August 15th-16th

 I really hate scheduling. It’s so hard with so many moving parts. Our trip to SC to help with Mia went through like a dozen iterations, I swear. Of who was going, when, and how long we’d stay. It was crazy hard to figure it out, with tryouts, open houses, college prepping, school starting, and other fun summer stuff.

We finally landed on Adi, Delaney, and I leaving August 15th after Delaney’s dance that morning. Frankie made varsity (yay!) and had cheer practice every day (boo!) .

We left that last afternoon and had an easy drive. 

Alexis had contractions all day Sunday so we ended ip staying home from church to help. We did a repeat of our fun Peter Pan Disney dinner that day. 

Carter was like, oh yeah, I’ve seen this at school. 

They were super into it and played Peter Pan all day, even the now questionable Indian chants. 🤣

We played games and helped with boys and timed contractions. Henry helped Damian rub Lexi’s back. ❤️

I convinced them to go to the hospital since she’d been laboring all day. 

So they got ready and we put everyone to bed and then after a few hours they got sent home. Whomp whomp. 

We were all ready to meet baby Mia!

9/21 & 9/22

The purge continues. Along with the purging, I also pulled everything out of the basement closets where I had unceremoniously shoved bins of my parents things. I’m going through and organizing and part of that is looking through old pictures. I love a 4 generation. ❤️

We got a free pizza for dinner and our days with our girls are quick since they both got home at 6. 

I missed Inklings yesterday. I didn’t sleep well and woke up feeling sick, so I laid back down. Then when I was feeling better Alecia and I walked in the drizzling rain and caught up on all the things. It was a very eventful summer.

I picked Frankie up from cheer and took her to piano and then we had dinner and family night. We FaceTimed Adi in. We probably won’t always be able to do that, but it was nice last night. 

Also, look at me go!

August 13th-14th

For Alecia’s birthday we went to the temple. It was lovely to not be rushed. I used to be so stressed about getting to each ordinance on time, but I can’t do that anymore. It’s more important to be there and feel the spirit than to have to make sure I do an ordinance. Not that participating isn’t important, but it’s not the only thing and I decided I’m not gonna stress anymore. I say that because there were a few ladies twirled up about performing initiatories and i let them right on past me. 

When I got home from the temple i found out that Ruby and Jeanne were coming to town! Jeanne’s dad was in the hospital so they came down to see him and Jeanne’s new niece. 

We had planned the 14th as a day of shopping at the Annapolis mall and we were excited to bring Ruby along on our girls day. 

Frankie was stoked to hold her in the front pack first. 

She was so good and happy!

She was patient with us for about 2 hours before she’d had enough. 

We got her some milk and I walked her around and she cashed out. 

These girls are so fun! So different, but so fun!

There were so many fun photo shoot opportunities!

And I made them pose at all of them. 🤣

As long as I covered her she stayed asleep and got a good 2 hour nap. Christian and Jeanne were amazed - they said she never sleeps in her stroller. 

We grabbed lunch and then had to head home for Frankie’s cheer tryouts. 

We left the next day for SC, so we finished packing and got all our cuddles in with Ruby, and even had time to catch up and play a few games with Jeanne. 

Also, the Annapolis mall (and Kent Island) were on our summer bingo sheet (courtesy of Frankie) so yay!

Adi’s first girls trip!

 I had this one in queue but nothing written. At the beginning of August Adi had her first grownup solo girls trip. I mean, she wand Lexi went out for their birthdays, but that was with family. 

She had a good time! She was concerned about money since she’s now a college student paying her half of her living expenses, and she’s very responsible and thrifty, but I encouraged her to go and have fun. 

I’m always happy to see my kids spending time with good people. Love these girls!

9/19-9/20

 I hate being so behind on blogging. I also hate writing and posting wildly out of order. Good thing I can do hard things. 😉 

Christian and crew were planning to come down this weekend for a half marathon with his friends, but he’s been working so much that they decided to stay home. Sadness. I really wanted snuggles from this cute little boss lady! 

The ward free yard sale is Saturday, so we’ve been going through all our stuff and why do we have so much stuff? I’m also lightly going through bins of my parents things to see what we can use and if there’s anything I don’t actually want. Like this free 2008 calendar/sticky note set. 🤣

Christian and Jeanne will soon be the proud owners of this vintage throw blanket. I remember this being on my moms couch forever!

We had a Mexican themed Linger Longer yesterday and then a chill evening. 3 way FaceTimes are crazy but wonderful. 

Sarah Cox and baby Madeline are back at church and Frankie loved holding baby girl. She said she reminds her so much of Mia, only less goofy looking. 🤣 Newborns are so funny. 

Matt and I subbed for sunbeams which was so fun! We only had 2 and they were so good and cute. 

Today is the first day I’m really back to my routine. It’s good. It’s fine. 

One thing. After my last acupuncture visit, my ankle was a little swollen and really sore. Like it really hurt to walk on so I’ve been resting it and trying to elevate it when I can. I’ve never experienced pain there before and thought maybe it had something to do with the acupuncture because that’s when it started. 

So when I was in Utah Laura went to her acupuncturist (all the cool kids are doing it!) and I asked her to mention it. He said there might be some unresolved issue or energy there that needs to be worked out and suggested massaging it. I couldn’t do it myself because it really hurts, but I was talking to Matt and he suggested he could try to rub it. Anyway, he did, just like 5 minutes and it hurt, but then the next morning felt a lot better.

 Then yesterday he massaged it again and it didn’t hurt at all while he rubbed it, and now feels even better today. Not perfect, but definitely better. Bodies are amazing. 

Rocky Point Creamery

After Antietam we had one more ice cream trail stop on our way and decided to end our ice cream trail there. 4 ice cream spots in 2 days is pretty good!

A pic as we left. D and Adi were walking ahead of us. 

We got dinner at Raising Canes, a new to us favorite and I have loved my new national parks puzzle so much that I did it twice. 

So 5 Most Beautiful places, 4 ice cream trail spots, and 4 summer bingo squares is a pretty good haul for 2 days. 

Antietam

 We finally, after 17 years, made it to Antietam. Matt and I both felt my dad there and wished we’d brought him, he’d have loved it. I’m sure he did love it.

We checked out the Visitor Center and grounds, watched a movie, bought some souvies, and decided to do the driving tour. We listened to park rangers telling us about every spot and saw where all the battles and important places were. Like Dunker Church here. 

A few of the interesting facts we learned: Antietam is a civil war site, what happened there was the bloodiest single day in American history, and 23,000 people died. The National Parks have done an amazing job - it’s a truly beautiful historic park. Truly hallowed ground. 

This is the lookout that looks down on the Sunken Road that came to be known as Bloody Lane. 

Truly beautiful country. 

This was my favorite spot - Lower Bridge, which came to be known as Burnside Bridge for an amazingly brave man with some amazingly cool sideburns. Matt remembered that cool fact from Oversimplified. 

We drove all 11 stops on the tour and got out at several. It was really just a lovely day together. 

And if you’re wondering where Delaney was, her beef sting precluded her from walking much. 🙄🤷‍♀️

Washington Monument State Park

This is the first completed monument to Washington, in Washington County. It’s just a cute little monument on top of South Mountain.

We climbed to the top and the views were beautiful. 

I’d say this deserves a spot in the 50. 

After the climbing and hiking we went to our 3rd ice cream trail spot at South Mountain Creamery. They’ve got a huge operation where they deliver milk all around the area and they’ve got tours and stuff. And delicious ice cream, obvi.