Pool party with the sibs!

I called my dad last week to ask if they wanted to come play in the pool and see our new place. Ironically enough, they were wanting to come down to a close friend's mother's funeral in Alpine, about 40 min southeast. So I encouraged them to come stay the night on Wednesday and leave the kids with me on Thursday while they went to the funeral. They did just that, and we had a blast!!

I was really sad when my little bro Aaron didn't come because of some school event/trip. Can't blame him, but I was disappointed he didn't come. That kid is AWESOME!! He is so smart and funny, and just fun to be around :) He just turned 14, which kills me, because I still have vivid memories of mothering him as a baby, helping him learn to walk and toddle along... lol Not saying that I don't have those memories with all the other kiddos too....they are all really incredible little people and it's just plain WEIRD to see them growing up a little more every time we're together. Being able to spend time and give some love to Daniel (16 next month), Samuel (12) and Katherine (10 next week!) was uber fun though!!! We hung out til late morning and went to the pool for a good hour, came back and ate pizza, then went to the pool for a couple more hours :) Did I mention I'm addicted? lol

Back from the pool, it was funny to hear the doorbell ring and open it to, not only my parents, but my little sister Melissa's "significant other". lol We were expecting him, of course, but the timing was impeccable! It was a fun "meet the parents/siblings" evening, complete with "Apples to Apples" (the game), lasagna, and a great spinach salad creation (sauteed-then-cooled zucchini, yellow squash and purple onion, glazed with honey, and fresh red peppers, tossed with spinach and a poppyseed dressing. YUM!)

Dealt with the anticipated break-down after everyone left, when Delia bawled about her Uncle Daniel leaving. lol She loves him SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much. I know it might make her other 10 uncles sad that she is so vocal about Daniel holding that title (and he wears it proudly, believe me...lol) but what do you do? Delia is pretty sure the answer is that Daniel needs to live with us so she can play with him EVERY day. I tried talking him into it, buuuuuuut....he does kinda have a life where he's at now :) I did talk to my dad about having Katherine and Samuel come stay for a couple weeks this summer, and it seemed pretty likely! I would sure love to have them around, and could use some babysitting help too! Hopefully that works out. Well, I'll get some pics on here to top it off, then maybe later on I can tell the rest of the story....lol Curious?! Stay tuned!!!! ;)