February 1, 2009. San Antonio, Tx. A Busy Day.

The ladies of the church were holding a retreat. Renee, a good friend of Suzanne, was the leader of the event, so for the first time, Suzanne went for the weekend, which meant David was in charge of the girls. His method of survival is to keep the girls busy. Of course, Ken and I were here to help, but David was in charge and all we did was enjoy the activities.

Suzanne left at five o'clock and David arrived home just before she left. All the children brought a friend from school to play, so the children were happy and busy. One by one, the parents picked up their child and by six thirty, the Pizza arrived and we ate dinner, followed by a DVD of Hairspray. They all saw it in New York on Broadway and they loved it so the girls asked to see it again. Bedtime came right after the movie.

Saturday was a big day. Denny's for breakfast. Everyone ate and enjoyed a very large amount of food. Bowling was next, two games each. The bowling alleys are so much more friendly for children now, with the bumpers and the automatic scoring. T he girls love to bowl. We used two lanes so the turns to bowl come very quickly. Both Allison and Samantha hold their own ball on their lap as they were very fearful of losing their own ball. Home for lunch and play. Sarah and Abigail cleaned out the quail cage. I tried hard to get them to cook all the eggs but they would not even hear of it. Next time I may try to buy the eggs from them. I suggested that the girls try to get into the water, so one by one they put on their bathing suits. Instead of swimming, they spent the next hour and a half in an old fashioned water fight. David fell asleep in the chair. I was the safety zone on the deck and using squirt guns and buckets, they all got soaked and cold. While they were warming up lying on the deck and practicing their meditation skills as instructed by Sarah, David snuck up and shot them with the water cannon. They were nice and warm and dry but now they were wet, so of course David received a bit of water too, all with great shrieks and laughter. Next on our agenda was a movie, the Mall Cop movie that is so popular. We all seven of us sat and ate popcorn while we watched this ridiculous movie, which the girls loved. On the way home we stopped to eat at Julian's, a local Italian restaurant. As the Spurs game was coming on at seven-thirty, we brought our food home to eat dinner and watch the game. The girls headed to bed at half-time, and were asleep in six seconds. We had a long and happy day.

Sunday we were all lazy. I am still in my night shirt. We watched TV all morning, looking at all the shows about real estate. Breakfast was left to each person to get their own food and eat in the Family Room. It was a lovely lazy morning. I have heard about those shows but never seen any of them at all although I have consulted with several of the producers. Soon Suzanne was coming home, so the kitchen and deck needed organizing while the girls played outside. David and Allison made a trip for compost and vegetables from Lowe's, then all girls helped him in the garden, followed by another rousing game with water. All girls went right into the water, even diving into the deep end. The girls play together very well, even switching the very desirable water cannons.

Suzanne arrived home at two, just in time to organize us all for lunch, which were hamburgers and french Fry's. The weather is beautiful as I write my small web log from the deck of their house. Eighty degrees and sunny. Now we are back to normal, with Mother and Father and us enjoying each other. The girls loved the activities this weekend, and so did their grandparents.