Turning 10

My little boy is gaining double digit age this weekend.  Still seems funny to me.  I am not that old am I?  Last weekend we went looking for a fun place to have a birthday party for a bunch of boys and boy did we hit the nail on the head.  They had SO much fun.  What a kick.  First we met for lunch at my new favorite burger place.  Family friends of ours run it and the burgers are AMAZING!  If you are in the area and want yummy food and fun people go!  Well worth the drive!
 http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/95/1708004/restaurant/Mom-Pops-Burgers-Boise
We had our camouflage cupcakes there and opened presents.  Of course this took some doing as there were fighter jets doing maneuvers and who wants to eat when you can watch that!  They were having fun.  Then we went down to the Idaho Military History Museum. http://museum.mil.idaho.gov/
Sounds boring - right?  That's what one of the boys told me.  I thought this was going to be a boring party - at a museum.  But it was SO fun!  Outside the museum there are about 7 tanks of various eras parked that you are free to climb all over.  A couple of jeeps.  A beautifully restored ambulance. An amphibious duck troop transport. A bigger troop transport truck.  3 jets.  You can be sure that after all together climbing in on and around all the equipment we soon had a small pretend war going on.  The boys and our lone girl divided into sides - which changed regularly - and with no props of any sort soon were re-fighting several wars.  They were running ... ducking ... "shooting" ... racing the tanks ... and watching for the enemy aircraft - the still maneuvering fighter jets.  They played for about an hour.  Got some water. Went into the museum and saw all the interesting things in there even asking questions and learning some history.  Then back out for more war games.  There was definitely no boring in this party!  They all had a wonderful time and played so well.  What a fun birthday idea this was.  These boys used their imaginations and played with tanks!  What fun.  Happy Birthday!

Fun Time.... visiting.... friends

Had fun visitors this weekend.  My Mom here visiting and we have had fun visiting... planning a birthday party for next weekend...  Going to a friends birthday this afternoon... Having another friend call out of the blue who was on her way through and stop by for dinner...Lots of fun...
Another visit was planned a few weeks ago at my Grandpas funeral.  His good friend was planning to come up to Pendleton for the Roundup and so I said well stop in and see us.  He said OK.  And it was settled.  How fun.  He  showed up at my friends birthday BBQ and started telling stories.  Some of my Grandpa, many of his own... had us all in stitches a few times laughing so hard.  He has traveled all over... done a lot... cowboy all his life... Gone on Safari... Helped tribes in Africa... Shot problem elephants... Lots and lots of stories... It was fun listening... Hearing about a life lived fully... It took me back in time though.  It seemed like I was listening to my Grandpa tell similar stories 10 years ago... Lively... Vibrant ... Brimming... Funny... Hearing stories and visiting with a friend who added richness to my Grandparents lives for years and now is adding to mine.
 It is interesting how life changes.  We meet people who become such a part of our existence that we can't picture life without them.  But looking back we lived without them for so long.  Now they add to our lives a rich fullness.  I am so grateful for the friends we have made ... for the lives so intertwined with ours that going for fun birthdays, coffee, Christmas, lunch, whatever is just part of how life changes and adds to the richness of all our lives.  I am grateful for the friends I have.  Those I call... see... text... Skype... regularly.  We all bring a richness and many blessings to a friendship. 

Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this.    - Henry Ford