Around Here Twenty-Seven: 06/30-07/06

a glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this minute.

 

 

 

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 312+ hrs (of 1000)
Up 35 hours this week thanks to beautiful weather and so much fun.  We had an all-star baseball tourney last weekend (Grey had an in-the- park home run, and helped with a double play/almost triple play if it weren't for an out already!) I took the dogs for plenty of walks (and my poison ivy is almost all cleared up this week, yay!) We had picnics and playdates galore too which all helped our outdoor time (see below).

Reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and being inspired in a big way.

Library Haul:  no library trip this week, we were busy playing with friends :)

Experiencing a very strange day last Friday that had to do with my writing and the internet and my own sense of self as a writer.  I have a whole post coming next week that will go through what happened and how it felt and how humbling, bizarre, and confusing it was (still is) as it all settles out.  Thank you to those of you who have reached out to me about it - the internet can be very weird and I'm always grateful for the people who try to keep it a decent place. xxoxo

Spending three days in a row with our Gilmore cousins!  They live about three hours away, but the fourth of July always brings them Flood City side which makes our kids so very happy. Swimming with them at Pappy and Gigi's house on Saturday night (Gemma almost slept over with Audra but worked herself up so much giving B and I kisses goodbye and waving goodbye to us from the yard that before we pulled out of the driveway, she started bawling her eyes out.  hah! #soGemmaRose ,so she came home with us).  We spent all day with them celebrating our mutual cousin Kaitlyne's graduation party and Uncle Butter's birthday - including slip & sliding (did you see my insta stories - it was hilarious!) And then we spent the day at the Quemahoming Dam swimming, fishing, boating, and hanging out in the sun.  With all seven of our kids sun-kissed and tired, we loaded up and made our way to watch our local firework show, boat in tow! Such a great, great day!

Celebrating Independence Day!  We lit sparklers (Violet got a sparkler burn on her arm, she's all good but will probably have a scar which is kind of cool in its own right...I think Grey is weirdly jealous, hah), we saw fireworks locally with Abba, Chum, Kitty, Heather&Caleb, and the Gilmores.  Then again caught a beautiful firework display at Idlewild on the actual fourth.  We made our way to enjoy the amusement park with Pappy and Gigi for the evening, had dinner out there and got a chance to weave our way through Storybook Forest for the first time this year.

Picking our own blueberries at Stutzman Farms with our besties. Kate and I could not believe what an easy, fun activity it was for our kids ranging ages 1-7 years old. She said, 'Geez, we should have brought lounge chairs and just let them go for it!' It was a really hot day, but with bottles of water on hand and no rush, the kids joyfully picked nearly 16lbs (!!) of blueberries all together, hung out in the shade of the bushes, ran through the rows, and talked about all the things we were going to make with our bounty. The local newspaper, The Indiana Gazette, even showed up as we were getting ready to leave (after two hours of picking!) and Charlie made it to the front page! We already made blueberry waffles for breakfast and we are working on freezing plenty for later.

Getting in our Aunt Kitty time while she's closing out all the very last tasks before making her official international move to Bermuda.  If you want to follow along on her amazing new journey, she started a blog:  Loves on the Rock.  This week we had a sleepover at our house with Aunt Kitty, including making flower crowns.  It was the legit best to get to spend the night chatting by the fire with my sis (xxxox!) and then the next day we had a playday with Aunt Kitty, our friend Bryn and her two sweeties; Edye and Forrest!  We made the most of a rainy day with pizza lunch, bouncing at Hogue's Fun Factory, and a stop at Chuck E. Cheese.

Making these cheese danishes made with crescent rolls for July4th breakfast, Brandon made this Teriyaki chicken and broccoli rice bowls (delish!) last night for dinner. We had lots of leftovers from all the picnics and bbqs this week.  We did a bit of baking too including these firecracker cookies for our cousins' graduation and birthday party on Sunday, this last minute throw together Blueberry Angel Food cake to celebrate the fourth at our Idlewild picnic dinner, and these very easy, very yummy Cake Box Mix chocolate chip cookies that were gobbled up within 24 hours.