Few people would look at Miss Vivi and think her capable of being anything but sweet and demure, but behind her innocent smile is a spunky little spirit. Just ask Aunt Heidi.

(Heidi & Vivi feeding the ducks in Spanish Fork, UT–August 2009)

One summer morning while at Bear Lake, Uncle David took the kids snake hunting. Thankfully, all they found was a skin which Vivi proudly carried inside to show Ho.

As I sat in the bedroom at the back of the cabin feeding Baby Tad, I heard Heidi’s blood curdling scream of sheer terror followed by Vivi’s attempt to restore order with logic: “But it’s not alive … it’s only skin.”

“I don’t care if it’s not alive, sweetheart. I don’t like snakes. They scare me,” was Heidi’s patient reply as she shooed Vivi out the door.

Chaos erupted again a few minutes later, but this time I heard Vivi’s Bart Simpson-like giggle. The little tow-headed tormentor had discovered Ho’s achilles heel and had returned with her scaly prize to exploit the chink … and I remained hidden in the back room, grateful that Vivi had identified a new victim for her shenanigans.

BT had to know that something was wrong when he arrived home from work and was not greeted in the customary fashion … me embracing him, peppering him with passionate kisses, gushing about how much I missed him and about the amazing things I accomplished while he was away.

Oh, wait. I don’t do this.

He’s lucky if I can manage a half-hearted smile from across the room as I hold baby to bosom while making dinner, shouting out the counting as Ariana practices the piano (half-note dot rest!), and dressing a Barbie for Vivi (WHY do they make those clothes so tight???).

Let’s try this again …

BT had to know that something was wrong when he arrived home from work and was promptly blindfolded and then led to the garage where my little gang was waiting in the get-away vehicle.  He’s fortunate that all we did was blindfold him; the girls wanted to gag and hog tie him, too.

The big reveal happened a little earlier than planned when, en route, Vivi teased, “We’re NOT going to tell you about the new sprinkler park we’re going to! It’s a surprise!”

Of course, it was no surprise that the kids LOVED our fun family home evening–from the planning to the executing.  They even stopped playing in the water long enough to eat the little picnic dinner we had packed, leaving room for a stop at the Snowcone Lady on the way home.

The memories we made with this cheap and simple activity are worth a king’s ransom.