It was a dark and stormy morning...

 

I think this was the most nervous that Parker has been so far on the first day of school, but still he was running in front of us to get there.

It was quite chilly and rainy, not really dark and stormy
 as the title suggests, that was just to keep people reading...
Most of the time Mimi walks, but she slept-in and it was so chilly, that she wanted to be wrapped up. 

This was my view-Yoda's little frog legs, he didn't seem to mind the cold. 

By the time we got to the school I was able to convince Parker to take down his hood for a picture.  

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The night before the first day of school:

Me:"What do you want to do on your last day of summer?"
Parker:"Go to [big fancy Italian Restaurant]."

Me:"I had expected something a little more warm-weather related, but a chance NOT to make dinner, ok!" 

 

Here's Parker stunned by the size of the meatball.

And here he is smiling about the size of the meatball. 

Mimi's first day of school stuff is on it's way...

Code Red

The count down...

The crowd...

The launch pad...

The launch sequence...

The recovery

Summer So Far: Take Three

I've been in denial that summer is ending, but since school starts THIS week, well, I've got to face the truth...

Here's a few goodies from the past few weeks.

Mimi, as she's about to bite into a cheese burger:"All cheesed UP!"

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 We finally added a rope swing to our big front tree.  I love this tree so much it doesn't even bother me that we have 30+bags of leaves each Fall. 

 A silly face for Yoda.  I think he was experimenting with a smile. 

 We went to the State Fair for the first time.  We went early in the morning, NO lines! 

 Greg took Parker and Mimi on the sky ride.  Mimi wished she hadn't gone on it at first. 

 Random picture that Greg took, meat of course. 

 I opted to walk Yoda to the end of the ride. 

 Parker and Mimi's first roller coaster ride (I think anyway). 

 Mimi asks for cotton candy whenever she sees it, at the grocery store, for example.  That's just wrong.  Cotton candy is for things like a fair, or the circus.  She was pretty happy to finally get some fluffy pink stuff.  Look at the size of that bag!  And that was a small!  Hello!

 Our day was pleasantly less expensive because we have a AAA membership.  I believe it's the first time we've even used the card for a discount. 

 Lots of sprinkler time during this crazy hot summer. 

 We started going to the science museum again.

 The day we went was so empty, so we were able to do stuff I don't normally have patience to wait in line for.  For example Yoda is sitting in a window that looks into a big water tank.  That light in front of him is a remote controlled camera, and it's pointed right at Yoda. 

In this picture Parker is working the controls and if you squint, you can see Yoda on the screen.  Normally this part is so popular that we don't get to be in both places.  What a treat:)

More of the summer wrap up to come....

ridiculous garden

Any one else bugged by Blogger lately? I hit the return key and nothing happens.  And some other annoying things are making it difficult to move photos around.  GRrrr...

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Garden in full working order. 

One day the kiddos kept pulling carrots out and coming into the house to wash them off.  Someday I will tell them of how nice of a mom I was that I didn't yell at them for digging in my garden, and for getting mud all over the bathroom.  I kept thinking, "they are eating carrots and having a good time.  Please keep your upset feelings in check, good mom:)"

Here's another annoying thing, why are my photos randomly sideways?  I didn't take the picture vertical, it's not vertical on the computer, but somehow when I upload it, it's rotated!  WHY?!

Anyway, this is my favorite way to use some of the piles of cherry tomatoes that we get every other year from our garden.  This recipe, with chicken, NOT shrimp.  My neighbor gave it to me a couple years ago and I love making it in the summer.  Why not in the winter?  not sure:)

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Me:"That's ridiculous!"
Greg (quoting a show on TV):"No, it's re-donk-ulous!"
Parker (after just playing Donkey Kong for the first time):"NO, it's re-DONKEY KONG-ulous!"  
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Parker (while handing me the nail clippers like this):"They are in nail-clipping mode."
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Me:"Did you drink all your milk?"
Mimi:"I byed more at the fridge."