The best part about living away is

VISITORS! We love to have people come see and stay with us, so when my parents called from smoke saturated San Diego to tell us they were coming, we were elated. We had an action-packed 1 1/2 days with them where the fun never stopped.

Jace requested that Grammy sleep in his bed, so she did (she's crazy!) and that morning at 5:55, the troops were wide awake and ready to play. By 7 they were outside practicing baseball with Grandpa, and didn't come in until the bat broke. We went to visit some model homes, then came back to the house where Grandma and the boys made a haunted gingerbread house and consumed pounds of sugar. After school and naps, we headed to Schnepf Farms, but it wasn't open on Wednesdays (I'm such a good planner!)

We decided to take option 2 and went to Freestone Park where we fed ducks, watched kids in the batting cages, played at the park, and practiced soccer in the dark. We fed hungry tummies at Barro's Pizza then stuffed ourselves with Gelato. Everyone went to bed late, getting as many mintes as possible in with the grandparents. They wouldn't even let us put them too bed--only grandma(shucks!)

The next moring there was more baseball, frisbee, soccer and playground...then it was time for them to leave. It was much too fast and would have been really sad if they weren't coming right back to celebrate Thanksgiving in the sun!

Brownie Sunday

Let's just start out honestly--Mike is the worst cook ever. He burns rice, makes lumpy cream of wheat, and really doesn't try anything else. That's okay by me, because I love to cook; but I don't bake.

So, last Sunday Mike decided to make brownies (from a box) for us and our neighbors--they turned out fantastic; he has now dubbed himself the "Brownie Master," and wants to make them every Sunday. He's 2 for 2 and oh so proud. Three cheers for the new cook in the kitchen and his dashing sidekicks!

Family Fun Day!

My kids are finally getting old enough to realize what a boring holiday celebrator I am--I've gotten away with it for the last 4 years by taking my kids on walks and pointing out all the "scary houses," but Jace isn't falling for the vicarious celebration this year. So, after he'd pointed out our lack of Halloween spirit, we decided to have a Halloween night on Friday, which didn't work out too well since my kids go to bed at 7:30, so without any soccer games or other commitments this week, Saturday was officially dubbed, "Family Fun Day."

We adorned pumpkins with these great Mr. Potato Head-like pumpkin decorations my mom sent to us, made ghosts to hang on our trees out of tootsie pops and tissue paper, and played really bad spooks as we took plates of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to unsuspecting neighbors and claimed we were the Boo! ghosts. It's one of our favorite traditions, and there is nothing cuter than watching a 2 and 4 year old doorbell ditch. If you don't do it in your neighborhood, you should start it. http://www.theborkowskis.com/halloween/halloweenbooing.pdf We decided we don't have nearly enough Saturdays like this, and we loved every minute!

Newport!

Last week our family headed to Newport for a little Romney reunion. For Marci's birthday, Rick planned for all the kids and grandkids to get together at their timeshare in Newport Beach. It was great timing since we were all going through Romney withdrawls--it had been too long.

We truly had the greatest time. We barely saw the kids because they were so enthralled with eachother (especially Jace and Chaz!!) and all the adults were able to talk and eat and play--what's better than that?

The first day, we hung around the Marriott; it had a putting green, tons of pools, basketball court, a kid's area, a playground--it was perfect! The second day we watched conference, then went on a little boat cruise around Balboa Island. We stopped at sunset to walk on the beach and came upon a sand castle contest. So fun. Monday was Marci's birthday, and she wanted to give us all presents for HER birthday. The boys golfed in the morning while the girls had spa treatments, then we headed to Teddy Bears and Teacups for Marci's afternoon tea birthday party. Does it get any more fun than that? The kids had a blast, except Parker who was a bit worn out and slept on a pink chair the entire party. When we got home we had cake and presents--the day was a huge success.

Tuesday came much too soon. We went to breakfast, a little shopping, then the beach which was almost completely deserted and gorgeous. We found sea anemones and clam shells, climbed rocks and had an amazing time. We went back to the pool where Mimi and Papa took the kids swimming (Mimi was in the water playing shark!!!!) while the rest of us got packed up. After a yummy dinner it was time for us to go. We weren't ready yet, but it's nice to leave when you feel that way. The drive home was fine--except that James had an ear infection and woke up every 20 minutes, but it wasn't too bad. When we woke the next morning Jace said, "I want to go back!!!" I think we all felt that way. Thanks Mimi and Papa for a fabulous week!

No Longer Going Postal

I have always loved my neighborhood post office. It is small and quaint, rarely crowded, and usually has smiling faces behind the counter, even when my arms are full of two packages and three boys (4,2, and 1 year). Today was the exception.I must preface this story with the fact that I try to NEVER go to the post office with all my kids. It's rarely a fun experience, but today, I had no choice. I needed to get 2 packages mailed this morning, and had all three of my kids in tow. I walked into a relatively empty office, requested the boxes I needed, bought packaging tape, and went to work. My boys happily played under the table and were out of sight even if a bit noisy. By the time I'd finished packaging the boxes, the line was about 4 deep. When it was my turn, I asked the worker where I shoould put the address, he looked at me and said, "Um, on the box," and asked me to step aside so he could help HIS line. I thought to myself, "He must be having a tough day." As I stepped aside, my two year old started playing with boxes, and the female worker immediately snapped, "Can someone get that boy away from the boxes." Luckily, the customers were nicer than the workers, and helped my son put the boxes back. They got a bit more rowdy and I asked them to stay put and calm down until I was finished. I even bribed them with a piece of gum.When it was finally my turn again, my baby had started fussing in his seat and my 2 year old was singing, admittedly loudly, to him to keep him happy. The same unhelpful male worker snapped, "Can you please be quiet, I'm trying to work here." The kind man helping me smiled apologetically as my eyes filled with frustrated and angry tears; I finished my transaction and walked out, with puffy eyes and concerned looking children. I'm the first to say that my children aren't perfect, are often loud, and sometimes don't obey quickly, especially when they can see my hands are tied, but today, they were just being average kids, singing, smiling and playing kid games. Was it a bit disruptive, yes, for the 10 minutes I was inside it probably was. Was there a better option? No. They were not crying, throwing fits, hurting merchandise, or being rude, just being kids. I feel that if businesses do not want kids in their establishment they need to make it clear. If kids are not welcome at the post office, then they need to stay open later or offer a drive through service. Believe me, we don't go to the post office for a fun afternoon outing. I am a responsible parent who expects good behavior; today I was just doing my best. Sometimes it would be nice if a person would ask what they could do to help you, instead of watch you struggle all by yourself. So, I've decided, I'm no longer going postal--at least not until I can no loger afford UPS.