The mailman has struck again!!

After things stopped flying, we could examine the extent of the loot we received. There was something in there for everyone from food to magazines, to craft projects and books!! They each tried to claim all the candy for themselves, but agreed to share! It was so fun to see familiar favorite family treats and be loved from so far away! Thanks so much for your thoughtfulness Grammy Sharon and Papa Marv!!


That was how we started our holiday weekend! We found the box out on the front porch at bedtime Friday night (note the kids in their jammies!)...we have got to start checking out there more often!!

This is Alayna's newest addition to her dress up collection. I have been helping a friend get her house ready to go on the market and we have been going through things and purging. She found this costume from her days taking dance and we made it work for Alayna with a clothes pin. She LOVES to twirl around in this and pretend she is a beautiful princess. She had the crown, high heels, and magic wand later, but I didn't get a picture of it!

On Saturday we hosted a few families from Agape at our house. We had planned to hang out, play games and swim, but it rained almost all day as the outer rain bands from Hurricane Gustov passed over us. The local beaches were closed to common swimmers, but surfers were allowed to enjoy the spectacular waves. We usually don't have surfing waves here. This is Alayna and her friend Macayla (2 yo) eating dinner and sharing so nicely!

We were able to finally get in the pool later (almost dark outside!) and the water was COLD! This is the Yannucceillo family (pronounced Yannisello) Jeff in orange and his wife Chrystal and Macayla on the steps. Paul's friend Tim is visiting us from Minnesota and is next to Gabe in the back. It was a full house as not everyone got in the pool!

We found lots of these TINY frogs in the pool that night. On Holden's hand is a fully formed frog, not a tadpole, but a jumping frog he rescued from the pool. I have seen spiders bigger than these guys!! Has anyone else ever seen such a tiny frog??

We rescued all the frogs in the pool and put them in the cup. Don't they look like bugs??

Then, on Sunday night we usually have our small group meeting. Several families were out of town, so we decided to get together for a game night. The kids were so good hanging out together and watching a movie and letting the adults play together. Here are (from left)Alayna, Jada, Mary Katelyn, Riley and Holden (our pastor's Holden) behind Riley. The adults had planned a kick ball game, but it rained ALL day again on Sunday as the last of the rain bands went through, so we played 4 on a couch (the ladies beat the men in less than 30 minutes!) and Apples to Apples. We laughed a lot and got to know each other even better. This was the first time I have played Apples to Apples with a different group of people. I have had the pleasure of playing this game with a group of ladies on a regular basis in Iowa and I have to say it felt disloyal at first!! It was hard not knowing these people well enough to know when to play the "Small Mouth Bass" card!!!! Sorry, inside joke.

I better start wrapping this up. I haven't gotten to Monday yet, but Tim took those pictures on his camera since I was too busy playing, so when I get those from him, I will finish telling you about the rest of the weekend. The boys are in school and I have a day for just Alayna and I, so I want to pay her some attention! Looking forward to hearing about your Labor Day adventures!