Scooper Bowl 2009

I almost aborted mission to the Scooper Bowl this morning as we were standing at the bus stop in the pouring rain with two not-so-rested children. Before the code red alarm sounded, I talked myself into pressing on, because if we didn't make it today, we would have to wait a WHOLE year to try again.



The Scooper Bowl is an all-you-can-eat ice cream love fest (and raises money for cancer research). We ate all we could. I was wishing I had elastic waist pants like my kids had on.

Best Ice Cream
Ben & Jerry's "Strawberry Cheesecake"

Runner Up
Baskin Robbin's "Peppermint Patty"

Nastiest Ice Cream
Baskin Robbin's "Cotton Candy" & "Rock n Roll Swirl"

Our Scooper Bowl trophy (a collection of all our ice cream cups...18!)

Lest you think I'm that irresponsible of a parent, I will tell you I only let the kids sample a small bite out of each cup and threw the rest of the ice cream away...even the good flavors. Turns out diminishing marginal returns holds true with ice cream too!

Miraculously, both kids fell asleep in the car on the way home. It must be the sugar crash. Maybe I will feed them ice cream for lunch everyday.

Newport, RI

We found another New England gem this weekend. A Chowda' Festival took us to Newport, RI and it was love at first sight. Now we're just waiting for any friends or family to visit so we can show you all our New England treasures.

When you visit us, we'll take you to Newport. The day will unfold something like this....sailing, fresh seafood lunch, explore some mansions and lighthouse, and finish the day off with an ice cream cone walk on the wharf. Any takers?!?!?



We also visited with one of Christian's old mission companions in CT, who is totally posing in this picture.

"Give Me Cookie!! Yum, yum, yum, yum."

Don't try this at home, but its ok in the hotel

All in a Day's Work

I assigned James to take care of the little...

weed and...

rock problem in our garden.

Do I Stop This?

Tara: What are you doing?

Daniel: Making a swimming pool.

Engineer vs. Nature vs. Turf Diving

Now we have cleared out the shrubs and vinca, the rock is not aesthetically located. Stay tuned to see who wins the intense battle. All three competitors bring different strengths to the battle field. It is a battle of sweat, mind, and muscle (engineer) vs. stubborness (rock) vs. sheer enjoyment (Daniel).

If I were a betting woman, I would bet on the mind...sorry honey, your guns aren't that big...almost big enough though.