Trashwagon

The kids were playing a game of Catch Phrase awhile ago with Grammie and Grandpa.  Staley was trying to get Adelie to guess the word "garbage truck."  Adelie knew what Staley was trying to get her to say, but she couldn't come up with the word so eventually she yelled out "trashwagon."  

So now it's an inside joke with Grandpa, and he calls her Trashwagon.

My goofy Trashwagon

4th of July

We celebrated another fun-filled 4th with all our favorites.  It was a day filled with family, food, festivities, and fun.

We went to Uma and Papa's house to watch the parade with cousins and enjoy a yummy brunch.

The weather was nice and the parade candy was plentiful.

We spent our entire afternoon at Jill and Jeff's house.  The girls swam and swam and swam and swam in the lake.  They had the best time!

We also took a few opportunities to go out on the pontoon boat.  Briggs went out fishing on the pontoon boat twice and Adelie went out on the boat once.

Briggs ended up catching 3 little fish and Adelie caught 1.  But the enjoyment was in the fishing just as much as in the catching.

We had a scrumptious cook out for dinner, enjoyed more visiting with family, and then hustled back home to catch the fireworks.

It was another full and fun 4th of July.

Winning

Zach and his friend, Chris, were supposed to run a 5K together.  At the last minute, Chris was unable to go so Adelie went with Zach instead and just used Chris's race registration.  She ended up winning 2nd place in the 50-54 year old male age group.

I have no doubt that Adelie will win more medals in her lifetime, but I'm guessing she'll never win another one like this.

Quote of the Day

Briggs:  "I'm sorry if my hair smells bad.  Frisco was licking it."

Question of the Day

Why did carrying my beach bag down to the beach every day on vacation make my arm so sore?

Maybe I need to talk my family into reading less.

Or at least carrying their own books down to the beach.

Pentwater

We had another great week up in Pentwater.  Although Zach and Staley came up a few days late so as not to miss too many theater rehearsals, we had great weather, fun with family, and another week full of Pentwater favorites.

There were no dead fish this year, but there were TONS of tadpoles that the kids had so much fun catching and building cities for.

We did have a few days where the air over the lake was hazy/foggy.  We blamed the Canadian wildfires that have been impacting air quality throughout the country.  Of course, as we were talking about this, Staley quipped, "Stupid Canada ruins everything."

Lake Michigan was freezing this year (maybe even more than usual?), but that didn't stop all 3 kids from spending some time in there.  Adelie made a point to go under at least once every single day.  Briggs walked into the lake a few times, but never got up the nerve to dive all the way under the frigid water.

The outlet water was much warmer, so the kids tended to spend more time swimming in there than in Lake Michigan this year.

Staley spent her beach time reading, playing with Liam and Elliott, hanging out with Ava and Lily in the dunes and the water, and swimming in Lake Michigan.

Adelie had a great time hanging out with Caroline and Lucy (and some of the other beach cousins), entertaining Emerson and Junie (the littles), floating in the inlet, building tadpole villages and hospitals, walking to rock island with Grandpa, and playing restaurant.

All 3 of my kids enjoyed playing with and entertaining Junie (1.5 years old) and Emerson (3 years old), who are my cousins' kids' and the youngest of the beach cousins.

Briggs enjoyed playing in the sand, building sandcastles and tadpole houses, going into the dunes, building a dam in the inlet with Gage and Knox, eating snacks, and playing restaurant.  Gage and Knox are beach cousins that are Briggs' same age, and he spent quite a bit of his beach time playing with them.

Our beach time is always the highlight of our week in Pentwater.

There are always lots of people to play with on the beach.

And with our nice weather, we spent all our days this year on the beach.

We also walked down to Mears Beach for the sunset on a few different evenings...

had spaghetti night and s'mores' night...

walked into town for ice cream and shopping...

and played together at our rental.  The Name Game is always a favorite big-group game.

With multiple kids in the family training for an upcoming cross country season, there were also a number of opportunities to run together.

Grammie and Grandpa watched the kids one evening while the grown-ups went out to dinner for Melissa's birthday.

We also enjoyed a girls' morning of shopping where Melissa and I got match-y new Pentwater hats.

It was another nice, relaxing, family-filled week in Pentwater.

Hooray for Pentwater!!

This Girl

For Miracle Camp, each of my girls had a camp account that we put money in so they could buy things at the camp store throughout the week.  Both sets of grandparents gave the girls money along with us so they each had $41 in their camp account to start the week.  They arrived at camp on Sunday afternoon, and I checked their camp accounts on Monday evening to see if either girl had spent any money.  Staley had spent about $4 of her money.  Adelie had already spent $30.  I was very curious to figure out what Adelie had spent so much of her money on in her first 24 hours of camp.  When we picked her up from camp, Adelie came running out to us and told Briggs, "I bought you a stuffed animal."  So on Adelie's first night of camp, she bought herself a stuffed animal and then bought one for her brother as well.

I love this girl and her thoughtful, generous spirit!

Miracle Camp

Just like the last several years, both my girls wanted to go to church camp this summer.  As both Staley and Adelie will be in middle school in the fall, they were able to attend the same week at Miracle Camp. 

Adelie's friend Stella went with her again this year while Staley joined her friends Olivia, Kelsey, and Kaitlyn again.

Adelie and Stella were in a cabin with other 5th and 6th graders.

Staley and her friends were in a cabin with other 7th and 8th graders.

The girls both had a great week and had so many things to tell us about when they got home.

There were lots of fun outdoor activities.  Staley's favorite was tubing and Adelie's favorite was the zipline.

There were group games every day where they competed against each other.  Adelie was on the Frosted Lemons and Staley was on Blueberry Pie.

They both made crafts in the craft shack...

bought candy and coffee drinks at the camp store...

made new friends...

and worshipped and grew closer to God during chapel and cabin devotion times.

The girls both loved their counselors and cabin aides.

And both girls said that, although ready to come home at the end of the week, they never got very homesick.

I love that my girls have a week to get away, experience a little independence, and spend time with friends while also growing in their faith.

I also loved that both girls could be there the same week.  It made me feel good knowing they were there together, but it also made the logistics of the long drive easier than figuring out two separate weeks of camp like last year.

It was another great week of camp for both my girls.

Hooray for Miracle Camp!!

He Says...

When we go to a coffee shop, Briggs often gets a frappuccino without any coffee in it.  He was with my mom one day and ordered his usual frappuccino, but forgot to mention that he didn't want any caffeine (coffee) in it.  When he took a drink, he made a face and said "It tastes like a burnt s'more."

I thought that was a pretty good description of what coffee tastes like.

She Says...

Tonight at dinner, Zach was talking about an upcoming race his business is hosting.  He was discussing the different discounts they were offering and said, "We are also offering $5 off with no shirt."  Adelie responded, "You mean it's cheaper if you run without a shirt?"

#toplessracing

#notthatkindofrace

#lovethisgirl

Frisco

Frisco has been a member of the family for 3 months now.  He is making himself more at home now...and showing more of his true colors.  Here are a few things we have learned about Frisco in the past 3 months:

1.  He's loud.  Like really loud.  He has a lot to say and isn't afraid to make it known.

2.  He has a penchant for nibbling on plants.  And when said plants are moved to try to dissuade this habit, he knocks them on the floor.

3.  The basement and the laundry room are still his safe places.  If anything startles him (which still happens relatively often), he retreats back to the carpeted safety of one of those two places.

4.  Frisco likes people food.  When we were away on our May vacation, he got into our pantry upstairs and helped himself to a bag of dried apricots and a bag of almonds, carrying them from the kitchen down into the basement, chewing through the bag, and eating them.  (And then throwing them back up for Zach's parents to find.)  He has also gotten into fresh garden strawberries and a loaf of banana bread that we had left on the counter.  We have to be careful about what gets left on the counter now.

5.  He's a licker.  Much like a dog, Frisco shows his affection for his people by grooming them.

6.  He's very playful.  He has plenty of energy and loves when people play with him.  Adelie is his most frequent playmate.  But Frisco is also happy to play alone, as is evidenced by his cat toys strewn all over the basement.

7.  Frisco is a cuddler.  He spends a lot of time on Zach's lap now when Zach is at work.

8.  Frisco loves his people.  He is always loudly waiting to welcome us when we come home or when we wake up for the day.  He still spends most of his time in the basement, so he gets extra excited when people come down to visit him or play with him.  Even when that is not the reason for your trip down into the basement, he thinks it is.

9.  The kids are always excited to introduce Frisco to any friends that come over, and Frisco is usually amenable to hanging out with the kids and their friends.  

10.  Frisco has been a good addition to our family.  He keeps Zach company at work.  He is social and personable.  He is playful and fun.  And when he's not stealing our food or eating our plants, he's busy showing his love for his family.

I mean, what more could you ask for?

Truth

I am tired of my children asking me where to find something of theirs in the house.  It's constant.  I have started telling them that if I can find the missing article within 30 seconds, they have to do an extra job around the house.  Sometimes this prompts them to put a little more individual effort into actually looking for their missing item.  More often, however, I get a little extra help around the house.

Catching Up

I have fallen behind with blogging.  Our busy schedule and unending to-do list and having the kids home and fun summer activities means my blogging time has taken a back seat to many other activities and obligations.  So to catch up, here is a catch all post about our late May and June activities.

We cheered on Elliott at his state track meet.

We celebrated April and May birthdays with Zach's family.

We caught one of Liam's baseball games.

We attended a few high school graduation parties, including for McKinley who is one of my kids' favorite NTA friends.

The kids got invited to a private showing of the new Little Mermaid movie with some of their NTA friends.

Staley and I went with her youth group for a fun day at Six Flags near Chicago.

I got to spend the day hanging out with Staley, Kaitlyn, and Olivia.

Staley tackled a bunch of the big roller coasters and loved them all.  Olivia didn't feel quite the same way.

We helped Caroline celebrate her 9th birthday with some fun family time at her house.

Staley performed with her Rising Stars, Singapella, and Mean Girls cast at the Tremont Turkey Fest and a music festival in Normal.  She also got to sing her solo, "Naughty," at the Normal festival.

Staley has been very busy with all her theater activities.  She is rehearsing for 3 separate summer shows, practicing with her 2 singing groups, taking 2 different NTA dance classes, and building sets with Tech Kids.  It's hard to keep up.  Thankfully many of her classes meet back-to-back, which at least makes the drop off/pick up portion of her schedule a little easier on us.

Briggs completed his second season of coach pitch baseball.

He got pretty consistent with hitting the ball, only needing to use the tee a few times.  And he was gaining a better understanding of fielding.  

He enjoyed himself, made progress, and said he wants to play again next year.  I'm not sure if I can handle a full season of kid pitch (which would be the next level), but I guess we'll see what next summer brings.

Staley made the dance team at the end of the school year and has started summer dance team practices.  In the midst of all her theater obligations, vacations, running, church camp, and lessons, she is also trying to attend as many of the 4 day a week, over 4 hour practices as possible.  It makes me tired just watching her do it all, but she loves it!

In the midst of all the activities, there have been birthday parties, play dates, and get-togethers with friends.

All the kids have been invited to do fun things, and we have filled much of their free time with friends.

Because of our busy June schedule, we've only made it to State Farm pool once...and that was when the girls were away at church camp.

Our May was crazy with the end of school followed by our vacation.  Our June was full and flew by.  We've had scheduled activities and vacations, but have filled our free time with friends and fun activities.  It's not the lazy summer that we used to enjoy when the kids were younger, but it's a good one nonetheless.