A very busy...hot...exhausting...fun...day

We left the house at 9:00 this morning (15 minutes late!), went to Roger's parents house to pick up Ari and Franklin, and drop off Ian and Miles, and switch out vans. Our van has been overheating after being taken to the shop twice, so I didn't feel comfortable driving it 45 minutes! We met our new friends and had a great time walking around and seeing the animals. We decided to take a break and go to our vans to grab our picnic lunch and had a nice lunch in the wonderful shade. The kids couldn't wait to play in the splash park, so we applied a second coat of sunscreen and headed to the water. They loved it! Nastia really enjoys the water and isn't afraid of it getting in her face at all. She came over periodically just to "check in," I would ask her if she was done and she would shake her head no, and head back to the water. After a long time at the splash park everyone got fairly dry and we went to ride the train. All of the kids were really excited about it! Nastia stood up on the train a few times to look back at me with a huge smile on her face.

On the way back to grandma's to pick up the little guys we stopped for an ICEE, which is always a hit. Cherry is Nastia's favorite! We picked up the little guys, switched out vans again and headed home. I had to pull off of the highway because the van was overheating and making this jerking action. Not good! I finally decided to take off again, but had a hard time keeping the van started. Nastia was watching all of this, but didn't seem to care. We had to pull off the road a second time and then I began praying and begging God to just get us home. Roger was at least 45 minutes away and we were still too far away to walk home. I was getting really nervous. The van was not running well at all and I was so afraid it was going to die and not restart. Then, the rpm's would not go up. Let me just say that I have never been so thankful to get HOME!!! The van is back to the shop tomorrow!

After we got home Nastia helped me get everything out of the van. I'm not sure how many times I can say what a great helper she is!!! It was time to fix dinner, but I was still hot, and not feeling great and not feeling too excited about cooking. I decided to fix grilled cheese, and Nastia never left my side. I let her butter the bread and then she cut the sandwiches as they came off the griddle. She served everyone their plates, but Franklin came home from the zoo with a fever and earache, so he decided not to eat. She had no problem eating his sandwich, too! She really liked the grilled cheese! Of course, we had fruit and juice and I was shocked as she grabbed the orange slices to help herself tonight. That was great!

She just got out of her bubble bath. She got to take a bubble bath last night, too and really enjoyed it. When I asked her tonight if she wanted a bubble bath she said, "YES!" with a sparkle in her eye!

Nastia just let me know that she needs to cut her toenails! She and Lauren want to repaint toenails and fingernails before they go to bed, so I am off to help the girls!

Thank you to our new friends for joining us today!!! We had a great time and look forward to seeing you again very soon!