Our 4th of July celebrations included enjoying the LSO performance at the park where Michelle got to join in on the Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, complete with cannons. How do you add "played with cannons" to your high school resume? So glad Hubby brought the Sunbrella because it went from hot to rainy to hot again and we were glad to have the shade & precipitation protection.
That night we got to eat a potluck dinner and set off fireworks with the neighbors. Danny and Michelle and even Natalie were game to set them off to the point I got teased that my children must all be afraid of fire. lol. It was great to get together with neighbors that we have known since the children were little. We are fortunate to live in such a great place.
On July 5th we saw a very different kind of fireworks show after the Rockies game. Hubby knows how to buy tickets that ensure we get brought down onto the field and that view from the grass is amazing. The finale was so intense it felt like an earthquake! So fun!
It wouldn't be summer without some more softball games! Natalie got to play in a handful of games at the end of the season. Boy, was I glad I was filming when she got a home run! I was so excited that the video didn't turn out well but at least the rest of the family could get the idea of what it was like. She is hitting so much better with her new bat and 2 lessons from K. We are so lucky to have a mom on the team that really knows what she is doing and is making time to help now that the head coach can't be there anymore. I am so grateful for her and the assistant coach's really stepping up to the plate for this team.
Here I am stealing photos from Kate's farm's Instagram account again. This was from an intern appreciation post and I just get so happy to see pictures of her at work. I know it's not easy work and I am proud of her for sticking with what she committed to do.
Speaking of hard work, Michelle comes home happy and exhausted most days. The division that oversees the Youth Corps put out a lovely video about one of their restoration projects that I have watched way too many times. I can see why she feels like she is part of something very meaningful. I am happy for her!
Hubby also deserves major props for all the hard work his has put into our old house after our renters moved to Boston. They lived there for over 6 years so there is plenty to be done before anyone else lives there. So many things on the to do list! Hubby has done a great job keeping track of it all and told me he lost 12 pounds getting the house ready while also holding down his day job. That is a lot of effort! Danny and his bestie helped by laying down 1.5 tons of new rock, Michelle helped with yard work, and Natalie and I helped both inside and out while Hubby did a great job managing all of us. I am so proud of him and hope that we can actually make money on this house this year because so far all we are doing is spending our own money on a house that is supposed to help us make money, not lose it! From everyone we've talked to during this project, it sounds like Hubby and I are too nice to be landlords and care too much about the house we used to live in. How can we not when we like humans and have fond memories of our babies living in that house?!?
Although I spent plenty of time at the old house, I am glad I did not miss out on seeing these three watch the first Hunger Games movie for the first time after Natalie and her bestie read the book. They had blankets at the ready because they were afraid to see the mutts on the screen -- they knew what was coming! Hooray for reading the book first and then talking about the differences between book and film.
My son made sure to send me a good group photo of when his basketball team was in St. Louis after I was all sad to not have any pictures of him from when he went to Memphis for their last tournament. I'm so happy they got to go to a Cardinal's game in between playing a ton of basketball! When he got home he gave us big hugs. I asked him what the best part was and Danny said being with his team. I asked him what the worst part was and he said some of the basketball games. They sure have had some tough competition at these tournaments but give it their all.
While Danny was with his team in Missouri, Michelle and I went on a backpacking trip we nicknamed "Plan D." Plan A was for Hubby, Michelle, Natalie and I to go camping at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park Thursday - Sunday while Danny was gone and Kate was busy working and hanging out with friends. Plan B was changed to just Michelle and I camping at the National Park while Hubby and Natalie stayed in town because we found out about a softball tryout she really wanted to go to and their final softball tournament of the season. (I had made the campsite reservation months ago assuming summer softball would be done by the middle of July but I was obviously wrong.). Plan C was for Michelle and I to go Friday - Sunday so that she didn't have to take time off work on Thursday in order to make sure we weren't setting up a tent in the dark after driving 5 hours to get there. And then Plan D happened. On Thursday we were notified that the NPS had to evacuate the park and shut it down due to lightning causing wildfires on both rims of the park. We were told our reservation was canceled and we would be refunded the $100 we had paid. When Michelle got home from work she planned a new trip for the two of us and obtained the backpacking permit with her own money ($11 which felt like a steal of a deal)! So the next afternoon (so we could get parking after the day hikers left), we drove to Nederland to eat delicious bbq before hiking 5 miles to our campsite near Caribou Lake. The entire hike and our camp site was beautiful! Every bit of it! The first 2.5 miles were easy and then I began regretting having things like a tent to lug around but it was doable. We got into the valley in plenty of time to set up camp before being hungry for dinner. Our bbq lunch had been so delicious we only ate about half of what I packed. We played Phase 10 and tied before listening to an audiobook and going to sleep. We woke up about 7:30am and enjoyed the morning before leaving a little before 10am. The hike back in the morning was nice because we got the hardest part out of the way the first 1.5 miles and then the rest felt easy. We couldn't have asked for better weather or scenery. I am glad we were able to make Plan D work!
One wonderful thing about Plan D was that we were home a day earlier than planned so Michelle had friends over and Hubby and I got to go to a wedding open house for Luke R and his lovely bride, Elizabeth. We had such a good time hearing about how they met, their ceremony in Milan, catching up with his younger siblings, and seeing friends we haven’t seen for years. I am so grateful for humans that you can still feel connected to even if you don’t get to spend a lot of time together anymore.
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