Missing my baby!

Well, it has been a week now since Coshell left for Utah to be with her dad. I cant lie and say that Im not enjoying a quiet house...but I do really miss her! Those of you in Utah, I will give you her contact information and maybe she can come up and play with the kids.?. She would really love to see her cousins! She was very bummed that she wont be able to go to the reunion. Her dad signed her up for Cheer Camp at the same time as the reunion. She actually cried and said she would rather go with us, but the camp was already paid for. Next year!! I have gotten two phone calls from her since her departure and she sounds very sad. This makes my heart cry! But, alas, I am making it through!

For the reunion, I have been put in charge of Breakfast Saturday morning, with Gabe and Jens help. And what a breakfast it will be!! We have to fill everyone up good because we will all need plenty of energy for the games. The games that I am also in charge of (with Holly's help)! Let me just tell you, it will be our own little version of 'survivor' or 'big brother', which ever show you like. Because our family is in NO way competitive! It is going to be SOOOO much fun! I have officially named it "Pinnock Family Battle of the Bad-Bums" (because it would be inappropriate to call ourselves Bad-Ass's with all the little children around.) It will be complete with penalties and prizes (including a big one-of-a-kind trophy made my yours truly) I wish I could give you more details but it would be unfair for the rest of the family! All I can tell you is, do your stretches, physically and mentally! I am so excited for this!! I know you guys are looking forward to the Basket Ball game but, it will pale in comparison!!!

I have also thought of the little kiddies. The games are actually designed so that EVERYONE can join in, BUT the little ones that wont take defeat, or getting yelled at (in an excited way only of course) very well, I have made a HUGE twister game, and a tiny activity bag for them. Once the winning team has been crowned, the games continue with a friendly game (is there such a thing in the Pinnock family) of volley ball. HOWEVER...not a conventional game. Details to be released on a need to know basis, and right now, you dont need to know! :)

I cant wait to post pictures of it when we get back! We will probably all have the same pix but oh well.

Bitter Sweet

Summer...This is the time of year when kids are singing "No more pencils, no more books..." and parents are gearing up for vacations. Camping trips, Disneyland, reunions.

As for me...While I am so excited to see the sun and feel the temperatures go up, my heart breaks. But wait...lets start at the beginning.

Friday the 13th of June, was the last day of school! Who thought of that??? Anyway, I promised Coshell I would take her and a friend to the Drive-In. (What possesses me with these ideas???) We waited until Monday, so there would be less people. Coshell chose her very best friend in the whole world, her BFF (I told her that if you sound it out, it sounds like she is calling her a fart noise, but thats just me). We went to the dollar store and loaded up on treats. There is no better place than Dollar Tree!!! Once we picked up Aeryal, we were off to the boat.

When we got to the Island, we picked up Grammy and headed to the Drive-In. We were so excited to drive the go-karts and play video games and we got there in plenty of time for both. It was a beautiful evening but it was windy and very chilly. No one noticed at first. Grammy helped me set up the back of my car with a pad, and blankets and the girls set up their lawn chairs and sleeping bags. They made sure that ALL their treats were within reach at all times!


Once everything was set up, we went to drive the go-karts...but they werent running them that night! WHAT??? What were we going to do for the next 2 hours? Well, the arcade was going to have to do. IT WAS LOCKED UP! This could not be happening. Was there really going to be a movie???? They finally let us into the arcade, the only arcade in the country that only costs ONE TOKEN per game and not FOUR! Not only that, a lot of the games spit out tickets depending on your score which you can then trade in for prizes. The girls found their favorite game, a light runs a circle and you hit a button to stop the light, then depending on where it stops you get tickets. The girls were getting 10 here and 10 there...Grammy was wracking up points on the skee ball game. All of a sudden, a siren and bells go off and lights were flashing. I turned to see Aeryal standing there shocked. It was spitting out tickets like crazy. It just kept going and going! She had hit "Jackpot". In all, she won 300 tickets, and Coshell had 150. This did not sit well with Coshell but she moved on (eventually). Then it was time for them to trade them in for toys and treats. That took forever!! 5 tickets for this, 20 tickets for that...the poor kid behind the counter was patient. We finally left with tattoos, candy, balloons, stickers, and a sticky hand that I continued to get hit with. Then it was time to entertain ourselves until the movies began.

The girls had bag races, bag dances, rolled down hills (for a long time we didnt have ANY cars near us). They were giggling so much they couldnt breath. It was a lot of fun to watch! The girls began to get impatient for the movie to begin. We let them into the car with us for a while.

Grammy and the girls

The sun is finally going down! So is the temperature! The cartoons started and the girls were so excited! Grammy remembered back to when she used to go to the movies, and they had played the same cartoons and ads. Finally the movie started. First movie: KungFu Panda. It was hilarious! Gotta LOVE Jack Black!

As cold as it got, the girls were determined to stay in their chairs.

Where did they go???

Once I offered to turn the heater on, they were in the car in a flash! It was tight but fun and we could all see! We had a bathroom run after the first movie and they were actually awake enough for the second. We saw MOST of Narnia. Enough to say it was a good movie and that I would really like to see it again.

By the time we got back to Grammy's house, it was 2:30am and there were still giggly! I didnt hear the giggles stop until 3am or so! Who gave them sugar? For shame!

I got up at 10:30 and they were still asleep. Grammy started to make breakfast and I went out to clean the car. WOW! What a mess! Apperantly the smell of breakfast woke them up pretty quick! We had chocolate chip pancakes, sausage, hashbrowns and eggs. MMMMM! The girls hardly touched it. They were too busy planning their play. Grammy and I were entertained with a fashion show as well.

On our way to the boat, we stopped off at "castle park" for a short time. The girls had fun getting lost and working off the rest of the sugar that some irresponsible soul fed them.

I told the girls to wave, and the little boy turned with excitement and waved too! :)

The girls had such a good time! It was sad when it was over, to hear Coshell say "I guess I will see you next school year" as she sadly walked away from her best friend.
It is so hard for me to have to give up my baby for the entire summer! I am so glad though, that we are able to make these wonderful and fun memories for her to take with her (and to ensure that she will want to come home :) )

I really hope that all you family members in Utah will get a chance to see her at some point. Let me know how shes doing.