Let the good times roll....

I bet you all thought that after our afternoon of rummaging last week, there would be no way to top that fun. Well, you would be wrong! Not only did we match that level of fun but we even upped the ante! The Kolb Family Fun Bus continued its tour of non-stop partying, celebrating and general merriment. Friday night Grace was a guest in the Whaler house for a sleepover that included playing outside, trampoline jumping, movies, milkshakes and facials. She had a most glorious time and has develop a real love for sleepovers. I imagine the "Mom, can so and so sleepover?" or "Can I stay at so and so's house?" questions that I remember driving my mother crazy with are going to begin rolling off of Grace's lips for the remainder of the summer. Thanks Emily, Dawn and all other Whalers for a great time!

Ella has been counting down the days to her very first "friend" birthday party since we stepped off the plane from Florida. It was her next big event and she was so excited that Saturday was finally here! The cake was made, the decorations were hung and the party guests began to arrive. With all the rain and gloomy weather, I had my fingers crossed for sun and I could not have been happier for the beautiful weather on Saturday. Had all 12 attendees been forced to spend 2 1/2 hours inside, this could well have been Ella's first and last friend birthday party. For those of you who are not familiar with 5-6 year old girls, they are loud. Screaming appears to be one talent all 5-6 year old girls share and from my observations, the higher pitched the scream, the better it is. Our playset got quite a work out and with the exception of a few tears (not mine or Jason's remarkably), a good time was had by all.

We decided we may as well just turn the whole day into a party so immediately after the last guest from Ella's party departed, preparations began for the Big Swede's 36th birthday party. The similarities between the two parties are surprising; childish behavior, screaming, crying, excessive consumption of liquids. OK~so maybe there wasn't any crying at the party itself but I would guess there maybe was some for some of the guests on Sunday morning. Again, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and I believe Jason felt sufficiently celebrated.

Sunday morning brought clean-up from the previous day's festivities, church and of course, the requisite supper at Casa Del Rey. However, Sunday also brought with it a little surprise. Our neighbor is the manager/owner/pro or something for a local golf course and while Jason was cleaning the garage, Dave came over and invited us out to the club for the girls to try their hand at golfing. Jason graciously accepted the invitation and after our succulent meal of Mexican cuisine, we hit the links (aka~the course for you amateurs who don't know the lingo). Grace and Ella did really great. Dave mentioned many times that Grace has a very good "natural" swing and golf is something at which she could really excel.

Ella did great as well and her determination is a very valuable asset in this sport. You could see an improvement in just the short while we were there. In fact, she even passed on a spin around the course in a golf cart to continue work on her swing. (Of course, that may have had something to do with her intense desire to hit the guy driving the cart thingy around the range collecting golf balls. She had a devious plan and almost got him, but not quite. Something to look forward to next time! It's good to have goals.)

Lily had a fabulous time also but couldn't be bothered with such trivialities as facing the correct way to hit the balls or the fact that the sand trap is a hazard in the golf world. She saw it as a huge sand box and the club was her shovel. After tiring of practicing her swing, she drew in the sand, "Look at my beautiful heart, Mom. It's ginormous!" All three girls are still talking about how much fun it was golfing (even Grace the Old Stoneface cracked a smile and spoke enthusiastically) and have already asked when we can go back again. Clearly I passed some of my wonderful golfing genes onto them!

Even Mr. Kolb got in on the action. He probably could have had a better drive if he had used a club that was longer than his shin.
Today Grace and Ella started swimming lessons. They both love swimming lessons and considering the weather we have had so far, this may be the only chance they get to do any swimming this summer! Ella has already moved from level 1 to level 3 and Grace should move up a level within the week. Maybe when they are done with lessons, they could teach Grandma how to swim!

Besides quick trips to swimming lessons, the Fun Bus will be parked this week but come Saturday, we will load back up and cruise up to Lake Madison for a day of sun and fun with the Mickelson's. Val Mickelson is one of the women I was on the year end party committee with and she also happens to be the mother of Ella's paramour, Max. They have a lake cabin and have invited some of the K03 classmates and their families to enjoy the lake for the day. Jason and I have completely stepped outside of our box and have agreed to spend the day with people we barely know all for the sake of our children. Who knows, maybe we will even have a good time! Stranger things have happened.

"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one."~Dr. Seuss