The Price is Right...

Our friends went to California for Spring Break a couple of months ago.  Cheryl has dreamed of being on a game show for her whole life, so when Matt surprised her with tickets to be in the audience at The Price is Right while they were there, she was beyond thrilled!

She instantly had her sights set on trying to get on the show.  Cheryl joked that she was going to need some serious practice for the show - so I helped out and made her a Plinko board!!

Before giving it to Cheryl, the girls (including Tessa) had to give it a whirl!

After their vacation, we were dying to know what happened.  Did they get picked?  Did they win anything? What was everything like?  All they told us was, "Tune in to the show on June 26th to find out!"  They couldn't share what took place during taping - leaving us in anticipation for the past few months!

Fast forward to June 26th.  We went down to their house for the watch party...

Funny story... during pre-taping for the show, you have to line up in numerical order to be interviewed.  For whatever reason, this was the order that Matt, Cheryl, and their daughter Annie were put in.

Because of the way that The Price is Right lined them up, you can see that the arrow on Matt's shirt is unfortunately pointed in the wrong direction.  This makes it look like his wife is FAR too young for him!!!  Haha!

What happened on the show?!  Not surprising, Cheryl's sweet, infectious personality allowed her to fulfill her long time dream by being picked to be on the show! Yay!!!

She also guessed the right price to get herself on stage...but sadly she didn't win the car she was playing for.

Time to spin the wheel... and again she came up on top.  She had the highest spin and made it to the final showcase showdown where she sadly was not victorious!  Nonetheless, she had the time of her life and enjoyed every minute of being on the show!!!  It was not only thrilling to watch her on the game show itself, but to be there with all our friends to share in the joy of this pretty cool experience!

What an amazing experience!  But now Cheryl has the game show bug - she has her eyes set on getting her family on The Family Fued!  Stay tuned... you might just see them on TV in the future!

Master Painters....

On a whim, Quinn and Sullivan decided late last week that they wanted to enroll in a three day art camp this week.  It was right up Sullivan's alley - painting all day long!  Who could ask for more?!  Quinn, not as much as a lover of painting, kindly went along for the ride. Sweet big sister!

Each day they painted a couple different canvases, did a variety of crafts, made slime (insert eye roll), and lots more!  

Today was the culmination of the camp and parents were invited to an art show to show off all the hard work that the kids had done throughout the week.  So much talent throughout the room.  So much different interpretation in the way an artist completes their work.  It might be a bias mom speaking here, but the greatest talent in the room was standing right in front of me!!

Sullivan and Quinn both had a blast - they enjoyed all the events of the camp!  Now where to hang all those amazing pieces?!

The Sweetest Coke Around...

For the past several summers, Coke has employed their "Share a Coke With..." campaign. 

You might recall that we actually found Sullivan's name last year....

And a couple years back, Ms. Cynthia found Quinn's name...

It goes without saying that we've found Ryan's name about 1000 times.  Never, not once have we found my name.  That comes as no surprise though.  Until...

Quinn and Sullivan surprised me with the sweetest, most special Coke of all for my birthday.  They thought that I needed a Coke of my own, and since we'd never be able to find one in the stores, they made me one!!  I absolutely LOVE it - that goes without saying.  It. Is. FABULOUS!!!

Springfield

This past weekend we met the Boyles in Springfield to take in all things Lincoln, but really more importantly just to spend time with our great friends! 

We arrived in Springfield ahead of the Boyles so we made our way out to Lincoln's tomb to check things out.

It is almost hard to believe that we were standing in the same room as one of the country's greatest presidents.  Granted he's been dead for hundreds of years, but nonetheless, we were still in the same room as him.

This is the site of Lincoln's original, temporary tomb.  He occupied two temporary tombs until the final one was completed and he was laid to rest there.

Once the Boyles got into town, we were all quick to pick up where we left off the last time. We chilled for awhile before heading out for a fantastic supper. 

Waiting for our table at the restaurant..

Thick as thieves after all these years...

The following day, which happened to be my birthday, we soaked in as much Lincoln as we could.  We started out at Lincoln's home - the home he occupied before heading to the White House. 

They have done an incredible job of restoring not only Lincoln's house, but the houses all around his.  Inside Lincoln's house...

The kids completing all the activities to earn their Junior Ranger badges.

After taking in the Lincoln house, we headed to the Old Capitol building.  

Then it was off to the Lincoln museum...where the Pooleys and the Boyles got up close and personal with the Lincolns.

I sadly didn't get any pictures in the museum besides the one above, but take my word for it, the museum is very well put together.  A truly impressive museum honoring Lincoln!
 
After tackling all those Lincoln sites, the only thing the kids wanted to do was get in the pool!  Who can blame them?! 

That evening, I was surprised with a great birthday celebration... complete with the best cake one could ask for!  It turns out it took some finagling to get the cookie there as a surprise to me - but I am so grateful for all the effort!

Who could ask to spend their birthday with any better friends than these peeps?!

The following day was Father's Day, and on the way out of town, the kids wanted to all go to Lincoln's tomb together.  We were happy to go back to see it once again. 

All the children with their amazing fathers on Father's Day...

We had the most amazing weekend with amazing friends.... although that is always the case when we are with the Boyles! 

Eric and Kristen...

Last week we were lucky enough to have Eric and Kristen in town. Not only did they come to see a band in concert with Ryan and I, but they also came to soak in some time with the girls. 

The adults all took in a concert by The Killers at an outdoor amphitheater about 5 miles from our house. 

The weather was perfect the majority of the night, minus a 30 minute delay when a silly storm made its way through the area in the middle of their set.   But once the storm passed, the show carried on...

It was an amazing, amazing concert... almost too good to put into words!

We snuck in a few other opportunities to be outside when we could throughout the weekend, but the weather wasn't overly cooperative.  We did get an afternoon ladder ball tournament in. 

Team were randomly drawn out of a hat. 

We had Team Tiny....

Team Twooley (Get it?  Two Pooleys equals Twooley)...

And Team No... self explanatory.  When Ryan was told that he and Quinn needed to come up with a team name,  Ryan quickly quipped NO!  Hence... Team No.

Who was victorious... Team Twooley of course!

Speaking of games, we got plenty of other game playing in as well.  We played lots of board games as well as an app game with our phones.  We even got Ryan to join in on this one (for one round)...

We had donuts one morning at the request of Eric.  

No one was arguing with that one!

Uncle Eric played switcheroo with Quinn's glasses...

Eric shared the love with the girls...

Uncle Eric challenged Sullivan in a race.  Sullivan came out victorious!

Speaking of victorious, we all went to the escape room one afternoon.  And with 11 minutes left on the clock, we escaped from the island before the volcano erupted! Wahoo!!

We had the very best time with Kristen and Eric while they were here!  

Lots of great memories made.