Day #168-169

We went to run errands Saturday morning. We were going to go to Sally’s for Frankie’s hair color. She made a deal with Alli that if she took care of her hair everyday for 2 weeks, she could do a temporary hair color. She did it, so it’s not my fav, but here we are. 

Anyways, then we decided to stop by Joann’s and pick up material to make the new baby a lovey, then we decided to stop by Wally for milk, then for gas, then to the dollar tree. We ended up stocking up at Wally on several things Aldi doesn’t carry. Frankie got to come so she could pick her hair color, and at one point she said it was the best day ever. Alli and Frankie decided they needed these cool mermaid and unicorn jello kits. 

They got right to work when we got home.

Delaney’s new concentration face. You’ll see this again. 

Em continues to be the cutest. 13 months is not my favorite age, he wants to get into everything, but is really a hot mess. But he’s a good hugger, loves to be held, and will go to anyone. He’s pretty great!

Papa came over and said “let’s get ice cream!” and we were off! Breusters gives a free mini cone for littles, and Emmi went to town. 

He was dominating that cone. 

It was hot and the ice cream was sups melty!

I love the piece of cone on his nose. Lexi tried to take it away before he was done and he was not having it. Even as he ate his, Frankie gave him some of hers and he was all over that too. He’s such a good little eater. 

The Streeter’s gave us a mini vanity before they moved. It’s stool had a busted leg, and just a little bit later one of the vanity legs broke, and then another. It’s probs an easy fix, but with everything else going on, we just never fixed it. We’d moved it to D’s room to see how it would look and she was so excited to get it fixed! A neighbor posted a small vanity and armoire for pretty cheap and I jumped on it. Lexi and I picked it up while D played outside and got it up to her room without her seeing. Her face when she saw it was priceless! 

She loves it so much! Yay for hand me downs. 

Frankie finally got her hair did. She loves it. 

And in bubba news! Old Gideon is 23 years old and going strong!

Remember Delaney’s concentrating face? 😂 love her. 

After church meetings on Sunday we headed out to Leonardtown square for papa’s birthday scavenger hunt. It was the only day we could all make it work. It was nice and cool and we had such a great time!

Alli and I came up with 20 categories and then divided up into teams. It was Matt and I, Lex, Chris, and Frankie, papa and Addie, and Delaney, tenkor, and Alli. Em went from Lu’s team to our team when we passed them coming up the hill. 

Team Crabknocker coming down the road. 

Christian hammed it up for papa. That mustache. 🤦‍♀️ 

We all sent alli all 20 of our shots, labeled with the correct category, then she posted them all on fb, tagged us all, and our wonderful friends voted by liking or commenting on their choice for the winner. It was really fun and different and spending time with family is the best!


I’d made cole slaw and bbq sauce and thrown a pork shoulder in the instant pot that morning, and by the time I finished ward council, it was good and tender. Alli cut up a watermelon and we shredded up the meat and it was a delish dinner. Pulled pork is one of my favs. 

I had a stake welfare meeting that evening and I had to get in zoom with my phone because we’d been FaceTime’ing our mom. Delaney had followed me up to my room as I logged in and was telling me all her little sisterly woes, when Brother Christiansen said “Sister Ray, will you please mute yourself?” 🤦‍♀️ I didn’t know zoom on my phone automatically logged on unmuted. At least it wasn’t anything bad. 🤷‍♀️ 

Lu had been wanting me to watch Peanut Butter Falcon, so after the girlsies went to bed, we finally got to watch it and it was really really sweet. 

Day #166-167

Em and T continue with their love/hate relationship. Partly because of this - E loves her food. He is learning though. On Thursday morning he didn’t eat it, he cleaned up the pieces she’d spilled, then got more out, then cleaned those up. He’s a helper. 

Because the two babies love to hate each other, we cage Emmi in with our ottomans and pillows. On Wednesday somehow he climbed to the top of the ottoman and stood up on it. Then on Thursday, Tenkor breached the gate. 

They both behaved and even played footsies.

I’m not a dog person, but T loves me, and how can you not love someone that loves you? I pretty much love her. 

Friday was going to be our last hurrah before school starts. Our last day of summer. Alecia and I planned to do something, and we decided on Pot Rocks. The day Laura and I found that swimming hole was magical and we’ve always wanted to go back. When I put it into google maps, it came right up, right on Gunpowder River, and we were set. I never thought to check anything else. Duh, duh, duh. I picked up Ellie and Abby and all were in high spirits. 

The map to Pot Rocks took us to the end of a culdesac. So then I figured we were close, so i looked up Gunpowder Falls and found one like 2 miles away. So then I drove there. Another residential neighborhood, then there was a teeny sign for the state park that lead to a one lane hill where there was a water treatment plant to the left, and a teeny path leading through the brush to the right. That didn’t seem right either. I googled and tried to quickly read through reviews and directions, I found that the entrance to Pot Rocks via Gunpowder State Park was closed because of construction on a bridge, but there was water access at another entrance to GF. As soon as we started driving, I knew that didn’t seem right. 🤦‍♀️ We drove another 20 minutes and ended up at the beach where Laura and I had started last time. We conferred and decided to try Pot Rocks again. At this point we’d been driving for around 3 hours. We found the entrance to where Laura and I had parked and hiked to Pot Rocks. It was blocked off and nowhere to park. We talked about parking across the busy street where we could, and frogger’ing across, but even then we weren’t sure we could make it happen because it was blocked, there wasn’t anybody around, and the bridge was out. We decided to try the GF neighborhood entrance. More driving ensued. 

Beginning the hike by the water treatment plant. So full of hope!

Our path lead us basically into peoples backyards. When the brush got too thick we called it a day, completely cut through someone’s backyard to get up to the street and ask for directions. We talked to several different people and everyone had heard of Pot Rocks, but no one had been there, or really knew where it was. 

Heading back to our cars to try the other residential entrance to Pot Rocks. 

There were no trespassing signs in that cul de sac, and a woman out mowing told us that you used to be able to access Pot Rocks from there, but several years ago they built houses and now it’s private property. I was hoping she’d offer to let us trespass, but she was on the wrong side of the street and she never did. 

We took votes all along the way to see what the kids wanted to do. It was pretty hot and we’d been driving forever and we were pretty disappointed. We decided to persevere and give it one last go. But to really go for it, we decided to follow the “river,” which was actually more like a trickle. We walked and walked and sang about the pioneer children and talked about perseverance and how proud of everyone we were. Everyone was really great about the fiasco after fiasco we were experiencing. We followed the river until again the brush grew too thick to pass. It was sad. We felt like we were really close and there was just no way to get there. It was also like, 4:00 by this point. We finally gave up. There was just no way. 

We stopped to play in some “falls.” The kids were so great and had a fun time splashing and pretending. 

I generally really like myself, but I had been pretty prideful with Matt that morning (still learning how to not be stubborn), and then I felt responsible for the fiasco of the day, and I hate not liking myself. Thankfully I forgive myself pretty quickly too. How and why would I think we would have to check to make sure a swimming hole was accessible? I had zero clue. But the good thing about me is that like Anne of Green Gables, I never make the same adventure mistake twice, and now I know. 🤷‍♀️

Showing us how they really felt. 

They played and Alecia and I chatted. She’s such a good friend and so ready for adventure and fun and flexible. 

The thunder had been rumbling for awhile, so we decided to head back. As we traipsed through the riverbed, our 9 kids and 2 tired moms, carrying towels and water toys, it started storming. Then the dementors came and it got dark and chilly, leaves were flying all around us (it was actually really pretty) and some branches broke off trees nearby. And it started raining. 

Kids were crying. And even though we were following the riverbank, I did start to wonder if we’d gone too far. It was just a mess. The whole day. 

We finally made it back to our car and, determined to end the day well, headed for ice cream. 

I wrote that the Prigle Family Creamery was magical last time, and it was magical again this time. The kids played tag after they enjoyed their ice cream dinner. 

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad day after all. 

9 of the best little troopers around. We have some seriously great kids. 

#always

And the brave, happy, persevering, calm moms. And no, I’m not pregnant even though I look it. 
On the way home we listened to Harry Potter and then talked and then when girls started arguing I played my favorite folksy rendition of I’m trying to be like Jesus and bawled. It was an emotional day. Then we hit a crazy thunderstorm and Alecia and crew almost got struck by lightning and we almost got carried away in a flash flood. Not really, but it was lightning all around and raining hard and there were several accidents. Thankfully we made it home safely and we did have an adventure, even if it was of the misadventure variety. Until next time, Pot Rocks. 

Day #165

It’s international dog day, and I feel like we can finally participate. Not that I’ve ever wanted to before, but here we are. Just a girl and her aunties pup. 

This is the one picture I took today. All of Delaney’s students. 

We went to the pool, did some shopping, baked, took dinner to the missionaries for Elder Graf’s birthday, and cleaned. Addie and Matt rode 19 miles on 3 Notch Trail for YW and YM. They took all the kids to Rita’s and  I heard everyone had a great time. 

Day #164

Emmi enjoyed some tele this morning. We can’t trust T around him, so poor Em is banished to an area in the family room blocked off by ottomans and pillows. And don’t mind Tenkor’s doggie couch blanket. 

We spent the day at Ann Marie Gardens and I took 1 picture. But Lu shared this one of this excited cutie. He is the best baby! Everyone took turns carrying him around for awhile, and then the 3 bigs took him on the trail and stayed out for at least 2 hours, and he was totally chill. He enjoyed toddling around and eating and just being generally cute and fun. 

I took these 3 to the bathroom and they ran ahead of me and did this pose. 😂 incidentally, this very picture helped us solve the case of the missing mask and narrowed down Ellie’s search for her mask. We noticed it wasn’t in her lap like D and E’s, so then she found it near the bathroom door. Thank you, Shiva statue. 

We ran a few errands after the gardens and Emmi got his nap in the car. And he was so happy at home. 

We had salad and beans for dinner, I don’t know why, and then Addie took pictures with my Apple Watch. There were dozens of these beauties. 

And these. 

And these. 

And one more. 

Lexi made my book pages and they were ready for pick up today. Giant book pages from 3 of our fav series - Anne of Green Gables, Harry Potter, and Little House on the Prairie. The pages were a smidge too big, so they look a little crinkled, but I love them. 

This is where I got the idea. Our babies are bigs now though, so big kid pages for us. 

In the ongoing saga of our Easy Closet, our corrected vertical came in today. Only, it’s cracked straight through the middle. You can’t make this stuff up. I had called them this morning and they are expediting correct cleats, and now I get to call them again. By the time all is said and done, we’re going to have enough supplies to make another closet. 

Someday she’ll be done. 5 hours to finish my left foot. 😔 

Bubba came over tonight and we watched Sonic the hedgehog which was silly and cute.