Q collective (pt. II) / 4th of July weekend

Wednesday- After getting all the kiddies into bed we broke out the indiana jones game and played and played and played. Finally at 2 am we were all too tired to continue and called it a night. We were trying to get far enough in to let Jen see some Lego "face melting" in the final scene of raiders of the lost arc. We got to it, but it wasn't as dramatic as the movie.

Thursday - The boys were up promptly at 7:00am. Damn... 5 hours of sleep is not enough. I took the day off work so we could have some quality time with the Q's. I got up and went for a haircut. After that I had a few errands to run. First on the list was stopping by the in-laws and pick up some wood for a fire pit for the night's party, but it was raining so I made that the last thing. Instead I went over to Sam's club to get some party supplies. We just recently got a membership again after a few years. I was having fun looking all over the store at just about everything, but decided that I better get home since I didn't know what the plans for the day were. So I picked up the plates and cups that Jen needed and started heading toward the checkout when I realized that I didn't have the checkbook, crap. Since I knew that Sam's doesn't take credit I grabbed the checkbook, but left it in the car. So a quick calculation of what I had added up to under $20 which I had in my wallet, cool, but I wanted to buy some Sam Adams beer, so that would defiantly take me out of the cash that I had. So now what to do. I thought about taking the two items to the front to see if they would hold them for me, but it looked real busy. If I would have had a cart I would have just left the cart there for a few minutes. Finally I decided to put the things back on the shelves while I got the checkbook. So from the front of the store, to the back of the store, to the car, to the back of the store, and back to the front of the store. That was quite a walk. I go to grab the Sam Adams and find out they don't sell it, so I could have used the cash that I had for the plates and cups and saved myself the walk. oh well. I stop at the inlaws to get the wood and look at their bathroom remodel and then to Walmart on the way home. After I got home we decided to pack up the kids and head to the zoo. That was pretty fun and I think the kids enjoyed it. I took William and Andrew on their first log ride at the zoo. I hadn't been on that ride in many many years, but I seem to remember being able to see animals on the ride (kind of like the train). You could kind of see the kangaroo's through the thick brush and a pen for an animal that wasn't there. After the zoo we headed home to get ready for the party. Jen and Carrie had prepared alot of the food in the morning, so all they had to do was throw it together when we got home. The party went pretty well except for Izzy and her face plant into the mulch under the swing set and Andrew throwing up all over the swing. I found an old bag of fireworks that I have had in the basement for years and ended up shooting off a few of them with the help of Tracy's boys. The one fireworks had some scary fuses so I was being real careful with them, but they were really cool. I hadn't shoot off fireworks in years. I think I might have finally toasted my blender with that pitcher of margaritas. The engine didn't sound right and there was a residue on the counter the next day. The party kind of broke up and we were just visiting with Jeff and family, so we broke up the Wii again. Again before we knew it, it was 2:00am. Man that game is addictive. During the game I got a bad cramp in my upper thigh and that freakin hurt. I have never had a cramp there and I don't ever want one again. Of course during the night I got a cramp in my lower leg on the other leg so it evened out.

Friday - The boys are up at 7:30. The Q's get up and going to meet John's sister for breakfast before heading home. It's hard to believe they were here for 4 days, but we had alot of fun. I know the boys did for sure. After the Q's left we just sat down and commented how quiet the house was :)... We did some quick clean up from the party and tried to decide what to do for the day. We decided to head up to the lake for the day and visit the in laws. We got up there and the boys played in the trailer and just the general running around. I found a lounge chair and ended up taking a nap. I am not real sure how long I was out. It felt like 5 minutes, but it might have been closer to an hour or more. We took the boys swimming, but they spent most of the time playing on the beach. The water was COLD. I tried to get into it, but when the water got over my knees and near my boys, my body just said "that's far enough." I have dove into the water when it was this cold before, but I am not sure my body can handle that shock again. We headed home pretty early so we could get the boys to bed at a decent time, and everyone fell asleep in the van. Good thing I took that nap earlier. I spent the rest of the night listening to the mortar barrage outside my window until midnight. Man alot of people have enough disposable income for fireworks.

Saturday- didn't do very much that day. It was a recovery day for the house. I had thought about packing the boys up and visiting grandma, but I wanted to make sure that Christopher and Andrew got naps in the afternoon, so it became too late to do that.

Sunday - Church in the morning and then outside to work on a few projects. The bigger project that was bugging me was the grill. One, it hadn't been cleaned since we bought it and it was caked pretty good with goo and Two, I needed to tear it apart to find out what parts I need to replace. The burner is gone, the drip plate is rusted out, and the electronic ignitor hasn't been working in a year. So after cleaning it up and taking inventory I figure for about $40 I can get the old grill working almost like new.