Spring Break and Easter Fun

Sunday my primary teacher partner was home with a sick kid so I taught the class. This time it went well. I put pictures that represented the Holy Ghost and scriptures about the Holy Ghost in Easter Eggs and then had the kids find them. Then they had to open the eggs they found and share what the picture had to do with the Holy Ghost or read the scripture. We actually had a really good discussion about the Holy Ghost and it felt like a win.

Sunday afternoon the Jones family came over. Tyler had a really good discussion about the Lord of the Ring's books with his sister and brother in law. Me, I got really annoyed with my kids. They were "smothering" Ruby and trying to make her walk and not listening when I told them to back off. At the end of the night though, Red started playing with Ruby and it was really sweet. She was really intent on the song he was singing to him.

Monday was our start of Spring Break and the kids spent it with friends. Ben had AJ and Andrea over and Steven ended up joining them on their Minecraft Realm. Lucy went off with her friend Claire. And Penny was feeling left out so we met Grace and her kids at the park. Grace and I had a good talk and Penny had a good time with Reggie and ended up going home with them. That evening after dinner, Tyler had some things to get at Menards so me, Penny, and Ben tagged along with him and then he took us out to get ice cream at Culver's afterwards. 

Tuesday evening we went and saw the new Ghostbuster movie (the Frozen Empire). Grace was so nice and watched Ruby so we could all go together. Unfortunately, the movie was not a winner. There were a lot of issues. One being that they tried to do too much with the movie so they didn't really do anything well (lots of cameos and throwbacks to the first movie). The last "battle" scene was not so epic. And they also had the main character (a girl) have a thing with a girl ghost. I was disappointed but I am still glad that we got to all go out for a family movie. It has been awhile since we have all been able to do that. Ignore Steven looking grumpy in the pic below. He is not a fan of pics. 

Wednesday we went to the Detroit Zoo with the Mays (and we brought the Bloomfield boys with us). It was colder than I thought it would be and I felt so bad for Ruby because she was not properly dressed. I had decided to bring the jogger stroller that day and it just doesn't protect her from the wind like her infant stroller does. Thankfully there were lots of building we could go into and warm up in. The teens all took off and did their own thing. I think they had fun- minus Steven who complained how cold he was and kept texting me asking when we were going home. The younger ones stayed with me and Caroline. Penny had fun but Lucy felt a little left out- Peter and Jesse didn't really hang with her. After the zoo Andrea and AJ came over to my house to hang out with Ben some more.

Thursday morning I went to 5 and Below to get some things for the Easter Egg hunt we are hosting. I was getting things specifically for the teens and it was really tricky to figure out what would appeal to them since they are all so different. Penny was nice to tag along and help me try to figure out what to get. Here were some of the fun options. I didn't end up getting the giant duckie but we did get the unicorn blaster.

That afternoon the middle 3 kids went to the Santana's house to hang out. I sort of invited my kids over because Penny was wanting some friends to hang with and then she ended up taking the other 2 as well. The only snag was that she invited them over at a time that collided with Ruby's nap so I had to wake her up a bit early. This nap stuff sure complicates things. Here are some pics that Sis Santana sent me.

 

Friday was Ben's birthday! He woke up and opened his presents as per usual. Pikmin and 2 Star Wars Lego sets from me and Zelda from my parents. For lunch, Tyler took Ben out to Subway. And then that afternoon he had his 3 A friends come over- AJ, Andrea and Aiden. Lucy also had her 2 friends over- Claire and Brielle. Ben and his friends were pretty great and easy. They played games on the tablet, Tyler took them to Marvin's Mechanical Museum (where they won 188 Jolly Ranchers), they played 4 Square outside, ate pizza and cake, played some more outside and then watched "The Princess Bride." It was a good day for him. However, Lucy's friends were more complicated. They kept trying to get me to go buy them things- lemonade to start a lemonade stand, capri suns, slushies...I had to be very persistent that I would take them to Costco for pizza and drinks but that was it. They also struggled to come up with things to do in the beginning and it was rather irking. I finally took them to a park and that seemed to be the catalyst that got them to stop driving me crazy, lol.

Saturday we were going to host an Easter Egg hunt at our house but it ended up being a rainy day so we rescheduled it for Sunday. The day was still full enough. We dyed Easter eggs- this year we dyed real eggs and it was a nice change to have them actually keep the color. Now we have to find someone to eat them all. Steven did not join the festivities. 

We also did our traditional bunny cake which we actually got Steven to help decorate- mostly the candy convinced him to help. It turned out creepy as always.

I also made some strawberry cake...so much cake...and played a couple rounds of Scrabble with Ben and Tyler on the gaming tablet. Ben is really good at making words that seem made up but actually are real words. 

Ruby this week has had fun spreading food all over her face and she has also started trying to army crawl. Already she has put questionable things in her mouth and we are in lots of trouble with this cutie.

Archery Banquet

Sunday was St. Patricks Day and we made sure to wear green to church.

Grams sat with me and my primary class. The boys were extra troublesome and I didn't get much of a lesson taught. We were talking about how we learn the Gospel little by little and I had brought some St. Patrick's Lego things to make. That seemed to be ok but it was really hard to get them back after that *sigh*. After church I made some Shepherd's pie in celebration of the holiday. It is one of my favorite dinners. There was an RS thing that day but I didn't go. There was a quote from it that has been getting a lot of backlash. It said that our church is a church where women have the most authority comapred to other churches. I think the quote was in bad taste. I think we don't have the most authority comparative to some churches and although I am not necessarily upset by that fact, I just don't understand the purpose behind saying otherwise.

Monday was Gram's last day with us. She didn't really want to do anything so I spent the day house cleaning. It had been a couple weeks since I had been able to really clean it, so it definitely needed it. Around dinner time I drove her to the airport. Thankfully there was no traffic and I got her there plenty early. It was sad to have her go, we have enjoyed our time with her. I made sure to get a pic of her with all the kids before she left. Of course Steven was chewing his food while I took it. 

Tuesday my friends came over for lunch and there was a lot of tea to be spilled. A lot. One announced that she is getting a divorce, her kids don't know so I shall not name names but I wonder if she is being too rash. I know they have had issues but I don't know, it's a lot. Another friend has a woman that has been hitting on her husband and it all came to a head. I feel like the husband should have cut this lady off much sooner but I also feel like my friend kept giving him mixed signals about her acceptance of it all. I guess my mid-life crisis baby isn't that big of a deal in comparison to some of the drama with my friends. I actually feel like I have my crap together. 

Tuesday afternoon Steven had a meeting with a counselor but it wasn't the meeting we thought it was. I thought we were going to be picking out his classes but it was the wrong counselor and it was sort of an awkward, not sure why we are meeting with you meeting. We have now arranged a meeting with the right counselor for next week. Getting Steven to decide on classes is going to be an ordeal so we shall see how that goes. 

That night the girls had their last volleyball "game". It was parents and siblings vs kids. The games were at the same time so Tyler played with Lucy and Ben played with Penny. I stayed at home and enjoyed some Ruby time but it sounded like they had fun.

Wednesday the kids really got into making a perler bead Easter kit that grams gave them. They neglected their school work more than they should have in favor of making it. They were determined to finish it before my brother's family does (they have the same one). They ended up getting it all done Saturday. I think they won?

That evening we had the joy of having Steven take everyone to their church activities. It was just Ruby, Tyler and me at home. It could've been a nice night for us but he had some lady come over to work on neighborhood treasurer stuff- lame. 

Thursday was a busy day. I spent the morning cleaning out the kids' rooms. They always mantain a very low level of cleanliness that can only be tolerated for so long before I need to get in there. Under their beds is especially troublesome. Steven still had two bags full of Halloween candy under his bed that I ended up just tossing. He didn't even seem to care. Weirdo. After the clean out, I dropped off some donations to Salvation Army and then did some shopping with Ruby for a few things that kids needed.  

Steven had his Archery Banquet that evening. Steven, Tyler, Ruby and I went. The middle 3 all stayed at home. Tyler was an assistant coach throughout most of the season so he knew quite a few people but we still ended up sitting by a family we didn't know. They had a 7th grader so they didn't seem super interested in making friends with us. That's ok because Ruby was a massive wiggly worm so she kept us all busy for most of it. The food was nothing special- pasta, fried chicken, salad and cake. After the dinner portion they called up each grade level and passed out certificates and trophies. Trophies were given out at each grade level for boys and girls with the highest scores in 3D and Bullseye. Funny enough Steven was the only boy so he got both awards. But I think they were well earned because his scores were still good. He got a 242 in Bullseye and a 260 in 3D. Considering he started off with scores of 200, I would say he improved. After the kids awards were given, they handed out thank you gifts for Booster Club and Coaches. Tyler got to go up and be recognized. They called him Beanie because he was always wearing a beanie during practices and they were impressed that he would still come and help even though he has 5 kids and a wife that travels. Yes, they said a wife that travels, even though I only traveled once. They were nice and gave him a $100 Visa giftcard as a thank you. Then it was over, thankfully, because keeping Ruby off the school floors felt a lot like being stuck on a plane. She likes her floor time.

Friday brought too much snow for March. Isn't March supposed to start out like a lion and go out like a lamb? I feel like we should be in lamb territory now. With the snow I decided not to leave the house which was a good thing because me, trying to be funny for Ruby, attached a fidget spinner to my head and then got this super embarrassing bruise :/ Apparently I don't have fancy enough makeup to cover it.

Saturday morning I took the middle 3 to the Ward Easter Egg Hunt. I really didn't want to go but I gave Tyler the option between staying home with napping Ruby or taking the kids and he chose staying home. He should have gone because all my friends sent their husbands and the only other mom there was Chalsea so that was lame. But I guess I did have the Primary Presidency to chat with. They started the activity with a very long telling of the Easter story, then there was breakfast and then the hunt. I ended up chatting during the hunt with Sis Love. Her oldest used to cut Lucy's hair and sounds like she is really struggling to figure out her life right now. I feel bad for her. After the activity I ran a few errands with Miss Penny, went out to dinner with Tyler and then had a girl's night with my friends. Dinner with Tyler was good. Delicious food and we had a good discussion about church things- miracles mostly. Mostly that discussion arose from his sister in law who seems to not quite understand how God works. The girls' night was less great. Grace and Melissa's daughters joined us and I don't really love that. There are things that they have no business hearing but also they are kind of mean girls. And during the night I tried to talk some sense into Melissa who is thinking about adpoting her niece's baby. I am just not sure with all her health issues this is a good idea for her. And her reasons for doing it don't settle well. Anyways I ended up leaving that night feeling pretty disgruntled with my friends to be honest. Sometimes they are kind of obnoxious.

So to end this post on a better note, here is adorable Ruby. She has been less smiley for strangers lately but she sure can stare them down ;)

Home Again

 Sunday morning my mom, Ruby and I had our flight back to Michigan. The clocks moved forward an hour in Michigan on Sunday and for some reason the clock on my watch and phone moved forward too, even though I was in Arizona. Tyler says it must be a phone setting. This meant I unknowingly woke up at 4:30am Arizona time, instead of 5:30am. I was getting ready and realized my mom wasn't up yet so I went and woke her up. It was shortly after that that I realized my clock mistake. I felt so bad for waking her up early and I was mad that I was now ready a whole hour before I needed to be. I could have been sleeping!

Mike picked us up and dropped us off at the airport. He's a good brother. It was probably best it was him because the airport was very busy and that might have stressed Poppy out. We had luggage to check in and a nice lady let us go in a closer and shorter line because of Ruby I am sure. She has her benefits. Then it was off to security. Security in Arizona is not as fancy as Michigan and they made me put her stroller and car seat through the scanner. It was a bit of a juggling act to get everything on there whilest having Ruby to hold. It was relief once we were done with that and could get everything (including Ruby) back into the stroller. After all that we had about an hour until take off. The terminal was busy but we were lucky to find a couple open seats and then I fed Ruby some breakfast- bananas- and we didn't make too much of a mess. 

When it was time to board, I really wanted to be last on the plane but when it came time to board a couple people let us go ahead of them in line and then this lady rushed us in front of everybody so that they could load Ruby's stroller and car seat on the plane. Boo. The waiting for the plane to take off was the hardest part. It took forever to taxi and Ruby was getting so fussy. I had wanted to save the bottle for take off but just couldn't. She sucked it down and then was a mess for quite a bit before she finally calmed down and took a nap. The nap wasn't as long as I had hoped for, mostly we had only killed an hour of the flight. Then I had to entertain her which was so challenging. We played with toys, walked the aisle, changed her diaper (which she really liked because she could roll on the changing table and look in the mirror) and tried to distract her with a baby balloon popping game on my phone. She was very vocal and probably drove people crazy. Near the end she was tired again and really fought a nap. She did finally sleep but it was only for like 15 minutes and then she was fussy again. I am still not a fan of flying with babies. It's so stressful. I was grateful that Tyler was ready for us as soon as we got our luggage and we could go right home. 

Monday was readjusting to Michigan time and life. The transition is always hard for me. Ruby did pretty good. After the kids finished their school work Monday, we all went shopping with Grams. We had two purposes- one to figure out what Ben might like for his birthday and two so we could figure out what Grams could get the kids for Easter. The kids always enjoy shopping but I think it wore Grams and me out. 

Monday late afternoon/evening Ruby started to come down with something and ended up having a really rough night. This meant she spent most of the night, not sleeping, in our bed. She kept pulling on her ear so I made a last minute dr's appt for Tuesday morning. I was sure she had an ear infection but after dragging her off to the doctor's it was determined she did not. They said it was probably a virus and there was nothing to do about that. She also has her two front teeth coming in which just compounder her struggles. Somehow I still managed to get a cute picture of her though- water eyes and all.

Tuesday Steven had a half day so Grams and I took him to Wendy's for lunch. He can be a hard one to talk to but we managed to keep him chatting about school and video games and things. It was some nice bonding time.

Tuesday evening, despite being exhausted from not sleeping the night before, I went to Bunco. It was fun time. A lot of ladies were wearing green for St. Patrick's day and I expressed that I was feeling left out so Kathy was sweet and gave me her shamrock necklace to wear. I being the weirdo I am said it was lucky and then said something dumb about letting the Bunco powers unite and BOOM! I got a Bunco! It was the last roll of the night and a great way to end the game. I ended up getting the most Bunco's (a whopping 2) and had a hard time choosing a prize. I decided to be functional and took the kitchen utensils and chip clips. 

Wednesday Ruby seemed to be feeling better which was good. Still pulling on her ear but her nose wasn't quite as runny. Honestly she is still pulling on her ear so I am guessing maybe she just dicovered them? Or maybe her teeth coming in is bugging her ears somehow? For lunch that day Grams treated me, Ben, Lucy and Penny to Subway and Tropical Smoothie. Penny and I love our smoothies and Ben and Lucy love their subs. It was a yummy outing. That evening the kids had their various church activities. It was nice to be able to have Steven drive him and Ben to their activity. Then Tyler took Lucy to hers. This meant we all didn't have to go out and drop off kids. Grams and I stayed home with Ruby and Penny.

Thursday while the kids were at school, Grams, Ruby and I finished up the Easter and Birthday shopping at Target and then got lunch at Culvers. Afterwards we got a frame for Ruby's birth annoucement at Hobby Lobby. It was Pi day so after picking up the kids from school I made a banana pie to celebrate the holiday. I do love banana pie. That evening the girls had their last volleyball game. Of course they were at two different locations and the time overlapped but everyone managed to see at least part of both of their games. Neither one of them won but it was really fun to see their improvement. They both do fairly well at going for the ball, they just need to work on direction.

Friday after the kids finished their school work we went to the Great Lakes Crossing mall with Grams. We were looking for new boots for Penny, luggage tags for Grams and...pretzels ;)! The pretzels were delicious as always but for some reason upset my tummy. I hate having tummy issues but thankfully we were close to a bathroom. The girls spent a LONG time in Claire's and Ben got bored (and so did I)so we went to Game Stop but when we came back they were still looking at things they could not buy. After the mall Ben went to Andrea's and Lucy went to her friend Claire's house. Grams and I went to Costco to eat samples and get pizza. The lady who was giving out candy samples was closing her station and gave Grams and me the rest of her samples. I may not eat chocolate much but the kids will appreciate it. As were leaving the man that was checking receipts commented that we must be related, when I said she was my mom he said it was clear because we both had beautiful genetics. What a flatterer, lol. That night those of us who were not off being social, stayed home and watched "Onward." I think it's a fun Disney movie.  

Saturday we did a little road trip with Grams. First we drove to Horrock's Market in Battle Creek. It was a bit of a drive, about 2 hours, but the kids listened to a story the whole time so they behaved themselves. Once there we decided to get some lunch for the grown ups- I had packed lunch for the kids. I got soup there (they had a soup bar with an amazing selection) and Grams and Tyler got sandwiches. The soup was good. After we ate our lunch we let the kids pick out a treat. There was an amazing selection of treats for the kids to pick from and we got lots of sugar (compliments of Grandma) but I am just not sure it was worth the 2 hour drive. 

Our next stop was Fantasy Forest where there were a bunch of carved tree trunks. It was a small park but the carvings were really cool and fun to take pics of. Ben offered to carry the baby in the baby carrier and I am surprised he was able to stay upright the whole time. He was definitely struggling at times but it was very sweet of him. All in all everything went smoothly and the stops were good but I probably wouldn't make the drive out just for those things again. 

Steven said I should photoshop out Ben so it looked like Ruby was floating. I tried but Tyler says it looks more like baby has a jet pack ;)

Once back from our daytrip we had a dinner of leftovers and then us girls went to the Dollar Tree to get some green nail polish (for St. Patrick's Day) and Lucy and Penny bought a wooden things to paint. The green nail polish was definitely Dollar Tree polish and wiped right off my nails and Lucy's nails. Somehow Penny managed to keep hers on for St. Patrick's Day the next day. The girls had fun painting their wooden decor things they bought. That night the boys went to a Stake Dance and us girls watched my favorite chick flick, "Ever After". Apparently at the dance there was some drama between 2 of Ben's best friends. One was rude to the other and it made things awkward. I hope they can patch things up.

Arizona

Sunday I taught my primary class and all the kids were there. I feel like the lesson went pretty well though and I'm slowly figuring out how to keep these kids from getting too unruly. That afternoon we had Tyler's parents and sister's family over for dinner. They were nice and brought the food, we just provided the space and drinks. After dinner we all went outside and had s'mores. It was really nice to just hang and have the kids all playing together. 

Monday Ruby and I had an afternoon flight to Arizona with Leslie and Steve. I spent the morning helping the kids with their school work and then at lunchtime Tyler took us to Mariah's house. Of course they all weren't there because they had went to chick-fil-a and lost track of time *sigh*. But thankfully Tyler was dropping me off super early so it wasn't like we were going to miss our flight. Once they got back, we hung out at there house for a bit and then it was time to go to the airport. Everything went really smoothly. We dropped off their rental car and there was a shuttle waiting for us. Once at the airport,  we had a short line for checking in luggage and the man was helpful and made sure Steve and Leslie were sitting by me. Security also had a very short line and didn't make me wait too long for them to check my baby contraband stuff. Once we were through all the hurdles we had about an hour wait until our flight so I got some food and took a bathroom break. 

The flight itself was OK. Ruby was all smiles until it started taking off. I think he ears hurt and she was also a bit tired so she got really fussy for about 20mins before she finally gave in and fell asleep. She didn't nap long, maybe 30 mins and then she was super wiggly. Leslie was really nice and held her for a long while, keeping her entertained. She was good until the last hour and she got fussy again, she was tired again. I had finally got her to sleep and then the plane started landing and she woke up and was angry. Thankfully there was a nice lady across the aisle that smiled at her and really cheered her up for a bit. That was a tender mercy.

Then it was off the plane to get the baggage and off to wait and wait for Keshia to pick us up. Keshia got stuck in traffic so we were waiting for about 40mins. Ruby did ok waiting but then was pretty fussy when we got her in the car. I gave her a bottle and she fell asleep but then was woken back up when we got to the Hatch's house.  Their newly remodeled house was quite fancy and has a kitchen I would absolutely love. Jezerea is also living with them so I got to say hello to her and her family. Then my parents picked me up and took me to their house where at last I could put Ruby to bed. I was worried Ruby would have an awful night but actually she did really well and didn't wake up until 5:30am the next morning. And since that was 7:30am in Michigan I allowed it.

Tuesday we started our day with a walk with Grams. Then for lunch Poppy and I got to go on a lunch date to Panera. He made friends with the cashier who told us about his dream for retirement. We also enjoyed some free cookies. Later after nap time (for Poppy and Ruby) we went to Mike and Mecca's to hang out. Oliver was out with friends while I was there but the girls smothered Miss Ruby with love. 

Mecca was nice and made us some homemade pizza for dinner and then I went to Brennen's volleyball game (Tara's oldest). Tara and Keshia were both there with their families. Their kids really don't know me well so they are all pretty awkward around me but the game itself was fun to watch. It was much more exciting than the girls' games. Brennen's team won easily and Brennen helped contribute to the win. Afterwards I jokingly told Brennen that I had flew all the way out there to see his game and he looked really uncomfortable. Obviously he doesn't understand my humor. 

Wednesday morning we met Mecca for breakfast at my favorite, The Broken Yolk. Grams and I got our savory and sweet crepes and shared the deliciousness. Later Poppy and I went and did some thrift store shopping. Although I didn't buy much, the thrift stores in Arizona are much better than the thrift stores here. They have way more stuff. The rest of our day was pretty low key since everyone was busy with pt conferences and church activites. My dad and I almost went to a movie but I was a failure and had been looking at the wrong place for times. Instead we just had a chill evening at their house.

Thursday Grams and I did a morning walk and we stopped at the park so Ruby could try out the swings. Her first official swinging time and she loved it. After her nap, I took a quick trip to the Chandler mall with my parents and Ruby. They had a Lego store and I was looking for a specific set to give Ben for Easter. We were very efficient and parked near by the store, walked right in and found it and left. In the short time we were in the mall, it had rained outside. Arizona weather is silly.

For lunch I met Mike at Kneaders. I was silly and parked at Starbucks thinking I was at Kneaders. I took my time getting out because I was early and then walked in carrying Ruby. I looked around and it took me a minute to realize this was not just a newly remodeled Kneaders, probably the smell of coffee is what clued me into that. I then turned around, sheepishly, and left. Mike and I had a nice lunch and Ruby was good and just sat in her car seat the whole time. Once again, while we were inside, it had rained outside. Later while I was at my parent's house, it even hailed for a quick minute. Gotta love the weather in Arizona.

That afternoon we went to Seagulls so I could look for more Easter stuff for my kids. Everything was pricey and I had a hard time deciding what was worth it. I ended up getting a couple books to help the kids with making their Come Follow Me weekly lessons and some scripture stickers for Ben (the neglected middle child who was the only who didn't have any). My dad was also very nice and bought me a pretty dress- my fav color, green. After we finished our shopping there, we met Mike's family at Mi Amigo's. The food was delicious, it is always delicious and the kids all had a good time loving on Ruby. Although Ruby made quite a mess of herself and squeezed out most of her fruit pouch on her clothes. When we finished dinner we got to see Mike's fancy new truck that he bought. I think we should buy his Corolla off of him but Tyler thinks it will be terrible for the snow. Boo. A third car would really be helpful for when Steven starts his college classes in the Fall and I trust that my bro takes good care of his cars :)

Friday morning we went to Deseret Bookstore for more Easter shopping and I got a few more things for the kids. After our shopping expedition we met Mike, Mecca and Matilda at Costa Vida for lunch. I made another poor choice in feeding Ruby and brought carrots and she managed to get them on me and my shoes. We also had issues with spilling water- first me all over my food tray and then Matilda all over herself. We are messy people but at least it was just water. 

After lunch I went back to my parent's house and put Ruby down for a nap. My friend, Rebekka, had come in to town that weekend so she could escape her kids but also so she could meet Ruby so she came over while Ruby was napping. We hung out for the rest of the day, just catching up on life and all the things and commiserating on the challenges of being a parent. At one point we went on a walk around my parent's neighborhood and sat on a bench and enjoyed the perfect weather. Ruby came along and was a good baby, she just sat complacently in her stroller. 

Saturday morning we met Mike's family at the Riparian Preserve. Mike had cut his finger on his electric trimmer so he was busy getting stitches and didn't come right away- poor guy. It was super busy and parking was difficult but somehow we got lucky and a spot opened up right in front of the library entrance (the library is right by the Riparian). We walked the bridge and fed the ducks and then played at the "snake" park. Ruby "participated" in her cousins' games- we "walked" down the snake, hid from Oliver and then "kicked" him. I also helped time Mike's girls as they ran from one place to another. It's easy to make them happy :) After playing, poor injured Mike joined us and brought food with him. We had a nice picnic at the park. After lunch, Mecca, Oliver and Emaline left and the rest us went for a nature walk. The weather was great and we enjoyed the desert scenery. 

When we finished our walk, we headed back to the car and then my parents dropped Ruby and I off at Rebekka's house. It was nice to see Rebekka's parents and Parley (Mr.P) again. It had been so long so obviously everyone was older but still the same some how. Parley was really sweet to Ruby, he especially liked to tickle her little feet. We chatted some more. I happened to bring up the fact that Tyler and I would like to go to the UK for our 20th anniversary and she suggested that Danny and her join us. I dunno, that could be fun? We shall see. Right now with how expensive life is, I am not convinced we will be able to afford it. After taking some fun pics together, she drove Ruby and me back to my parent's house and then she went to Target where she told me Parley likes to take pics with the mannequins ;)

When back at my parent's house, my dad took me to Walmart so I could pick up a few things for my flight home. He told me about his trick of always parking where the walkway is so he can find his car. I get it. I am always losing things. Then Mike's family came over for dinner. We had a yummy meal of orange chicken and then some of us went to the neighborhood park. It was another beautiful weather day and I enjoyed sitting with Poppy on the park bench. Lillian was really sweet and pushed Ruby on the swing and gave Ruby lots of attention. Ruby loves attention. Then it was time to say goodbyes to Mecca and her kids. I hate goodbyes and wish we all lived much closer together.