This Summer, Day 49

It was nice to wake up with Mom here :)  Daisy and I showed her some of the sights in North Park, and then we stopped to play at the playground by the pool.

I got to see Amber, my hair stylist, to refresh my cut and such, while Mom and Daisy played games and took Daisy's bike around the neighborhood.  For dinner,we made burger and chicken sliders and ate on the deck.  Later, we went for ice cream at Brusters and they gave Daisy at least 15 eyes on her baby cone!

This Summer, Day 46

Today we have Ruby back but Virginia away....  Having the muffins Leah made yesterday for breakfast was a good start to the day.  Ruby, Daisy, and I had a marathon grocery trip, but Daisy enjoys the Eagles Nest now, so it was mostly just me and my big girl helping me.  She scanned and I bagged.  While there, we picked up some items for a care package for Virginia:  cheese Pringles, blow pops, a Russell Stover S'more, some almonds and a bookmark.  We sent it off with love at the post office.  Later, Leah, Daisy and I perused the pets and pet supplies at both pet shops.  Leah is considering tropical fish!

For dinner, I made this:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/#recipe-form-276483

It looked like this:  

It was delicious!

This Summer, Day 45

We dropped Virginia, our third daughter who is only 9 years old, off at camp three hours away in New York State!

The camp was homey and retro and looks like a lot of fun.  She can swim in Lake Erie, try the ropes course and zip line, climb the climbing wall, craft, sing, pray, and learn.  I can't wait to hear all about it, but I have to wait until Friday.

On the way, Russ, Daisy, Virginia, and I stopped to eat at Sara's on Presque Isle in Erie.  This is Virginia's second visit to an eatery mentioned on the Food Network this summer!

When we returned home at supper time, Ruby had been dropped off after her week-long trip to Pittsford, NY and, horray!, she brought presents for all of us!  Thanks, Ruby!

And, horray!, while we were away for the day, Leah made two kinds of fudge and chocolate chip muffins!  Thanks, Leah!

This Summer, Day 44

Ruby will be home tomorrow!

Virginia practiced at the bike skills park for the second time today, and Russ took the little girls to swim at the pool.  In the evening, Russ and I watched Back to the Future 3 with Virginia, and I think she is a fan of the trilogy.

Leah earned some bucks babysitting.

This Summer, Day 43

Paddy came over to play in the backyard and...he brought water balloons!  Hooray!  We had snow cones.

Daisy says that Paddy is her best friend, and he is a very kind and fun friend.

I drove Leah and three of her friends to Kennywood to ride with their night passes, and after the little girls and I took supper to grill at the pool as we waited there for Russ.  The sky darkened very, very gradually.  Only one grayish cloud loomed above, and it was off to the side.  It's funny how one smallish gray cloud could encompass the whole sky when it was above us!  Rumbles began, and the kids had to get out of the pool.  Still, though, I knew it would blow over and our grilling plans would remain intact.  I heated the grill.  The rain held off.  I put our sausages and chicken on.  It began to sprinkle.  Our food was 75% cooked.  The sky opened and lightning flashed down.  We grabbed the food and all of our things and met Russ at home for an inside picnic.

This Summer, Day 42

Today was Virgnina's last day of day camp, the most fun day of all, Water Day!  She wore her suit and I sprayed her up with sunscreen.  It was HOT, probably in the mid-nineties!  Her troop made some sort of pasta today over the fire, and they also got to do archery, MY FAVORITE!  I wasn't a helper today.

It was so hot that I took the two little girls to the pool after I picked Virginia up at camp, and she stayed later to swim with a friend a while.  Leah went to see Bye Bye Birdie at Robert Morris with her friend, Lindsay.

In addition, today was Grandma's Birthday!  We went to Bella Frutetto to celebrate, and the food was delicious.  Happy Birthday, Grandma!

This Summer, Day 41

Today was Day Two of Virginia's Girl Scout Day Camp at North Park!  Once again, we cooked over an open fire on a day with temperatures in the nineties!  Today it was a chicken stew with dumplings that turned out to be delicious, fruit salad, and little chocolate-filled biscuit bites cooked in our charcoal ovens.  The girls are doing a great job of starting and tending the fire, measuring and cutting the food, and trying new things.  They also did a creek hike today, but camp was dismissed early due to threat of storm.