Around Here 25: 06/17-06/23

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

second generation Tap Run kids!

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 221+ hours  (of 1000)
I'm up 24 hours this week which is nearly 4 hours a day, but still too low for my liking.  It was such a crap week, SO MUCH RAIN, and I was curious to see how my hours this year are racking up against my previous attempts at this challenge considering we're about half way through the year now. I took a peek and In 2016 at this time in the year, I was at 228 hours (7 hour difference) and in 2017 at this time of the year, I was at 245 hours (24 hour difference). So I'm still underperforming at this point, but at least in the same ballpark, considering we've had such wacky weather this year (below freezing to start the year, longest winter ever, such a rainy early summer, ugh). I got the dogs out for a walk down the road while the big kids rode their bikes and it was so good for all of our souls, even though no one (but the dogs) felt like going when I proposed the walk at 8:30p - and then we all felt refreshed and renewed the moment we got out there. Which is basically what it feels like every.single.time you force yourself away from the indoors and screens and get outside. I know, I'm a broken record, but it is truly the path to human healing.

Reading The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn for our new Books & Brews book club choice. We had our book club meeting this week too at Nyko's and both of my girls decided they wanted to join. They had their own little table nearby us, but spent most of the time at our table (and on my lap) anyway. The sushi was delicious, the outdoor seating brought me joy, and the conversation and time with girlfriends soothed my soul like always. The kids and I also made our way to the library this week for free summer kid lunch (noon-1p M-F!) and took home a library haul full of fun new-to-us books to add to our 100 Picture books this summer challenge (we've read 23 so far).

Feeling so grateful for the Dads in our lives and celebrating them for Father's Day. We kept it low key this year which turned out to be exactly what we all needed. B got a lot of homemade cards and a big breakfast. We got to visit both grandpas on the holiday and spend some time loving up on them. We also sent video messages to the kids' godfathers for the day. I am so very blessed to be able to have these men in our children's lives.

Chicken coop'ing. For father's day, Brandon wanted to spend the afternoon working on finishing the chicken coop with the Cherry wood that we scavenged from his parents' newly finished pool fence (yay for re-purposing and free!) It is both beautiful and necessary (to protect the plywood from weathering) but we worked for hours in the hot, hot sun and we both dehydrated and sunburned ourselves (LOL, super romantic). Rusty is a big help when giving food and water to the chickens while Gem was awesome cleaning out the chickens' bedding and rocks this weekend. Bullet is still our champion herder and Violet is our chicken whisperer. We have names for half of them (the only ones we can tell apart for sure:  T'Challa, Chickaletta, Buck, Momo, and Snowball)

Cheering Grey and his team as they won the Championship! We played at West Suburban for the second game of the series on a blistering hot day (there appears to be no middle ground for weather this summer, it's either raining and cold or kill-me-now hot). The team had a great game and clinched the title! Grey and his teammates were so excited after a season of hard teamwork.

Playing volleyball together again! We went through a few weeks there that either only me or B could be at our co-ed league volleyball games due to baseball, soccer, or school board meetings. But we finally got out on the court again together and with the double bonus of not having to worry about the kids because Uncle Juice took them all out for ice cream and a playground visit (in Sheila! hahah, which is really really funny if you know Uncle Juice and the kind of bachelor vehicles that man drives!) We won (all three!) and it appears we should be able to play side by side for the rest of the season. yay!

Appreciating summer chore charts. It has been really nice to get some extra help around the house and the kids are loving that I added kitchen/cooking items to their list. Each day one of them is either making breakfast, lunch, or afternoon snack! I personally like the extra vacuuming and bathroom cleaning that I've been getting out of chore charts.

Meeting our newest friend, Ivella. Baby Ivy is only two weeks old and the kids were over the moon to get to meet her and spend some time holding her. Congrats Carli & Joe, she is so beautiful!

Sleeping over with friends and fam. Having sleep overs is some of our favorite summer activities. A treat for both the kids and the grown ups (! down a kid or two at home for a night makes such a huge dent in needed one-on-one time for others!) Grey got to have two sleepovers this week, once with his friend Gabe and another (including a trip to the movies to see Jurassic World 2) with his cousin Caleb (thank you Valentines & Rummels!) and Gemma invited her friend Rourie over for a sleepover at our house where there was a impressive 'show' from the Principal & Vice Principal about their 'student council trip' (hahha! complete with dress up clothes, papers, and clipboards!) And so much Just Dancing and giggling.

Celebrating our family friend, Ryan who is on his way to Navy Officer training. There was a big party for him at my parents' house on Saturday and the weather held off for the most part. Our kids had so much fun making new friends and getting hilariously muddy (ahem, Gem) while running around with Ryan's cousins and family friends. When I was a kid, Ryan and I (and our siblings) were all part of the Tap Run Ski Club kids. Our parents were all friends for a million and a half years (and still are!) and the whole lot of us would get to spend huge amounts of time together - on vacations, bbqs, parties, and even a special 'kids' day' event with games and fun they had planned for us. I was second to oldest of the Tap Run kids and Ryan was one of the youngest. A baby Tap Run kid grown up and making us all look good. So proud of him.

Making tacos, spaghetti, and ordering in for pizza at an alarming frequency (LOL).  For breakfasts we had banana, blueberry muffins, pancakes, donuts with a surprise visit from Aunt Kitty who is visiti from Bermuda! and Grey took breakfast orders from everyone and made egg, sausage and bagel sandwiches! I made chili cheese dog casserole to drop off to a friend and hawaiian meatballs and chocolate chip muffins to deliver to baby Ivy and her parents.