Dare Ya To Go Downtown

This weekend is the NATO Summit in Chicago. Everyone is in an uproar about the protestors. So, I dare you to go downtown and brave the crazy crowds. I know I won't be there, so let me know how it goes!

I will be hosting a bridal shower.

I am providing the house anyway. And flowers and chairs. Others are doing the food and other details. Good thing, because I have really had a fire lit under me to get a little more settled, knowing that close to 50, yes indeed, 50! People will be visiting my home!
Good to get things taken care of. I just hope we all fit comfortably. We may have people hanging out the windows, so pray for good weather for me so they don't leave damp!

In other news, I have started an Instagram account. Yes. I know.

MOOOO!
I am one of the mindless cattle that must follow the herd and join every passing online social networking site.

But my username is JessicaRinquest in case you want to follow. I believe I have a whopping four pictures up right now.

I will share some of them here too.

Wally had a pottery piece entered into the Art Show for school. He made this bowl. It has spikes coming out of it all the way around. The art teacher couldn't believe it came out of the firing process in perfect condition. She made sure to pull me aside and tell me how important Wally's art is to him. She is very nice. Wally likes her so much. Wally likes art so much.

Walker got a new pair of shoes. He got them because he threw one of his other pair out the car window while I was driving.
We were on the way to the gym, I heard him roll the window down. I rolled it back up and put the child lock on.

When we got to the gym, he was minus one shoe.

I asked Walker where his other shoe was.
He told me he threw it out the window.
I searched high and low in the car.
Then I drove home because you can't drop a kid with one shoe off in the health club day care center.
Nice.

The Claw!!!
You know those games that you put a dollar in for a chance to grab a stuffed animal with a claw, and it eats your money, and you never in a million years could possibly have grabbed one of those animals?

Well, Wally is The Claw whisperer! This kid is on fire when it comes to those games. He wins, and wins multiple times in a row!
My parents are witness to the King of The Claw madness. Wally won three times in a row while they were here last year. Just the other night, he did it again.
There was a table of elderly people eating next to the game. They were in awe!
Never seen anything like it! Or so they told me.
Wally gives the prizes to his brothers and sister. He is a good sport.

Poor Man's Waterslide.

The Clampetts have moved in!

Our next door neighbors have a... well, amazing home!! It is very large, and beautiful, and to make it even more eye catching, they have a resort style pool in the backyard.
I am not talking your average rectangular shaped pool, but a swirling, multiple leveled, center island, fire accented creation. With a rock formation 30 foot, twisting waterside, that has waterfalls running down it, and a built in cave you can swim into. I feel like I shouldn't have to lift a finger when I hear that flowing water! It is like listening to a vacation soundtrack!

And this is what my kids came up with when they wanted a waterside of their very own. A hose pulled up to the top of the swing set slide, with a leaky plastic pool to splash into when you reach the bottom while riding on your... snow sled!!

So funny! And entertainment for hours! Even some of the neighborhood kids with real pools in their backyards have been over for some of this hillbilly fun!

Yay for creative kids.

By the way. Those neighbors with the super cool pool? They are the nicest, biggest hearted people you could ever meet, and we are glad to live next door.
We bought our home from them.
They think they were meant to sell it to us, and we think we were meant to buy it.

I just hope they got a good laugh out of our makeshift water fun.

I love Del. He is out of town too often for my taste lately.
I got a chemical peel. So I was peely on Mothers Day. Unfortunately, the face of Heidi Klum was not hiding under the dead skin it removed. Shucks. Maybe next time. In the meantime, I need to get my eyebrows threaded ASAP!