Swimming and cake and flirting, oh my!

So, on the 19th, and on the 20th, we had two big birthdays in our family – D-man turned 11, and TAT turned 9. Where does the time go?!  Being as their birthdays are so close together, we do tend to celebrate them at the same time, and this year was no different. The Ladybug family (and my kids too) LOVE to swim, and the Nikiski Pool is a fine pool indeed to get ya party on in. So that’s where we headed.

We weren’t the only folks celebrating or simply enjoying the water – there was MANY MANY PEOPLES there.

That’s a picture BEFORE it got really crowded. And yes, all the kids are in there…. somewhere. We tried to keep tabs on them, and Papa even came prepared to take in all the sights…

Though even with the help of the binocs, he rarely could distinguish one little wet head from another while they bounced around happily in the pool. We were shocked however – we KNEW the Pup was really tall, and getting taller by the day, but that still did not prepare us to watch her walk through the 3-4ft section head and shoulders above the water level. She’s so TALL. It’s astonishing!

The boys, of course, simply followed the girls around – only because they were conveniently going that way…. least that’s what they SAID…

What’s funny is that while we were eating Cake – there were a couple young girls in bikini’s putting on quite the show for the boy. They were there with another group, who had a little guy playing in the sitting area with us.  The girls kept coming over and bending over the railing to give the little dude kisses, and talk to him. Not so unusual, right? Except that every single time they bent over, they looked for The Boy to make sure he was watching… and he was, of course. Mama and I snickered and shook our heads – the boy thinks he’s invisible, but he’s oh so not…..

The girl is still working on her “no more pictures!” paparazzi rebuff stances. She’s pretty good at it too…

The nephews loved their gifts, and it was funny to see that TAT takes after his mama – he loves to save the paper, and as such, Dman was already playing with his gifts while TAT was still carefully peeling away tape.  It was hysterial!

I got them each a copy of The Dangerous Book For Boys – which is a MOST AWESOME BOOK – and you should totally go out right now and at least read the chapter on Girls.

It made Nana and Papa giggle as much as it did me! It’s a short chapter, but OH SO IMPORTANT. *L* The book gives detailed instructions on how to build all sorts of kick ass things… it’s a must have for every guy in your life, age 1-100.

And of course the cakes were fabulous -like there was any doubt?

 And that’s how we spent yesterday afternoon – what did YOU do?

So – Black Friday…

…I didn’t do a lick of shopping. Go me! Instead, we did the seeing Santa come to town thing, and then after a bit of a nap, we headed back into town to see the Light Parade and Fireworks.

At the Light Parade, we munched on coney island hot dogs and fries, and enjoyed the shortest parade ever. *L* Included was the brand spankin new KCHS Drumline. They’re… learning. But not bad for being a brand new concept for our area. (grin) See? (yes, it’s dark. Yes you can hardly see them. But you can sure HEAR them!)

Here’s the floats…

Told ya it was a short parade. *L*

Then we hightailed it over to ‘our’ spot to wait for and watch the fireworks. Somehow I ended up with all the kids in my car – the smallest car at that! – and there was much laughter and roughhousing and “if you kids don’t settle down I’ma kick ya all out!” which they completely ignored of course. guess I’m not quite the mean mom I pretend to be…

The Boy and his BFF just used me as a pillow, though. Hah.

Then came the fireworks, and they were really good this year! They get better every year, they do. There was this one that was FANTASICLY AWESOME – so much so that I totally forgot to take a picture because I was just staring as it went off right over our heads and bathed the entire area in twinkling lights… Yes, I am still a child at heart, why do you ask? But I got some pics, and a short video of the finale too. You know you wanna see it…

Tomorrow? Pictures of the Nephew’s birthday party we went too today. What? i still have SIX MORE NABLOPOMO posts to do! I gotta stretch it out!!!

It’s Black Friday!

  Which means I was up early, standing in line, so the Pup could be one of the first kids in town to see Santa for the kick off of our annual Christmas Comes To Kenai celebration. It’s nice though, now, as Santa arrives via firetruck to the visitors center, and the line then moves inside where it was warm. There have been some years…. back in MY day, when Santa arrived via helicopter, and we stood outside the whole time, often in below freezing temperatures. But I do think the inside line is nice, even if I miss the helicopter.

Anyway – The Pup has delivered her wish list to Santa, and we’re chilling out while I do some work before we hit the Light Parade and Fireworks tonight to top it all off. Tomorrow? I hear rumors of a party for a couple of Birthday Boys too….

Hope you survived the shopping crowds!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Food Comas, ahoy!

*belch* ‘Scuse me.

(cranberry sauce by The Girl, Greenbean Casserole by The Pup, pumpkin pie by The Boy)

From all of us to all of you – hope you day was filled with friends, family, and Thanks given to and for those that matter most to us.

And – I wish everyone to have a gravy squirrel that pours gravy from it’s mouth. EVERYONE NEEDS ONE OF THESE! It caused MUCH giggling around the table because it was adorable as it upchucked gravy all over our potatoes, stuffing and turkey… You need one. Honest. (the kids with odd senses of humor who like to make up-chuck noises is an added benefit. (shh! I did not start it!) you can borrow mine if ya like..)