Mary's Visit

My sister, Mary, came for a visit this week. It was a lot of fun! The kids LOVED playing with her! Mary brought barbie clothes, which the girls spent hours with... dressing and undressing each doll in different outfits for every occasion. Miles got a truck that Mary brought from Grandma Carolyn. He was in heaven. It made some loud noises and after a while, we were ready for the batteries to die :) but Miles thought it was the coolest thing ever!
Mary's birthday happened to be this week. The girls were very excited. We bought balloons and made a cake. We managed to get 24 candles on (I can't believe Mary is 24 already!), light them and have Mary blow them out without any disasters. Quite an accomplishment! Justin and I took Mary out to dinner and we went to see a movie for her birthday, too. We saw "Remember Me". I liked it. It had kind of a bitter-sweet end, though.
Anyway, we also went to the Illahee dock upon request from my mom. It was beautiful! The water level was high, so we weren't able to walk along the beach, but Mary still got a taste of the gorgeous views, and the interesting creatures in the water. Mary caught a jellyfish in a net! Crazy!
We had such a blast with Mary here. We look forward to many more visits from family and friends! :)

I lost my voice when Mary was here, and you can definitely hear it. I should have left the singing to the kids! (and Justin :) )

Happy Birthday Mary!
All the kids helped blow out the candles...
...then they licked the whipped cream off of each candle. Yum! :)
Mary painted cat faces for the girls
On our way to our grown-up night out.
Mary and Riley
Brooklyn and Justin
Riley
The gang holding some clams
Trying to catch creatures in the net... some luck! :)
Mary and Beth
Miles is very protective of me for some reason. Anytime I do something that is slightly out of the ordinary, he panics! I jumped on Justin's back for a piggy-back ride, and Miles was almost in tears, pulling on my leg, wanting me to get down. I stayed long enough for Mary to snap a picture then I got down to reassure my little man that everything was fine.
Riley workin' the net
Mary and Miles examining a dead crab leg
Justin and Brooklyn
Our Family
Leaving the dock... Farewell