February 2003
Clark's 6th
Birthday
February has been a very busy time at our house. It
started with Clark having his 6th birthday (we can hardly believe that our
"baby" is six years old!) Clark decided to take some friends to Jungle Jim's
Play Land for a jungle party this year. They had a lot of fun riding the rides,
eating pizza and making a mess with cupcakes (which is OK because we didn't have
to clean it up!).
Shirley's
Birthday
The following Sunday we surprised Alan's Aunt Shirley
on her birthday with a party that included sharing a birthday cake with Clark.
They love each other and thought that was a great idea! We gave Aunt Shirley a
VCR which she is still deciding might be smarter than she is. We keep
encouraging her to "practice" watching movies – tough life, huh?
Morgans at the Lion
House
Traditionally the Morgan siblings have gotten together
during the Christmas season at the Lion House for a "couples" dinner. This year
we decided to have it in February which is after all, the sweetheart season. How
fun that Melinda had her husband Jared with her this year. And even more fun was
the pickle with the ice cream announcing her pregnancy. So, Cherry and Melinda
are both expecting babies around the end of August and the beginning of
September. That will bring our parents total number of grandchildren to 20.
Wow!
Valentines
Day
Valentine's Day was fun this year – we had slightly pink,
heart shaped pancakes for breakfast and we made the kids heart shaped sandwiches
for lunch. Of course the little kids had fun taking valentines to school for
their friends. We also had fun making "hugs" to send to faraway family. That
night Alan took me out to dinner and while we were gone the kids gave us a
"heart attack!" It was very cute – I still have it hanging up!
Michelene's
Birthday
This year I turned the big 40. Yes, I am now older
and wiser (well, maybe just older...) It was a fun day. I woke up to a black
balloon saying something about 40 (in fine print...magnificent years!) My sister
Melanie secretly invited "the Sibs" to her house for a surprise lunch of quiche
and pie. It was fun to sit around and visit – she's probably still cleaning up
the mess the little cousins made! On my way home, I hit the spa and used my
Christmas gift certificate to treat myself to a pedicure, because you know, one
has to have beautiful toes when one goes to Hawaii...yes, it's true, we left two
days later for a week on the Big Island. Anyway, that night Alan made me a
wonderful dinner and he and the kids gave me a birthday party – complete with
"Heavy heavy hang over thy poor head" and a treasure hunt!
Hawaii
Vacation
So, about Hawaii...Alan and I decided we needed a
get-a-way and since you only turn 40 once, and since we haven't been to Hawaii
for twelve long years, we decided it was time! Grandma, Grandpa and Melinda
helped with the kids, and for much of the time they were on their own. It's
great to have kids old enough and responsible enough to look after each other.
So we had a week of sunshine and relaxation. We did a fair amount of sight
seeing checking out volcanoes, waterfalls and beaches. Of course we also
consumed a fair amount of guava juice and macadamia nuts.
Miscellaneous Kids'
Stuff
Various things our kids have done this month: