Fun! Fun! Fun!

Papa is out of town for 5 days ... and Mama has been pretty busy. So, today I decided we needed a fully fun focused day.

We attended church last night, so the younger kids and I were home this morning. We waited patiently for Ben and Hosanna to get home from working 2 services in Kid's Place, quickly fed all of the kids lunch, and headed out for a day of fun.

First ... we headed back to the beach. The first time we went (a few weeks ago), we only took the kids for about 30 minutes at sunset. So, they had not yet had the opportunity to really explore and play at the beach. Here are a few fun pics ...

These are the two that their older sister describes as "The 6 year olds that are going to change the world some day." Rachel and Elijah are ... independent, strong-willed, determined, and ... a whole lot of fun. They have become great "Virtual Twins" (since they are just 6 months apart).




Josiah




Rachel




Elijah




Jacob




Sarah and Hosanna ... reading God's Word




The Boys




The Girls



The Younger Half of the D Family ...

Ben (14), Jacob (12), Hosanna (11), Sarah (9), Josiah (8), Rachel (6), Elijah (6)

The kids think it is fun that all 7 of them are in a White/Black age pattern ... definitely God's creativity.




(The turned around baseball caps is not a fashion statement, but one of the tricks I have figured out to get a better shot of dark faces ... we can't have any shadows on the faces.)

After 3 hours at the beach, the little ones began to get hungry. So, I phoned Jeremiah (the only "big kid" home this weekend) and asked if he would like to meet us at our favorite Mexican restaurant (which J, S, & R had not been to yet). It was the perfect day for dinner at Chihuahua's ... the Sunday Special was Steak Fajitas (which Jeremiah and I both ordered), and the children's menus is only $3.95 on Sundays (very important, when ordering 6 children's meals). Jacob, Sarah, and Rachel were introduced to crispy tacos (we always eat soft tacos at home). They enjoyed them, but were a bit surprised by how messy they were. And, they LOVED the deep fried tortilla chips w/ cinnamon sugar, whipped cream, and chocolate & strawberry sauce for dessert.

After dinner, Jeremiah and Ben headed home, while I took the younger kids over to my friend Sarah's house (my ONLY friend that also has 13 children). We hadn't visited them yet (we see each other at our homeschool enrichment classes), so her children were thrilled to see our big van pull up. A 2 hour spur-of-the-moment playdate ensued, while Sarah and I had a chance to catch up.

We got home in time to do a quick house cleaning before bed ... since we get to drive to Seattle in the morning to pick up Papa at the airport.

Random NOT fun happening today ... it cost me $117 to fill up the gas tank on the van and it will probably be near empty when we return from the airport tomorrow. Yikes! The upcoming price of our annual summer road trips is kind of scary this year.