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Father's Day weekend meant another baseball tournament (and getting to play against friends) while Hubby and the other team dads got special team "baseball dad" shirts to wear.  It's not very often both of us get to watch the games together and we were so happy to be there.  On Father's Day we girls made cupcakes to celebrate Father's Day for ourselves, for a neighbor experiencing this holiday for the first time since her dad's passing, and to give to new neighbors we knew years ago.  So grateful for this volleyball, baseball, dance and softball dad! Turns out if Grandma and Grandpa get enough bindweed in their artificial turf, you can roll it up like the biggest, greenest burrito you've ever seen to haul it away! Our local school district put on a Introduction to Automotive Technology camp that Danny and Zachary went to and loved.  They were so sad when I said it was only that one week!  They spend 2.5 hours for 4 mornings working hands on with brakes...

I have spent $50/week on gas taking my children to and from places and it feels like summer.  On one of those car rides to dance class Michelle and I got to see a tornado!  (It was from the ground up instead of from the sky down and the weather around us was perfectly fine so I didn’t even realize it was one until the alert on my phone went off.)  Natalie was a bit worried to still go to her softball game but I convinced her to go because it would be in the opposite direction so she would be farther away than if she stayed home. (This tornado photo was taken by one of our neighbors.) Speaking of softball, we worked hard for the following team photo. Lol. Natalie and I dropped off Danny at baseball practice at B.W.  Then we headed to M.P. for team photos. We knew we were worried but after a while we realized most of the team wasn’t there and we couldn’t see a photographer so we messaged the coach. He sent back that the photographer must be at B.W.  Natalie and I ...

We had a wonderful day at Elitch Gardens to celebrate my favorite son.  Z, Michelle and I redeemed our annual passes, rode Meow Wolf's Kaleidoscape, Brain Eraser, Dragonwing, Twister II, and Shipwreck Falls (and hung out in the splash zone for 3 more splashes) with some Kona Ice and lunch tossed in there with our new souvenir cups.  We ended with some gift shopping, where Michelle treated the birthday boy and herself to huge Pucker Power sticks (pictured below).  On the way home we dropped by Dairy Queen to fulfill Danny's request for ice cream cake to share at our house with my parents and Dominic, who couldn't come to Elitch's due to camp, and found Hubby had also gone to Dairy Queen to buy ice cream cake.  The children were thrilled with our communication error and even though I thought of saving the second one for Father's Day, they convinced me that since they only got one slice of the first cake on the actual birthday, it was totally fine to bring out the seco...

Final week of the school year = last Activity Days for the school year (walking around the new botanical garden and playing at the newly renovated park near the church) + fort days in 2nd grade + all school field day at the elementary school (with no parents allowed but Michelle's class got to help Natalie's class) + baseball + softball practice/games.  I'm so grateful the weather cooperated and for all the smiles I got to see that last week of school.   The last day of school the middle schoolers left and came back like normal but the elementary schoolers had lots of things going on. Thanks to perfect weather, the 5th grade continuation ceremony was held outdoors and parents got to come. Tears and cheers and all those feelings got to be shared together as a community. The traditional high fives around the building were moved to outdoors and I was happy to watch Natalie giving Michelle a high five. They are also the only ones who still have a teacher to take pictures with...

Kate came home from school so excited to get a covid vaccine. She doesn’t want to spend the entire summer wearing a mask. Ok! Luckily the very next day she and her best friend were able to get their first doses together and have their second doses scheduled. What a great memory to have your best friend’s dad, a pharmacist, give you a historical shot the first week it became available to your age group.  With much more free time now that the volleyball season is over and most parents around here being vaccinated, Kate has been able to hang out with friends and have sleepovers A LOT. It’s fun to have plenty of children in the house again! We (us 4 girls) even got to attend our first party like old times at P’s house while our boys were at a baseball tournament. The weather didn’t cooperate with their barbecue plans and it felt so strange to be socializing indoors with a crew of mostly people I have never met!  Strange but good. I do admit I have a raging headache and I swear it’...