A break in the rain

It was not raining today - for the first time all week, it seems - so we went out to play in the backyard. I had bought a sand & water table for Abigail (craigslist is my new favorite shopping location) and decided to get it assembled today. Getting the legs on was easy. I like that this table has a tight-fitting lid, to keep leaves and spiders out! Getting sand into it was not as easy. I had a bag of sand in the shed, left over from about 9 years ago, when I first got a sandbox for Frances. The bag was not large, but it weighed 50 pounds! I grabbed a skateboard, lugged the bag up onto it, and had Frances push it across the grass to the concrete.

We put about half of the sand into the table, and Frances kindly contributed some pink and purple "moon sand." She had bought it months ago at Target ("as seen on TV") and it was not as much fun as she had thought it would be, so it was just sitting there in the backyard. Now Abigail has some pretty snazzy looking sand! I found some of our smallest sand/beach toys for Abigail to use in her table. She is holding up a Blockhead - remember the Gumby show? And you may notice that she is wearing a harness with bells on it. A few weeks ago, while I was in the garage bringing in the laundry that had been hanging up to dry, Abigail decided to cross the street all by herself. Our neighbor was out in his front yard, and when I came out of the garage, there was Abigail, across the street, visiting with John! I remembered that I had an Elmo leash from when Frances was little (we only used it once, while changing planes in the Chicago airport). I took the leash part off, and decorated the harness with bells. Now, on the weekends when we are home and going in between the backyard and the house, I can hear Abigail and know that she is still where she is supposed to be! Abby likes her reindeer harness.

While Abigail enjoyed her new sand table, Frances played soccer in the backyard. Our yard is a good size for this neighborhood, but not large enough for a soccer game! About every ten minutes, Frances let me know that she was going around to the alley to retrieve her ball! She is fascinated with soccer these days, although she is still pursuing gymnastic greatness. I told her that this summer, she can play soccer through the recreation program in our city. She plays soccer almost daily at school, so that may be the reason for her recent obsession. Hopefully she won't pull a hamstring or otherwise injure herself while playing soccer - her gymnastic coach would not be pleased!

Our fabulous friend, Roger

Our friend Roger is so much fun. He's a great sport (he played "Pretty, Pretty Princess" at Frances' games night, when we celebrated her adoption homecoming anniversary). He makes my girls feel smart, pretty, special and loved. He lets Abigail ride on his shoulders every Sunday (I see chiropractic care in the near future), and he gives GREAT birthday presents. He is a terrific influence in my daughters' lives, and I know that he prays for us.

We love you, Roger!

A "field trip" to one of the California missions

On a cool and cloudy Saturday, the Bushnell girls climbed into the car for a mini road trip. Trying to be a good parent, I was taking Frances to yet another of the California missions. Those of you who do not live in CA may not know that in the 4th grade, students here must do a California missions project as part of the unit on our state's history. Last summer, we went to the mission at San Juan Capistrano with the Waite family, and in the fall we visited Santa Barbara with Dana and Haley. Frances wanted to do her report on a mission that was a little farther from home, in the hope that it wouldn't be "the same one everyone else was doing."

"Family Fun" magazine had done a write up on taking a day trip to Ventura, and had mentioned that the mission was nice, and that there was a beach playground close to it. So although the weather forecast indicated rain, we drove about 90 minutes north to visit Mission San Buenaventura.

You may notice that photos of the mission itself are conspicuously absent from this post. It took us about five minutes to walk through the entire mission! Kind of a dud as far as an interesting experience would go, but at least we could say that we'd been there. Frances took some photos with her camera for the report, and we also purchased postcards that showed historical views, as well as the interior of the church.

Once we decided that we had enough information to write a decent report, we went in search of the playground. We found a parking lot fairly close to the playground, and although the sand was damp from recent rains, we had a terrific time! This playground was really cool.

Frances liked the slide that had no sides. It was barely even trough-shaped. I don't know how kids stay on it, but both girls went down it dozens of times. My favorite thing was the swings. Swinging high, with the ocean in front of you, a view of the Channel Islands, the crashing waves.... who needs a therapist's couch when you can experience this? The climber was really unusual, with ropes, spinning DNA-looking spirals to ride on, a series of hoops that created a sort of tunnel, as well as numerous slides.

I would say that our mission field trip was a success! We certainly had a great day.

Just like her big sister

Abigail loves electronic devices, and watches enviously as Frances plays on her Nintendo DS. I remembered that Frances had a "Leapster" that she outgrew years ago, so we found it and gave it to Abigail. Most of the game cartridges are too difficult for Abby, but the built-in games are all things she can manage. She is having a great time figuring it out, and we will definitely be taking it on the long airplane trip to China!

Dave & Zenia's 50th Wedding Anniversary

We had a great time at "Grandma & Grandpa Hunter's" party!

There was food, dancing, songs, a piper (Dave is from Scotland).... My girls danced to every song. Frances kicked her shoes off early in the evening, and Abigail busily made friends with all sorts of people. She also convinced Uncle Ralph to let her play with his phone!