No School = Rest + Fun. We finally watched the Super Mario Brothers movie and we think it lived up to the hype. It has renewed the neighborhood girls desire to play our Mario Kart & Super Mario Party games again. Even Hubby and I had a chance to get in on the fun with Natalie when her friends weren't around. Natalie has been thrilled to have so much time with friends and Kate and Danny seem to be too. I think we all needed a week just to relax and enjoy life once school was out.
We are also managing to get some work done that has been waiting for us to have more time on our hands. The rabbit hutch is all ready for summer and Maisie is keeping an eye on any wild rabbits going near Marshmallow. Power washer came out and everything. We also painted our accent wall and picture frames to go with our new bedding since we had literally wore the old stuff out. I didn't remember before pictures but everything that was teal is now "Eucalyptus Wreath" and everything that was bright yellow is now "Maple Glaze." I feel like there is a calmer vibe and yes, the green is similar to our living room color so now I'm teasing Hubby that the living room needs new paint next. We aren't attacking that yet but I am very pleased with how the master bedroom turned out and that it only took one day of labor to get it all done. I think repainting Hubby's nightstand was the most work (Hubby and Michelle tackled that) but I'm covering it up in my selfie pic.
Tent camping dreams came true after Memorial Day. Michelle hosted these girls in our backyard and they are already wanting to plan another campout. Michelle has Hubby locked in to a couple backpacking trips this summer as well.
Wednesday we had beautiful spring weather to watch Natalie play softball. Since one of our pitchers was out of town Natalie got to pitch in a game for the first time and did pretty darn good. She was game, she stayed composed, and had more than one strike. I was so proud of her mindset and getting out there! I kind of chuckled when I realized she had to be careful that her long legs didn't step outside the circle. The other pitchers did not come close doing the exact same moves. She gets those long legs from her Dad!
Thursday was kind of a big day at our house. My alarm clock went off at 2:45am so that Michelle was not alone getting ready for her ride to the airport. We were on the porch at 2:58am waiting for her 3:00 pick up and her friend S and S's dad pulled up a minute later. Destination? New York City with almost 70 other middle schoolers from A's Pops Orchestra, Jazz Band, and Show Choir. Their itinerary looks amazing and I am so happy Michelle gets to go. She made sure to let me know when her plane safely landed because she knows I've been watching the show Manifest on Netflix. lol. Other than that we are getting daily check ins from her but hope to have a complete slideshow/report when she gets picked up by Hubby late Tuesday night. I did get the following photo from one of the group leaders on Saturday morning. Michelle assured me when she called me from the Met that she will air drop me lots of photos when she returns.
Next to drop off was Danny after a 10am meeting at the high school. Somehow I thought I was signing Danny up for a day camp with the high school team at the local university but turns out it was an overnight camp. So my 13 year old was off rooming with seniors in high school. I have to admit I almost cried. He is growing up way too fast and there are so many times recently I wished I would have gifted him a year before kindergarten so that I could have more time with him. The house felt a little too big with both my middle children gone.
That afternoon Natalie and I made a summer bucket list and baked peanut butter blossom cookies while a repairman fixed not one but both of our garage doors. House is less than 10 years old and both springs needed replaced. The big door was accelerating before closing at the bottom and sounded like the entire door would bust at any moment. And the little garage door got dropped on me when I was carrying in groceries one day. Yes, I showed the bruise to the repairman while explained what was wrong. We are grateful to have those doors working again even though it cost a pretty penny to get them fixed.
After I gave Kate a ride to a friend's house it was just Natalie, Hubby and I Thursday evening. One of the items on Natalie's list was to play tennis so that's what the three of us did. We had a blast and I am so glad we got to have that time together. Often we are so busy going to older siblings events that Natalie doesn't always get to do what she wants to with us.
On Friday Natalie and I spent all morning with friends from her 4th grade class at the park near our old house. It was so much fun and we didn't want to leave until it was both raining on us and time to eat lunch. We got to bring A & S home with us and the play continued indoors after eating corn dogs together. That night when it was just Natalie and Hubby and I while Kate had a different friend over, we watched Captain American Winter Soldier since Hubby found out he is taking a trip to DC for work soon. So basically we watched the entire movie just because of the very first scene in the film. lol. It was a little hard for Natalie to wake up in time for her Activity Days activity that began at 9am but she did and had a good time. How could she not when the leaders took them out for pizza and Icees after visiting the temple? I do miss Activity Days but the new leaders are crushing this. I am so happy for Natalie.
Natalie asked Kate to babysit her Saturday afternoon/evening instead of coming to watch Danny play basketball in a university setting. She says she doesn't like basketball but would have been game to watch him play baseball that day. So, after promising to pay Kate, we eventually headed down to see our boy for the first time since Thursday. The rec center had amazing views! Great half time entertainment. It was fun for us to see Danny playing with incoming freshman and sophomores and see how much effort he put into every minute of play. We could tell he had a great time being at this camp and were thrilled he had this opportunity.
In between games Hubby and I took our time to walk to the event center and tried out using my watch to take a selfie near some poppies. Such a beautiful campus and so much fun to stroll around with my guy.
The boys had such a great time winning by quite a lot playing in the same place the university teams play basketball. I was just so amazed by how Danny kept giving it his all even though he was obviously tired. We got some pretty fun photos and videos from the day, including this next one that S's mom sent me. I think my kid might finally be excited to start high school this fall!
P.S. Danny did have to miss a baseball tournament to attend this camp but the tournament got rained out after the first game. So, he also got the day after camp to rest and he was grateful because he was sore. I was grateful I didn't have to go anywhere as Hubby was preparing to leave for a work trip and head to the airport. Love my family so much!
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