Dear Kids,
It’s been fun and crazy here this week with Sharon’s family coming and going (mostly going.) This afternoon there will probably be a lot of you here, so if you haven’t had enough family time, c’mon over. Sharon and the kids are leaving for home on Tuesday, but they’re going over to Nora’s late tonight, to finish out their vacation there. Sharon has had every minute planned, for maximum fun. They’ve been swimming at least three times, including once at Lagoon, and met up with her most important friends. (Mandy and Holly) It’s been fun just watching the action.
I spent most of my $100 Amazon birthday gift card on a gumball machine, like Paige’s. Thanks to all of you who went in on the card! I didn’t get around to writing thank-you notes this week, so I probably won’t, but I still really appreciate your thoughtfulness. The gumball machine came a couple of days ago, and I’ve had fun experimenting with it. My plan is to give nickels to kids so they can get their own skittles (or whatever) instead of putting out candy on Sunday night. We had a trial run last night with Donna’s and Sharon’s families, and it worked pretty well. I finally had to put it in the mudroom and close the door, though, because Tommy discovered that if he shook it back and forth and then jiggled the turnkey, he could get the skittles to come out one at a time.
With the leftover on the gift card, I bought a dinner bell triangle. (The Redneck Triangle Call Bell, Amazon calls it.) I got the idea when we were at the Chalet, because it would have been really handy for calling people to dinner. I’ll definitely bring it to every family reunion from now on, and I think I’ll find a lot of other uses for it, too. The birthday present I arranged to get from Dad didn’t turn out so well, however. I ordered a 12" chop saw from an internet site called BuyNowFrog.com, but I was a little skeptical that the price was so low. It was only $111.00, including shipping, and it weighs a ton. The same thing from Amazon is $199. Anyway, they sent us tracking numbers, but when the saw didn’t come, Dad went to the post office to find it. There was a package with those numbers on it, but it was small and light, going to an address in Woodland. Needless to say, we never got the saw. I guess we can get our money back from our credit card, but it’s aggravating. I was going to use the saw at the cabin, to do the siding we’re going to put on the bunkhouse. I’ll probably order the one from Amazon now.
Life is so much fun! I love our great big family. Lots of love, Mom
