Lake Gaston

The weather was a little spotty during the week, fluctuating from cold and rainy to warm and sunny. Everyone had a wonderful time though, and all the cousins had a blast together. The kids had a great time coloring, throwing around tons of balls and balloons, riding in the canoe, and playing in the sandy area and shallow water, while the adults enjoyed reading, drinking white russians and daquiris, fishing, playing Box of Nouns (a must for any family get together) and eating way too many desserts.

Fun at the park

Apriltoberfest 2009

We couldn't have asked for better weather this past weekend. It was beautiful, sunny and warm in the afternoons and cool and calm in the evenings. The cousins all had a great time together, especially John and Gabe. Those two played throw-and-retrieve a ball every day, with Gabe erupting into giggles constantly.
We took a trip to a local creamery and the kids had their first close encounters with cows, roosters and turkeys. Gabe did not care for the turkeys. There was much pointing, ooh-ing and ahh-ing, playing in an enormous hay pile and sliding down a makeshift tunnel slide. We also discovered that I am allergic to cows. Not too surprising considering my severe allergy to horses. But fortunately all that resulted were a few small hives, sneezing and runny nose which a shower and some Benadryl took care of nicely.

Easter Treats

To celebrate this Easter and to thank our employees that had to work today I made some cupcakes. This great idea came from a book I was given for Christmas called Hello, Cupcake. Those are regular and mini sized Oreo cookies used for the sunflower centers, icing petals, m&m ladybugs and leaves made from green fruit roll-ups.







They were a lot of fun to make, though a little time consuming. One cupcake on it's own came together relatively quickly, but putting together 2 dozen was a bit of a task.
Steve offered to take the kids to the store to let me finish undisturbed and went about getting Gabe into the car. He stepped back into the house and yelled to me to come see Addie. I turned the corner of the kitchen to see this



Someone got her grubby little hands on the counter top and snuck off with some coloring gel (to tint icing.) I was able to get most of the dye off of her face but her hands were still cherry red. She did clean up well in the bath this morning though, just in time for Easter.