We decided to stop by Wendy's on our way home to pick up a quick dinner and had quite the visit. We placed our order and had just pulled up to the window when a big truck zooms up behind us, whips around us and pulls in right in front of us so we can't get out. This guy gets out of the truck with his sandwich and slams his door. You can hear him yelling at the people inside saying they messed up his sandwich. A little later he comes out yelling, "Get it right the first time," gets in his truck, slams the door and speeds off. About then the girl at the window informed me it would be a little bit while they made some new chicken nuggets and would I like a free Frosty-well sure. So we enjoyed our free Frosty while we waited. Then we got home just in time for Jackson to get changed into his uniform. Andrew and Ellie took Jackson to his game in LaPlata while I made sure the others ate and got everything ready to head to Lincoln's first tee ball game. As I was loading up the car I remembered that Leah mentioned something about team pictures a while back but I couldn't remember when they were. So I texted her only to find out that they were taking them right then. So I threw everyone in the car and we were off. Leah was so nice to hold them off for us so Lincoln could get his picture. Lincoln was one very excited boy about his game. It was pretty entertaining as the kids were all trying to figure out how to run the bases. Lincoln had a lot of fun, hit the ball off of the tee a couple of times and got to throw it to first once. He was pleased with the night. Miles and Bennett were infatuated with a fire truck that had parked across the street and kept pointing it out to me. Then at one point, we looked over and they were wrestling around with each other and surprisingly it was Bennett on top of Miles. The game ended early because of lightning and I was grateful my parents were there to help me get everyone/everything back to the car.
While we were at Lincoln's game, I was getting some texts from Andrea letting me know that Jackson got three strikeouts in his pitching debut. I was so excited for him and wished I could be at both places at once. So I decided to try to head to La Plata since Andrew said they were still playing. But right about the time we got there, they saw lightning too and eventually called off the game. So we just turned around and went home. We did have some pretty good storms that night with a lot of wind. Jackson and I stayed up until after the first round passed. I went out back afterwards to pick up some chairs that had been blown over and get our roasting sticks that were still out on the fireplace. The wind had blown our table and chairs all together up against one of the posts of the pergola. Then one of my curtains fell off the hooks and I could only find one. They are long gone. We had a couple more storms pass through and our sump pump was continuously running. But we were very fortunate that we didn't have any flooding and just a few limbs down including an old tree in the brush area behind our house. But the morning came quickly and it was time for Ellie to get ready for camp and school. We got out morning stuff done and were doing well to get Jackson to swim practice on time at 11, but then Lincoln walks into the garage with no shirt on and mud all over his shorts. He said he fell off his scooter again but didn't really get hurt, just dirty. So I sent him upstairs to quickly change but Jackson was a couple minutes late, plus he had to change into his suit. We had a 1/2 hour before we had to pick up Ellie so we ran by the bank and Walgreens and then just got in the pickup line a little early. I put on Mickey Mouse for the boys and I brought along some swim trunks I am "altering" for Lincoln and the twins. I bought them last winter for about $1.50 a piece but the waists area all too big, so I am just sewing them up a bit. So we got Ellie picked up and and went home so I could throw dinner in the crockpot and I let the kids play for a bit. Jackson was done at noon but I know it usually takes him a while to get out of the locker room, so we didn't pick him up until about 12:10 and we still had to wait. He said his practice went a little longer. The neighborhood kids wanted to do a slip-n-slide that afternoon so I let them use our side yard. It was a muddy mess, the yard and the kids, but they had fun. Andrew ended up raking up the grass so hopefully it will be okay. He, Jackson and Lincoln also worked on cutting down the tree that fell down in our back yard. It had cooled down quite a bit so we had dinner outside which was nice followed by a little basketball. Then I realized that the other families had ball games that night so it would probably be a good time to bring out the four wheelers again and the twins played on them the rest of the evening. All the other kids eventually got home and they are so tempted to get on the four wheelers but we are trying to keep them off for now.
Thursday was just one of those days where I could never get ahead. We tried to do our grocery shopping quickly before picking up Ellie from school but realized my tire was really low so I had to put some air in it. Andrew, thankfully, was able to get Ellie because I knew we wouldn't be able to get our shopping all done and get her picked up in time. Which was correct, but little things kept going wrong while we were shopping that added to our time. Even once we got home, trying to get the groceries put away, feed the kids lunch (Andrew had actually set out some leftovers for them which was nice but of course some of them had to complain that they wanted something different), my kids asking me all sorts of questions...can I have this, can I go there, when can I do this..., neighbor kids going in and out. I was worn out by the time I got to sit down and eat something. I had originally planned to take the kids to the pool but it was much cooler and cloudy that I thought it was going to be so we decided to just stay home. Ellie was excited to tell me that she got camper of the week at her camp which was awesome. She really enjoyed it and even played more outside when she got home. The kids played outside with their friends most of the afternoon anyways. So I cleaned out the garage and my car, went through Ellie's clothes to make sure she had enough for kamp, did lots of loads of laundry (muddy play equals extra laundry), finished up backing up my pictures and making a photo book (I put them on an external hard drive and dvd plus make a photo book every few months), got things ready for Lincoln's game, and attempted to figure out measurements for our cubbies in our office/mudroom. I heated up one of my freezer meals for dinner and we quickly ate outside (less clean up) so we could get to Lincoln's game. Well everyone else ate outside, but I just ate inside while I cleaned up so we could get out of the house. Lincoln was excited to play his second game and had his serious game face on. Hopefully his enthusiasm continues for the next few weeks.
When we got home Andrew decided to go for a bike ride. I took the kids inside to regroup for a bit and Lincoln was complaining about his arm hurting. We discovered a little seed tick in his armpit. So we went into our bathroom to pull it out and it the couple minutes it took to do that, the twins proceeded to spill a cup of milk that was on the counter all over the counters and the floor. Jackson felt bad because he was actually in the same room as the twins and didn't catch them doing it, so he offered to help clean up. After we got that done, we headed outside to play. I was determined to get to bed at a decent time that night but everyone ended up staying up late while Andrew played YouTube videos for the kids and they danced,mainly "Happy". I decided since I was up I would go ahead and clean the floors after everyone went to bed (I did enjoy looking at my clean floors the next morning) and hoped for an earlier night the next night.
It was hard getting Ellie up for school on Friday. Before we took Jackson to swim practice I made some cookies since we had some ripe bananas. Then we dropped off Jackson at swim practice and picked up Ellie from school. We had to wait a little while before she was done so I turned on Mickey Mouse for the kids and I worked on sewing up the waist of some shorts for Ellie that she needs for kamp. We did get her a little early though because her class was walking back inside from their "pirate adventure" and her teacher let her go ahead and leave. Then it was on to McDonalds to pick up some lunch and over to Rotary Park to eat lunch and play on the playground until Jackson was done with swim practice. After playing on the playground for a bit the twins discovered all the open space around them and though it would be fun to explore. Jackson got done with practice around 12:15 and came out to play a bit and then we headed home. I finished up some laundry while the kids played with their friends and Miles and Bennett watched Thomas. They love watching Thomas right now and I love how they say his name. :-) Just as we were getting ready to leave, Lincoln fell off his scooter again and scraped up his knee. I told him we needed to go and he needed to change his shirt because he got chocolate milk on it. He then started crying and said, "But Mom, I can't walk, crawl or hop on one leg."
The twins did a little better going down for naps at my parents-maybe it was not going to bed until after 10:30 the night before. But it took about 20 minutes for them to go down but the actually slept for several hours. The kids just swam for a little bit because the water was cool, but it was nice outside so we sat outside and enjoyed it. I was also able to finish up the shorts for Ellie. Andrew mowed the yard after work and then came over for dinner. Then Sara, Ryan and her family showed up to visit for the weekend. The kids got to go swimming again and the Ellie and Lincoln had sleepovers. Jackson was going to stay too, but I ended up not leaving until later so he just came home with me. He really likes his own bed. And Ellie ended up crashing on the couch before we even left-she was one tired girl.
Andrew went for another bike ride Saturday morning and I slept in for a bit and then got up to clean. Andrew got his ride in just in time as it rained pretty much the rest of the day. Jackson was supposed to have baseball practice, but it was canceled. So we headed to my parents and spent the day there. My dad let the girls into the attic and they found our old American Girl Dolls. I had Kirsten and she had never been out of the box since I got her when I was like 16 or something. I joked that I should sell her but Ellie and my mom demanded that I could not. They also went through the old dance costumes and divided them up. Ellie and Bella loved trying them on and Ellie was so excited we got to bring them home. While the girls played with that stuff, Lincoln and Brady spent a lot of time in the basement playing on the Wii. They love that thing. Thankfully it cleared up a bit after dinner and the kids did some swimming. It was kind of chilly out so they spent a lot of time in the hot tub. After we got home, my dreams of getting to bed earlier were dashed because Miles and Bennett
We were up early Sunday morning for Jackson and Ellie's big race. HyVee was having one of their Kids' Road Races in town and we thought it would be a good first race for both of them. Jackson was doing the 5K and Ellie the one mile. I think they were both a little nervous, but Ellie was definitely more obvious. Her poor belly was in knots. The race started at 8am so we got there around 7:45 and realized there weren't many kids signed up. The one mile group had maybe 10 kids in it but it wasn't timed. The Cahalan boys, Dominic and Luke, were in her race too and they finished first and second. Ellie did such an awesome job and finished third in the group. As I mentioned before, it wasn't timed but I think she was around 9:40. I was so proud of her that she didn't give up. And to prove that she ran hard and didn't give up, she had to go over on the sidelines and throw up a bit. But then she was feeling better. Next up was Jackson's race and there were only 5 kids that did it and I think Jackson was the only one from Kirksville. Jackson had a rocky start as he tripped and fell so he was slow getting out of the stadium but he kept going and set his pace. They had to change up the route a bit because of all the rain the day before but it just made it easier for us to watch him. They did a little loop three times that went up and down some of the sidewalks by Pershing and up and down Franklin St. He was able to pass one kid who would sprint for a little bit and then walk. That kid eventually dropped out of the race. Then Jackson closed the gap with the kid in front of him and eventually passed him. But Jackson ran out of gas on the last bit as they were running on the track towards the finish line and the kid passed him. I was still so impressed with how well he did. It was a fast group. The first two boys finished in under 23 minutes and one of them was only 8. Then Jackson and the other boy finished a little over 26. I think Jackson's official time was 26:16 which puts him under 9 minutes and allows him to qualify for the championship race that they have at the Drake Relays next April. As of right now though, he says he is not interested and probably won't be doing another 5K for a while. :-) It ended up being a great race for both of them and we were so proud of how hard they tried. Our neighbor, Jeff, is the manager of HyVee and he is the one Andrew sometimes rides with. So he was helping with the race and rode with both Ellie and Jackson telling them where to go and encouraging them. So nice. My parents, Molly, Sara, Ryan and their kids all came to watch them too which was so nice of them and Jackson and Ellie really appreciated it.
After the race we went by my parents to hang out a bit before Sara and Ryan headed home. Then Andrew took the three oldest out to the ranch for a while. They got to ride the four wheeler and horses and had a great afternoon. I took the twins home so they could nap and got busy with stuff around the house then did some grocery shopping when Andrew got home. The cooler weather kind of slows things down at the pool but it has allowed us to eat outside more often which has been so nice. So we had dinner outside and then the kids played while I rehung our curtains that fell down in the storm and Andrew worked more on some reseeding. Then Andrew got a fire going and we had some s'mores to end the evening.
Ellie got to sleep in just a bit this morning as she is going to soccer camp this week instead of school and it goes from 9-12 while school goes from 8-11:30. Jackson really enjoyed the British Soccer Camp last year so they both go to go this year. It was a little hectic getting out of the house as we were trying to figure out which soccer cleats worked since we haven't used them since the fall. They both really enjoyed it and are already looking forward to tomorrow. I was excited to see that we finally had our passports in the mail. But of course something had to go wrong. They had Andrew's middle name as Rey. So now we have to fill out another form and send it back in to get corrected. I will be so thankful when that is all done. It has been quite the process.
We were going to go to the pool today since we have more rain in the forecast for the week but the kids were having fun playing with their friends and I had some stuff I really wanted to get done at home, so we just stayed. I am hoping we can get another dinner outside in as well as a bike ride for me before the rain starts.
And one last picture of our baby robins on top of our pergola...
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