My garden

My vegetable garden has been a huge success this year. Just look at all the produce we've gotten out of it!

Memorial Park Fireworks

Last night, we went down to Memorial Park for their annual free concert and fireworks. We were all excited about going, and Briana even told me she has been waiting all year for it! We had to park about a mile away and walk to the park, since the rest of Omaha had already taken the close parking spots when we got there. Then, we didn't get to see the bands that were playing at all because the girls were so tired from their mile-long hike. So, we just put our picnic blanket down on the grass and made the best of our three hour wait. After all, we were going to be seeing FIREWORKS!!!

While we waited, we doused ourselves in bug spray and got into an intense game of duck, duck, goose. Then the girls snacked on kettle corn. The fireworks were supposed to start at 10 pm, and we were really hoping they would be prompt. They were! At exactly 10:00, the fireworks started, right above our heads. Literally. Right above our heads.

"I think they've got their aim a little bit off," Mike says to me as I'm craning my neck upward.

"HOLY COW, did you see that?" He asks Briana

"What?" she asks,

"A peice of shrapnel almost hit me in the head!!"

"WHAT???" she asks again.

"I think we're in the fallout zone!!!" he tells her. Nothing like staying calm for the sake of the children. Meanwhile, I've got my neck craned upward and I am determined to watch every single falling flame to make sure we don't leave with fires in our hair. Next to me, Briana starts wimpering. "I want to leave," she whispers to me. I can't even take my eyes off the fireworks for a second to comfort her because I don't want something to land on us. "I really want to just leave!" she tells me again.

Needless to say, we left early. And, we didn't catch on fire. I can't believe we walked two miles, and waited three hours to almost be burnt to bits. Tonight we're going to the Rosenblatt fireworks, and all I have to say is we will be sitting far away!

CWS

Mike took the girls and I to the CWS on Monday! It was very fun and very hot.

8th Birthday Party

We had Briana's birthday party over the weekend. It turned out to be super fun and all the girls had a blast. Here is a picture to give you an idea of the pre-party excitement.

Once the girls all got here, we played a game of freeze dance with Briana's disco ball.

Then we had a picnic with pizza.

And then the girls ran through the sprinklers, did the slip and slide and we played some games.

Lastly, we had cake and presents. I think a fun time was had by all.

This afternoon, I was picking up downstairs while the girls were playing upstairs. Suddenly, it got very, very quiet upstairs. I know that this means trouble, so I went up to investigate, and this is what I found.

Slipping and Sliding

I am the mother of an eight year old!

Happy Birthday to Briana!! Yesterday was the big day. She wanted to get up early and open her presents before school, and who am I to deny her that on her birthday? I decorated her bedroom door the night before to surprise her.

And then we got up around 7 am to open presents!

To add to the morning excitement, Briana was finally able to ditch her booster seat! She has been waiting for this day for what seems like forever. She is now officially old enough to ride without one!

She got to take donuts to school for her birthday treat, and I got to have lunch with her. I really tried to pull out all the stops for my birthday girl!!

After school, the girls wanted to get out Briana's new slip and slide and try it out. The sky was getting quite cloudy, but we managed to slip and slide for a little while before the hail hit. When we came in to dry off, Briana noticed yet another surprise waiting for her in her room!

I told her I would make her any dinner she wanted, and she picked nachos. And for her cake, she requested a pudding pie. Delish!

Happy Birthday, Briana!! I love you!!!