So, this last week we became a family of four. But, we
stayed pretty busy with cousins in town. I did struggle between getting stuff
done in the morning and getting over to see everyone. Caulking the shower did take up some time, but
I finally got it done. We finally made it over to my parents around 2, let the
kids swim and then we went home to get dinner ready for everyone after a quick
stop at Aldi. I made a dessert and started getting everything else ready for
dinner and Andrew grilled the steaks. Most of Amanda’s kids loved it and
Grayson kept asking for more “chicken”. The kids played out back for a little
bit and then rode bikes. Then we went to
the Kiwana’s Park at the Y and the kids had a lot of fun running around there. Carolina
was determined to learn to ride a bike without training wheels and when I got
to my parents’ house the next day, they were just getting started working on
it. After a few tries, we discovered that if you just held onto the back of her
seat and not the seat and the handlebar, she was more stable. And before you
knew it, she was off and very excited. We got Colton going too, but he wasn’t
interested in continuing it. He was done after one ride 😊.
They did get some more swim time in.
Bennett got pretty good at diving through the inner tube and Miles actually
found the torpedo that Lincoln got for his birthday that was soon after lost in
the bottom of the green pool. Speaking of Lincoln’s birthday, Tuesday was his
actual birthday and it was kind of odd not being able to celebrate with him.
Tuesday night we went out to eat at AJ’s…yum. The kids
did fairly well and kind of enjoyed being down at the end of the table by
themselves. The next day I got to a bike ride in and Andrew and the twins showed up off Potter Trail to cheer me on :-).
Then I got to enjoy the experience of my first mammogram.
It actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Then Sara and her
kids came into town. We did do some swimming but it was cloudy off and on with
chances of rain, so we did spend some time inside. They made their own paper
computers, iPads and phones to play with since we had banned them from the real
things 😊. And we went to the Kiwana’s playground
again so that Sara’s kids could play on it. It was a little busier since we
went in the middle of the day when the Y kids were there.
The twins got to have a sleepover at my parents Wednesday
night. They had been waiting for it all week. And since they weren’t around
Thursday morning, I decided to try a longer swim at the pool. I had finally
decided to sign up for a Half Irnoman the day before that will be in
Chattanooga in May and I thought it would be good to get a baseline for the 1.2
mile swim. It took me 37 minutes, which is okay. I definitely could have pushed
myself harder and know I can do better, but this gives me a good idea.
Before I went to my parents, I stopped by the DMV and got
Andrew’s new truck registered. Every time I go in there, they try to convince
me that Andrew needs to run for Circuit Court Judge. The lady I talked to was
convinced they could get him elected and they really needed him in there. I don’t
think he is going to do it though. But that took a little while and I got my
parents just a few minutes after Amanda and her kids left. The kids played for
a little while and then we said our goodbyes to Sara’s crew and went to the
dealership to get my car worked on. One of the door handles was coming off, so
they were able to fix that and I went ahead and had an oil change and tire
rotation since we would be leaving for vacation soon. Then we went back home
and the twins fell asleep watching cartoons, while I started packing for
Branson and doing laundry. That evening, Andrew and I had a K-Life meeting and
I wasn’t sure what to do with the twins. My parents and Molly were loading up
stuff for her move to St. Louis. I almost considered just taking them with us,
but then I checked with Tiffany to see if Addi would want to watch them and she
did. They did pretty well…played outside riding scooters and taking Buddy for a
walk and they were playing a game when I got there.
Friday morning, we rolled out for Branson to pick up the
kids from kamp. We made a stop in Columbia at the bike shop to drop off my bike
to hopefully fix the issues I had been having. Andrew worked on it quite a bit,
but just couldn’t get it all figured out. The bike shop is the only store he
likes to go into…and he loves it. The twins were a little restless for the
ride, saying it was taking too long. I told them to just wait until next week.
Every day I would scour the kamp photos website waiting
for pictures to be posted. Especially for Lincoln’s birthday. I was actually a
little disappointed that they only had one picture associated with his
birthday. I was hoping I would get to see a little more of how they celebrated.
The kids weren’t in many pictures, but it is always fun to catch little
glimpses of what they are doing. I am almost convinced that Jackson and Lincoln
avoided the camera though. I looked one last time before we got to Jackson’s
camp and there were a few.
We actually ended up being a little late to K-7. We stopped
for a late lunch in Springfield and ended up actually getting it to go, since we
were running behind. I really thought we had enough time, but everything took
longer. They were just getting ready to start the teepee awards when we found
Jackson. He didn’t seemed too bothered that we were a little late. It was great
to see him though. He said it was one of his best years and he really enjoyed
his counselors. They had great things to say about him and gave him the
character qualities Meek and Dependable and he got the Heart award. I know he
has become a very dependable person for Andrew and I. He got his Icthus fish
for going to kamp for 5 years and is looking forward to getting the backpack
next year. We only stuck around for part of the all kamp awards because Jackson
said he was starving and really wanted something to eat before going to pick up
Ellie and Lincoln. We stuck around for Keith Chancey’s talk which was about
discipleship within our own families that extends out to others and was really
good. We also got to catch up with the Harrison family as they came by during
their downtime after letting their kampers go at K-West. It was great to see
them again.
We got out of K-7 in good time and went by the hotel to
check in. Check in actually took much longer than it should have since they
originally had us in rooms on different floors, but they did work to get us
rooms by each other…it just took a long time. We quickly took our stuff up and
went to the bathroom before heading over to K-Kountry. Lincoln was waiting for
us as we walked down to the tennis courts and came running up to us. He even
teared up a little. And soon after we found Ellie. It was hard to get much out
of Jackson about his week, but Ellie and Lincoln had a lot to share. I was
relieved to hear that Lincoln really liked it and was ready to go again next
year. Ellie felt the same as Jackson, that is was one of her best years. She
really hopes to keep in touch with a couple girls from her barn that live in
St. Louis. And she loved her counselors. Lincoln was pretty funny that I’m not
sure if he knew the names of half the kids in his barn. He even had “the kid
that I was closest to” but he didn’t know his name. Ellie said she saw them
together a lot but she didn’t know his name either. We went by the kamp store
first because my mom was wanting me to pick up some shirts. It was a little
chaotic, but hopefully I got what she needed. Then we ate a quick bite of
dinner before starting barn awards. We saw Andy and his family and got to visit
with them for a little bit and quickly saw the LaBeths and Marshalls. We started
with Ellie and she was all smiles. Her counselors had wonderful things to say
about her. She got the Barnabas award for being an encourager and they gave her dependable and gentle as her character qualities.
Then we made our way over to where Lincoln’s barn was
doing their awards and got to see Lincoln with his counselors. He got the Four
Square award and his character qualities were adaptable and kind.
Next up, we headed to the church to do the all kamp
awards and watch the term video. Ellie and Lincoln each got one of the all-kamp
awards. Ellie was one of the winners of the Unsung Hero awards and Lincoln was
a Spike award winner. Ellie had never won the Unsung Hero award before, but she
and Jackson have both won the Spike award. Lincoln was so disappointed when we
got to the hotel and he realized he had lost his “spike”. After the awards, we
went by the barns to pick up their bags of wet clothes and got to say a few
goodbyes.
Then it was on to the hotel to spend the night and we
headed home the next morning. We did have to stop in Columbia to pick up my
bike, so we ate a quick lunch and then picked it up. Jackson and Andrew drooled
over the bikes a little bit and then we were on our way home. They were so
excited to see Buddy. Faith took care of him for us, letting him out several
times on Friday and then again Saturday morning before she left for vacation.
Everyone was out of town that weekend, so we just went with it and hoped
everything would be okay. We’ll after going in to see Buddy, they told me to
just stay outside…Buddy had pooped several times in the family room. So while
they cleaned up the mess, I cleaned up the car, got my bike and the bike hitch
off the car and started unloading the car. They worked hard to get everything
cleaned up and got busy unpacking trunks and our suitcase and started on the
massive amount of laundry. We just ordered pizza for dinner and Andrew took the
kids out to the ranch to check the cows and visit his parents while I continued
unpacking and did the grocery shopping.
Andrew and I went for a bike ride Sunday morning and then
went to church. The laundry continued and then I got the trunks repacked and
stored down in the basement. And since the kids had a lot of laundry to put
away, I helped them out a bit by pulling some clothes to use to start packing
for vacation. We have also been on the search for new jeans, which is proving
quite difficult. So, I decided to go ahead and go through dressers and closets
again. I ended up with a bag of trash and a couple bags of clothes to give away
to family and friends and three bags to go to the thrift store. I also spent quite
a bit of time going through totes of old boy clothes and found some (including
jeans) for Lincoln and the twins. So those were my last two loads of laundry
for the day and the dryer seemed to be struggling a little bit, so I decided to
pull it out and clean out the vents. I do think it helped. Lincoln also had a
birthday party that afternoon, so I took him out to that and picked him up
three hours later. It was a Survivor themed party and Lincoln had a lot of fun
with it. They played Beyblades again when he got home-they have made quite the
resurgence in our house. They keep them entertained, but there are also some
fights.
We grilled hamburgers for dinner that night and actually
enjoyed an evening outside with the kids playing with their friends. Andrew set
up a few bike races down the street, which was fun. And I got to visit with
Tiffany and Leah for a little while.
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