Monday August 2nd

Monday is park day and this time our destination was Jennings Park in Marysville. On the way, we had some of the never ending errands to run. We dropped Jacob off at Kohl's so he could do some school shopping, then hit Rite-Aid for the good deals and then  Albertsons. Arriving back at Kohl's, Jacob was still not done so we ate our "picnic" lunch in the van. Jacob is very particular about his clothes and the stitching on a back pocket is enough to turn him off of a pair of jeans. In 1 1/2 hours of shopping, he managed to find two pairs of jeans and a hoodie to use up the Kohl's cash I'd earned shopping last week. Shopping success behind us, we stopped at the bread outlet and Miriam let me know that this trip to the park was taking much too long! So, instead of heading to my last errand, we dropped Jacob at the library and went to the park.

The kids had fun using the play equipment, playing tag, and touring the flower garden. Just when their energy was starting to flag, Boma showed up so I could give her the produce she'd purchased and she could give me the chocolate bar Greg had sent with her (Thank you for the happy surprise! Yum!). Boma stayed to play for about a half hour and when she left so did we to our final errand, Value Village.

                                             it's hard to get a smile out of Seth in a photo!

I had a 30% off coupon that was expiring this week at Value Village and didn't want it to go to waste. My first stop every time I go is the girl's dresses and I found two for Miriam, one for Anastaya and one for Ellie.

Ellie's already went home but it too had a black velvet top with pretty bottom half

 I can picture myself a grandma with 30 grand-daughters still making the dress section my first stop at the second hand store so they can all look like angels at church. Each of the kids get one item or $5 to spend each time we go and they were all successful at finding new treasures. I found this Yoda that I just couldn't pass up. $9 after the 30% off.

I can't look at him without smiling. My plan is to use him at day camp. We have a puzzle/riddle each day that the cubs try to solve. When they have the answer, they get smarties candy. I thought I could put Yoda on the table with a bucket of candy in front of him (since he's so wise) and they could get their prize from him. One of the the things I've struggled with in the past is I know the answer but the other people at headquarters don't. I try to have a piece of paper somewhere with the answers but it's easily misplaced. I can just lift the back of Yoda's cloak and stick the paper on his back each day.

We'd had Seth for the day and when we got home Sheri and Joel had already beat us there. They ended up staying for dinner and Dode put Joel to work helping construct our new hand rail for our front door. Every time we have a party at our house, it's a good excuse to force us to do some home improvement. Usually it's a cosmetic fix but this time it's a safety fix. It makes us nervous to see some people who don't have very good balance try to wobble down our stairs. With two parties planned for August, it was time for an upgrade. It won't be a beautiful hand rail but it will be strong and sturdy. We borrowed a pipe bender from a member in the ward, Dode cut the pipe to length, and welded on the stanchions (a fancy word Joel taught me yesterday).

                                                     bending the pipe

                                                     figuring out where to cut the pipe

Sheri realized that as long as we had the tools, it was high time to put a handrail on the back steps at Sharon and Lynn's so once done here, they went over there.

                                             with this fancy tool, even Seth can bend a pipe!

                                                 getting the correct angle on the pipe

Neither railing is complete. Now Dode has to drill holes in the concrete. A flat disk screws onto the bottom of the stanchions and the bolts go through the disk into the cement. We don't have the correct drill bit but a member of our ward does and he'll help Dode out on later this week.