We came back from Hawaii on a Wednesday afternoon and my parents returned the pets they had been watching for us (we were so grateful) and let us know that Callie had been scratching a bunch and they were worried she might have fleas. So we gave her a flea bath in our shower before Nathan had to run off to take Patrick to a basketball game. Nothing like getting right back to it!
Callie hates water and was traumatized but was so happy to see us. We discovered after our next trip that Callie is just allergic to flea bites and so if a flea bites her and dies because of her flea and tick medication, they still manage to drive her crazy and she'll itch and itch at the bite spot. We came back from the family reunion to a dog that had chewed off all the fur at the base of her tail. Poor puppy. We took her to the vet and got anti-itch medication and she's been doing so much better.
Sookie was beyond thrilled to see us again, although she certainly seemed to get plenty of attention at my parent's house.
Eleanor is very devoted and will practically fall on her head in order to love up the kitty.
Patrick loves all sports and after a long play date with Luke a couple days after we got back home he stuck around and kept score for his baseball game. What a cutie.
I played backgammon with Bradley and regretted it because he so thoroughly dominated me.
Back in the pool and it felt so good!
I hosted a euchre group a few days after we got back and we were short a player so there was talk of recruiting one of the kids to play. I told Patrick it had to be a girl because it's a womens' group and he was willing to do his best to fit in.
Ugh, mouth kisses from Callie. She was so happy to have us all back.
Juliet has discovered a love of reading this summer, she just needed to have the write kind of literature. Minecraft books are the best.
Waiting at the ortho together for the big kids.
Braces on! Bradley just has six brackets so far but it was a sore first day for him and I'm glad he got to ease into things.
We had quite the weekend back from Hawaii, which included a Weird Al concert on Friday night at the new Morton Amphitheater.
We had tried to go last year but Girl Scout camp interfered so it was fun to get to go with the entire crew this time. Last time it was boys with friends.
Bradley LOVES Weird Al, it would have been worth going just for him.
Juliet was a champ and made it all the way through the concert, which lasted until 11PM. Thank goodness for not completely getting back to our regular schedule after Hawaii!
It's so funny that I saw Weird Al for free with admission to the LA County Fair twenty years ago. Apparently that was during the lull in his career. Things have picked up for him since then and he's selling out amphitheaters!
Juliet and the other kids were really into getting to do cell phone lights at the end of the concert
Both Juliet and I think concerts are too loud and brought ear protection. We had a blast!
The next day was my birthday/our luau party.
We did family cards and presents before the party. Nathan got me chocolate and Eleanor was very interested in my present.
I love getting cards from everyone. Sweet notes are really the only presents I want. Although chocolates are fun too!
More cuddles for Bradley and Callie.
Then it was party time! The logic is we have this great backyard space and we host an annual cookie swap during the winter of all things. It was time to start having some summer gatherings and luau was the obvious theme. Although it was helpful that we had just gone to Hawaii!
We just had a bunch of food and a Photo Booth and did a limbo game for the kids
Followed by a water balloon toss. I think we had 25 kids at this party. The weather was perfect, which was really fortunate, because I was going to have a heart attack if this many kids had been in my house at once.
I think the balloon toss was the best part of the party. Super fun for kids of all ages and I subbed in for a kid who needed a partner.
Eleanor mostly didn't do the party but she came out for this bit. Lorelei has been stolen from Bradley, especially now that Lorelei and Eleanor do rock climbing together.
Photo time with my cute Juliet!
And a Callie photo bomb
With Megan Watt!
And a cute couple picture. We are adorable.
Juliet was thrilled that Katie got into town in time to attend the party. We actually had Daniel and Stephanie and the kids over to swim before the party and just had Katie stay - Daniel and Stephanie would have been welcome to stay but we figured a crowd of strangers was basically Daniel's nightmare and he agreed.
Katie was a champ and she and Juliet had such a good time together.
Patrick had a solid crew there. They are all so perfect for him.
With Paige and Susan! Eleanor and I have discussed how we somehow attract the best people despite being less than perky angels. We don't understand how we do it but we're so grateful!
Nathan with his dudes!
The party went late. Again, it's so good that Juliet was basically on West Coast time after Hawaii.
The Lindsays mere moments before Patrick crashed all their family photos
And a delighted Juliet the next day at church when we ran into Katie at the library. We went from my birthday/luau party to Father's Day the next day. And then the next day was Eleanor's birthday. The kids made a lot of cards this weekend.
Me quizzing Eleanor on her thoughts and feelings about becoming a year older.
Then Eleanor's party! I think we had about 10 girls come over. Eleanor has the nicest group of friends, it's quite impressive to find such a nice group of middle school girls.
My mom made a ridiculous ice cream cake topped with ganache and whipped cream. I cannot overstate how delicious it was and how much she has ruined regular ice cream cakes for us.
The party crew enjoying pizza!
We had talked Eman's little brother Rayan into staying and playing with Juliet but as soon as the boys came around for pizza he ditched her for brothers and video games. Which was excellent timing because he wasn't allowed to get in the pool without his mom here and Juliet desperately wanted to ditch him in order to get in the water with the big girls.
The girls were quite fun to watch during the party ... they balanced items on their heads.
Then they made it a rule to not say "Happy Birthday" so they sang Eleanor "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" when she got her cake.
Happy Juliet in the pool!
Patrick made an obligatory shirtless appearance and somehow survived.
Eleanor got talked into opening gifts in front of everyone. I was so impressed by how thoughtful they all were. Long notes as well.
She got a joke girl of Mac n cheese from Elise
Who somehow also managed to sneak in some real gifts which were hidden behind her swimsuit or something - we have no idea how she hid them but she got Eleanor some great books and she was very pleased.
Elise went with us for the first half of our family trip to Branson for a reunion. She got to experience Buc-ees for the first time!
Our house in Branson was huge and had tons of amenities. Including a hot tub and nice sunsets!
We went to Talking Rocks Cavern and had an amazing time. A big hit was a speleobox, which simulates what it's like to climb around inside a tight cave.
The kids went over and over again, including Emmett who is 5'6" tall. The sign said you should be under 6'2" and under 230 lbs to enter so I figured I'd give it a go. I would put that in perhaps the top 10 worst decisions of my life. The entry point wasn't terrible but then it kept twisting with weird gaps to fit through and slotted tiny compartments. I got so sweaty so fast. I thought it was bad going up but then it got so much worse going down - the thing had four different levels. I was going to go legs first on the way down but Emmett, who was right behind me, assured me that was bad because your body wouldn't be able to turn well and it was better to go down headfirst. I kind of compare the rest of my journey to a seal flopping down on a beach. That's what it felt like at least. At least Emmett was behind me cheering me on. The worst bit was when tiny little Ethan, who is currently 4 years old, caught up to us and wanted to get past. I was at a slightly wider bit so I shoved myself off to the side, panting and trying to psych myself up for the next horrible turn I would have to squeeze myself through. Ethan came along sort of leaning forward and walking and cheerfully commented on how easy it was for him because he was so small. I made it out and everything was sweating, including the bottom of my feet. It looked like I had gone for a hard run, which I would have preferred. There was another speleobox inside the store but I said a hard no to that one. At least I learned my lesson.
At least the caverns were very nice! And because there were enough of us we got a private tour for our family.
Our cave crew! Everyone except Daniel came along.
And then there was a mini golf course. It was only 9 holes but you could play on repeat and it was built into the side of the hill and had some really fun elements. We were so lucky we went on a drizzly, overcast day. We would have been miserable if it was sunny and hot.
At the end I talked Eleanor and Elise into going into the speleobox because they had missed it at the beginning. Honestly I thought they would enjoy it but they both had feelings about it. Shared trauma makes for the best memories, I say.
Juliet and Ethan were actually pretty great buddies on this trip. It's fun with Ethan getting a little older and doing more. Although Patrick was his number #1 guy until Riley showed up and Patrick ran off with him most of the time.
We decided to take 7 kids to Dolly Parton's Stampede Roundup and so that meant there would be 9 going and the minivan only fits 8. Double buckle to the rescue! Emmett and Juliet were very good sports.
