Our summer in review--
Week 20--Finishing up the school year and getting our new carpet installed was the highlight of these weeks. This carpet is glorious and we may never move now. ;)
Week 21--a new baby!! So blessed to have friends that are practically family. We are are still so smitten by our baby Graham cracker.
Week 22--Summer is now starting!!!
week 24 was our first vacay of the summer. Now usually we go nowhere, but this summer we had several trips planned. First up Branson with my in laws. We had a great time and it was a fun way to kick start summer.
The first night we went to the Dixie Stampede--I say this is worth while experience. The food was delicious {even without utensils} and the show they put on was very cool. Highly recommend.
Riding the duck. I will say this wasn't as fun as the first time and I think it really depends on your driver and their personality. Our driver just wasn't as lively as the first time we went on, but definitely a fun tour.
Ah! Silver Dollar City. Always a good time. Lo is really into amusement parks now and wants to ride all the rides which I love! Although now that I have a ride buddy I am realizing my equilibrium isn't what it use to be---HA! We started the day off in line for the cave tour--Lo quickly commenced into a panic attack about it. Look, I am the kind of mom that pushes you into your fears rather than running from them, because I have spent my entire life running from anything that seemed to scary or difficult to master--crazy thing is once I started pushing past that amazing things happen--werid right?! Anyway, we made her do the cave tour (two different ones actually) 2 years ago and she is still panicking. We stood in line all the way up until it started and when she broke down crying I decided this wasn't the time to push. Sometimes I can be compassionate. ;) So Lo and I went on our own adventure of the park and scouted it out. She even found a bracelet place to make her own personalized bracelet--something that is hard to come by when your name is Leighton.
The rest of the day was spent dripping in sweat but riding all the rides and having a blast. I think our favorite ride was this boat that you could squirt water cannons at passerbyers and they could squirt you. We were laughing so hard and were completely drenched. I was also proud of MW for getting on lots of rides and being brave---something he struggles with too! It was a fun time and we can't wait to go back again!
Another fun experience was riding a train. I just felt like Hermione Granger on my way to Hogwarts. I just sat their so excited. The kids were slightly less than thrilled, and proceeded to go to the bathroom 17x! This train is also the Polar Express at Christmas---now that is something I would LOVE to do someday--it is a bit pricey but I think so worth it. Especially since the kids love that movie.
More train photos...Iron was even spotted on the train.
Some random photos from the trip. Leighton posing in front of Layton's store is always fun. :)
Week 25--in the throws of summer and recovery from vacay #1! I was exhausted because you know moms do all the work.
week 26--the highlight of this week was VBS. These kids love going and ask about when they can go back approximately 1 day after it ends...
week 27--
week 28--mostly all that occurred this week was the 4th celebration and me spending the rest of the week in Real Estate classes!
MW finished up Tball this week. It has been fun putting him in all the sports and seeing him go from not having a clue to gaining some mastery of that particular sport. He is a lefty so his daddy is happy. I just love having a boy and doing these boy mom sports.
week 29--the big news here is I passed my Real Estate exam and now I am officially a REALTOR! Anyone need a house in KS???
And then we left for a mini vacay to KC for Worlds and Oceans of fun with my family.
Once again it was a blast. On the way up there we could see the storm clouds looming. The meteorologist kept predicting heavy heavy rains...I was praying it off, or that somehow this will work out because this was disappointing everyone. What I learned is that some times you do have to walk through the storms to get best---not always pray them away. Sometimes it seems silly to liken everything back to God and a lesson you can learn from it--because it is a vacation not a life-threatening situation--but I really try and find God's messages to me through everything. And again this may seem trite, but because it stormed and rained so hard that no one went to the park that day. And by the time the storms passed at 2ish and we went in no one was there! We practically owned the park. We had zero wait times and rode until our hearts were content! The storms ended up being a great thing. The weather was cooler :read less humid!! and we ended up having the best day. The next day there was longer waits and we couldn't get on everything we wanted--so yeah, I will take that as a blessing and a lesson in God's ways and timing.
Lo was all about rollercoasters although she wasn't tall enough to get on most of them. She found spinning dragons and we rode that no less than 10x! She loved it. Meg and I hit up Patriot and I just sat there with a big dopey grin on my face {no screaming/ vocal rules ;) } MW struggled more with his fear, but he quickly learned to trust us that if he didn't he would miss out on the fun!
Camp Snoopy was a hit. Meg and I even had fun in there!
We all stayed in these cool cabins on the property---I didn't even know this existed. They were really cute and slept all 7 of us. On day 2 the humidity felt like 1000% so my favorite ride was that water sprinkler. HA!
And just as soon as we got back from KC--4 days later we left for the lake! Table rock is like my heaven on earth. I love this trip and spending time with our small group peeps. Adults and kids start planning and counting down the days until the next one as soon as we drive home!
Oh my MW. Guys, last year he would barely even swim in a regular pool let alone the lake. This year he was diving off the dock like Micheal Phelps. These kids have grown up like cousins and are very best friends. Their ages are 1.5-10 for the 6 of them. I am sure next year baby Graham will get to join their gang. ;)
On day 2 on the lake I asked MW if he wanted to go back to the house for a bit...he was just slightly hesitant and I insisted he responded with "okay mommy" and then 10 minutes later he is past out on my lap. Those are the moments. Moments I haven't experienced in years. Lo of course rocked the skiing...she is really hamming it up--sliding side to side, holding the rope with one hand etc...
Week 31--back to reality. We got to babysit baby Graham. I had two really excited kids and helpers. I love that they get to be big "sibs" all the while giving the baby back. To me that is win-win. Although Graham is so good I would keep him.
And those are some of the highlights of our summer! It was a great one for sure and I am so glad to have documented the whole thing! Sometimes I grow weary of this project, but I push on towards my goal because being able to look at these later brings us all so much joy as we are flooded with memories. I don't care what you do or how you do it--but record your kids through photos and video because you will forget their little smiles, quirky expressions and tiny voices.
STORIES HAVE TO BE TOLD OR THEY DIE, AND WHEN THEY DIE, WE CAN'T REMEMBER WHO WE ARE OR WHY WER'RE HERE.
~~Sue Monk Kidd
