Orbs or no Orbs

Today we went to clean out my Grandmas house. I brought my camera because I always bring my camera. While we were in the basement(very spooky) I took a picture of Tyler and noticed some orb looking things. Of course then some of us (my mom, aunt Linda, and myself) get all excited and start taking pictures in different places. My uncle (pooper) ruined our fun and said it was just dust. I will let you all judge on what you think it is. My uncle Eric (who lived in this particular room for awhile) has told me on several occasions of weird happenings in the basement. The last picture is in a different part of the basement. There are white orbs on my aunt's back. Tyler had a great time with us. I was afraid he would get really bored but as you can see all we had to do was stick him in the pantry with a flashlight and he was set.

A Winery Weekend

A week and a half ago Roy and I visited beautiful Ste Genevieve with our dear friends Steve and Kelly. We were supposed to go on a float trip (yucky) but it was canceled. For those of you not familiar with float trips it is 2 days of heat, camping, and floating down a nasty river full of snakes and other awful things. Needless to say I was not disapointed with the cancellation.
We called our visit to Ste Genevieve "Plan B." Plan B included visting up to 5 wineries, dining at a local steakhouse, and then spending the night at a local Microtel Inn.

We had a wonderful time. We went to a winery that was in a cave. There were supposed to be bats, but I didn't see any. Kelly cut her hand pretty bad on my Pampered Chef Color Coated Paring Knife cutting sausage. Pampered Chef knives are very sharp and probably shouldn't be handled by someone who has been drinking wine. ;)

The Great Wasp War of 2008

For the past three summers wasps have made nests on the side of our deck. Everytime the nest appeared Roy attacked it with wasp spray and a golf club. After his attacks on their home, the wasps seemed to take a hint and pretty much disappeared. This summer is a different story. The wasps are angry and they've started fighting back. They started off harmless. Making their presence known when we were on the swing set or in the pool. On Saturday they actually started attacking.
It all started like a normal summer. The nest appeared in it's usual spot. Roy bought two cans of 30ft wasp spray from Home Depot (I think he secretly enjoys conquering the nest). For awhile things were quiet. Whenever a few would appear, Roy would get the wasp spray and take care of business. We felt we were in control of the situation. Of course we had some suspicion there was a nest nearby.
On Saturday we were in Ste Genevieve enjoying a weekend winery trip with Steve and Kelly when we got the call. My parents went to our house to let the dogs out in the evening. Dewey, our bichon, was making his way back up the deck stairs when he was hit. My dad said he was yelping and as he made his way down the stairs to save him, he too was stung twice in the elbow. The war was on.
We returned home on Sunday ready for battle. Tyler was ready dressed in a firefighter hat, froggy rain boots, and a giant squirt gun (of course we would never allow him to actually battle wasps). Roy made a trip to Home Depot to purchase his two cans of 30ft wasp spray and then stood outside the new nest location. The wasps found a home for themselves under the shingles on our roof on the side of our house. As they exited the nest Roy sprayed them and yelled at them until they were clearly dead. He successfully killed 10 wasps and I've never been prouder. On Sunday night we made the decision to call an exterminator an just squash (ha squash!) the problem for good.
Monday night Roy decided to give the wasps one final warning and attacked a nest on the side of the deck with the spray and a golf club. Apparently they were watching and Roy swears they set a trap for him. As he was walking back up the deck stairs he noticed a wasp lying on the stairs. Just in case it wasn't dead he smacked it with the golf club. It was probably just out of frustration and so the dogs wouldn't step on it. Anyway as he was beating the defenseless wasp another one stung him 3 or 4 times in the arm. Today he has a giant welt on his bicep.
I'm sorry this was so long.
*****UPDATE*****
After 3 visits from Rottler (exterminators) we believe we are wasp free. There were a total of 4 nests. Two on our deck (one was empty). One under shingles on the side of the house and one in the gutter on the same side of the house. I guess the word in the wasp community was that the Parenzuela house was the perfect location to raise a wasp family. We still have two cans of 30ft wasp spray on hand. Just in case. ;)

Cocktails, Gossip, and Wii

After a LONG morning at Children's Hospital I desperately needed an evening of fun. Tyler and I went to Kelly's house and had a happy hour (me not Tyler) with our long distance friend Shannon. After two pitchers of Mojitos and a pizza we played Wii Tennis. I am so addicted! We were going to wait until Christmas to buy one but I don't know if I can. My arm hurts today and it is totally worth it! I kicked butt (not really but as many of you know I have very little athletic ability)! Girls nights are great! I also found out yesterday that I am officially going to the New Kids on the Block concert in November. I know everyone is so jealous!

The Cape

Before I was a mom I always swore I would never let my child wear their Halloween costume in public. I'm not talking about on Halloween. I mean in the middle of the summer when you see the little girl in her Cinderella dress at the grocery store. Well on Thursday I took Batman to Six Flags. Not the whole costume, just the cape. I guess that makes it OK.

Birthday Parties!

This year Tyler had two birthday parties. The first one was last Sunday at my sister Sarah's house. We did a fire truck theme because Tyler is really into trucks lately. Uncle Brandon is a firefighter so he was able to get a real fire truck for the party. We had a big turnout this year because a lot of our friends had babies. His second party was on Monday at our house with Roy's side of the family. The party had a construction theme because Dad and Grandpa spent two days "constructing" a giant swing set in the backyard. I had a lot of fun planning both parties but I always forget how much time goes in to it no matter how simple I try to make it. I was really happy with his presents. He has SO many toys and really didn't need any more. Most of his presents were outside toys and clothes.

Happy Wedding!

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Our friends Jason and Lindsey got married in Mexico a few weeks ago and had their reception last night. They are so cute! Most of our friends had overnight babysitters so we were able to let loose and stay out late. Woo Hoo! This morning I found all kinds of interesting pictures on my camera. Here are some of the appropriate ones.