Last-minute Labor Day

A few days ago, my Labor Day weekend was looking completely uneventful. Tony had casually mentioned the idea of inviting a few people over on Monday, but I wasn't sure how serious he was. Well, by Sunday morning, at church, Tony was officially inviting people, and I was teasing him by saying things like, "Oh, so we're definitely doing this, huh?"

So today, we had a houseful. It was "the guys"--Greg, Jason, and Wayne--as well as Wayne's brother Billy and his wife Erica and their 2 daughters (age 4 and 2), and Brandon and his 2 kids (Kerry was working in the afternoon/evening). Ari was in her glory, having friends to play with, and it was a perfect mix of kids--Tyler is the same age as Billy's oldest daughter, and Ari is the same age as Billy's youngest daughter. But Molly wasn't the "odd one out" at all--she and Ari get along great. I'm always joking that the 2 of them are going to be "partners in crime"--they are a lethal combination of cunning and cuteness.

We went swimming first--we headed for the outdoor pool and found it closed, with no sign or explanation (but the padlock on the gate was a pretty sure indication that the place was not open). Luckily, our apartment complex also has an indoor pool, and that was open--and we pretty much had the place to ourselves, too. I kept myself busy with the kids--if I didn't have Ari with me, I had Tyler or Molly, but that was fine with me. I think I got plenty of exercise, carting them around the pool with me, catching them as they jumped in, and even giving piggyback swims.

After we swam, we came back to the apartment and fired up the grill. Greg offered to do the cooking, since he loves to grill, and everything came out great. Everyone brought their own meat for the grill, and we had chips and drinks on hand. I made cookies the night before--again, I experimented with my "cake-mix cookie" recipe, and I think I'm getting the hang of it. I made cookies out of Funfetti, red velvet, and chocolate cake mix, and they all came out great. They're even better with a dab of vanilla frosting on top.

If you're interested, here's the generic recipe for how to make cookies from a boxed cake mix...

---

Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients:
1 box cake mix, any flavor
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs

Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Roll into 1-inch balls and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Use the bottom of a glass to flatten slightly. Bake at 375* until the tops crackle (about 8-10 minutes).

My Notes: I tried greasing the cookie sheet as directed, but it seemed like the grease just burned where it wasn't covered by cookies. Baking the cookies on an ungreased sheet seemed to make no difference--they came off easily with a spatula. Also, I just used my hand to flatten the cookies. And it turns out that, for my oven, I only need to bake them for 5 minutes.

---

Anyway, we had a great day. Jason and Brandon and his kids left a little while after dinner, and everyone else hung out for a couple rounds of Apples to Apples. It was a nice end to the long holiday weekend.

I pulled out my camera today, before everyone came over, to get some pictures of Ari.

It looks like she's about to attack me, but really, she was just doing some kind of weird dance.



I'm not sure what she was doing here--maybe striking a pose?



By the way, do you like her shirt? I discovered a whole bag of 2T/24M clothes in the closet when I was cleaning out her room today. *sigh* I really need to get better organized with her clothes.

Climbing on the couch, giving me a lazy grin...



And by this point, she had lost interest in me--a coaster set commanded her attention.



Look at all the hair she has now!



One last goofy face...



Tomorrow: Back to work. I get to go in late, but it's due to a doctor appointment, which takes some of the fun out of it. Oh well.

Widgets & Flash Toys<