- Another fun and busy summer day around here. We started with Keaton and a dentist appointment. She had 3 fillings and as always the dentist told me that she was the absolute best patient to work on. And as always, if you need a dentist I have a referral-just like always tonight, he called to check on how Keaton was doing.
- She didn't have any problem at the dentist, and she didn't have any problem sucking down the slushie I bought for her on the way home. When she came home, she quickly went to work on her school work and then packed for Nonna's house.
- The morning really flew by-everyone else had their school work to work on. That included reading to Whitman for me. I also folded all of my laundry. Now there were at least 3 things that I don't think that I had ever seen before while I was folding the laundry. Seriously, it did turn out though that none of them were new-I had just forgotten them.
- At noon, we loaded up to go to Third Realm with the buddies. Everyone enjoyed jumping today. The boys were so sweaty when we were finished. The place was kind of full but not too full so I think that everyone had lots of fun.
- We left there and headed straight to Nonna and Pops' house. Keaton was excited to get to spend the night, and everyone else was excited to get a snack. As we were leaving Third Realm, Anderson begged me to stop and get frosties from Wendys. Now, we don't need to be stopping all the time to get food just because we want to and I knew that we would at least eat a cookie at Nonna's house. So I told him no-by the time we made it to Nonna's house, the kids had already decided that they were going to ask for ice cream instead of cookies today. They got their ice cream and everyone was happy.
- Back at home, there was lot of playing with the empty trampoline box-where is the trampoline you ask? Still in the back of Robby's car. He just cut the box off of the trampoline and left it all in his car. When it is put together time, he plans on just driving to where we need to assemble it.
- Campbell and Whitman did go outside to make a volcano with baking soda and vinegar. Of course, it was raining like crazy when they did this-so they got towels from the car to sit on and then propped umbrellas over them and went to town on their creations. They were outside a good bit and both had a blast. Surprisingly, that were not too wet when they finally did come in.
- A bit of the afternoon was spent playing Apples to Apples-everyone played with me and Anderson, who suggested the game. Reagan didn't play the entire game but did stay for a bit. Whitman and I were on a team and did end up winning.
- Then Graham, Campbell and Whitman watched some of the Greatest Showman in his bedroom. Robby said that they could watch it in the living room but they wanted to be in the beds all comfy. I think that was the first movie Graham has ever played on his xbox.
- I headed out to Bunko while Campbell and Robby made some adjustments to our bike rack. Things had gotten a bit out of hand with our many bikes so hopefully this will help the garage craziness.
- While I was gone, Campbell helped Robby until he was finished with his project. Then they came in to work on supper. Afterwards, it was shower and bedtime for everyone.
- After the kids got into bed around midnight last night, I was not too sure how easy it would be for me to wake them up for 8:00 swim team practice. It wasn't pretty. Campbell and Keaton did wake up easier than Graham who moaned and groaned much more when I was in the room while he was getting ready.
- They did their swim while Whitman was still at home snoozing. After practice, the plan was for Robby and Whitman to meet us at Sams. My crew did some Walmart shopping and then did our Sams shopping and then just wandered around Sams until they finally did show up.
- Apparently Robby was having a problem getting Whitman to wake up. At one point, he had him downstairs and thought he was putting on his clothes but nope he was soon back asleep. Whitman arrived at Sams wearing his pjs and eating his breakfast-staying out late is hard on a little guy.
- We picked up our elusive trampoline-we ordered it weeks ago but only received one of two boxes. Finally, today things were all worked out and we were able to pick up the trampoline. Of course, it is going to be raining the next few days so we will have to wait on putting it together.
- We all then headed back to the pool for an hour or two. It was chilly enough that I covered up with a towel to stay warm. Around noon, we loaded up-everyone went home with Robby while I headed towards church.
- I first stopped at the library and then at the post office before making my way to the church house to pick up the campers. I was glad to see them-my Anderson did even give me a brief hug when he saw me. He then rushed up to help unload the trailer-the boy climbed in that hot trailer and worked hard!
- Even though Reagan usually has few words, she was pretty chatty on the way home. I was able to hear about most things that happened at camp. They talked the entire way home. Once we were home, I immediately started working on laundry-lots of smelly laundry! I rarely ever use the "stain wash" setting on my washer but today definitely called for a 2 hour and 20 minutes cycle.
- I did a few chores and sat down to read with Whitman. After reading to him, I asked him to lay by me for a minute-well, the minute lasted a bit longer for me. Once my nap was finished, we loaded up and went back to the pool with the little 3. They were the only ones who really care about going-Reagan and Anderson are exhausted and Graham is still coughing.
- They swam for almost 2 more hours. While we were there, I did realize that I feel like I didn't accomplish anything today but I was at the pool for 5 hours so maybe tomorrow I can mark a few more things off of my list.
- We rushed home, so Robby and I could go eat supper with the Wilson's for their anniversary. It was yummy food, but while we were gone Campbell and Keaton were making a yummy pan of brownies for everyone here. My people plus Brett ate the entire 9x13 pan of brownies so I would have to assume that they were absolutely delicious.
- As I put everyone in bed, I had to play Dr. Mom-zyrtec for Anderson, cough drop for Graham, burn cream for Campbell, eczema cream for Keaton, and a band aid for Whitman. Seriously, medical school would have been handy or cooking school or really even laundry school-that would have probably been the most beneficial for me. Do they even had laundry school?
- I think that I was up right when my alarm went off this morning because I was trying to be up for a minute or two before Pops and Nonna came over to take Graham and Campbell to breakfast.
- I did have to wake up Campbell but she quickly jumped up and found some clothes. When they did leave for their breakfast, Whitman was pretty excited because he loves to pretend that it is "only child day' when ever he can.
- The only child and I are reading The Wizard of Oz. He could sit and listen forever to me read and was a little put out when I told him that we were only going to read one chapter. Now, later in the day Campbell and Keaton were less than thrilled when I said that I was going to read to them.
- I was working diligently through my list when Graham and Campbell arrived home. They had both enjoyed their breakfasts at IHOP. Meanwhile, Keaton had spent the night at Grannymom's house. She ate breakfast out as well and even ended up finding herself a new bathing suit.
- At 11, we met all of the buddies at the pool-there were 16 kids in group today, but we were missing 7 (4 campers, Keaton, and two others). We will have a mighty group when we all make it there on the same day.
- The pool was already full today and stayed full the entire time that we were day. Whitman was back to his old moves today-kicking off on the bottom while swimming. He still did swim pretty well, but seemed to do a little bit better yesterday. I was a good mom and did work with him for an hour today even though the water was icy cold.
- On the way home, we picked up Keaton. She had a fun time and told us all about it at least twice on the way home. Once we did make it home, I headed to the treadmill for a little walk while the kids vegged out for a little bit.
- About the time that I was finished, Robby was home, and we all loaded up. Robby and I ate Mexican out for a mystery shop while the kids hung out at Nonna and Pops' house. After our supper, we picked up the kids and headed to the movies.
- It is not often that we go to the movies at 9! The kids had a blast watching Aladdin, and it was very, very good. A few times I thought that Whitman might just go to sleep, but he never did. And when we climbed into the car, he was the first one to tell Robby thank you for taking them to the movies.
- From there, it was nearly midnight when we came home so it was off to bed for them and off to work on the blog for me.
- I am not too sure if Graham and Whitman understand the concept of summer vacation. When they went to bed last night, I heard Graham saying, "Hey google, set my alarm for 7 am." Then this morning at 7:04, Whitman was asking if the dishwasher was clean. He was working on his breakfast. Minutes later, I heard him and Graham pouring milk. I think that people would enjoy summer around here more if they slept in just a little bit.
- Campbell and Keaton were sour with me when they woke up. They were flabbergasted that they had to do their tiny bit of school work today when Reagan and Anderson were not here. I explained that there would be days when they would not be here, and they would not have to do work while everyone else did. This answer did not appease them at all.
- I walked on the treadmill some this morning and then had to rush to get Whitman to his swim lesson. When we left, he told Robby that he didn't want to go so I scurried around grabbing a snack and drink as a bribe. Thankfully, I didn't need either as a bribe-though he did enjoy them on the way home.
- His swim teacher is a high schooler, and she did great with him and he did great with her. He worked the entire hour. I was busy chatting with the swim teacher's mom so I didn't see him swim very much. I heard though that he jumped off the driving board and swam to the wall. He had a great time and was pretty excited when we scheduled another lesson next week.
- Robby had taken the girls out to eat so I swang by the house and picked up Graham. We headed to Third Realm and met the girls. The kids jumped for almost an hour before we all loaded up to head to the pool.
- The Crafts, Heltz, and Kamps' kids were all at the pool today so it was a full house. I told Whitman that I would get in so he could swim some. I wish that it had been sunny out and not cloudy because the water was cold!
- Whitman did great swimming. Now, I wouldn't feel comfortable letting him run around without his life jacket. I ate for a few minutes and then was in the pool for almost two whole kid swims while Whitman would swim to the ladder, go down the slide and then swim to me over and over again. I do think he will get there by the end of the summer. Even though he has improved, the last hour I sat out of the pool to dry off so back into his life jacket he went.
- Robby picked up Graham and ran him to get supper while I loaded up the swimmers and dropped Keaton off to spend the night at Grannymom and Grandpa's house. So tonight we only have 3 kiddos at home-odd. Now, I would bet that Campbell will not be too pleased with sleeping in her room all by herself tonight. she will probably end up in Anderson's bed with the boys.
- Once at home, everyone had their showers and ate supper. Graham hibernated upstairs, Campbell was in the living room with us watching tv and Whitman climbed in my bed and watched a show. I would have bet that he would have fallen asleep watching a show after about 4 hours in the pool and an hour at Third Realm.
- It was a pretty lazy evening around here which was absolutely wonderful. I think that this was our first slow summer evening.
- We all slept well almost too well. Except in the morning...when we are in a hotel, Robby makes sure that the blinds are closed tight. Sometimes he even clothes pins the curtains so there will be no light in the morning. At home, our blinds don't keep any light out at all. It is brighter than the sun in the morning-well, I guess it is the sun.
- Church this morning-Whitman wasn't too disappointed that it was big church day. Now, I would sit through church again just to hear him sing again. He was singing his little heart out. After church was over, the choir continued to sing and so did my Whitman. He stood and sang until they were done.
- We had our lunch at Nonna and Pops' house. After eating Nonna's Joe Powell chocolate cake, I decided that I have to figure out my oven or my baking skills. I borrowed Nonna's over thermometer. I am not too sure how well it will work since the thermometer was reading 110 in Nonna's house. I will keep you posted on my actual oven temperature or on my baking classes that I will have to enroll in!
- Once at home, we headed straight to bed-it was Sunday afternoon nap time. After a good long nap, we loaded up and went to the pool. We did let Graham stay home since he is still coughing (and because we are going jumping and to the pool tomorrow).
- The kids enjoyed swimming and probably wore themselves out again. We stayed for 3 hours and had our supper there. Back at home, the kids showered and then helped a bit around the house. Things are still a little bit not as straight as I would like around here...but there is always tomorrow.
We are on a quest to see all of the National Parks, so I thought I better mark which ones we have seen. So far we have made it to 46 out of 61 of them.
(There are more than 380 different sites operated by our National Park System and another day, I plan to list them.)
- Acadia National Park 5/04, 10/07, 9/10, 9/16
- National Park of American Samoa
- Arches National Park 5/10, 8/26
- Badlands National Park 4/05, 5/12, 6/18
- Big Bend National Park
- Biscayne National Park 1/14, 11/18
- Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park 5/10
- Bryce Canyon National Park 9/13, 8/26
- Canyonlands National Park 5/10, 8/26
- Capitol Reef National Park 5/10, 8/26
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park 7/10, 9/13
- Channel Islands National Park 9/04
- Congaree National Park 12/21
- Crater Lake National Park 5/08
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park 3/11
- Death Valley National Park 2/11
- Denali National Park and Preserve
- Dry Tortugas National Park
- Everglades National Park 1/14, 11/18
- Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
- Gateway Arch National Park 6/05, 7/14, 5/19
- Glacier National Park 5/18
- Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve 5/18
- Grand Canyon National Park 7/03, 4/10, 9/13, 9/26
- Grand Teton National Park 5/07, 9/13, 5/18
- Great Basin National Park
- Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park 3/07, 7/15
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park 7/10
- Haleakala National Park 12/04, 9/17
- Hawaii Volcanoes National Park 12/04, 9/17
- Hot Springs National Park 3/09, 6/19, 6/21, 4/22
- Indiana Dunes National Park 7/14
- Isle Royale National Park
- Joshua Tree National Park 3/09, 9/13
- Katmai National Park and Preserve
- Kenai Fjords National Park
- Kings Canyon National Park 9/04
- Kobuk Valley National Park
- Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
- Lassen Volcanic National Park
- Mammoth Cave National Park 3/07, 6/15
- Mesa Verde National Park 7/10
- Mount Rainier National Park 5/03, 5/18
- New River Gorge
- North Cascades National Park
- Olympic National Park 5/18
- Petrified Forest National Park 4/10, 9/13, 9/26
- Pinnacles National Park 9/04
- Redwood National and State Parks 5/08, 9/13
- Rocky Mountain National Park 5/10
- Saguaro National Park 9/13
- Sequoia National Park 9/04, 9/13
- Shenandoah National Park 5/05, 7/15
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park 4/05, 5/12, 6/18
- Virgin Islands National Park
- Voyageurs National Park 5/19
- Wind Cave National Park 4/05, 5/12, 6/18
- White Sands 7/10, 10/21
- Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve
- Yellowstone National Park 5/07, 5/12, 5/18
- Yosemite National Park 5/02, 9/04, 9/13
- Zion National Park 9/13, 9/26
- Well, we were back to reality and reality is just busy! I didn't tell Keaton, Campbell and Graham about swim team practice this morning because I didn't want to hear any moaning and complaining this morning-and besides I was doing enough moaning and complaining for everyone else because swim practice at 8:30 on a Saturday morning is just way too early.
- My kids were a bit worried about practice but it was just fine. They were supposed to "try out" by swimming across the pool without a floatie which they can easily do. However, the normal swim coaches weren't there so things were a bit different today.
- However, Graham and Campbell swam with the big kids and swim they did. Graham was the only boy there today and Campbell is probably the weakest swimmer in the big kid group (weak-not the she is going to drown but on the slow side.) They swam and swam and swam-I knew that they were going to be exhausted this afternoon.
- Keaton's is in the younger kids group. They worked hard too and even did some laps in the pool. By the middle of practice, the kids were relaxed and enjoying it. Graham has been wanting to do swim team for years but we are usually out of town. This year when I offered him the chance, he wasn't too sure. We highly encouraged him (and Campbell who didn't think she wanted to do it because of the hair cap she will have to wear at competitions). Graham had a blast though and was glad that he signed up.
- Once I made it home, I went to work packing Anderson. Reagan had done most of her packing and was zipping up her bag as I came up to help her. Reagan was so excited for this camp so I hope that it meets and exceeds all of her expectations. Anderson was a bit apprehensive about it-he hasn't really been in the youth group so it is all a new thing for him.
- At 1, Campbell, Keaton and I dropped off Reagan and Anderson. The only one of their siblings that they both said bye to was Whitman-I thought that was odd. It was organized mass chaos with over 200 folks leaving.
- We didn't stick around to see them off since Reagan found her friends and Anderson was heading towards his. So the girls and I ran to Walmart, Target, Redbox and the library. Once we were back home, I worked some more on unpacking and putting everything away.
- Robby spent most of the afternoon mowing while Graham spent most of the afternoon coughing. I guess he is getting a cold. When we went to go the pool at 4, Graham swam a little bit but eventually just got out and sat by us.
- Whitman played so hard at the pool. I bought him a new life jacket which is a tiny bit on the large size so he is struggling with it-it just doesn't fit that right. Hopefully, in a few weeks he won't need that life jacket at all. But when he has a life jacket, I can sit in my pool chair and relax since all the others are good swimmers.
- We had supper at the pool, and then the kids swam a little bit longer before we headed home. Once we were at home, the kids had their showers. The Wilsons came over for a bit and I made some cookies-or I tried to make some cookies. I like to think that my cookie making problem is due to my oven and not my ability.
- The Wilsons however saved the day or the snack-they brought Fried Pies from Jacksonville. We heated them up in the oven and they were pretty yummy-except for the blueberry which wasn't a crowd favorite. I didn't try it though so I am not sure. The favorite was butter pecan.
- I knew that Whitman was tired when he came to sit by me while I was talking to Shannon. By the time that we told them bye, he was sound asleep on the couch. I carried him up the stairs and put him in bed. It was a long day and swimming completely exhausted him.
