Digital Camera Race

Good Monday morning!

The Showcase Pic is of me and my guys celebrating Mother's Day yesterday. I've also put a picture of me, Austin and Roxie in the Gallery. More about my Mother's Day below.

The Gallery has three pictures from Virginia Beach. Austin did a great job. (I'll be adding one or two pics each day this week.) He had a great trip. We've never been to Virginia Beach before, and to be honest I've never heard of King's Dominion (an amusement park they went to Saturday), so I'm living vicariously through his pictures and stories. It's just too good to have him home.

Making a declaration about our breakfast date worked this time. We had an hour or so at Cracker Barrel and talked and talked. It was wonderful to be alone with Mikie during this incredibly "busy" time of our lives. Oh, by the way. If you haven't been to Cracker Barrel lately, they have a new breakfast item called the Skillet. They have three different kinds, all of which are topped with eggs and cheese. Two of the three actually have breakfast type food under the eggs and cheese. I, for some unknown reason, decided to order the Vegetable Skillet. Why did I do that? I'll eat broccoli on occasion for dinner, but NEVER have I eaten broccoli for breakfast. There's a reason for that, too. It's wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. (Having said that, I would recommend the other two Skillets in a heartbeat.)

Saturday night, after working hard on some house projects, Josh and Roxie wanted to go to the movies. Josh and his cousin, Katie, went to see Star Trek (and declared it to be very good). While they were watching Star Trek, Roxie, her friend, Ally, and her cousin, Zac, attended Hannah Montana. (I loved it! Good music. A little corny. A nice, G-rated love story. A very good movie.) Since Mikie had to work late trying to finish up some work projects, it was a nice way to spend a rainy Saturday evening. (Plus, everyone paid their own way.)

My Mother's Day celebration was lovely. We ate at Brio's. I ordered a panini. That's just a fun word to say, plus it tastes very good. I was very, very pleased. Needless to say, I didn't order broccoli!

My gifts are pictured in the Gallery above. I like getting my hanging baskets on Mother's Day. I have three hooks, and I have three children. To me, it's a no-brainer. They did a good job this year. These flowers are called calibrachoa, and they are golden. I've never seen them before, have you?

Amazing Race is over... Celebrity Apprentice is over... LOST is over... (and, if you believe everything you read, Jon and Kate may be over). All that is left this week is Survivor (which ended last night) and 24 (which ends tonight). See... We watch TV in abundance, but only for eight to ten weeks out of 52. Now there is nothing. We may actually have to talk to each other!

Have I thought of a topic for this week? Yes, I have. But you'll have to check in tomorrow to see what the topic will be. (See. I'm trying that blog teaser thing again. I have found it to be very effective in raising my readership numbers... although this time you might be a little disappointed! See. Yet another teaser.)

Until then, let's party!

Digital Camera Race

NOTE: This party works just as well for boys as it does for girls.

This was last year's end-of-the-year party, and it was so much fun... if you were the winning team.

You need two vans, two parents for each van (one to drive and one to take the pictures), and a set of girls in each van. You will need to make clues that match your area. Each team will begin at the same location, and each team will end at the same location. However, as with all of my scavenger/treasure hunts, one team is working clues 1 through 10 while the other team is working the clues backward (10 to 1). The last clue stays the same for both teams.

These are the clues we used for our Race last year:

1. Go to a place where yellow balls bounce. (LET THE GIRLS GUESS WHERE THEY NEED TO GO BEFORE READING FURTHER.) Somewhere inside your van, you will find a ball and a racquet. Each girl must take a turn hitting the ball to an adult (just once). Take a picture with one girl holding the racquet and the other two girls on either side of her. (Tennis Courts)

2. Go to a restaurant where you love to eat chips and salsa. (LET THE GIRLS GUESS WHERE THEY NEED TO GO.) Once there, go inside with an adult and ask for three sombreros. Go outside on the bench and have your picture taken wearing the sombreros. (RETURN THE SOMBREROS BEFORE GETTING BACK IN THE VAN.) (Habaneros)

3. Go to a place where books are EVERYWHERE. (LET THE GIRLS GUESS WHERE THEY NEED TO GO.) Once inside, find one Hardy Boys Book and check it out with an adult’s library card. Take a picture outside the building on the bench holding the book. (Library)

4. Go to the place where Roxie lives. Look under the mat on the front porch and get one envelope. (DO NOT OPEN THE ENVELOPE UNTIL YOU ARE IN THE CAR.) Take a picture on Roxie’s front steps before getting back into the van. (OPEN THE ENVELOPE AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS INSIDE.)

NOTE: Inside the envelope was the next task. The girls had to go to the Dollar Store and buy three different kinds of candy to share with everyone at the end of the Race. The envelope also contained $5.

5. Go to a place where you can get a drink out of a lion’s mouth. (LET THE GIRLS GUESS.) Take a picture with all the girls standing around the lion. (Moncrief Park)

6. Go to a place where you’ve spent most of your time this past year. In fact, you were there at 8:00 this morning. (LET THE GIRLS GUESS.) Take a picture of all the girls standing near some playground equipment. (Elementary School)

7. Go to a place where white and black balls are kicked around. (LET THE GIRLS GUESS.) Once there, take a picture of the girls beside the fence with the fields behind them. (Soccer Fields)

8. Go to a place where one of your moms does nails. (LET THE GIRLS GUESS.) Take a picture of the girls in the back of the shop by the big tree. (Nail and Hair Salon)

9. Go to a place where you’ve all played in the gym the past 10 or 11 years. (LET THE GIRLS GUESS.) Take a picture of the girls in the gym. (Church Family Life Center)

10. Go to a place where you can take a dip in the summer when it is very hot outside. (LET THE GIRLS GUESS.) Take a picture of the girls beside the gate and/or the sign. (Community Swimming Pool)

11. LAST STOP!!! YOU’VE WORKED HARD!!! NOW GO TO THE PLACE WHERE A SNO-CONE CAN BE BOUGHT TO REFRESH YOUR TIRED, WORN-OUT LITTLE BODIES!! FIRST ONE THERE WITH ALL THE PICTURES WILL WIN!!!! (Snow-Biz)

Once there, everyone ordered a sno-cone and an adult checked the winner's camera to make sure all the pictures were there (IN ORDER) before we declared the winning team. The losing team (my van) was only a minute or so behind the winners.

What also makes this fun is passing the other van as they go in the opposite direction to complete different tasks. It was very inexpensive (except for gas), and it ended with all the girls together talking about their past year and their plans for the summer. (I liked it because it was a no mess, no fuss kind of party. When it was all over, the house was still in tact. Always a plus.)

Have a wonderful Monday. I have a super easy crock pot dinner you can make tomorrow morning and eat tomorrow evening. Did I say SUPER EASY? YES!

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.