220 - did I tell you what happend over the past weekend?

Friday, July 7th

My cousin Rushmore Jerbil has this amazing ability to organize a BBQ at the drop of a hat. My cousin and his wife were driving from Rapid City back to Springfield when their car broke down in St. Joe. So she pick them up, and throws a BBQ at her place and invites all the family. Our boys love it anytime they can get together with their cousins and play. The boys got to stay up late as Vernal slipped away with her sister and friends to watch the Devil Wears Prada.

Saturday, July 8th

We stopped over at Dust and Golden's, to bring dinner and see NJ for the first time. He is a cute little guy and the parents were beaming. I forgot how sweet it is - the first few weeks at home with the baby. Their house reminded me of our first moments with baby Ewe. It is still a house that is seperated by the parents with their things and the baby with his things in his place. What I mean to say is that all the baby stuff is neatly put away in the baby's room and the rest of the house still looks normal. And you can keep it that way for a few months - before you have to babyproof the bottom shelfs and they toys and books start to take prime real estate.

The Legends shopping center is hosting a free outdoor summer concert series. My family was meeting out there to listen to a Brazilian Jazz group. We thought we'd swing by briefly and check out Legends since they have more shops open. There were a lot of people out, which made it a great people place. I scored a great pair of all-stars at the converse store that were on sale for $9.99. I found my parents dining in one of the restaurants, so me and Els popped in on them. They were finishing up, so I got to eat the rest of my mom's sandwhich - she was full. Yes, free dinner! We listend to some music and partook in the festivities.

Next, we were off to the City of Mission annual picnic. The city knows how to throw a good family party. Free food included - hot dogs, chips, pop, and ice cream. They had all sorts of game set out and lots of moonwalks, slides, and obstacle courses for the kids. They firemen made an appearance in their truck. The DJ played in the Gazeebo - the kids mostly danced. And finally, a little fire works display.

We ran into Darwin's brother ,Grogan, and family. They were about to eat out when they ran into these festivities and wandered on and had a free full night of entertainment.

The funniest part of the evening were the firemen. Part of the attraction was that they raise their ladder way up high and spray water over the kids to run through. The kids are in their swimsuits and are gathering in the field in front of the truck as the ladder slowly rises. When they turned the sprayer on, the nozzle was adjusted to shoot a tight stream of water rather than the more comforting mist. He quickly corrected that, but when the water was first released it shot down into a group of kids and knocked about 20 of them off their feet. I think one girl got it right in the chest. She ran off crying to her parents, but she was back in the water a few moments later. This fireman had a sense of humor - most of the parents were along the perimeter at a so-called safe distance. A couple of times he would tight the nozzle and soak a family on blankets. And once he nailed a couple of old men who were talking and not paying attention. Very funny!

Sunday, July 9th

After church, Ewe and I took a bike ride to the park. It was hot out, so we didn't stay long. Back at home, I watched the world cup. Later that night, we met with Vernal's family to celebrate a birthday.