The Platt Family

Monday, August 1, 2011

Danielle turns 5!

Big girl turned 5.....how in the world do I have a 5-yr. old?!?!? In keeping with our busy, crazy theme this summer, the party was the day after VBS. Lots of fun! Yes, I made the cake, no, I didn't do the food. Brooke's Pizza did the food. And Amy brought an AMAZING amount of cut fruit!!! (where does she find the time with 5 kids?)

Ever since last year's Cinderella cake, Danielle has been requesting an Aurora (that's Sleeping Beauty for those not Disney-princess-inclined) cake. I tried getting her to change her mind, but she knew EXACTLY what she wanted.....and I figured that I don't have much longer to make these cakes, so why not?

And the presents begin....

Seriously, we had LOTS of people there....

Here's Jessie!!

....watching whatever is next...

Did I mention there were LOTS of people?

Ashley and Emily decided to entertain themselves....

What cuties!!

Yeah, the house was full. It was GREAT!!!! Thank you everyone for coming, and for those who couldn't, you were missed!!!!

Sunday, July 31, 2011

....the missing week of VBS!

There's a week of our lives missing here. It was for VBS!!! We had a great time....and were so busy that neither of us had a camera. Probably a good idea in Bob's case as he led the outdoor games....and they involved water. Sometimes LOTS of water. I did hear that there were some cute pictures of the girls and us, but I haven't been able to track them down. So here's a general idea of what each day looked like during VBS:

7:30 - make sure Bob and I are out of bed. (This is a big deal as I've stayed up WAY too late preparing for Rowdy Wrap-Up.)

7:50 - get the girls out of bed. (Another big deal as they usually get out of bed around 8:30.) Get everyone downstairs for breakfast....and coffee. Lots of coffee.

8:15 - get everyone in the car. Make sure Bob and I BOTH have whatever we prepped the night before. Make sure the kids actually get buckled in as we're a bit distracted.

8:30 - be at church. Drop Ashley off with Tricia and the toddler(s). Drop Danielle off with Maria to learn some of the songs and motions. Go to volunteer devotions. Remember to make whatever announcements need to be made. Find homes for everyone there that day....ask for patience many, many times. Try not to look like a deer in the headlights. Remember to smile!

9:00 - make sure all the kids checking in go to the right group, check with leaders to make sure they have all the materials they're supposed to have. Remember to stop freaking out and go to the front following the singing and open in prayer and dismiss the kids and make any announcements needed.

10:00-11:15 - track down whatever materials I need for Rowdy Wrap-Up and recruit volunteers from Bob's team. Remember to tell the recruits what they're doing and when. Don't panic. Try to be helpful. Copy the next day's newsletter.....make sure it's finished. Line up someone to close the day in prayer.

11:35-12:00 - Rowdy Wrap-Up! Have fun leading the kids through what they learned that day. Be goofy. Have fun. Have someone close in prayer. Turn OFF the wireless microphone. Stuff the crew bags with the next day's newsletters.
Go home and have lunch.
Finish the next newsletter. Start prepping the next day's Rowdy Wrap-Up.
Sleep.

Repeat.
For 5 days.

I was exhausted. Bob was tired. Danielle was totally excited. Ashley learned to not have a morning nap.
Good times!

4th of July!

Happy Birthday, USA!!

We were able to have a nice relaxing day this year....we pretty much did nothing for most of the day. I DID remember to get strawberry soda and vanilla ice cream for Bob....so he shared his strawberry float tradition with the girls. Totally forgot to take a picture of it. My bad.

But we did get to see Grandpa Pat and Uncle Rudy!

And then we set up on the lawn of Shen campus to wait for FIREWORKS!

Bob and the girls took a little rest...

....how cute are they?!?! (yes, ALL of them!)

....Awwwww....

.....and I even got some cuddle-time in! And then it got dark and we didn't take any more pictures.

....and on to June!

With Bob traveling we sometimes get a chance to go visit him and have some extra fun! This time we visited the aquarium in Boston.....and discovered that Danielle is just about terrified out of her wits by large sharks and whales hanging from the ceiling. When it's RIGHT inside the door, it makes for inventive parenting. Bob gets all the credit for the day not being a disaster as he had a bit more patience than I did sitting outside watching the sea lion....for over an hour. All said and done, we had a great time (minus the few roadbumps) and got to see some cool stuff.

Boston!

Posing....then I proceeded to break the camera. We finally got it working again and we were able to get....

Bob and the girls!

.....and we enter the Marine Mammal exhibit. And there we stayed for a VERY long time. First Mommy got to go wander around inside alone....

....while Daddy entertained the girls.....

....and they were fascinated with this guy:

....he was out of the pool for about 5 minutes....

....and then we convinced Danielle to go back inside and watched PENGUINS!! Very cool museum. Just beware the hanging whale shark -- little girls are scared of it.

Then a trip to Cousins' House!

Every year we take a trip to visit Marc and Sonja over Mother's Day weekend.....with Grandma visiting, it's the one day of the year that she gets to have both kids and all her grandkids under one roof!