Daniel and Loriel's Visit

Last week my nephew and niece, Daniel and Loriel, came to visit. I still had to go to work, but every evening I joined them for something fun. Monday night we went out to Oakley for the play Paint Your Wagon. It was different than the movie, which was nice. But, it had all the same music, which was cool. Our favorite line was when a young girl was trying to convince her dad she wasn't a kid anymore. She told him, "I'm feeling more adulterous everyday." Pretty sure that word doesn't mean what she thinks it does :).

Tuesday we went to the ward summer social where we had sloppy joes and the activity committee rented a bouncy ball castle and a HUGE blow up water slide and sumo wrestling suits. Daniel and Loriel each took a turn trying to pound some of the other kids. As Daniel would say, "Ikimashou!" (ee key ma show), which means Start! in Japanese. Daniel held his own but Loriel would fall over like a feather. She just couldn't get her center of balance. So, so, so fun!


Wednesday night they came over to my house to roast marshmallows and Starbursts. Have you ever had a Starburst roasted over hot coals? They crystallize on the outside and are soft and gooey on the inside. Tasty! Daniel built the fire and Loriel took lots of great pictures with her new camera. My favorite moment was when I heard her pull her latest marshmallow out of the fire, "My first puffy one!" as opposed to her previously 'well-done' ones :).


Thursday Daniel and Loriel caught me on facebook at work (oops!) while they were on Grandma's account looking at Mackley reunion pictures. The funny thing was that I didn't KNOW it was them and not Grandma until the third time Loriel referred to herself as the "most coolest awesomest nicest person." Grandma may think that's true, but she wouldn't have quite... phrased... it in that way :). We made plans to meet up at Gossner for ice-cream cones and dinner at the Upper Crust. I tried a new sandwich, the Turkey Avocado, and yes it was as good as it sounds!

Friday night we celebrated Daniel's birthday Burley-style. We all got together for dinner and Grandma made an oatmeal cake with chocolate chips (don't knock it 'til you try it!) that she used to make for his Dad.

Later Grandma wanted to update her pictures of Daniel and Loriel (they have their own collage frame), so we went to a park in downtown near city hall and the courthouse building for a little photo shoot. I visited my friend Michelle's photography website for ideas and even though they're not as good as a professional (duh!), I still feel pretty happy about them.It was tricky finding shade though. There was one time we were trying to position Daniel so the sun would be on his face and it turned into a game of Mother May I. "Daniel, take one baby step forward. Good; almost there. Now take one baby step to your left. No, YOUR left." Thank goodness they're such good sports! They even each gave me a hug afterward :).


Saturday morning was the highlight of the week as we supported Tricia as she participated in the Spudman (a mile long swim, 25 mile run, and 6 mile run!!!). Originally, she didn't want to make a big deal of it and we were just going to meet her as she came out of the water and transitioned to the bike. However, it was a FAST swim because of the current in that stretch of the river. She could swim it faster than we could walk to the transition :). Needless to say, most of the family missed her coming out of the water because she thought it would take 40 minutes and it only took 25. The kids were disappointed, so Grandma took them out on the bike route and they waited for Tricia to pass and got to cheer her on. I was waiting for her at the next transition and she told me she was feeling great (she was ignoring the fact that she couldn't feel her legs) and she was going to go ahead and finish with the run. The kids had such a great time cheering on Tricia, and we heard several of the athletes thanking them because it was nice to have someone cheering them on enroute. All in all, a fabulous week :)