Rockin B and Patrick McManus

Audrey and I joined the book club's excursion to see Patrick McManus at the Rockin B Ranch. We had seen snippets of the show before, but not an entire evening of Patrick McManus. We had a great time! Sandy & Ethan Dexter, Sandy's parents, Gloria Meyers and Rita Feyk joined us for the evening. Food was yummy as it always is and Audrey was literally first in line!!! One of the performers came over to our table and admired Audrey's artistic abilities. It was a fun evening.

Painters!

After the roof was complete Audrey and John spent a lot of time caulking and painting all the eaves. They definitely went places that I would never go....

Colville and Drive In Theater

We had heard there was a drive-in theater in Colville. Since we had not been to a drive in since they closed the one in Spokane 20 years ago, we decided to take a road trip and check it out. We reserved a hotel room so that after we watched the movies we would not have to try to drive home and keep our eyes open. We arrived in Colville in the late afternoon and checked into our hotel. Then we went downtown and found a great place to eat dinner - Stephani's. After dinner we had a little time to shop before getting to the drive in at 8pm. I'm not sure why it was so humorous to me that the ticket window at the drive-in was on the left side so the passenger had to pay - I guess no one should go to a drive-in alone? Anyway, we settled into our spot and set the radio to the channel they told us would be broadcasting the movie. That was nice not to have to hook up to the outdoor speakers they used to have at drive ins. Grabbed some popcorn and pop from the refreshment booth and settled in to watch "Dogs & Cats: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" and then "Salt" with Angelie Jolie. What a fun time we had!!

School Shopping !

Audrey and I usually do not enjoy going school shopping since in that past, her choices and mine were quite different. She was always happy in some boy jeans and t-shirts with wrestling stars on them. This year, wow, were the planets in alignment or what? We did not even plan to go school shopping, but just headed to a few stores for regular errands. We went over to the ladies' section and Audrey looked at (that was a huge step), tried on (another huge step) and picked out clothes (that she liked!!) from that department. New jeans, new shirts, new jackets. She has since had opportunity to wear a few of the outfits and they look GREAT!!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

OK... if you have any zucchini left in your garden, you need to make this. I loved it. It might have tasted a little extra yummy as it was cooling when we went to church and thus was waiting for us when we got back home. (The good and bad about having 1-4pm church!!) I really liked it, though I did not care for the topping part. I don't think it added anything to the bread. Also, I had regular chocolate chips and they worked just great too. If you do not care for cinnamon in your chocolate, you might not like this - as my friend Jessie did not care for this. I guess it is a love or hate thing? I loved it!!

CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD
2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
6 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
3 cup grated zucchini
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Topping:
2 T. brown sugar
2 T. white sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease either 2 large loaf pans or 6 minis. Mix topping ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Whisk together flour, cinnamon, soda, salt and cocoa powder in small bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl, beat together oil, sugars and eggs, then add in vanilla and sour cream and mix until combined. Gently stir in the zucchini, then fold in the flour mixture. Then stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into pans and sprinkle topping over each. Bake large loaf pans for 50-60 minutes, small pans for 35-40. Let loaves cool for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

Hairspray

After having a nice time at the family reunion, Audrey and I headed back home to meet my mom for our final summer theatre tickets. The CDA Summer Theatre performed "Hairspray" tonight and it was wonderful. Some very talented individuals singing and dancing the entire evening - not sure how they had so much stamina. Nice end to a great season!

Family Reunion

Back row, left to right: Gordon, Robert, Ralph, Steve, John, Duane
Middle row: Lori, Marcie, Celia, Susan, Nancy, Marie
Front row: Joan

John's mom had a family reunion for her kids (there are 13 of them) at her lake cabin on Reflection Lake. She gave everyone a lei when they arrived and had games planned for the day: pineapple bowling; a pinata; darts; swimming & paddling the canoe. Then they served a nice dinner: Hawaiian haystacks, pulled pork sandwiches and various salads and desserts. All her kids were able to make some portion of the event and everyone seemed to have a good time visiting, playing games and eating. Thanks for planning such a nice reunion!