2017: Week 27

Sunday, July 2
This morning we took the girls to get some fireworks and some new lawn chairs (can't beat 6 bucks at Family Dollar!), and this afternoon we treated them to another trip to Emo's for some ice cream and took them to play at The Fort (Glen Oak Park). It was hot--hotter than we had planned on--and quite crowded with kids who were too old to be playing at a park, but we made the best of it and they had fun. After dinner, we tried out a few of our fireworks and then settled down to knock off another bucket list item: introducing the girls to classic comedic cinema: The Three Amigos. They laughed through the entire movie, as did we; it was so much fun!

 Monday, July 3
This afternoon I came outside to find the girls relaxing on the hammock, playing a rousing game of War. I love how much they love spending time together--it's not always this good, but when it is, it's great.

Tuesday, July 4
In celebration of our nation's independence, we woke up this morning to some smiling company in our bed. The day continued on its happy path. We dressed the girls in their patriotic ware, visited with our sweet neighbors, and took a walk around the neighborhood. We watched the hotdog eating contest and ran a couple errands. Josh grilled out for dinner, and we had smores and lit off a few more fireworks before the girls took a quick bath and we were off to the fireworks, where Rita found us. The show this year was perhaps a bit lackluster compared to years past, but we had a good time all the same.

Wednesday, July 5
Back to the ol' grindstone. I decided fairly early into the day that Tuesday holidays are the worst--so much of the week still looms ahead afterwards, and this week was a doozy. The girls had a good day, though, and were treated to the new Minions movie with their grandma. One of their drink toppers amused me because it reminded me of an old inside joke I shared with Rachel and Sarah, so I sent them both a picture of it. Laughing with old friends certainly brightened the day.

Thursday, July 6
Today was another full, rough day. On top of work being incredibly demanding, I caught a nasty summer cold and felt terrible. I came home from work with a headache, feeling overwhelmed and down. And then Ellie challenged me to a game of War. She won the game, but I won, too. After dinner the girls and I colored some pictures together. It was just the medicine the doctor ordered.

Friday, July 7
At the end of what has been a very stressful week, Josh and I decided it was time for some family fun. So while the girls finished up their My Little Pony episode, I snuck into my in-law's garage and grabbed their tent, and told the girls on the way home that Daddy and I had a surprise. We picked him up at home and headed straight to War-Mart, where the girls were befuddled and very, very excited. We took them over to the camping section and pointed to the air mattresses and said, surprise! Family campout in the back yard tonight! When we got home, Josh worked on getting the fire going while I assembled the tent and blew up the mattresses. We ate, played, used up the rest of our fireworks, chased fireflies (Ellie caught two of the teeniest baby fireflies I've ever seen), and settled down for the night. Josh had compassion on Yuna and let her come to the tent with us for a bit, but the smells and sounds of the night air riled her beyond her ability to ignore them, so she went back inside around midnight. We all slept pretty well and woke up to a beautiful blue sky above. It was a really great night!

Saturday, July 8
We woke up from our campout and headed inside for breakfast (and, let's be honest, coffee) and relaxed a bit before heading out to the farmer's market. We got a few goodies (specialty pasta, peaches, and a churro, namely), then ran a couple of errands. We had a busy, but relaxing day at home. Before dinner, Josh came up with a brilliant plan to rescue what peaches we could from the destruction of the vile, awful, horrible, horrendous japanese beetles: he took the girls' soccer ball to knock both the beetles and the peaches to the ground. We were able to salvage several, although it was sad (and infuriating) to see how many we lost, I was thankful for what we could bring inside.

2017: Week 26

Sunday, June 25
This morning, like the day before, started unusually cool for this late in June. Lows were in the upper 40s/lower 50s, and the forecasted high was only 72. Josh and I had tossed around the idea of taking the girls to Matthieson, but weren't sure we'd want to hike in canyons and through water at those temperatures. We decided to go for it anyway, packing jackets along with our picnic, and we were off.  It was such fun to experience that park with the girls--Josh and I have been going since the year Elaina was born, but this was our first opportunity to do it as the four of us. The girls were troopers and walked the entire trail with very few complaints, and their excitement at the waterfall made them forget any weariness they may have been feeling. It was a great day.

Monday, June 26
When I was browsing through pictures for last week's post, I stumbled upon videos I had taken of the girls three years ago for a Father's Day project I had made for Josh. We laughed at how much of their personalities are largely the same--Elaina was concerned with answering the questions correctly, and Ellie was concerned with being silly. I showed the girls tonight and they had fun watching their younger selves perform. Tonight Yuna also managed to get through the gate and ran full speed into our bedroom. When I caught up with her, Chappu was hissing and smacking her in the face; she turned and saw me, and bounded up on the bed. I discovered it's awfully hard to scold her when I'm trying not to laugh.

Tuesday, June 27
This morning I was struck by how pretty the sun was shining into our home. Everything was quiet-it wasn't quite 6am, and everyone else was still asleep. Very peaceful. After work, Josh made some lemon poppsyeed keto muffins today and we tried them out as family. They weren't my preferred method to get some extra protein, but I was proud of his initiative and his desire to make them even tastier next time.

Wednesday, June 28
After dinner, we decided to spend the evening outside. Josh and I chatted while the girls entertained themselves with the badminton set.

Thursday, June 29
An unexpected shower blew through tonight, so I headed outside to take some pictures of my hydrangeas afterwards. I don't know why it appeals to me so much, but it does. Elaina came out after her bath to see what I was up to and enjoyed sniffing the flowers while she was out.

Friday, June 30
Today marked the end of what had been a very long, very stressful week for both Josh and I at work. We came home in the afternoon and sort of collapsed, while the girls busied themselves playing with some Legos and building new creations. It was so sweet to hear them playing so well together, so I gathered myself up to take a couple of pictures.

Saturday, July 1
Today started our first weekend since the girls started soccer where we haven't had some big agenda to take care of in our two precious days. Josh and I reveled in the thought of not having to be anywhere by a particular time or do anything other than what we wanted. So today, we wanted to go to Pearce and pick blueberries at the local orchard. Both items were knocked out before lunch. We had a couple stores to stop at and came home, watched a movie, and called it a day. A very good, very relaxing day at that.