Last week, we went back to Spokane to drop off David and Lana and to have a little family reunion. Everything went well, except the eating - we had wayyyyyyy too much junk food.
The first day we left home on a breakfast of huckleberry and raspberry milkshakes. We had lunch from Little Cesears in Spokane and then a lunch-dessert at ColdStone Creamery because D&L hadn't ever been there! I had a nice raspberry sorbet. It was refreshing. It was small and still very filling. Every time we go to Coldstone, it feels more like a meal than a dessert.
Our next course of business was to go to mom's house and let the kids go for a little dip. They swam for about an hour before D&L were picked up. Next we had to get to a lunch at Northtown Mall (Chilis?) with Grandma Bettie.
We had a nice lunch with her on her birthday. We gave her a new cell phone as a present because she is always traveling between Newport and Spokane, and Montana and Walla Walla - she's a real traveler!
We went back to Grandma Betsy's (with the pool) and chit-chatted with the other family that was in town for the reunion (and was staying at the house too). Then we all went to dinner at Red Robin. I have never eaten at more restaurants in one day than that day.
In the morning, SA made a big breakfast and fed the army that was staying at the house. She made biscuits, gravy, sausage, pancakes and eggs for everyone. It was nummy.
Then we went to the reunion where we re-met a bunch of other relatives and hung out at the park. SA was able to talk us out of a $250 ticket for driving on the grass while we were loading up the Jeep with tables and chairs while picking up. Go her!
Back at the house, we continued the chit-chat and entered into the story of "Aud" as told by Grandma Betsy. It was long story, full of flash-fowards and flash-backs - much like the TV show "Lost." At some point, Bill managed to offend a cousin by quoting a passage from the "Book of Aud" about "pelvis's and clits." It actually took longer than I thought it would. Meanwhile, the kids swam.
A favorite game of the kids in the pool is one where I try to hit them with the little colored balls. I have to admit, it IS fun to whap the kids on the head with a ball.
Those kids will play in the pool whether its cold or hot. It was hot the first day and cold the rest. I was happy not being in the water. SA went for a late night cool-off the first night.
On Sunday, we were planning to leave, but the kids wanted to stay longer - so we stayed an extra day. We took the girls out geocaching and then to the mall where we picked up some extra school-clothes and let the kids blow their allowances. Amber picked out some shirts and hair extension (pink) from Hot Topic and Wet Seal and Emily got something from Hot Topic as well. Which reminds me, I need to go deduct that from her allowance.
I think we also went garage saleing at some point and picked up some other school clothes. We got Amber this dress that is pretty awesome. Maybe she'll wear it to her first day of Junior High - it'll give her an instant first impression the school will never forget.
We stayed up and played some Texas Hold 'Em with Bill, Betsy and Uncle Jeff and, in the end, set Betsy up with a pair of 8's in the hole and then stacked the deck with 8's on the flop - just to see her reaction. Then we played it through. Betsy would raise and others would call or raise in turn. It was getting to be a big pot. Once we came down to it, Bill mentioned the "rule change" whereby Four-Of-A-Kind is worthless. The look was priceless.
That night, we heard that Alyssa's baby was in some trouble at the hospital and so we tried to help them and get a message to Chris at Basic Training. We also introduced Aunti Lin and Cousin Shannon ("Princess Cool" according to Carmen) to geocaching when we placed (with permission) our "Bookmarks the Spot" cache in Grandma Betsy's front yard.
On Monday, we packed up our stuff (and some of the stuff Grandma Betsy was trying to get rid of), and headed out. On the way out of town, we tried to get ahold of Alyssa again to see how the baby was doing and to see if we should come visit, but we couldn't get ahold of her. We stuck around and hit some geocaches all down Division. Then we headed home - hitting caches along the way, including one at an old train bridge in Saltese, MT.
SA talked to Alyssa on the phone and found out that her baby didn't have dead bowels, but instead has Ecoli. Strange enough, this is GOOD news because Ecoli is easier to live through than dead bowels.
Finally we made it home and were immediately greeted with enthusiasm by Aurora and Stormy. Whew. One more trip and we're done for a few weeks.
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