Adventures in

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Hi, My Name is Kristen, vol. 8

... And I'm the Birthday Girl because today I turn 38!!!

Things that make me Happy: Anything turquoise, tinsel in my hair, stripes, flip flops, our home, our new sofa, hoop earrings (I now have new silver ones and gold ones!), my Uggs, tank tops, the beach (the pool, the lake, tubing - just being in water), painted toenails, Coke, Royal Blend Fortnum and Mason tea.

TV Shows I watch: Younger, Fixer Upper, Blacklist, The Americans, Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife, Shark Tank, Quantico, New Girl, Girl Meets World.

Meals Currently in Rotation: Creamy Chicken and Rice One Pot, Mexican Chicken Stew, Chicken and Broccoli Oriental, Chili, One Pot Pasta, Grammy Casserole, Citrus Chicken, Chicken Pot Pies, Chicken and Dumplings, Crockpot chicken tacos, Maple Chili Chicken.

Me and my Tweeter

My kiddos at the water park

Our Family!!!

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Dan's Birthday

Dan's birthday was on a Sunday. Megan and I were away at a volleyball tournament, so he took Jack and Kylie to church to celebrate Palm Sunday/the Passover! Quest had a Christian Seder to walk through celebrating the Passover and rejoicing that Jesus had come!

They hung out in the afternoon and then Megan and I met them at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner! Jack had chosen that same restaurant for his birthday dinner, too and we had them sing to them both times! They got Jack's name wrong and called him Jake and got Dan's name wrong and called him Dave :)

Tables set for the Seder

All the kids participating!

Snuggling his dog in the afternoon

Dinner out with these three

And me and my Birthday Tweeter!

Dessert!

NEQ's Philadelphia

Megan and I were in Philly this last weekend for the NEQ's! It was Megan's first time in Philly and the first time since I was 9! It was my most stresssful chaperoning weekend to date - just because of logistics of being responsible for 11 girls in a major city - walking 1/2 a mile to and from the convention center, trying to keep tabs on them, feeding them and getting them out enough to not go crazy in the hotel!

We drove a friend up and went out to dinner at Tarakawa Ramen the first night (after swinging by and saying hi to Mom Mom and Pappy on the way). It was delicious! Megan got the Chicken Katsu Curry and thought it was better than CoCo Curry's. Maddie got Miso Ramen and I got their House Ramen. It was amazing!

We did Jimmy John's the next two days for lunch, fed the girls breakfast out of my room (bagels, bananas and yogurt) and did Cheesecake Factory for dinner and then Panera! It worked out fine and was a good weekend!

Girls sound asleep in the car driving up

Tarakawa Ramen

So cool

House Ramen - delicious!

Chicken Katsu Curry

Girls in the pool

Walking the streets of Philly to their first day of the tournament

Kelly, Juliana, Aaleah and Megan

Playing

Cute girls resting

The whole team

Dinner out at Cheesecake Factory

Kelly, Olivia, Danielle, Daniella

Maddie, Lauryn, Megan, Juliana, Aaleah and Sydney

Walking to Jimmy John's

Cool painting on the side of a house

Walking to the tournament the 2nd day

Playing

Team with Coach Megan

Serving

Megan and Aaleah

Ready to play!

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Hi, My Name is Dan, vol. 8

...And I'm the Birthday Boy because today I turn 40!!!

Things I like: Cigars, Hanging with my family, Hobbies that are Expensive And/Or Dangerous, RBC, Malone, Road Trips.

Favorite TV Shows/Movies: The Americans, Blacklist, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Age of Ultron, Pitch Perfect 2,

Favorite Sayings: Wanna go smoke one?, IRL, Wanna buy some land?, Facety,

Favorite Foods: Pizza, Guinness, Peeps, Loft House Cookies, Bueno's Queso, Coffee.

Things I did while I was 39: Overnight at Camp Highroads with Jack, Showed the kids Lane Stadium, Became a Manager, Attended Sam's wedding, Taught Kylie's Quest class, Coached boys volleyball, Took Jack bear hunting and shooting, Coached boys basketball, Stepped up my Minecraft game by starting to play on the PC and starting up a server, Met Mary Poppins with Kylie, Beat Matt in a competition, Was thrown a Surprise Birthday Party, Test drove a brand new motorcycle.

Why I love my Tweeter: Because you love each of us so well. You spend time with us, make us a priority and encourage us by leading by example and teasing us :) You love God and make going to church and serving there a priority. You don't complain about anything. You enjoy your job. You volunteer to help coach teams or teach Sunday school to spend time with our kiddos. You make it home on time for important kid events. You go on a walk every night with me to take Beau and chat. You keep me warm when I'm cold. You make me laugh and hold down things at home when I travel with Megan for volleyball. You're the person I want to talk things through that have gone on during the day. I love you Tweeter!!! Happy 40th Birthday!!!

Jack, Dan and Kylie out bowling with friends

Me and My Tweeter

Dan and Megan test driving Sam's bike

Trying out a GS Mini

The guys he Bear Hunts with!

Dan, Supe and Doug

Doug, Supe, Dan and the boys

And his Mine Craft server set up with Matt

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Megan's 14th Birthday

We celebrated Megan's 14th Birthday by taking her out to dinner the night before, since she had a super long volleyball practice on her birthday! She requested Uncle Julio's and then wanted to go over to Grammy and Grandad's after. On her birthday, we took her to Starbucks in the morning to get her free Venti Caramel Frapp, she brought her leftovers from Uncle Julio's for lunch and I dropped off queso and chips from Moe's for her to share with her friends, then I took homemade brownies, strawberries and whipped cream to her practice for her team to celebrate her!