2017 Week 23

Sunday, June 4
Today Josh and I met Mom and Dad and the girls down at the farm. Taking some family photos on our little piece of land was a summer bucket list item, so we dressed for the occasion. The farm is such a happy-sad place for me anymore. I have such wonderful memories of being there growing up--it was always my home away from home--but it has aged and Grampa is gone, and has been for so long now, and it isn't the same. But it is still there, and Gramma is still there, so we cherish what is while remembering what has been. The past was beautiful. The present is beautiful. The future looks beautiful, too.

Gramma has had these tiny cacti as long as I can remember

Beautiful wildflowers with the most vicious thorns

Monday, June 5
Tonight the girls were extra sweet. As we settled down for their evening, Elaina shot me a pretty smile across the room. Ellie wiggled her two loose teeth for me (we are so thankful she's excited to lose teeth, and not scared).

Tuesday, June 6
Josh had a late afternoon, offsite meeting with a supplier today, so the girls and I had dinner together and they spent some time with coloring books after we ate. Elaina worked on a Shopkins picture, while I taught Ellie the tricks of the trade for a successful search-a-word. When Josh came home, he was greeted with jubilant hugs and kisses.

Wednesday, June 7
For as long as we have lived here, almost every time Josh mows the lawn, he grabs the girls at the end for a lap or two before returning the mower to the garage. They hardly fit on his lap anymore--such a change from the first time he took Elaina, before Ellie was even born, and she was decidedly nonplussed about the event. I'm so thankful he takes the time to show them love this way. It seems small, but I know they'll remember it when they're older.

Thursday, June 8
Tonight we took the girls to the Claud-Ellen Days carnival, which we've done every year for the past five or six years. We were particularly proud of them this year. We've been teaching them about fiscal responsibility, about getting value for their money, and what that means short-term and long-term. So tonight, they each paid for half of their wristbands, which allowed them unlimited rides. It was worth the investment for all of us.

Friday, June 9
We crossed more summer bucket list items tonight when we took the girls to the Chiefs game: go to the game, watch fireworks, and stay up as late as Mom and Dad. For their first ballgame, the girls did well and seemed to enjoy and understand the action. We all petered out a bit around the 6th inning but hung in there til the end. That was no small feat--the fireworks didn't start until after 10:00, two hours past their usual bedtime. The fireworks display was pretty great--kind of like a ten-minute finale--and both girls were sound asleep before we got home.

Saturday, June 10
Today was busy (so many weekends seem to be that way lately), but good. After going to the gym in the morning, we took the girls to the parade, where they were advantaged by a smaller crowd and came home with quite the load of candy. Later, we went to a wedding reception for my coworker, Sharona, and her husband, Alan, out at their farm. We had a nice time and stayed for about 3 hours before the day before demanded we come home and relax.

The girls realllllly enjoyed the swings 

Alan and Sharon making their entrance :)

Sharona and Ollie (who was saying "brrroom brrrom" because he wanted to get back on the tractor) 

Ellie brought the entertainment to dinner

2017 Week 22

Sunday, May 28
Today was a rest and recovery day, following the whirlwind of the previous two days. We had a quiet morning, and in the afternoon, Elaina had a playdate with one of her good friends from school, Reese.  Ellie got some good one-on-one time with the ol' Mom and Dadder, including some lessons in the fine art of video game playing, a detour out into town to help look for Rita and Mario's dog, Tessa, and a dinner that came with accessories. Elaina came home after dinner, having had a wonderful afternoon with her friend. It was a good day.

Monday, May 29
We decided to knock a couple of items off of our Serrano Summer Bucket List with our extra day off, so we set out to picnic at a new park. Turns out the park we thought we were going to wasn't what we thought it was, and we drove around for about a half hour trying to find something better. We weren't successful in finding the "better," but we did find a new park to picnic at. Undeterred from our less than successful adventure, we decided to mark another item off the list and go hiking. We went to the Forest Park Nature Preserve and walked what amounted to be a couple of miles when we were all said and done. The girls did a great job hiking and really enjoyed chatting about nature, especially the big snake we saw just off the path. Finally, we crossed off one more item and went to get ice cream at Emo's. Josh and the girls shared a banana split, and I had a lemon cone. It was a full, very good day.

Tuesday, May 30
After some weird, sunny showers, we enjoyed a very pretty, brief rainbow.

Wednesday, May 31
With more nice weather, tonight we were able to get a few things done around the yard--weeding, watering, and planting flowers. In a particularly sweet gesture, Elaina brought me a pink rose from the bush outside the playroom window. I said, "You keep it, sweetie. Daddy gave that to you." "No," she said, "I picked it for you, because you used to always pick them for me." And I did--several years ago when I took up running, I'd pick her a flower every night before coming into the house. I was so touched she remembered after all this time.

Thursday, June 1
Today I got a couple of amusing pictures from Rita of the girls, who had busied themselves in the afternoon playing in a house Mario and Rita had constructed out of a large box. They also insisted we play in it with them when we picked them up. After coming home, we were delighted to have Mom and Dad come spend the evening with us in preparation for the sleepover the girls were to have with them the next day. It was really nice to have that extra time together.

Friday, June 2
The girls and my folks left for their adventures about the same time Josh and I left for work. The day was busy and unfortunately included another trip to Family Quick Care to address a recurrent bladder infection (no fun, but on the bright side, the antibiotics seem to actually be working this time...). In the evening, I left for my hair appointment and came back looking quite different. It is still taking me just a bit to get used to it...but I kind of love it.

Saturday, June 3
Josh and I slept in a bit on our sans-children Saturday, but before too long we started on our errands for the day. They included a trip to Pearce, which was great except for the pounding headache I had that was made worse with exertion--kind of works against the idea of lifting weights. After lunch, we did some shopping, got groceries, and came home, relaxed, and enjoyed some coffee and the end of the Cubs game. We crossed off a Josh and Amanda bucket list item by having Irish nachos and dinner on the patio at Publik House--it was quite toasty and may have been more enjoyable with a breeze or a few clouds, but I have no complaints about the food or the company. After dinner we did a little more shopping and then went to visit one of Josh's friends from high school, who was in town with his wife for the weekend. We had a nice time chatting and catching up and came home late for us ol' timers, but it was a really nice finish to a really nice day.