Lightening, Pizza, Burgers & Bows

Last Wednesday night we received some MUCH needed rain. Lena and Ari were asleep but CC, Emil and I were still up. First we heard a light drizzle and then it started hitting in the fireplace. We didn't really expect it to do much more. We were wrong! It started thundering and lightening like crazy. Our wonderful neighbor had his stupid bug zapper on and it kept making these weird noises and we worried that it might short out with all the rain. Then we heard this massive "BOOM" and I saw a reddish/orange flash from one side of the house to the other. I completely expected the lights to go out but the didn't. We just knew it was Joe's bug zapper. A few minutes later CC told me there were firetrucks outside.

It turns out that a 43,000 watt bolt his my neighbor Janie's chimney cap two houses down from mine. It traveled down her chimney, through her foundation and exited by her water heater. Poor Janie. She was all alone when it happen. She slipped and fell in the garage. She will have to be out of her house for a couple of months while all her pipes and plumbing is repaired. I was talking with her the other morning and we both agreed that she was so blessed to not have anything worse happen, she could not have a house, or worse yet, not even be here!

Thursday we loaded the girls up and took them to Incredible Pizza to eat and play. Mom also took the girls to see Judy Moody. They LOVED it!

Of course Ari was stuck like glue to CC. And if you remember THIS post, we sat at the same booth, only this time it was bolted to the wall!!

I love the diner room. I love the oldies music they play there. I love that we can just sit and talk and laugh and drink coffee. We always have a great time when we go!

The girls wanted to go to the arcade. I never realized how big it was. It's huge! They have bumper cars, a race track, bowling, skee ball, you name it! The girls were so excited to race! They might not look like it here.......

but they sure do here!

Lena won first place in the race. Here she is with her black ribbon!

It was Thursday after pizza that we took Ari with us to Austin and she went wild!

Friday we stayed in much of the day. It was hot, sticky and humid. Friday afternoon Papa Bear took us girls to Chester's Hamburgers for dinner.

This might be my favorite photo of Lena and Emil.

They seriously have THE BEST burgers and fries! Seriously!

Ari definitely enjoyed herself. After her chili dog she helped herself to my burger!

I LOVE the decor in Chesters. Near the door, that blue machine is an old five cent candy machine. It's too cute!

Saturday I took Ari to the mall. She had been wanting to go. She begged her mom for highlights but her mom said no. So she found a blue clip in extension at Hot Topic that she fell in love with. I snapped this photo of her wearing it later in the day at the grocery store.

I also took her to Homestead Handcrafts, one of my favorite places to shop! I fell in love with this cute sign. It was right by the front door and I am thinking I need to go back and buy it and hang it above my shoes in my closet! HA!

Ari fell in love with the bow section..... I wish my girls were still into bows. It is a sad, sad day when they outgrow them!

Saturday evening Emil grilled out some steaks for us. One steak is from Costco the other from a local grocer, H-E-B, can you tell why we usually buy our steaks from Costco?

Sunday after Austin our friends Nic and Gina invited us to their pool. I felt so bad because Ari had been looking forward to swimming but she went home with Mom after church and it was too late to go get her. We sat by the pool and chatted. It was so nice and relaxing. Their pool is just beautiful! They have a splash park and two lazy rivers.... so nice! As we were getting out we saw a frog in the water. It kept trying to jump out but had nothing to grab onto. CC hopped back in and helped the froggie out with her shoe!

And today Ari went home. This was one last snap shot of her and Mom before she left.

I miss the little stinker already. I told her I was going to keep her and name her Sarah. She loved it!! She said she will be back before school starts. I sure hope so because I feel like we didn't get to do enough together.

Today the girls and I cleaned like crazy. I mean we really cleaned up and down. We moved things around in the garage. Cleaned out the animal eating area, swept, mopped, washed dishes, organized shoes and shoe racks, washed endless amounts of clothes, cooked dinner.... I am exhausted. After we went for our evening walk I took a hot shower and then the girls and I laid on the couch and watched Hocus Pocus. It was a perfect ending to a fast paced day!