Double Feature - Pioneer Day & Flashback Friday

I have decided to write a double feature blog. Since it is Friday it is Flashback Friday, that was inspired by my Pioneer Day fun last night.

Pioneer Day

Before anyone else decides to ask me, no we did not go to the parade. Steve worked the night before and I slept in. The parade is not a tradition for us so it doesn't usually even cross our mind. If it does, we very quickly decide we would rather sleep in. As I was contemplating actually getting out of bed, Amanda called me and asked me if I could watch Zack. They had a friend who needed some help and didn't feel that they could take him with them. I hesitated slightly, only because I knew that Steve would be sleeping and I didn't want to wake him up. But of course I said yes. How can I resist an opportunity to play with any of my nieces or nephews?

So Zack came over and spent the day with me. Zack LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine and he got a new video while we were on vaction. He knows nearly all the names of Thomas and his friends but there are some new friends on this video. Zack will frequently play the "Who's that?" game. He asks "who's that?" and then answers his own question. He was playing the game and asked about the yellow flat bed truck on the front of the video case but he couldn't remember her name and Amanda couldn't either. So, we had to watch it. In case anyone wants to know, her name is Isabella...

Unfortunately, Steve's boss called him and woke him up during Thomas and then he heard us. My only consolation is that we weren't the ones who woke him up in the first place. We are just the ones who distracted him enough that he couldn't go back to sleep. So Steve got up and spent a little bit of time on his computer in the office waking up a bit.

After Thomas, Zack wanted to watch Bee Movie, but when we opened it up he said "oh no! All gone!" So he chose Cars. I hadn't ever seen all of Cars so I was okay with it. Besides, it's a Pixar movie. How can you go wrong? I had seen the beginning so I decided to get some of our massive pile of dirty dishes done while Zack watched and played and then joined him. Steve eventually joined us and we ended up nearly rolling on the floor watching Zack. He was quoting the movie and singing and dancing during the songs. It was a lot of fun!

About 2:00 Amanda sent me a message and said she forgot to tell me about his nap and asked if I had put him down. Zack was in such a good mood that I totally spaced nap time, it did not even cross my mind. I was even going to take him shopping with me. Whoops! I put him down right then and then Steve took a small nap on the couch while I went to the store.

Amanda and Aaron came to pick him up about 5:00 and he was still laying down. Amanda and I went to wake him up and he was already awake, he just hadn't come out of the room. He got very excited to see mommy and when she asked him if he had fun he said "No, go home!" I had to laugh, we did too! He really was a good boy and we had lots of fun playing. They left to finish getting ready for the barbeque Britta was having for the family at her house. Steve got ready for work and after he left I finished getting ready to go as well.

Britta covers everything pretty well, so if you want details about the barbeque, go to http://nunleyfam.blogspot.com/2008/07/pioneer-day-barbeque.html.

Flashback Friday

While I was at Britta's for the barbeque last night I was able to see her nearly finished back yard. She has a hill in the back (on purpose) for her kids to play on. This is the inspiration for my Flashback Friday.

My parent's have a small hill in the front yard that we grew up playing on. The reason I say on purpose above is simply this: to this day, my mom hates that hill. It was there when they bought the house and she has tried several times to get rid of it. I don't know if we always talked her out of it or if other things just took priority, but it is still there.

Personally, I am glad. We had SO much fun playing on the hill growing up and the grandkids have fun now. I told Britta last night that she was missing something on her hill, the pot holes. She apparently decided that, regardless of how much we used them, she didn't want them in her hill. I do understand why because we destroyed the grass in that area by using them for our witches brew, which I have previously posted about.

In addition to witches brew the hill provided safety while playing tag, a castle for the frequently overturned king of the hill, a stage and many more. We rolled down the hill, we ran through sprinklers on the hill and sprained ankles on the hill. The fun was endless and still is. And lucky for us, if we had too many people and our hill was too small, we ran next door to the park. We always had plenty of space there.

In my adulthood, I am always reminded that I had an amazing childhood. Sometimes it is hearing how difficult someone else's childhood was and sometimes it is just spending time with my family and following the eternal memory lane. I am grateful for the family I have and I love you all!