All good Things

This past long weekend was a wild one. Brandon had two friends sleep over on Friday night, and on Saturday we all met Mike in Lloyd at the theater to go the matinee, which was showing The Smurfs. It was Charlie's first real movie and so I didn't think it was going to go well.
The boys all grabbed their popcorn and candies and sat together, well away from us (a sure sign of impending teenager-hood). Mike and I and the girls settled in for the show, Charlie on my lap, happily eating her popcorn and engrossed in the beginning credits.
The show was a good family-friendly version of the Smurfs we remembered from our childhood, but with an over-used variety of "Smurf" adjectives thrown in there for the adults. Examples: son of a smurf as an expletive, and smurf-tastic. It was too much, but the kids loved it.
What surprised us the most was how good all the kids were. The boys were quiet in their corner of the theater, and I thought I would have heard Brandon at least a few times..he has a bit of an obnoxious, loud demeanor some times, especially when over excited. And Charlie actually sat the entire show on my lap, laughing at the antics of Gargamel's cat. With all those kids I thought there would be a few times I would have wanted to pull my hair out. It was a great day.
Later that night, with the kids in bed early, our neighbors and another couple came over to sit by the fire. After they left we cleaned up and went to bed ourselves, as Jacelyn's birthday party was the next day at the lake.

The fish Dolton and Brandon caught by the boat launch

I filled up the van with girls, while Mike took Brandon, one of his friends, and Charlie in the truck, and we left to spend the day at the lake. Some friends drove over from Lloyd with their kids to spend the day with us also, as did my aunt and uncle, my brother and his girlfriend and his kids, and of course grandma and grandpa. Jacelyn loved all her gifts, and playing the entire day with her friends and family. We hid the gifts around the beach and cabin and she searched for each one, which made the whole gift opening process take an hour. Which pushed cake back until after supper, and made me late in dropping off the girls back home. I ended up receiving two worried phone calls on the way home from two worried moms, and after explaining why we were an hour late I hope they understood. It was just such a great day, and we all had fun. I think a few people thought I was crazy having all those kids running around, but I loved it.

Mike's favorite part of the day was listening to the Riders win the Labor Day football game on the radio. :)



The cake




Side view of cake