Oscar Stew

Today was “Cow Appreciation Day” at Chick-Fil-A. To the kids it means they get to dress up like cows. To me, it means free lunch and 30 minutes of silence while the kids play.

We spent an hour this morning making some costumes. We had to sacrifice an old towel, the cow fabric I’ve been hoarding for years, dalmation paper plates, and a few pieces of cardstock to get the job done.

Here we are on our way out the door…

It actually took Brinley a bit to warm up to the idea, but she came around once I told her there was free food involved. (thats my girl!)

At this point, they were SO done with me taking pictures. I just can’t help myself…

They were the best dressed bovines in the whole joint, that is for SURE. The manager even snapped some pics and had me write down our info so she could contact us if she was going to use the pictures. woot!

This is the look I get when I ask Brinley to look at the camera. I’m telling you – you don’t want to get in-between this girl and her food!

The kids even walked away with an “eat mor chikin” toy, and some balloons. good stuff.

And if that wasn’t enough excitement for one day, we also stopped at 711, since it is 7-11 for a free slurpee. Rowan looks pretty thrilled, huh? 

I feel like such a freeloading mooch today. The kids & I don’t get out much anymore. Let’s face it, three kids can be a little overwhelming at times. The fact that everything was free was the motivation I needed to get out the door.

= FUN

While we were waiting for Grandma & Grandpa J, Aunts Kelsey, Kristy & Uncle Dan to arrive from Utah, we kept ourselves busy cleaning and doing some silly craft projects.  We made some rockin’ hats out of straws, pipe cleaners and duct-tape. I can’t take credit for the idea. It was ripped straight out of Family Fun magazine…

Look at the concentration…this is serious business!

Once the fam arrived, we headed over to Grandma & Grandpa F’s house for a BBQ and fireworks. The kids had a blast running around the yard and getting their hats tangled on bushes, trees and each other. Good times.

I’m not sure if they look more like firecrackers, hillbillies or indians in this picture.

Lets take a closer look at Brinley. Yep, she has brownie chunks covering her front teeth. She was also pretty sweaty from running around in the heat. Classic Binnie.

We played with walkie talkies, and Drew wanted to make sure Rowan was in on the action. That’s my handsome brother Dan, also known as the baby whisper-er. He has the touch!

Brinley talking back to Rowan. Binnie, it’s not a cell phone, you have to push the button!

The kids were pretty anxious to get started with the fireworks, dusk couldn’t come fast enough!

Brinley wasn’t too sure about the sparklers until I told her they were just like Cinderella’s magic wand. Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo…

Drew didn’t waste any time and pulled out some pretty fancy tricks with his sparklers.

After playing with sparklers and Grandpa F’s “legal in Wyoming” fireworks, it was finally time for the big show. Rowan wasn’t down with the big booms, so she chilled inside happily sucking away on the binkie.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH…

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH…

Happy Birthday USA!

OH MY!

What a week it has been! It started off with a nice summery bang. We went to the local sprayground and let the kids run around. Drew raced around and jumped over the water in true Lightning McQueen fashion.

Brinley ran through the water trying not to get her face wet. Can’t really blame her…she got sprayed up the nose once, and that’s all it takes!

We took a bike ride to Drew’s future school. We had to test out the playground and make sure Drew was ready for Kindy. What do you think?

I am pretty sure Brinley passed the test too, she is bummed that she still has 2 years to go. That’s okay…two more years to work on perfecting her fashion sense.

I think Drew is channeling his inner Spiderman in this shot.

Twiggy went along for the ride. She wasn’t too interested in playing so she caught up on her zzzzz’s…

And that brings us to rashes. What fun. Both kids has unusual reactions to their immunizations last week. Brinley’s leg swelled up, and Drew came down with erythema multiforme on his extremities. It is really quite lovely looking, although NOT contagious (whew!). Drew thinks he has polka-dots, that’s a much nicer way to put it.

To finish the week off, we attempted a trip to my happy place (aka Costco) only to discover that Sally (the minivan) wasn’t going to make the trip, she’s come down with an illness of her own. The kids were quick to offer a prayer in her behalf. We took her to the “doctor” today, and they will have her fixed right up. It’ll cost more than we’d like, but hey – it could be worse. That’s what I am trying to tell myself anyway.

Thank goodness for sweet, faithful children…