The Hernaniels Meet Memphis

This summer marked the first ever Hernaniels' Family Trip!  Munching, madness, mayhem and memories as the Hernaniels Met Memphis.

We did some swimming.

 

Whilst in Memphis, one must do Graceland.

 

 

We swam.

 

We rode bumper boats

and got really wet.

All kinds of fun with go-carts, amusement rides, batting cages, putt-putt, and rope walks.

(Look at little Lijee's hands on the steering wheel beside 'Aunt Tony.')

 

We swam.

We discovered Memphis via a city tour.  Via a city tour.

Beale Street

Sisters and The King

Daisy photographing Sisters and The King

Memphis BBQ

potty break!

Peabody ducks

We swam.

 And we spent time loving on our cousins.
I'm not sure they are used to that much love,
but we gave it to 'em anyways!

cray-cray!

Elvis has left the building.

We're So 'Board'

At swimming lessons Daisy and Zeke rocked the boards!

 The Daiser was fearless!

Her big brother waited around to watch her--see him standing back there?

 Zeke did corkscrews and he was learning to dive.

 And he jumped off the high dive.

Poor Lijee.  He wanted to join in so badly, but he had to watch.

 He did get to swim, though.

And everybody's favorite part of swimming…

when Grannie comes and buys treats!

Pinterest Fail #672

Looking for some summer adventure, we tried to recreate some blogger's magical Bubble Dough.  

I ever-so-wisely took them outside so we could be as messy as we pleased with our creativity.    Of course the mixture of corn starch and dish soap did not come together as pictured so we added a bit more of this and a bit more of that.  Being the middle of summer, my children were very scantily dressed.  I turned my head for just a brief moment and the rogue potion was no longer just in the bowl but all over the children--face, arms, tummies, legs.  

As they were hosing off it became a bit slimy and viscous.  Corn starch and water has a tendency to do that.  It was also bubbly since it was made of soap as well.  Next thing I knew we had screams and tears as the soap got into their eyes.

 

 

Guess I'll go ahead and delete that pin.  

On a positive note, Daisy decided they did not need a bath tonight since their bodies were covered with soap.  One cannot deny that kind of logic.

Fam 4th Fun

Another great holiday with the fam!

Here are the cliff notes:

playground time

lots of playing with Grandma

daytime fireworks

picture time

nighttime fireworks were lit compliments of Zekers

~and the really BIG fireworks were a surprise from my brother (such a surprise I didn't even get a picture)

and great lake time with the extended fam.

Great way to spend the Fourth!

Free Slurpees Are The Best Slurpees!

7-11  Free slurpee day!  We ran down the road, got our free slurpees and were back home in our backyard slurping away in under 10 minutes today.

7-11-2012 was a much different experience.  

It was an adventure. 

We were in Palmdale, CA.  Daddy was working and the 4 of us kids were hanging out at the hotel, mostly swimming.  Palmdale is a nice enough town, but there really is not much to do to entertain 3 young children in the dead heat of summer.  So I thought a free slurpee would not only be a good treat, but a good errand to run.  

Wellll, no one could tell us exactly where the nearest 7-11 was.  I 'Yelped' it, and it wasn't too far.  In the swag wag went.  Easy enough, right?  We were like the Israelites wandering out in the California desert.  What should have been a quick trip ended up taking an hour or more.  Finally found the 7-11 in a bit of a sketchy neighborhood.  Would have just kept on driving, but since we had been driving entirely too long to get there I was not going to let a few dodgy characters deter me.  No siree.  There were free slurpees to be had, darn it.

Upon entering the quaint little 7-11 we queued into something rivaling a Six Flags line, snaking up, down and around the aisles, everyone just waiting for that sweet free slurpee to touch our lips.  I'm thinking this must be a cruel and unusual joke.  This line must be fast moving.  All these people would not really be standing here in this ridonky-donk long line for a slurpee, would they??  So we stood.  And we stood.  And we stood.  Yes, me and my 18-month old squirming in my arms, along with my 4 and 6 year old.  Waiting for a free slurpee. 

But by now we were at the point of no return.  How could I turn around and go back to the hotel, empty handed?  I could not!  Machines were running out, sticky juices were exploding through the air, and we waited it out.  That's right.  We got a tiny little sample cup full of the one flavor they had left, but we got it.  We walked out of that 7-11 with our little bitty sample cups held high!  Our heads, not so much.

If I remember, all 3 kids fell asleep on the long ride back, albeit a much shorter ride than the one there.  And I passed a 7-11 about 10 minutes from the hotel.  Oh, the memories.

Long live 7-11 free slurpee day!