Party, Party, & Party some more!

That's pretty much what my kids have been doing all summer long....it's been one big party! I was not feeling too guilty about it until they arrived home from a long 7 days away from us and they were all completely over-tired, grumpy, whiny, unwilling to help, spoiled.....you get the picture. My poor mom even got to witness (and deal with ) all the bad behavior while she spent 3 hours watching them so I could run an errand. Sorry mom!! Anyway, I'll document the past 2 days happenings in a minute which, by the way, aren't pretty. Two VERY angry parents= tons of jobs and absolutely NO play.

Now, here is the low down on my kids 7 days of nothing but PLAY!

* One week ago Friday-Ross Park (swimming complex & zoo & games)
* Following Saturday- 24th celebration (fun, fun, & more fun + candy+ late night)
* Regan and Morgan stayed an extra 3 days in Cokeville with Grandma and Grandpa Teichert where they were nothing but entertained and LOVED every minute of it. They went to Bear Lake, played on the beach, had yummy raspberry shakes, and went to the PickleVille Playhouse Theater. Visited Patty in the nursing home in Montpelier one afternoon. Went shopping in Kemmerrer at the very first JCPenney Store. Yep, they thought they were pretty special, in fact, Morgan emphasizes the "FIRST" JCPenney Store every time she mentions the fun shopping trip. Grandma Teichert spoiled both girls, she bought Regan 2 adorable outfits for her B-Day as well as some cute shorts for Morgan just for the heck of it. And, the girls apparently picked out 2 adorable shirts for my B-Day (3 months early) which I was instructed to wear right now before the weather changes. I don't think I'll have a problem following those instructions! Let's see, they also went to the Museum, (Fossil Butte) I think. Both Regan and Morgan loved it and have talked non-stop about all the interesting things they saw there. Anyway, these were only the first of their many adventures in a 7 day period!
* Wednesday morning, Aunt Ranae dropped them off in Montpelier at the nursing home where they visited their Aunt Patty again. They were excited to help her with some of her "pink lady" duties and have a bit of time to hang out with her. After a short visit there, Aunt Ranae picked them back up and headed over to meet me and DJ's sister, Ann, in Pocatello, at Ross Park so all the little girls could spend some time in Burley hanging out with Ann and her cute daughters. I brought Jordyn down so between Ranae's 2, my 3, and DJ's brother's little girl, Ann had a carload of 6 noisy girls! Boy was she brave!

* The girls spent from Wednesday to Saturday in Burley and somehow managed to fit in 2 days at the river (boating & laying out), 1 afternoon at the Burley swimming pool, 1 evening at the fair, 1 day at Lava Hot Springs, tons & tons of movies on Ann's big movie screen, a morning of Apron making (Ann is a great seamstress), and lots of yummy food! For the record, I need to mention that amidst all the fun, most all of them came down with a nasty flu bug that made its way quickly through just about everyone in that house. It was so bad that they sent the kids to bed with buckets just in case they were the next victim. I would love a picture of that if their is one! (hint hint) Even Ann and her girls took their turn but refused to have us come and pick up the kids for fear they might bring something home to the rest of us. Above and beyond the call of duty, if you ask me! I was seriously amazed at how Regan handled her little bout with the flu. I talked to her the morning after she'd been up barfing and she calmly said, "mom, I didn't get any throw-up on their carpet and I'm feeling a lot better now." I was expecting that she'd insist on me picking her up but she was not about to miss out on any fun! Anyway, even though almost everyone got sick, they still managed to party hearty!
* Saturday, Ann took all the girls to Lava Hot Springs for a day of swimming and then we met her in Pocatello that afternoon to bring them home just in time for a ward party at Apple Athletic Club where they....you guessed it, swam, for another 3 hours. By the end of the day they were HAMMERED and as a result, Jordyn spent Saturday night throwing up either from the nasty flu bug or simply because she ate an obscene amount of Watermelon at the ward party. So, there you have it, 7 days of nothing but fun which probably explains the day from heck we had yesterday.

Okay, so I mentioned earlier that the kids were evil yesterday (every last one of them) but particularly the girls! I put them to work, determined to have them make up for lost time and heard nothing but whining, moaning, weeping, etc. all day long. I had just plain, had it, by the end of the day and my tear stained face told the whole story to DJ as he walked in the door after work. Needless to say, he was not a happy daddy. He put them to work outside mowing, weeding, raking, staining the deck, until dark. They didn't do much complaining and worked their tail ends off! Today was much of the same, they were up and out the door by 6 a.m. weeding the garden, came in for breakfast and scripture study and headed back out the door for lots more work. Let's just say, my windows and screens are cleaned, flower beds are weeded, garage is swept, baseboards are washed (some of them), lawn is mowed, toilets are scrubbed, dinner was made by Regan, and all three girls worked together with minimal fights to get all these things accomplished with help from me! Today was a much better day and I'm hoping that tomorrow will be even better!