Forsbergapalooza, Part 1--chaos abounds

This weekend I went up the suburbs where my mom, brother, and sister-in-law hosted the first ever Forsbergapalooza--a get together for my generation of cousins but, because we're nice, our parents were invited too! And we threw in a few extra people too.

Michael was a great help as we set up for the party.  He filled the coolers full of pop.  He was so cute.  Mom would hand him a can and he would say "Tay Too!" and throw it in (literally).

And you have to stop and sample the goods while you work!

Gianna loves my brother.  She would just smile at him and bat those beautiful eyes and get him to do just about anything!

ZuZu was in heaven eating the water all day!  She was one wore out pup that evening and the next day.  I hardly saw her move!

Picking up water balloon leftovers.  And a general picture of the chaos that was the backyard all day.

Nobody likes the photographer.  My aunt Kathy and I shared the privilege of taking pictures with my brother's awesome camera.  Two seconds after this picture, I got shot in the head!

Charlotte loved the sandbox.  She would dump it and squeal!

More chaos.  Nerf gun wars.  And Landon (bottom left) oblivious to it all.

Michael was also oblivious to it all...or hiding from it all...or just generally happy to put a bucket on his head.

Push, Michael, Push!

Again with the face.  Both Gianna and Michael were trying to get Chris to take a bite of their popsicles.  And amusing themselves while they did it.

Landon playing on the tractor.  Also a bundle of cuteness.  Basically...a lot of cuteness was had all day long.

The chaos on the porch.  The adults steered clear of the backyard as much as possible to avoid the dangers of water and nerf guns and light sabers.

Michael enjoying a little sucker. I love this picture because you can see his cute baby teeth.

Bouquets of Sharpened Pencils

I have always been a sucker for the school supply aisle in fall.  Especially if I can find cute school supplies.  Why buy cheap and sensible, if you can get cute and over-priced?

I mean, why would I go for sensible, durable, black or blue for the 1 1/2 inch binder I will need this year for Bible study, when I could get cute green/blue plaid?

WITH polka dots on the inside.  Even if it might not hold up as well.  And it might not have a pocket on the inside.  It's still cute, right? :)

Weather we can agree on

I think I surprised Emily today when she walked in the door and I asked her if she wanted to go to Grandview Drive. But it is a perfect weather day outside.  And there are few days in a year, like maybe 5, that both Emily and I would call perfect weather days!  Granted, I had to sit in the shade and Emily was happy to be in the sun, but we were both content.

And we had a gorgeous view.

And there were even some sailboats on the river.

I brought several things to do.  I'm kind of ADHD when it comes to being outside.  And I move around a lot.

I started on my stomach so I could do my 1 John Bible study, since I had to write.

And then I laid on my back for a while when I started reading a different book.  But the sun started to get in my eyes and when I would underline, my pen wouldn't work because it was tilted backward...

...so I switched to sitting.

I kept losing my shade and moved my blanket at least once, but I was not complaining.  The sun felt good and there was a cool breeze.

I've been kind of nostalgic about college lately, maybe because its almost back to school time.  But sitting outside in the afternoon reading reminded me a lot of college.  We had a beautiful campus and would often "hop a plane to Hawaii," which was our term for the front lawn on a gorgeous day.  There were other key places to meet people for an afternoon of study, like Jamaica.  Just different places on campus that appealed to us.  The funny thing is, this blanket I am sitting on was the same one I took to Hawaii way back in college.  It travels in my car for just such an occasion!

Happy Perfect Weather Day!

Arizona photo shoot on the Riverfront

Saturday after the park, we headed down to the river front to get some pictures of all the kids in their Mission Peoria shirts, plus Dad and Amy.

Amy asked her friend Kelly to take the pictures, so I was just taking pictures for my own enjoyment

While they were regrouping, I took a picture of the bridge.  I love how the sky is the perfect color and the sun was in just the right place to make this picture look almost puzzle quality.

Kelly was a trouper and allowed a couple of boys to foist her into this piece of art so she could do a shot from above.

I was slightly amused by the whole process.

Funny picture!

Getting instructions from Amy about how to pose for the next picture.

The following shots are jumping shots.  I remembered I had a continuous shot button on my camera, so these are most of the pictures in one sequence.  They crack me up every time I page through them one by one.

As you can see, Austen (3rd from the right) jumped the gun while we were counting.  He is slightly ahead of things in all of the shots.

In the picture below, Austen is at his prime.

Josh's face and Antonio's pose were my favorites.  I also love that the girls and Dad and Amy appear oblivious to everything going on behind them.

Dad...pay attention!

Overall, a good looking group.

At the Park

After Backpack Peoria ended Saturday afternoon, Operation Keep Lots of Teenagers Occupied began. So, we thought we'd let them run off some excess energy (how they even had excess energy after a week of little sleep and constant activity is beyond me!) at the park.

How many teenagers can you fit on a wooden platform that moves?  I love Josh's face in this picture.

Chris in the tires.

Glen Oak Park is a huge wooden structure.  The group had fun playing follow the leader around the structure and performing stunts over and through and around the entire thing.  See how high Antonio is?  He is like a monkey when he climbs!

Josh was kind of like a monkey too, trying to climb this to get into the window.  See the kid in the yellow?  He was a random kid at the park but he and his friend could easily scale this wall.  It made Josh and Antonio determined to do it also.

Group picture from above.

Star and Max :)

As part of follow the leader, they all had to cross the monkey bars. Even Daynah tried!

And Star...

And Joseph...well, he tried.

And just for fun...a picture of my sparkly blue toes :).  They make me happy.

Backpack Peoria--Last Day of Mission Peoria

For as many years as Dad and Amy have been bringing kids for Mission Peoria, I've never gone down to the Dream Center on Saturday to witness BackPack Peoria.  It is a sight to behold!

The above picture is my attempt at a panoramic picture (I always miss the last few frames for some reason, which is why there is gray space).  Since it is so small, it is hard to see, but this is the line of people waiting to get backpacks for their kids.

Not only is the line outside, but it winds up a flight of stairs and down a hallway inside!  Dad said they heard people lining up as early as 4:30am.

The Mission Peoria kids entertained the crowd while they waited.  Above, Joseph is swinging the jump rope.

A pile of backpacks.  Besides getting backpacks, there was also a whole section of the gym where kids could meet school staff.  There were also representatives from a lot of different organizations in the community.  And kids could get physicals and dental checkups.  And every kid got a school uniform shirt as well.  3500 backpacks were packaged during the week to give out to the kids!

Dad and Josh.  I keep trying to pretend Josh is not that tall!

Josh and Daynah.  They love each other. :)

Josh and Daynah sat on the floor and about five seconds later, this girl came sliding up next to them.  She saw Josh's iPod and asked if he had games on it.  Then she asked if she could play the games!  She was pretty cute, but I thought for sure they would have a crowd surrounding them in no time at all!

The Best T-Shirt Ever Made

I was also going to name this post "Nostalgia."  This t-shirt was from a band that my college roommate was in when she was in high school.  I can't remember how much I paid for the t-shirt, but I'm sure that I thought it was a lot of money at the time.  I was in high school, after all.  I wore the t-shirt as a main part of my wardrobe for many years.  And then I wore it occasionally.  It stays in my closet out of nostalgia, although I learned yesterday that the t-shirt still fits me.  The t-shirt is also older than my brother.  Literally.  And it has held up so well.  Besides the lettering wearing out a little bit, there is not even a hint of holes in this shirt.  It amazes me every time I see it.  It must be super high tech fabric or something!  I wore the shirt yesterday and enjoyed the memories that it brought with me.

I was going to include a cassette tape of the band's, but I couldn't find it.  It must be stored in a very safe place.  If I find it, I'll post about that too! :)