Other pictures from my sister's visit

I know I'm like officially the worst blogger ever.

It would be a miracle for me to post two coherent thoughts in a row at this point, wouldn't it?

I apologize. I have been up against a pretty big deadline at work for a while now, and it's been tough not just on me, but on everyone around me. That includes my blog, which I just anthropomorphized.

Thank GOODNESS my sister took some pictures while she was here, because let's be honest: if she hadn't, you'd probably all still be sitting here looking at a blank screen. Or at a post from 2008.

(Which, now that I mention it, if you ever get bored, going back and reading through some posts from 2008 and 2009 wouldn't be a bad idea.) (I was probably more entertaining back then.)

Anyway. When Sarah Ellen visited, we did more than just go to Jake's soccer game.

We played with Play-Doh.

We played with Bayla.

We played EVEN MORE SOCCER in the backyard.

And we played in Amelia's "pway aweah" in the basement."

But we DID find some time to do some "grown-up" things, such as meet Jamie at Avo for supper one evening.

Still, we mainly spent time with the kids -- at least, she did. I worked all week except that Friday, but she kept Amelia at home and was able to pick the other boys up from school soon after dismissal most days. They loved that!

Saturday afternoon, since Grayson, Nathaniel and Jake were off on Scout trips, Sarah Ellen and I took Amelia and Nick to Pump It Up for drop-in play time. They had a new inflatable that's kind of like the "big balls" obstacle on Wipeout. Nick loved it.

Amelia WANTED to try it, but there were so many bigger kids clamoring for a spot on it that she couldn't get up the nerve. She spent a lot of her time on the slides.

She didn't hesitate for a second ... just climbed up all by herself and flung herself down.

While we were there, I had to give Amelia lessons on the finer points of air hockey. She challenged Nick to a game, but then just wanted to swish the paddle back and forth. NO MA'AM. You must have a strategy.

Nick is a formidable opponent, but Amelia even scored!

On her last night in town, we made the FANTASTIC decision to go to ARC Stories, one of my favorite events. The theme for the night was "Boo! Stories that Keep you up at Night," and it was great. Again, we met Jamie there, and also my Twitter friend Laura (who pronounces it "Lora" even though she spells it L-a-u-r-a) from Nashville.

After ARC was over, we walked across the street to Babalu for some of their delicious guacamole and chips, and we closed the place down. I literally thought they were going to pick our chairs up WITH US IN THEM and stack them on top of the tables.

My only regret about her visit is that we didn't have enough time together! I wish she could come right back and give us another week. Until next time ...