McProblems, again

Does anyone remember my rant against McDonald's for not being able to correctly take an order, charge the right amount, and prepare the order correctly? Actually, this goes back to 1982 when St. Peter was graced with a new McDonald's. We had been in Oberlin, OH, for nearly a year, so when we came back home and had the opportunity to eat McCheeseburgers without having to drive to Mankato, we were thrilled. That is, until I went through the drive-through for the first time to pick up supper. I can't remember the order or what was missing, but at least one of the five of us had to mooch off everyone else because the order was messed up. This became a pattern for every trip through the drive through. One time all I ordered was a cup of black coffee and I got something else...that's how screwy it was.

I've rarely eaten at a McD's in the last 25 years, but I like to use the drive through for a diet Coke or an iced latte from time to time. My previous blog entry (which I can't find) describes the many alternatives McDonald's employees have chosen for me to drink instead of the simple medium iced nonfat latte (no flavoring, please) I prefer. Today's trip through the drive through was the best yet.

I drove up to the menu board, no one ahead of me or behind me. I gave my order. "I'd like a MEDIUM NONFAT ICED LATTE, please. No, no flavoring. I'd also like a pack of CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES." For those of you who remember the quarter-sized, cardboardy tasting chocolate chip mini-cookies of the past, they are long gone. In their place are three warm and delicious chocolate chip cookies that taste home-baked. Yum!

Back to my story. The McEmployee repeated back, "That's a MEDIUM HOT LATTE." "ICED, please. Not hot." "Okay. Sorry." The items were correctly shown on the screen, and the total came to $3.58.

I drove to the first window, confident I had a win on this trip through the drive-through. I paid $3.58, just as the screen had indicated. Everything still looked good. I moved ahead to the pick-up window, where I was handed a kid's cup with a cola drink in it, and a straw. Two points for the straw, but zero for the drink. I won't even go into how much esplainin' it took and how many times I showed various McEmployees my receipt before they figured out that something was wrong. The young woman at the window was sure I hadn't paid for more than a kiddie drink, despite reading my receipt at least twice.

Eventually I was handed a straw and a bag of cookies and told to move ahead and park until someone made my iced latte. Nearly 10 minutes later, a McEmployee waltzed out to the car and handed me---believe it or not--- a medium nonfat iced latte! I put the car in DRIVE and tore out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell before anyone noticed they had the order right.

Cousins on a couch

This will be the last entry documenting the May 2012 cousin gathering. I have lots and lots more photos, but I am counting on other family members who have blogs and/or online photo albums to offer their perspectives, too!

As has been the custom since Ethan and Owen were babies, the adults force the cousins to sit together on a couch in the sun room and pose for a group shot whenever all of them visit us. Finding the right time when all six are in the mood to cooperate is a challenge! Some photo shoots have involved up to 50 camera clicks to get even ONE  picture in which each cute little face can be seen. Never mind trying to get everyone to smile, or a photo with no tears, no fingers or pacifiers in mouths, and no crazy faces. We gave up on that a long time ago!

What we've discovered is that no matter in what direction(s) the kids are looking, no matter how much their facial expressions differ because some cousins are cheerful and want to be photographed while others prefer to scream, cry, and try to run away, every picture is a great picture because the kids are just so dang cute. See what I mean?

Owen (3), Vivi (1.5), Hannah (almost 5), Ira (honrary cousin--almost 5), 
Miles (4.5), Westy (1.5), and Ethan (3)

Little House on Church Street

Whenever all the cousins are together, they like to spend time at the "blue park", as Ethan and Owen refer to it. It's not really a park, but rather some (blue) playground equipment on the First Lutheran Church property, across the street and up the hill from our house. 

On Sunday afternoon after naps, all six cousins and the four parents in attendance this weekend played at the blue park. Dad/Larry/Paco and I stayed behind to work on supper. When he saw the group making its way down the hill, he got out his camera to take what he refers to as Little House on the Prairie shots... if you ever watched Little House on television, you can probably hum the theme music and picture the Ingalls girls running down the hill through the tall grass. If you can't remember it, click HERE and be reminded. The only difference is that the church keeps the grass cut short!

And here they are, the Ingalls family, home again!

Squirts squirting

The cousins played with water squirters to cool off on a hot day. 

Here they are, loading up.

 

Miles is a fierce water-squirter operator.

Owen takes this squirting business seriously!

Vivi patiently waits her turn.

A bunch of little squirts get ready to squirt each other.

Hannah shows her spray-power.

Elisabeth is pursued by two squirts.

Annie tries to escape her pursuers.

Some of the cousins decide to run laps.

More cousins join in.

"Hey, wait for me!"

Cousin capers

Hannah, Vivi, and Elisabeth arrived in MN on Friday morning. After a trip to IKEA and bagels at Einstein's, we headed to St. Peter. Hannah and Vivi took naps to recover from jet-lag. When Miles, Westy, and Annie showed up, Miles had the fun of waking up his cousin.

Not long after, Ethan and Owen arrived.  They tracked down 

their older cousins, who were were disguised as  polka dots.

So what do cousins do when they get together? Have snacks, 

of course! Food is ALWAYS first with this group.

 

 But let's not forget the dance party! It looks like Owen, 

Westy, and Ethan were doing "The Monster Mash"!

The cousins experienced a rare attack of "tortilla madness", 

as captured in this dinnertime photo taken by Auntie Elisabeth.

Some of them went for a stroller ride together. Westy, either you need to 

work on your conversational skills or Vivi needs to catch up on her sleep!

Others expressed a difference of opinion. Ethan took 

a serious approach-- Owen obviously had another idea.

 

Some cousins happened to be in the right place in the right light 

at the right time with just the right smiles. Elisabeth? Annie? 

I'm not sure who took this, but you need to take credit.

 

We missed Evan and Tanner this weekend. We're guessing they 

enjoyed quiet dinner conversations and restful nights of sleep. 

But they missed out on a lot of cuteness and fun!

Main characters

...and I DO mean CHARACTERS!!

Westy

Vivi

Owen

Ethan

Miles

Hannah

Preview of coming attractions

This is not the inside of my clothes dryer....

...but it could have been, 24 hours ago.

Library news

For the last few months I've been involved on the planning committee to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the St. Peter Public Library. Fourteen years ago, the previous library building was destroyed by the tornado that hit St. Peter. After much discussion on the part of the city and with the generosity of the Schmidt Foundation, the current library building was constructed alongside a new community center building, and was opened in 2002.

Fast forward to yesterday. The day was filled with local authors talking about their craft and reading from their books, musicians, a luncheon, delicious cake, popcorn and lemonade, and special story times for kiddos. Four of the cousins came to the evening activities to have fun and be entertained.

Our friend Margie Nelsen read a story about how her family 

got their dog Snuggie.

Grandpappy/Dad/Lar wanted to see the pictures, 

so he found a good place to listen and watch.

Westy got up to stretch his legs and to see what else was going on.

The most exciting part of the evening was seeing the talents of several 

therapy dogs, including this cute border collie.

Miles listened carefully when one of the trainers explained how to be safe 

when approaching and petting dogs.

Owen and Ethan were a bit doubtful for a while, but later each one 

 of them petted a therapy dog and thought it was "really soft."

The final event of the evening was music by two guitar-playing members of the Lost Walleye Orchestra. Owen, Miles, Grandpa Dave, and Westy had good seats.

Miles and Owen seem to have glowing yellow hair...must've been the music!

Hey--do Annie and Westy have purple hair here? 

Now I'm wondering about the radiation level at the library!

It was a fun evening. Glad you all could help celebrate ten years in the library!

Wrestlemania

Thanks for visiting us today, Miles and Westy!

Umbrellas

We've had a lot of rain lately...