The last day of June

I am feeling melancholy about the end of June.  Summer needs to SLOW DOWN.  I haven't yet forgotten the stress (and sometimes pure hell) that was the school year, and I'm not anxious to get to it again any time soon.  I don't want to dread the future, and yet there is part of me that absolutely does...that is how much stress I felt about the school year.

At the same time, I acknowledge how wonderful the last five weeks have been.  We've had vacation and popsicles and family movie nights, and time with extended family...and there is plenty more of that to come.  I can't begin to describe how grateful I am for that.

And I kind of want to throttle Robert in this regard.  He seems to be thoroughly enjoying our summer and contributing to the fun family times...so why can't he do this year round?  What is it about school that brings out the worst in him?  I've invited him to explore that, and hopefully at some point he will.

This evening is another swim meet, and then we have the long holiday weekend.  Robert has to work all weekend (except maybe Monday, we won't know until Sunday) but it's only a few hours each day.  Other than dinner with friends Sunday evening and church in the morning, we have virtually no plans for the weekend.  Totally awesome...and much needed as always!

Old magazines

I've realized I do not need to keep every magazine I've owned and read.  However, I don't want to lose out on having them on hand if there is something I'd like to hold onto...so I'm browsing through the old ones before recycling.  Most of them are from 2011 - 2013, but some of them go all the way back to 2007!  It's a little comical to see how things have changed in just nine years, but somethings never will!  I'm also enjoying thinking back to that time of my life and remembering what might have been happening at that time.  It's actually been fun!

Gorgeous summer weather

We are enjoying some absolutely gorgeous weather right now.  We've had some miserably oppressive day, but fortunately it hasn't been a long string of those days all together.  We've had a few of those, and then the rest are just your typical midwestern summer days.  Right now though, we are enjoying the kind of weather that almost makes me giddy!  Highs are in the 70's, and last night it may have been down into the upper 50's.  The humidity is also low, so I'm just really enjoying the weather.  Our primary job is to get the garage cleaned out and turned into an informal rec room...so the weather is perfect!

Summer fun

Today is definitely one of those days that make summer so very much fun in our house.  I will eternally be grateful that Andrew and I made the decisions we've made through our parenting years where we both were home in the summers. So very, very grateful for these days.

We purchased a membership to a museum in April.  Many of the larger exhibits are closing for a couple of years and although we had visited once, we hoped to get there again.  Friday is the final day so we journeyed down today, although most of the stuff is already packed up.  Thomas had seen the exhibits with his Godfather and was disappointed he couldn't show them to his dad, but we still enjoyed what we did see.  Andrew and I decided to stop for shakes on the way home and by the time we got there, decided lunch was even better.  I so enjoy these days with my kids.  We laughed a lot and teased a lot, and just enjoyed the time together.  I miss having little kids in so many ways, but restaurants are not one of them!  There really aren't words to describe how grateful I am for these days!

Friday dinner with my grandmother

This past Friday we ventured to my hometown to deliver to my mother a piece of furniture she had been storing in our garage but was ready to have at her house.  She had mentioned though, that she wouldn't be doing dinner because she was having her siblings in for dinner.  Not a problem with us!  We were able to say hello to my aunts & uncle we hadn't seen since Christmas, and then headed over to my paternal grandmother's house.  We had offered to bring dinner in, but she had emailed earlier that day that she had cold meat, chips, melon, and dessert at the house if we just wanted to do that.  Honestly, it was perfect!  My eighty-five year old grandmother is just absolutely amazing...there simply aren't words.  She absolutely delights in seeing my kids and my kids so enjoy seeing her...especially since there is always favorite snack food at her house.  I especially loved getting to share the TV recognition of the 1976 Reds World Series team with her.  She is the biggest Reds fan in our family outside of my sister and me.  She is truly one of the biggest blessings in my life and I'm so grateful we got to share an evening with her!

Pete Rose weekend

This weekend the Cincinnati Reds have made the weekend "Pete Rose weekend".  The 1976 World Series winning team was honored on Friday, and last evening was the ceremony honoring Rose's Reds' Hall of Fame induction.  This afternoon the Reds retired Rose's #14, just the tenth Red to receive such an honor.

As a lifelong Reds fan and a child of the 70's, it's been a blast, and even at times a little emotional, watching all of the pre-game ceremonies.  They've showed clips of his playing days, and of course we've seen hit #4192 which I had watched live as a fifth grader.  It's fun being able to hear the late Joe Nuxhall's voice on that call, who was the voice of the Reds during my entire memory until 2008 or so.  I got a little teary eyed hearing the "old lefthander" again.  And of course I can't help but think of my Dad.  I have such clear memories of him washing the car or doing some other work outside while the radio would be broadcasting the Reds game.  The Reds are having an absolutely abysmal season, and it continued this weekend, but they finally won one today...and it was so much fun to relive some glory days of my childhood!

Not much sleep

We were on the edge of the very severe weather that came through last evening.  It wasn't the worst storm I've ever been through, but in the heart of the storm it is very possible there were winds in the 90 mph range.  It's also very possible that tornadoes occurred as well, but it was impossible to know damage until daylight.  Andrew rode around town this morning during the kids' swim practice and said that even here, there is lots of debris and a road closed in town due to down wires.  Our electricity flickered, but I'm very grateful it didn't go out.  Unfortunately, we were also among the area that was hit a second time with a second round, so I didn't get much sleep last night.  We've decided that swim practice tomorrow morning is not going to happen, and we are all sleeping in...I am very excited about that!