Thursday & Friday

Thursday.
Candace invited us for bowling, at Brunswick.

She's full of useful information...
like kids bowl for free there, all summer.

Her and I paid our $8 each (for ourselves to bowl) and enjoyed our cheap date and then had lunch at Chickfila.
I tell you every time I mention her, that she's greatness.
(all of my friends are!)

She is sweet, inspiring, a great mommy, my go to chick for spiritual guidance, an incredible nurse...
and freak'n FUNNY.

Who knew that girl that I stalked down in the Weatherford College bookstore, a decade ago, would still be sending me midnight texts of funny pins that she can't pin...
would take a job with the same-great company that I work for...
who drove to the hospital when Maddox was a baby, late at night, to take him to her house while my grandmother was passing away...
would offered to come to my house and pray with me when I was an overwhelmed new mommy...
has the exact same sense of humor as myself, and makes me laugh until our cheeks hurt...
and encourages to me to be better, even when she isn't around.

People at our work always tell us that they are reminded of the other.
I take it as a compliment.
From someone who has never had a foul word spoken about her in her entire life...
I'd love to be more like Cdizzle.

Every time she mentions a play date together, I know it will be buckets of fun.
Thursday was no different.

One game was plenty for our kids...
by about the 5th frame, they had removed their shoes...
and by the 8th, they were starving!

A little chicken, waffle fries, ice cream, and play was more than my kids needed to send them out on our drive home!

Friday.
A day at Hawaiian Falls with my SIL had been planned for weeks.
My step-dad blessed us with passes, and we invited a few of our friends to join us.

I woke up with a fussy baby Beckham, so I thought it might be a trying day.

While packing bags and lunches and attempting to get Maddox a yogurt... a green yogurt further back in the fridge... I busted a Tupperware of homemade hot sauce all over my kitchen floor.
Maddox was squealing about a few drops that got on his leg,
and in my head, I was screaming about my destroyed house that I scrubbed on my hands and knees, just a few days prior.

I couldn't find my keys, but could search no further and grabbed the spare.

Just as we were pulling out, Maddox said, "are you sure we have everything?"
We didn't.
I had left my wallet on the island.
I thanked him for the reminder and we headed to the park.

Randi and Kim pulled up a few minutes after us.

We gathered our bags and coolers and 7 kids between us, and hopped onto the trolley.

Just as we pulled up, I realized that I left my tickets!
Randi gasped too...

Her's were in her car...
Mine were at home.

I headed back to my car, with Maddox crying, unable to understand that we were actually going to the water park-- just not now with our friends, a bag that weighed as much as Smart car and Beckham on my hip.

Driving back toward the house, I called Lance in tears.
He reminded me that these were tiny worries in the big scheme of life...
And I decided to turn around and purchase tickets.

Candace had two 1/2 off coupons, so it wasn't a huge loss.

From there, our day was fantastic, with a group of awesome girls and sweet kids!

My mom and sister showed up after lunch--
and we only lost 2 kids!

Maddox slipped away from my sister and Kim.
They came back in panic, but he had already made it back to Candace and I, with a handful of cotton candy that he somehow panhandled from the shark shack!

He said, "they said that this sweet wittle boy needs something too, so the boy asked me what I wiked and I told him cotton candy."

Ellie Kate got away from us too.
We had split up and were seconds from panic when I found her.
She too, had used her experience to swindle a sprite from the life guard's shack!

Candace and I see an opportunity for a family business.
Start small with cotton candy and soda-- next step diamonds!  ;)

Kim and Randi left an hour or 2 before Candace and I did.

We ran into my friend Whitney and my friend Libby there, too.

We had snowcones, watched a little luau, scrubbed our kids in the showers with Candace's always-prepared shampoo, and dressed them in clean, dry clothes.

Which was fabulous idea, because my kids crashed in the car, and were down for the night!

Sun kissed and wore out... just the way I like them!