Friday Night Fun...(LOTS of Pictures)

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So...I came home from work Friday evening...and this super-cute little boy asked me to take him to the park. So, I said yes. Daddy was in the process of making my favorite: mom's recipe for porkchops & rice. So, he turned the electric skillet cooker thing to low, and we headed down to the park...



And then, who did we run into?
Only Stephanie, Matt, & their little boy, Justin...
And Olga & her husband, & their daughter, Victoria.
Good times!

We headed back home & ate dinner.
Then talked to Mark & Pam & we all met up over at Tera & Nathan's for a night of kids runnin' around & gal-pal-hang out time.
By the end of the evening, I believe I was shouting about "I'm 30 & I've still got it" & accepting the challenge of doing the jump splits. Why, yes, I'm 30 & I can still do the jump splits. They may not be as airborne as they once were, and that back leg may not have even been all that straight---but whatever. I believe I got a "TEN!" from the crowd present that evening.

Gage & Aubri had a great time playing....


Tera & Aubri...


Me & part of Gage...


...Gage did NOT want his picture taken, and he quickly turned into this:

yes, THAT was fun. He got pretty whiney....

Know what helps with that??? Oh, a little game of "Hide & Scream". Yes, a lot like "Hide-n-Seek", but instead of running to base & catching each other, you just hide until the person who is "IT" gets close enough to your hiding spot that you jump out & scream & startle them. Yes, it's Gage's own version of "Hide-n-Seek" with a rule book that was created by him, stored in his little mind, and is also subject to change at his whim. But, Friday night---the game was ON!
Counting with Mark... (and yes, Mark, your picture was blog-worthy! You know, because my gosh-darn kid was standing next to you...)

(If I were a good mom, I'd have probably cropped that beer bottle out of the shot...)

"WHERE'S NATHAN???"


So, "Hide & Scream" was fun... Playing "Chase" was fun...But, Little Einsteins & Dora the Latina Harlot helped the kids wind down.
And let me tell you something....when those cartoons get turned on, Aubri gets in the ZONE.


But you know....that Swiper really contributes to the action-packed adventure where Dora & Boots often wind up....
Watching Aubri watch Dora is a lot like watching a sports fan watch a football game. At times, she is the official Dora-Boots-Swiper-Rocket-&-Little-Einsteins Couch Coach:


We all ate yummy dip & chips, and ice cream was offered all around. My kid passed on ice cream. So weird....

(and, I'm sure Tera will correct me if I'm wrong...but that may not have been ice cream...it may have been some fat-free-flavor-free-yuckola-ice cream or frozen yogurt that she bought...I told her to get the Ben & Jerry's frozen yogurt that's chocolate fudge brownie...but she bought some Blue Bunny bullsh*t that is so clearly not the B&J I suggested.... I'm just sayin')

Soon after the cartoons got the kiddos settled down, Gage was FAST asleep on the couch...


And Aubri was fast asleep in her crib...


And that's when the gathering gathered outdoors so as not to disturb our sleeping beauties.

We all had fun with the camera. I believe Mark took this picture...

(Tera, Pam, Me)

WHAT are they looking at?????

Oh, they're just watching me mix Mimosas...
....in my mouth.
(and no, I'm not posting that picture....my son may run for political office some day....I can't be his skeleton in the closet...know what I'm sayin'?)

But um....Mark has no offspring that I'm aware of...so pics of him double-fisting beers are so not off limits yet.


At one point, Tera took over as documentarian of the evening...She was GREAT with the camera.
She took a picture of Nathan...


She also got a perfectly timed shot of Pam (sorry Pam...)


Now, in her defense, she says that she normally wears glasses.
....and apparently those glasses let you see through big planks of wood that when assembled together are known as a swingset.

This post wouldn't be complete without a picture of me doing the splits, so....we'll just have to call it incomplete.
I will post this though: me, all crazy & pumped b/c I could actually still do them!


And what was brought up after reviewing the pics from Friday night?
"Laine, you really talk a lot with your hands."
"What? Do I really?"
Let's review, shall we?
Exhibit A:

(I'm not sure, but I think I may have caught a fish that big once...)

Exhibit B:

(judging from my facial expression....maybe it's better to talk with my hands to give people something else to look at. sheeeeesh.)

There IS an Exhibit C, but it has Tera's license plate in the picture, and so I'm not going to post it....

Exhibit D:


So, yes....all evidence seems to indicate that I am a hand talker.

Sadly, there were only 2 pictures taken that night that included me & Hubby in the same frame. One is....not going on the blog....and the other didn't turn out so well... (way to go, McElwain. [hey, Mark, read that in Pam's voice. I can hear it now, and it's so her.])


All in all, it was a good time.


...oh, and it was productive too.
Mark & Pam turned into these human infomercial people, and went on & on (seriously, it was like a 20 minute discussion) about this shaving cream/shaving gel stuff called Hydroplane by Billy Jealousy. (www.billyjealousy.com)
Um....we were curious about it based on how much they raved about it. They brought us some samples on Sunday. Damon tried it....LOVED it. I shaved my legs with it. Um, LOVED IT. And the little shampoo sample....It was peppermint scented, and OH.MY.GOODNESS, I ***loved*** it.
The shave gell is about $20 for an 8 ounce bottle---but, the cool thing about it: you get a tiny bit, and somehow, the more water you add, it just gets slicker & slicker [hey, is "slicker" a word?]. It was just really neat to see how very little you actually use, and how great it was. I can't remember the name of the shampoo, but I will be going to Nordstrom in the near future to check out the shampoo & definitely buy some of that shave gel for us.
****yes, I know----they started out as the human infomercials, and now it's me. I can't help it. The stuff rocks.