Intentional Outdoor Hours: 270+ hours (of 1000)
Up 49 hours this week with a big chunk of that from camping (an 11 hour and 12 hour day outside!) The weather has been brutally hot and humid so we take a mid-day break in the AC or during the summer thunderstorm downpours. B and Red got caught in the goat pasture during one of the thunderstorms (I had the other kids at my parents' house) and they had to hunker down in the goat house until the downpour ended!
Reading almost nothing this week and I can feel how the internet/social media is negatively impacting my mind, heart, and soul. Luckily we had camping at the end of the week that kept me off of screens almost completely which was a big gulp of fresh water to my whole self.
Hosting our cousin Reid at our house all week. It was great to have a little muscle in the house (Reid is 12 but taller than me already!) and he was happy and kind enough to do the chickens/goats with Grey each morning - also nice to have a little motivation for Grey to get those chores done. It was fun on my part to get a little glimpse into what the next two years might look like and he was a total sweetie to all the little siblings - lifting them up to touch the ceiling and talking with Red. How lucky we all were to have Reid be our honorary big brother for a week.
Missing our Gemma who had swapped places with Reid. She had such a great time with Audra visiting in Etown. They swam, hiked, had ice cream, made up their own diner complete with menus, played with neighbor girls the same age (!). I could tell that she was starting to get a little homesick towards the end of the 6 days as she was video calling me multiple times a day (hah) but she made it the whole time and jumped into my arms when I saw her on Thursday and begged to take care of Red for the rest of the day because she had missed him so much.
Visiting the Staple Bend tunnel on bikes with Reid and Grey. I borrowed my Dad's bike (me and B don't have our own!) and so it was like 1 inch too tall for me, so stopping and starting was pretty hilarious. But it was great to be with just the big kids and do something together, but also each on our own too. The ride was enjoyable and the shade me it tolerable in the heat.
Swimming! We hit up both my Aunt Lisa's pool and Pappy & Gigi's pool (thank you!) as it was so hot and humid this week. Rusty is so close to not needing floaties at all and he is so proud (me too!) Violet is still a total fish and would swim for the whole day non-stop, I think maybe she was a mermaid in another life.
BMXing at the Johnstown track. It was our first visit to the track and on a super hot day (in the upper 80's) we had the whole place to ourselves. Rusty loved it and sped up and down all those hills on his little strider (balance) bike like he was a pro. Grey asked if we could go back again later that day because he had such a good time!
Watching the graduation video of my Richland kids. Four years ago, I got back into the classroom for the first time in nine years (!) to be their long term Spanish sub for a semester. And they were the kids that reminded me that I was born to be a teacher and that I missed the classroom so much. The following fall I was at my current school full time! All my kids looked so grown and are headed off to big and great things. So proud to see them receive their diplomas. #neverhaveievernotcriedatgraduation (even the digital kind)
Camping at the Que with our cousins. We stayed in new spots this year which actually turned out to be pretty perfect. We got a beautiful evening and night on Thursday, then Friday was so hot it was insane - like skin melting off 90's with full sun and then at about 7p the sky opened up and poured for four hours straight. Saturday was a little soggy but okay and the kids couldn't care less because they were outside and with cousins with an endless supply of snacks - best days ever. Our good friends were camping near by too which just amped up the boys on bikes and kayaks quotient which always makes for more fun too. Basically it was all of anyone's summertime childhood memories shrunk down into three days....so perfection.
Summer sporting with two baseball games for Grey. We had just one volleyball match and it was on the same night as one of Grey's games - so we left the baseball field (where they were in a lightening timeout) to rush down to the volleyball courts and got to play in the light rain (no lightening down there). Grey's other game was on our first night at camp, so I stayed back with the rest of the kids and B and Booboo went to baseball and then rushed right back afterwards!
Making grilled chicken and asparagus, lots of leftover bbq chicken from the grad party last weekend. The boys made muffins one morning for breakfast (all by the themselves). For camp, I made taco meat (walking tacos!) and a big batch of haluski.
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