Summer 2012 - Week 9

July 23 - July 29

We are starting to work our way more quickly down our summer list. In June, there always seems to be so much time. By the end of July, not so much.

One of the things we had on the list this year was tie-dye. So I bought some t-shirts on sale at Hobby Lobby and we got busy.

They did a great job, but somehow I only got a picture of one finished product. This is Declan's:

One evening after dinner, we headed to a local park.

Liam is still unafraid of slides

I try to buy Groupons when they offer good ones, and I had one for JumpStreet that was expiring soon. So Scott took Aiden, Zane and Declan on Saturday.

Liam is walking really well now. Looove that little, unbalanced, toddling stage.

Conner worked several days, got in some bowling, and some time with friends.

Chase went to Water World and also spent a whole day at HeavenFest. He loved it and got several signed items from the bands.

The Olympics began so I've been glued to that in the evenings. It's fun to watch the younger kids get excited about it, just like their older siblings did in the past.

Summer 2012 - Week 8

July 16- July 22

Scott and Conner were in Indy the whole week, until Saturday. Conner had tournaments Monday-Thursday.

A few of the kids he regularly bowls with

Then on Friday, they drove into the suburbs of Chicago to visit Scott's dad. We haven't seen him since our trip there in 2005.

They drove a good 8 or 9 hours toward home and spent the night in Lincoln, Nebraska. They finally got home Saturday at 3 p.m. It was a good trip for them both. Conner gained valuable experience in huge bowling tournaments, and Scott got a break from work. They also got to spent some good quality time together before Conner goes off to college in less than a month (insert Mommy whimper here).

Here on the home front, we kept busy. On Monday, we met friends at a park and then had lunch at Costco. The fun part of that is she has 8 kids, while I have 7. So it's always an experience when we get together.

The 3-yr. olds were fascinated with a caterpillar

On Tuesday, I took the kids to the cheap summer movie. This time it was "Smurfs". It was pretty awful. Thankfully, I can put my phone on dim and read on my Kindle app. :)

Wednesday I got to meet a friend for coffee. So nice to sit and talk and catch up with each other. Then I took the kids to use some of their library reward coupons. They got free ice cream, Subway and Marco's. And I didn't have to cook. :)

Aiden had his final two baseball games, while Zane had his second-to-last.

We also went to an huge annual community sale. All the kids got various things, but we didn't find any major deals. And it was blazingly hot so by 11:00 we were home and in the pool.

Most the family went to church Saturday evening, then Chase went to play mini-golf with his youth group. Sunday, the 3 oldest went to church, Chase had rock climbing and Conner had a very busy day. He had a bowling league, then a lake party for the college-ages ministry from church, then an 8th grade prom. That is a celebration of the 8th graders that are leaving the middle school youth group and heading up to the high school group. Conner has been a leader for the last 2 years and this was his last event with them.

Meanwhile, the rest of us met friends at Little Man Ice Cream for cool treats on this very hot day, then went across the street to the park. We had a fun afternoon visiting and letting the kids play.

Chase hung out in his hammock

Scott filled in on a softball league, then we all went home and had a great dinner prepared by Chase and yummy chocolate-dipped strawberries that Brenna made.

Summer 2012 -Week 7

July 9 - July 15

I have hardly any pictures this week...hmmm.

On Monday and Tuesday, Conner and I were up at CSU for orientation. He stayed the night on Monday, but I drove home and back up Tuesday morning. It went well, they are incredibly organized so it all flowed smoothly.

Conner was invited to apply for what's called a key community. His would be for Health Services. It's a group of students that live in the same residence hall, and take a couple of classes together. They have a key mentor to help guide them and they stress academic excellence, leadership and community service.

We got more information about it and talked it over, and Conner decided it was something he'd like to do. So he applied on Tuesday and found out Friday he was accepted. So that means he will have to move to a different residence hall, and have a different roommate. That part is sad since he'd already been communicating with his roommate online and they actually met in person in June. He's hoping they can still hang out and get to know each other.

It sounds like this will be a good thing for Conner, though. It will provide him with much more support for his first year and give him more opportunities. I'm excited for him.

Aiden had two baseball practices and two games this week. Zane had one practice and a game. Grandma was able to come to Zane's game, so he was thrilled about that.

Chase had an overnight Lock-in with the high school youth group on Tuesday and then on Thursday went with one of his leaders to a huge comic book store. He was in awe, and can't wait to go back.

Conner got ready for his big trip, and then he and Scott left Friday at 5am. They drove straight through to Indianapolis and arrived at midnight their time. He qualified for Jr. Gold and this is a big tournament for kids all over the country. He hasn't been able to prepare or practice much at all due to his medical issues, so he is going mostly for the experience.

They registered on Saturday and had practices both Saturday and Sunday. His first tournament is Monday. They will be there until next Friday or Saturday.

The kids and I also went on a trip Friday. We headed to the mountains to visit my parents for the weekend. I was really saddened that we didn't get to go through the canyon and take my annual by-the-river picture. But due to the recent wildfire and flooding, there have been a lot of rock slides and my dad requested we avoid that area. So we went instead the long way around, through Cheyenne and Laramie.

Liam practice his new walking skills on the way into town

We had a very nice visit and came home on Sunday. The house was extremely hot after being closed up all weekend. We got the swamp cooler going, unpacked and then the kids jumped in the pool.

I'm anxious to see how the week on my own goes.

Summer 2012 - Week 6

July 2 - July 8

Brenna and Declan came home on Sunday, so I had all my kiddoes back under one roof. That's always such a contented feeling.

Conner was stung by a bee on his foot Sunday night. When he came home from work on Monday, his foot was hugely swollen. We called our pediatrician's office (of course it was after-hours! That's the only time medical emergencies seem to happen in our household), and talked to the triage nurse. She said to keep it elevated and ice it and watch for redness spreading up his foot/leg.

By morning, it was even bigger and blisters were forming near his toes. I called the doctor's office again and took him in. They said it wasn't an allergic reaction -- it was an infection. So he was given steroids and antibiotics, and told to keep it elevated and not to work for a few days.

Thankfully, the next day it was already showing improvement and by Friday, he was able to go back to work. He was rightly frustrated. This is the third medical issue he's had since March. And this is my kid who had never had a broken bone or stitches. I guess he wanted to fit it all in before he left for college.

It's been rough, but I'm so grateful none of the problems were life-threatening. We have insurance, he was able to get good care, and he recovered fully. I know we've been very blessed.

Besides dealing with that, we did also do some fun things this week. On Monday, I picked up my nieces and brought them over to swim. We hadn't seen them since before school got out, so it was really nice for all of us.

Wednesday was the Fourth of July, so Scott had the day off. We didn't want to go to the mountains because of all the fires, and we'd already seen a great fireworks display at the Rockies game in May, so we decided to do something different. And also check a couple items off our summer list.

In the afternoon, we went bowling. I didn't realize until later that it was the first time Zane and Declan had ever bowled. Considering the many hours we've spent in bowling alleys with Conner, that is very surprising. They really enjoyed it and actually, I think Declan won one of the games. :) We won't even talk about how poorly I did. Conner did NOT get his bowling ability from me.

Liam caught a ride on Chase's bowling bag

That evening, we took the kids to the drive-in to see Madagascar 3. We chose not to stay for the next 2 features. We took 2 vehicles so we'd have enough seating and everyone could be comfy.

Chase also got to Water World again one day, and another day I took Aiden, Zane, Declan and Liam to Tiny Town with my friend Charlotte and her family. I have a lot of pictures from when the older kids were little at Tiny Town and really wanted to make sure I had some of the younger set too. After the major heat all week, the cooler mountain air felt amazing.

That evening, the older kids babysat while Scott and I went out for a date. We tried out Lucky Pie in Louisville and then went to the Flatirons Mall. On Saturday, Conner was able to return to work. I got a haircut and Scott worked on the cars. Liam, unfortunately, developed a case of croup so we decided not to go to church.

Sunday Scott and Brenna volunteered at church, Conner had activities with the junior high group he mentors, Chase went rock climbing and later to the movies, and I got to have lunch at Panera with friends.

Later in the afternoon, we went to the library for the kids to turn in their summer reading program papers and get their prizes. There is a great park next door, so we hung out there for awhile. Liam is incredibly fearless and loved the slide. A dinner at 3 Margaritas rounded out our evening.