2018 | Week 25 - Park Time & Bands on the Red

This week was mainly spent preparing for our trip to California, but we still found time to hang out at the park with friends (and check on the progress of the new skate park).  With so few months of nice weather here, I feel like we need to take advantage of every beautiful day that we have.

 Haley is re-reading Sherlock Holmes, but Alex really wants her to play instead...

Thursday night we got to attend Jake's Bands on the Red concert. He's been practicing with this group all month and it was so fun to listen to them play on the gazebo at the Historical Society.  

 Alex was not quite as impressed by the music, but found a way to occupy himself with random items in my purse.

Of course, no outdoor summer concert is complete if not followed by ice cream.

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2018 | Week 24 - Girl's Camp & Father's Day

 This past week I had the opportunity to serve as a chaperone at the Girl's Camp our church holds for all the Young Women ages 12-17 in our area. When they had asked for parent volunteers Haley said, "Mom, you should come!" I figured I was pretty lucky to have my 15-year-old *want* me to go to camp with her, so we drove a van full of girls 5 hours east to an environmental camp about an hour north of Duluth, Minnesota.  It was a gorgeous setting and a wonderful experience.  I was so impressed with many of the girls and their strength, good attitudes, and kind spirits. 

This was Haley's 4th year at camp so we got to go on the 4th year "hike" - which this year was an overnight canoe trip.  We loaded our gear into canoes and paddled around and across the lake to a (very) primitive camp site where we cooked dinner over the fire and spent a rather cold, uncomfortable night in tents.  On the positive side, the setting was stunning.

 Bo and the boys held down the fort while Haley and I were gone.  Bo said he was waiting for Jake and Alex to naturally get tired of screen time, but we still haven't found their limit (must be more than 4 days).  When I got home I asked Jake to put away the package of bulk toilet paper.  He's been known to create TP towers in the past, but the addition of cotton balls to the one in our bathroom was new.

Saturday the boys and I went shopping for Father's Day presents. With a bribe of breakfast at Starbucks, they were semi-helpful in picking out some new running gear for him.  We spent the afternoon playing at a park and eating banana cream pie, after which Jake talked Bo and Haley into playing Risk. He's always looking for someone to play with him! 

2018 | Week 23: Summer Activities, Garage Sale, and Storms

So much for sleeping in!  We dove right into summer with music and sports.  Jake is taking trombone, saxophone, and cello lessons this summer, while Alex is signed up for tennis and golf. Haley started voice lessons as well, so we were up and running early Monday morning.  

It's so fun to watch Jake progress and enjoy his music.  He says he wants to play ALL the instruments...

 Speaking of early mornings, I've been getting up early to walk/run along the river, and been rewarded with some pretty amazing sunrises.  I even convinced Jake to join me one day.

 This week was also our annual garage sale.  (It will also be our last one for a while.) It is SO. MUCH. WORK. to set up and price everything, but is usually worth the effort.  The kids love having the sale and always do really well with their lemonade stand.  11 years and counting! Haley did all the baking this year while the boys were on customer service duty.

Friday afternoon a huge storm rolled in, so we quickly closed up the sale and watched the boys run around in the rain.  It's always astonishing just how much rain can fall in such a short time.

 Finally the sale was over so we celebrated with (yet more) ice cream and playing at a park.  

2018 | Week 22 - HEAT, The Big 4-0, & School's Out

 The end-of-school-year whirlwind continued this week, with hot temperatures adding to the summertime feel.  At some point in the distant past, I used Cherry Berry (self-serve frozen yogurt bar) as a bribe to get Alex to endure having his hair cut (the sitting! the itchy hairs! the stranger touching him!).  Our kids are all about traditions, and this is one that I'm sure they'll never let go of - "hair cuts and Cherry Berry" are forever linked. After school one day I leveraged their desire for cool treats and snuck haircuts in.

 Before eating Cherry Berry...

 ...and after.

 This week also brought my 40th birthday.  Since it fell on a Wednesday we hadn't really made any big plans and it felt a little like any other day.  However my co-workers spoiled me with lunch, pie, and gifts, and Bo had flowers and balloons waiting for me at home. 

But the BEST surprise was walking out from the back at work and seeing these faces!  Never in a million years would I have guessed that my long-distance BFF would be there with her beautiful family. They were just passing through town on their way to the airport, but we were able to visit for a few minutes and make solid plans for this fall.  Yay!  I don't think I stopped smiling the rest of the day.

We always seem to wind up at Texas Roadhouse for birthday dinners (slim pickings for family-friendly dining here) so we headed there for dinner where Haley put her Roll Saving Plan into action. She literally put a few of those soft, delicious rolls into her purse for later snacking.  The carb-loving apple doesn't fall far from the tree, folks. We're working on perfecting a copycat recipe of those rolls, but it needs a little tweaking.  

Finally, FINALLY, school is out for the summer! We held our annual last-day-of-school party at the park after the final bell on Thursday. We are all so excited to sleep in, lay by the pool, and s...l...o...w... things down for a bit.  I may be kidding myself, but that's what we're hoping for anyway.

"I 'mustache' you - Are you excited for summer?!"