Party time... again

E at morning swim lessons

Today we started our second session of swim lessons. E is in level 2 and N in level 3. N ended up with the same teacher, Cody, from the last session, so he was happy. A was not happy. She was not enrolled in swim lessons this time. Instead, I had to hear her complain for half an hour about being hungry and "what can I do?". I brought crayons and coloring book, but evidently thirty minutes is too long for a two-year-old to be expected to color.

Afterwards, I headed home to pack lunches for a "just because" party at one of E's classmates (Randon's) house. The invitations said...Please bring bathing suit, a towel, sunscreen, a packed lunch, drinks and 25 or more filled water balloons. Did I mention that V and N spent an hour and a half filling 237 water balloons last night? The results of their labor of love lasted the kids about 15 minutes today! Sometimes you really have to work hard in order to have fun!

This is what 237 water balloons looks like...

Don't ask me why I didn't realize they had a pool, but I didn't bring my swim suit. I don't know the family and the invitation was not specific. So for a little while I sat at pool's edge and dipped my feet in the shallow end, but a majority of the time was spent on the patio being eyed by "Pepper" the dog. He/she stayed near me during most of the party (perhaps it was the large "packed lunch" I had under my chair, or perhaps the three messy eaters who frequented this bag throughout the party). Either way, the dog was there to stay! E had a great time with her best friend Hannah. Hannah came sporting a hot pink cast, which had to be wrapped in Saran Wrap and a plastic bag (it worked). Hannah should get her cast off just in time for Kindergarten this fall! Good thing, because she's right-handed. N didn't want to get out of the pool at all today. I had to coerce him to get out to eat his sandwich. After we left for home, he spent the remainder of the day telling me he "couldn't see anymore". I think he developed a case of chemical conjunctivitis. Both the older kids seem to be ultra-sensitive to chlorine, and have ultra-sensitive skin in general. Cases I refer to: The four mosquito bites gone bad (N ended up on 10 days antibiotics and using the strongest topical corticosteroid they have). Also E's lip augmentation gone wrong (when she decided to paint her lips with mommy's supershiny and glittery lip gloss yesterday, her lips blew up to three times normal size, and we had to give her three doses of benadryl to normalize things). Well, Hopefully N's vision will return in the morning, else we'll have to make a trip to the doctor. He needs to start wearing his goggles!

Pepper the dog

E and her best friend Hannah

Tonight for dinner I made my favorite salad: Mediterranean Asparagus and Tomato Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette (a recipe my friend Kat copied for me from her Costco cookbook) and V's favorite, french onion soup (I love it too). I found a very easy recipe online. For dessert, I finally broke in my stoneware fluted pan from Pampered Chef and made the Chocolate Velvet Cake with Strawberries recipe I found in the latest Seasons Best Recipe book. It is one you cook in the microwave. This is my first time ever cooking a cake in the microwave! It was tasty, but I might have cooked it one minute too long, it turned out a little dry. I wonder what it would have tasted like had I baked it in the oven? Also, I think a spot of rum added to the mix or chocolate glaze might have tasted heavenly.

Chocolate Velvet Cake with Strawberries

After dinner (and dessert) I headed over to the mall for a Gymboree run. This Thursday starts Gymbucks redemption time, my friend Stacey (who works there) suggested I come in and pick out what I want to buy now and put it on hold before all the sizes I need are gone. So I took her advice, probably broke a few rules and started my back-to-school shopping a little early. I'm sure there are plenty of people who do it this way, because usually I have a hard time finding my kids' sizes!