All the Other stories

These pictures didn't really fit anywhere else, so I'm adding them here.

My mom and a I drove up to Owosso for a rummage sale.  It's only about an hour away, but far enough that we wanted to explore a little bit afterward.  We ended up in the most organized junk shop ever.  Things were piled together, but the aisles were tall and packed and layered with any number of items!  It wasn't dirty or smelly as these places can be, but there was a LOT to look at.  The gentlemen ran a sign store too, and so there were signs for every occasion!  Naturally, when I saw Hank Williams, I had to take a picture* to share with Billy! 

And I've officially read the CB Strike series too many times, because my first thought was, oh, would this be something he could use? lol. 

After a doctor's appointment in Charlotte, I had around 40 unplanned minutes before the thrift shops opened.  Thankfully, there was a Biggby nearby, and so I got some coffee to enjoy before going shopping! 

Billy and I went to Beerfest at the Ballpark last weekend.  It was a chilly day, but didn't rain on us like the last Beerfest we went to!

I do love the setup of this stadium (even though their purse policy drives me crazy**.)

These seats were different, and we don't know why, but the red part is chipping paint, so they were green to match the other seats once upon a time.  My guess is that they are for someone being honored there that game?  There was no placard, and I feel like I don't end up at many baseball games here, but plenty of events!

Two of the revelers had some fancy accessories!   There was a guy in a beer hat.

And a guy with beer stein socks!!  They were way cool.  But it was a chilly day, so he might have suffered in the name of fashion. 

The pizza was served in base shaped boxes!  So cute. = )

This 'modern' design totally makes me think of my childhood, when we had 70s leftovers.

Our Uber driver dropped us off right at the entrance, but we thought it might be a little tricker for them to find where to pick us up, so we walked the mile down to a bar called Leroy's that Billy has wanted to visit for forever!  

We crossed under 496, and between the roads, rivers, and bike lanes, the space underneath the interstate is totally broken up!

When we arrived, it turns out that even my mom has been here before us!  Despite sounding like a dive bar, it was actually more of a diner!  That wasn't a bad thing, but we were tired and not terribly hungry, so we ordered and took it to go.

And our Uber driver, Elvis, had no problem finding where to collect us.

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I'm retelling a story that my mom told me from last week, because I would like to laugh about it for years to come.

One day when my mom collected Emily from track, Emily was telling her that she was pulled out of class for a superlatives picture! She was voted "Most Likely to Save the World." My mom obviously thought that was pretty cool, but when she said as much to Emily, Emily responded, yeah, it would be, except that last year Alice was voted "Most Likely to Take Over the World."

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During a different week, for lunch Billy and I went to Dagwoods.  We didn't have any expectations, so they had a fighting chance, but it turns out that they are really good!  It is a total dive bar, and the decor makes it look like you are on the 'outside;' just like in Night at the Roxbury!  Though, the outside doesn't look like the inside.

Billy's olive burger didn't come with a tray or plate or anything, just wrapped in wax paper!  Apparently, Billy wasn't ready for me to take a picture. lol.

My Philly cheesesteak was the best I've had since moving up here!  Now I know where to go when I have a craving!

On the first day of walking Alice, Emily, William, Grace, and Juliet to either their bus stops or school, I stopped on the way home for an iced latte from our little shop here in town.  It totally hit the spot, and made a beautiful day even better!

Kristy was telling us about the price of common painkillers increasing with the tariffs going into effect.  While I'm not terribly concerned, it was a cheap enough purchase to keep and store, just in case.

For reading night, Emily came with me, because I thought I was running a book sale in the library, and I wanted the twins to have someone they could quickly reach out to if they needed someone.  The sale ended up not happening, so I was able to attend with them after all!

The blacklight pens were so popular, they had to shut the room down before the event was over!

Comparing answers.  Don't we all wish we could have a twin!?

Grace playing a different game with Renae.

And Emily participated a bit, but in lieu of her peers spent time on phone.

My haul from the Mason Methodist Church and Mason Presbyterian Church sales!

One of my best rummage sale finds, so far, this season was a snap circuit kit! William played with it all evening, and included Grace when she was home.  This must have been on the Reading night!

I got a heart shaped chip!

I was nearby a restaurant that had 'famed' Dubai bar desserts.  I tried it, but was not super impressed.  I liked it enough to later buy one from Horrocks that was much better!  The inside was more of a nougat, vs the crunchy feel of the one pictured here.

Heleena had her birthday party, the weekend before the twins', at the Charlotte pool!  It was a really neat party, and her mom said that it wasn't very expensive!  Maybe our next party can be there!  Everyone in this picture was at the twins' party the following week, plus a few more. = )

Juliet and Kennedy spent the most time in the pool while I was there!

It's been a fun month, and May is looking just as enjoyable! = )

later days

*for $22 a picture was preferable to buying the sign which would essentially just be junk, as it has nowhere to go!

**only tiny purses, 4x6 maybe?, are allowed, or slightly larger clear ones.  That's fine, but men have cargo shorts that are literally larger than that!  I don't understand how my purse is more of a security issue than a man's pocket.  It always seems to be cold when we go, but sometime, I swear I'm going to wear men's cargo pants and hove my purse into one pocket and my skirt into another, just to see what happens.

Grace and Juliet's 10th Birthday Party Sleepover

Earlier in the year, Juliet's BFF Kennedy and her mom were in a car accident.  Kennedy was released to school a few weeks later (her mom has had a much longer recovery) in a wheelchair and cast.  Juliet really wanted Kennedy to come for the sleepover, so we waited until she was out of her cast to have the party.  So, despite their birthday being in April, their party was in June.

In the days leading up to the party, we painted rocks (a rock for every occasion!)

And the girls filled up some goodies bags.

I saw some cute little hot pads at a thrift store one day, and thought they would make adorable sleeping bag invitations!  So, I sewed them up the side and cut out a 'girl shaped' invitation to slide inside, then rolled them.  I was pleased.

This picture is included somewhere else in the blog too, but I thought I'd add it again.

Each time I encountered unicorns or rainbows or anything that screamed twin party, I bought it for their party.  We also reused some of the decorations from their class publishing party, like the streamers, and glass cups!

The streamers were harder to put up and take down this time, since I was using straight pins and a hammer instead of the original adhesive, it looked so good, that it was absolutely worth it!

We didn't have any games or activities planned, so they mostly just hung out and entertained each other.

Grace got a lot of Hello Kitty stuffies for her birthday!

They liked the bubbles from Zoey!

William was quite the sport, considering he was now outnumbered 9:1!

We also reused the drink fountain, with limes added for that little extra flavor.  The splash radius is wild though, and the counter and floor were both so wet by the end of the day!

Everyone taking an electronic break.

The American girl dolls got some play, when they set up the entirety of accessories around the room!

Table was reset for breakfast the next morning. 

Since all the plates and bowls matched, we marked them with these cute little llamas that I got for mother's day last year!

I finally crashed around one in the morning, but heard them up by 7.  So, they didn't get much sleep!

Despite planning these as a 'craft' I opted to just make them.  The ones without bears just have chocolate centers!

 I think my girls had a great time, and hope that their guests did too!  It was crazy and loud, but wonderful to have so many friends come to celebrate with Grace and Juliet!

later days

you can see their actual birthday here.

edit 7-21-24: backdated for continuity.