reigned when all of our kids and grandkids came home for the funeral.
But it was the best kind of chaos!

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Not only did we crowd around the kitchen table to accommodate eager eaters,

we also spilled over into the great outdoors. 

It's probably good we never got around to pulling out the old swing set.

 Lucky Charms mysteriously appears in our cupboards whenever the grandkids visit from out of town. Those tricky leprechauns!

Our oldest granddaughter (Kailyn) holding our youngest granddaughter (Myla). Aren't they beautiful?

 

The two babies of their generation. Aren't they beautiful?

Myla actually got plenty of holding time from a lot of beautiful people.

 Our not-so-terrible two year olds modeling their yogurt mustaches.

I came across this group of girl cousins quietly playing dolls in the corner.

On the other side of the room I found this group of boy cousins, wrestling, talking tough, and comparing muscles. Heads up, guys--it would have been more effective without the pretty pink princess tent!

Everyone was good to play together and wait their turn for the toys.

Little Ava showed us how she can get her shoes on by herself

and get them on the wrong foot almost every time.

Hailey took it upon herself to give Brinlee a year's worth of lovin' in just a few days. Brinlee not only tolerated it, she sincerely seemed to enjoy it.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Family members began to peel off and head home, first Megan, then Scott and Kelsey, and then Jessica, Krew, and Myla.  I made sure Krew went home wearing his "remember your grandparents" gift.

On Shelly's final day, we (Bassetts, Ashley and Brinlee, Amy, Hailey, and Makayla) took a trip to Riverfront to feed the Canadian geese.

A few weeks ago there were dozens and dozens of baby geese.

Now they all look almost the same. You can still pick out the younger ones by their lighter colored head and neck.

In a month or two, the geese will be mostly gone and the ducks will be more plentiful.

We only had an inch or two of bird poop on our shoes when we left.

See that very plain brown duck Makayla is rushing toward? She insisted she wanted to take THAT DUCK home. Apparently Amy is anti-duck. She said "NO!"

Some fool in our group thought we should next go to Lake Elmo and completely wear out the kids.

Guess who got worn out? That's right---NOT THE KIDS!!!

Jordan was good enough to uncover this snow cone maker in my super-secret stash of future birthday/Christmas/whatever gifts, and we gave it a whirl when we got home.

Then the time came for the Bassetts to get back home and check on Dad and the new house.

They got some of these nifty lights, too.

BONUS ALERT: They have a strobe feature. We don't have to worry at all about Shelly staying alert while driving home!

It's a good thing kids have been leaving in shifts. I'd hate to be deserted all at once. Ashley and Brinlee are taking the final "keep Grandma company" shift for the next week or so.