Back to Reality!

Well we jumped right back into things after our trip. Even though we were overly exhausted, Andrew and I were both up by 5 the next  morning. He went to the office and I started getting ready for the day and cleaning up the house. There was a lot of dust/dirt from the work they had been doing to try to finish up the remodel and it took most of the day to get it cleaned up including trying to clean out the garage where there was a decent layer of sawdust on everything. But everything was looking great. They got the trim, countertops and backsplash in while we were gone. All that was left to do was all the touch-up work and a few small things here and there. We jumped right back into everything with school, soccer, football, dance and the twins had their school pictures on Thursday. From what I gather from them, they said they actually smiled so we'll have to see when the pictures come in. The Mother Son Stampede was Thursday night but we weren't able to make it. Andrew and Jackson were at football all evening and I had to get Ellie to and from multiple dance classes and the twins to and from soccer, so it was impossible to take Lincoln to the stampede without asking my parents for help and I definitely wasn't going to do that after they had just had them for 10 days. Lincoln didn't ever say anything about it and he was happy he got to play at the YMCA playground while the twins were at soccer practice, so I don't feel as much guilt.

We were happy to find out that one of our two lost bags had been found. I'm glad I called the Kirksville airport though because they were supposed to call us but they didn't. So Andrew picked it up and it had all of our dirty laundry in it plus a few other items including our camera, a little gift we had gotten my parents and some gifts for the younger boys. The other bag has still not been found and it has a lot of stuff we really want back-Andrew's Garmin, GoPro camera (with video from his rides in the mountains), my makeup, swimsuits, dresses, Andrew's dress shoes, and my jacket that I loved that I had just gotten last spring along with the small gifts we got for Jackson and Ellie. I have called the airline everyday to check on it and I actually started filling out all the claim paper work since it has been lost for 6 days now. We also had trip insurance and I'm filing out paperwork for that too. It is so frustrating though because we actually picked up our luggage at Chicago after customs like we were supposed to do and I asked a guy about checking it and he pretty much ignored  my question and told me to continue on. Then when we turned in our luggage where we were told to, a lady scanned it and said what gate we were supposed to go to for our flight for St. Louis.

So we did get to give the twins and Lincoln the balloon cars we got for them. They had nothing to do with Italy but were sold at one of the stores in Courmayeur. Neither place we went really had many touristy-type items to buy for souvenirs, so our choices were pretty slim. I got Ellie some hair bands that were in the bag that we retrieved but her other gift, a small snow globe, was in the lost bag along with Jackson's pocket knife. I had thought that she would probably confiscate a pair of the slippers we brought back (both of our hotels had spa slippers that you could keep) and I was correct :-).

Friday was Homecoming and the three oldest were in the parade along with Andrew. Lincoln got out at the same time as Jackson, so Andrew picked them up while the twins and I picked up Ellie. We made a quick trip through Dairy Queen and headed downtown to get ready for the parade. We met up with Andrew and he took Jackson and Lincoln to the spot for the football players while I took Ellie to the spot for the soccer players. Then the twins and I tried to find a shady spot to sit and wait the 1/2 hour for the parade to start. Thankfully I brought some water and snacks for them to pass the time because it was an unusually hot day. Their friend, Owen, from school ended up standing next to them which they were excited about. And a little later, Lanie and Lou, came too. They had fun collecting candy and seeing their siblings and friends in the parade and we made it through without any tears.

After the parade we went home and spent the rest of the evening at home. Jackson did end up going to the football game, so I dropped him off so he could meet up with his friends and then they went to the K-Life house afterwards. I picked him and a couple other boys up at 11. Andrew fell asleep at some point while I was running Jackson to the game. I also ran by Westlakes and a quick trip to Wal-Mart and when I got home, he was asleep. I put up a couple curtain rods and worked on a couple other things and put the other kids to bed without him waking up at all. I think it was still taking us a bit to adjust to the time change.

Saturday, the twins had their soccer game at 9 and it was better for both of them than the week before. Bennett was a little hesitant at first but then he got in there and even scored a goal. He and Miles both got to be goalie and did a good job. It was fun to watch them get in there and have fun with it.

Andrew and the kids went out to the ranch after the game and I went grocery shopping and did some stuff around the house. Andrew as back pretty quickly and offered to do the power washing on the back patio and the front porch that I had planned on doing while I went for a bike ride. Well then it looked like it was possibly going to rain so I put off the ride for a bit and finally got it in just before Andrew and Jackson needed to head to Macon for the football game. They had to be there at 530 and the game didn't start until 7, so I brought the others in a separate car. We picked up some snacks at the gas station ahead of time hoping that would satisfy them, but it didn't help too much and they were still wanting stuff from the concession stand. Jackson did a good job at his game. His positions didn't get a lot of action but he would still hustle and work hard. He did get a tackle when it finally came his way. A lot of people were very disappointed with the officiating and we ended up losing 8-6 after they called back a touchdown because of a face  mask penalty. But it was still good to watch Jackson play.

Sunday was back to church and trying to knock a bunch of stuff off of my to-do list. The kids played with their friends all day-they were very excited to get back and see them when we got back into town. Andrew spent some time at the office and also worked on sealing our patio. Since we had some trim paint at the house from the remodel work, I decided to repaint a couple bathroom vanities that were white but had always looked dirty when they were originally put in. I was glad to get that done. Then that evening we went to my parents for dinner which was delicious.