What I should be doing....

...finishing my grocery list.  I started it about 10.5 hours ago.  Yeah....about that.

What I am doing....Everything but that.  I have checked on a washing machine part for my brother-in-law, looked up how to write I LOVE YOU in some binary form, looked at a low carb website while eating cake, and even considered doing the 30 Day Shred exercise video (I ruled that out after the whole "eat cake" thing).

I had better go do it.  I wish Mom was here already.  She is the one person I know who actually LIKES to cook.  She cooks almost all day long.  It's insane.  I'm glad she's coming to visit, but I'm even happier that she's insane!!  6 days and counting......

Pictures by Julia

My little niece, Julia, had a lot of fun using my camera. She got some really good shots of things for me!

This is their family cat. Olivia LOVED the cat. She doesn't get to see many because Kevin is allergic to cats.

She was very gentle with it.

Didn't Julia do a great job?

She was very proud of this shot! I was too!!

Olivia liked Julia a lot. It was easy for her to get happy shots of this sweet baby!

Thank you, Julia, for all of these great pictures! You did a fantastic job!

PA, Day 7...Departure

All good things must come to an end. This time with our PA family is no different.

Leta made delicious lunches and dinners for us all week. Michael is the breakfast champion in their house. That morning he got up and made pancakes for everyone...with his kitchen help!

Note the pancake in her hand. Aunt Debra (in TX) refers to this as "Quality Assurance!"

Cutie Katrina at the kids' breakfast table.

Another picture of Michael and Olivia!

We headed out bright and early that morning for our LONG LONG drive home. We stopped in West Virginia for lunch. It was quite the Podunk town, complete with Rebel flags hanging from store fronts and all!! However, we did find this place to sit at and have lunch:

Pretty huh?

I saw this on our drive to PA, and was glad to see it on the way back. It is just a huge white cross out in the middle of nowhere!

We made it home safe and sound! We look forward to many more visits with The Michael Bulgrien Family!!! We love you guys!

PA, Day 6

Our last day with our PA family was a very busy, yet fun, one! The day started out with the boys playing some sort of Lego game, as usual! They did this the entire time we were there.

Benjamin loved having someone who liked to play just the same way he did.

I got this one of Katrina when she was just laying down and thinking.

Kevin's Aunt Beulah (his mother's sister) came over for lunch. She lives in a retirement facility in Mechanicsburg. Benjamin has only seen her once, and Olivia has never met her.

She was quite fond of the children. I actually have a picture of Kevin's mom making this exact same face and talking to Olivia. I like it!

I rather like this picture!

Afterwards, we all went down to the Mechanicsburg Jubilee Day! It is exactly like our Alley Fest. It was very hot and sunny.

The children all decided to wear their hats!

They had a couple of display cars. Benjamin had never seen a VW bus before. You know we must take pictures if there is a VW in the vicinity!

Giving the baby a drink requires teamwork! ;-)

Olivia and her Uncle Michael again! She liked him VERY much!

We finished up our Jubilee Day with a treat at the ice cream shop on the way home. It was a perfect ending to a hot outing! Oh, and we also found a geocache while in the parking lot!

That evening, we had more company. It was the pastor and his wife that used to be at the BIC church in Michigan. Everyone had a nice time sitting around talking, enjoying a dessert Julia made, and playing around. Olivia weaseled her Uncle Michael to play with her! I'm guessing he didn't mind......

Being wheeled around on Uncle Michael's special seat invention!

Playing Peek-a-boo!

Flying baby!!

This is probably my favorite picture from the trip of the two of them. Look at the smiles on their faces!! They're just cracking up! He's a good uncle!

Another trip on the seat with Julia!

Helping Auntie Leta do some sweeping!

It was a very nice ending to a very nice week!

PA, Day 5

This day was pretty relaxing. Michael and Kevin took all of the kids and were supposed to go geocaching. I think that they found one cache, but then took the children to the park to play. Leta packed lunches for everyone, and they ate while they were out.

Leta and I headed into town to do some shopping. We went to a very nice thrift store, had lunch at a place called Neato Burrito, and spent the rest of the time at JoAnn's fabric store (Leta is making a few things for Livi. I'll post picture when they get here!). It was nice to have some one on one time!

We all met back up at the house and then headed over to the Barr's home. Dave and Dorris Barr were neighbors in Africa. They now live 5 mintues from Michael and Leta. After dinner Dave brought out his Ladder Ball set. It was a lot of fun. It was pretty chilly outside, but I loved it!

Little monkeys!

They're ALL loving the spinner!

I love Benjamin's face in this one!

I'm a fan of action shots. I like how you can see Jonathan hopping on and Benjamin's hair blowing!

Livi LOVES swinging!

She loves it even more when Brother is pushing her!

Up....

..and down!

Moving up in slide difficulty.

Katrina on the rings! Notice the long hair swinging around!

Olivia and her best buddy, Julia.

Wave to the train man!

Fascinating!

Olivia telling Mrs. Barr something important!

Speaking of action shots. I LOVE his face!

Uncle Michael kicked the ball so hard that his shoe flew off!

Olivia found more shoulders to sit on! I really like Michael's face in this one.

Olivia learned that she can kick the ball and play by herself!

Michael taking his turn at Ladder Ball.

Seriously, Olivia is always on Kevin's shoulders...even during a game of Ladder Ball!

Olivia learning how to kick from the pros!

Mr. Barr teaching Benjamin how to play.

The Bulgrien children and their fathers.

Kevin and Michael cracking up about something....this is unusual!

A boy and his sister. Awww.

PA, Day 4

On day 4 of our Pennsylvania trip, we went to Hershey, PA to go to Chocolate World. After that, the children played in the park with Mike and Leta while Kevin and I went to get pizzas. We had a pizza picnic in the park! The kids (and the grown ups) had a lot of fun!

Katrina getting in some swinging before we head out!

Olivia really loved Uncle Michael and Auntie Leta's piano!

So happy she can't stand it!

The Welcome sign.

Red bushes that look like chocolate. Nice!

The streetlights in Hershey alternate wrapped....

...and unwrapped!

We went on the Chocolate Tour. It tells you all about Mr. Hershey, his business, and how they make chocolate. Very interesting!

Cousins...and friends.

The cow telling you about the beginning of the tour.

The singing cows telling you about needing milk to make chocolate.

At the end of the tour they give you a fun size chocolate bar. I didn't think Olivia knew what it was, but she did. And she wasn't happy that she wasn't getting hers ASAP!

Now she's happy. Girls and chocolate, what can I say?

Benjamin was amazed at the chocolate fountain....not the chocolate part, all of the machinery stuff!

Olivia having some pizza with Uncle Michael.

She really, really liked Uncle Michael. (psst...he liked her just as much)

Bulgrien family pizza party.

All 5 Bulgrien kids!

Happy boy!

Olivia and Julia playing chase. Olivia had a blast!

An exciting game of Duck, Duck, Goose!

Olivia helping Auntie Leta cook! She would stir the air in her pot and then lick the spoon. It was funny!

I'm still working on getting all of these pictures up in between our regular posting. It's hard to keep up sometimes!