Summer 2018 Day #11-15

2020 me is wondering why I thought I’d want to do double daily posts. But I’m 10 days in and not ready to stop. We’ll see how far I make it. 

2018 me - Camping at Russian River with no cell reception for 3 glorious days, then a quiet day with my sissy. (thanks Kristi!)

5 moms and 6 kids headed for a camping trip extravaganza. 

I’ll never pass one of these up. 

There’s just something about sitting around a campfire. 
One set of cousins said to the other “my mom knows all about that, remember? Our moms used to be sisters!” 🙄

We played Pictionary and other games. 

S’mores for the win. We even enjoyed them as a post breakfast snack one day.

The river was a kids paradise. Super low and basically no current. This is where we spent most of our time, even though the water was so cold!

This kid! 😍

Frankie spent some time catching up on the latest issue of Parents. Gotta stay current.

All day fun.

But there’s always time for an ice cream break!

We also went gold mining. We found shark teeth, gems, and arrowheads.

The giant spider web caught all 6 of our kids. Too bad it wasn’t strong enough to hold them. 😂

John Deere green. 

Back home again and on break from the kiddos, Amy and I hiked the Dish! And I’m still representing Maryland of course.

And back home with the kids. They were a handful, but fun. 

Day #113

Matt and I stayed up way too late rewatching 13th and eating  ice cream. We’d pause it and talk and before we knew it, it was 1am. Oops. 

I was wondering where we were on 4th of July’s of yore, so i did a deep dive on this here blog. I love my blog for figuring out what was going on when. This was at our first reunion in NC. Amy has gotten all the girls matching shirts, but they were having none of our shenanigans. I love how Addie is trying to corral a few of them in the bottom picture and how Frankie is on a kamikaze mission just to get out of there. A bunch of funny and silly drama.  

And some Chantell pictures from camping.  

Evan teaching fire safety?

Pre hike. We went almost 4 miles and it was 90 degrees and Delaney’s legs were “burning” from the start so you can imagine how fun everyone was. It’s a good thing they kept each other company. 

We hiked an exercise trail and Frankie decided to assist Evan. 

And Evan assisted Delaney. See “burning legs” comment above. 

5 fun cousins. The age difference is a lot now, but someday won’t be anything. I hope they’ll be best of friends. 

Love this chic!

They all oohed and aaahed about the cute beach boardwalk and I cannot wait to take them to the real beach in North Carolina or Florida. 

D is spoiled. 

The big kids rented paddle boards and were very sweet to take the littles out for rides. 

Our girls are such water girls, they probably could maneuver on their own. 

But since they aren’t old enough for rentals, they sat and got paddled  around. 

And then on Friday the dads came to the beach with us. These are out of order, but this is an example of how my girls aren’t the best silly shotters. They jump and run and disappear and that doesn’t make for the best group silly shot.

Room to improve. 

Here’s the one normal. 

I happened to check Insta for something and found that cute Cade shared this of his unit. He’s right in the middle. Lu said they had a cookout and it was fun to get all together. 

There were several drones flying around during the fireworks, and they shared this fun shot of the green. What a cool neighborhood we live in.  

As for today. We had our zoom Sunday school at 10, and then Addie had hers at 10:30. We watched some fun acapella church music, my fave was a folksy guitar version of I’m trying to be like Jesus, and then had our sacrament meeting. We talked about why we fast, the best ways to fast, and ideas of things to fast for. It’s an extra set aside time to teach truths and is so special. I love our ward family and there is something really sacred about singing and partaking of the sacrament together, but i will really miss at home sacrament when we go back to church. 

Our ward missionaries have been struggling. A Covid mission is not normal and caught all of us off guard and I have not supported our precious elders the way I should have. Because we let things slip, we are having to do a lot of work to get things back on track, so I’ve spend a lot of time working on that the last few weeks, and have been attending the weekly correlation meetings as a support person. 

Matt and I snagged a quick Fast Sunday nap between my missionary meeting and ward council. Lots of good counseling. Matt made dinner - sooo nice and I’m so happy daddy Sunday dinners are actually happening. We had our couples fireside with Sister Oliver at 6. We’re pretty much besties, so we hopped on early to chat and make sure everything was in order. Every time I interact with a counselor i am convinced I should go back to school and start counseling. And then that wears off and I’m not sure again. 🤷‍♀️ I thought the fireside was fabulous and Matt and I had lots to talk about during, and will continue after. 

I taught Delaney and Frankie how to make boxed brownies and then we watched Toy Story, which Delaney swears she’s never seen. 🙄 needless to say, they loved it because it’s amazing. 

Day #112 - 4th of July edition

Happy 4th of July!

Another weird covid day. Remember when we were all excited that the 4th of July was on a Saturday this year? What a great day to celebrate, we naively thought. Oh, 2020. 

Cutest all American boy!

We had fun plans with friends, but we made the tough decision last night to stay at home. A friend of Christian’s works with someone that tested positive for Covid. You follow? We didn’t spend much time with Christian, but he did come over after hanging out with said friend. There are so many variables we can’t control in all of this. His friend isn’t being tested until Monday. We can’t control that and make her get tested today. He still has to work. No control. Matt might have to go in to work. No control. But one thing we can do, is keep ourselves home. It’s probably major overkill, but in the grand scheme of things, I’m ok with an over abundance of caution, so here we are. 

The girls were super excited to watch Hamilton, so I made delicious orange Julius’ (that the girls complained about) and we watched it together. It was so fun that we’re currently watching it for the second time. It’s beastly hot out, so we made today a movie day and it was actually really great. Which is nice, because what is 2020 but a ton of perspective-giving disappointments?

We socially distance walked to the green to enjoy neighborhood fireworks for the first time ever. 

We sat by the gazebo away from the large crowds. We’ve never been in the neighborhood for the 4th of July fireworks, and I thought it would just be a small show, but it was actually really great and lasted over an hour! Who knew?

I saw this on fb and it’s pretty perfect. 2020, go home. You’re drunk. 

Dear Diary 2020 Edition,

In January, Australia caught on fire. I don’t even know if that fire was put out, because we straight up almost went to war with Iran. We might actually still be almost at war with them. I don’t know, because Jen Aniston and Brad Pitt spoke to one another at an awards show and everyone flipped the f--- out, but then there was thing happening in China, then Prince Harry and Megan peaced out of the Royal family, and there was the whole impeachment trial, and then corona virus showed up in the US “officially,” but then Kobe died and UK peaced out of the European Union.

In February, Iowa crapped itself with the caucus results and the president was acquitted and the Speaker of the House took ten years to rip up a speech, but then WHO decided to give this virus a name COVID-19, which confused some really important people in charge of, like, our lives, into thinking there were 18 other versions before it, but then Harvey Weinstein was found guilty, and Americans started asking if Corona beer was safe to drink, and everyone on Facebook became a doctor who just knew the flu like killed way more people than COVID 1 through 18.

In March, crap hit the fan. Warren dropped out of the presidential race and Sanders was like Bernie or bust, but then Italy shut its whole country down, and then COVID Not 1 through 18 officially become what everyone already realized, a pandemic and then a nationwide state of emergency was declared in US, but it didn’t really change anything, so everyone was confused or thought it was still just a flu, but then COVID Not 18 was like ya’ll not taking me seriously? I’m gonna infect the one celebrity everyone loves and totally infected Tom Hanks, but then the DOW took a crap on itself, and most of us still don’t understand why the stock market is so important or even a thing (I still don’t), but then we were all introduced to Tiger King. (Carol totally killed her husband), and Netflix was like you’re welcome, and we all realized there was no way we were washing our hands enough in the first place because all of our hands are now dry and gross.

In April, Bernie finally busted himself out of the presidential race, but then NYC became the set of The Walking Dead and we learned that no one has face masks, ventilators, or toilet paper, or THE FREAKING SWIFFER WET JET LIQUID, but then Kim Jong-Un died, but then he came back to life… or did he? Who knows, because then the Pentagon released videos of UFOs and nobody cared, and we were like man, it’s only April….

In May, the biblical end times kicked off historical locust swarms and then we learned of murder hornets and realized that 2020 was the start of the Hunger Games but people forgot to let us know, but then people legit protested lockdown measures with AR-15s, and then sports events were cancelled everywhere. But then people all over America finally reached a breaking point with race issues and violence. There were protests in every city, but then people forgot about the pandemic called COVID Not One Through 18. Media struggled with how to focus on two important things at once, but then people in general struggle to focus on more than one important thing, and a dead whale was found in the middle of the Amazon rain forest after monkeys stole COVID 1 Through 19 from a lab and ran off with them, and either in May or April (no one is keeping track of time now) that a giant asteroid narrowly missed Earth.

In June, science and common sense just got thrown straight out the window and somehow wearing masks became a political thing, but then a whole lot of people realized the south was actually the most unpatriotic thing ever and actually lost the civil war, and there are a large amount of people who feel that statues they don’t even know the name of are needed for … history reasons..... but then everyone sort of remembered there was a pandemic, but then decided that not wearing a mask was somehow a God given right (still haven't found that part in the bible or even in the constitution), but then scientists announced they found a mysterious undiscovered mass at the center of the earth, and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH IT, but then everyone took a pause to realize that people actually believed Gone With The Wind was like non-fiction, but then it was also announced that there is a strange radio single coming from somewhere in the universe that repeats itself every so many days, and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE ATTEMPT TO COMMUNICATE WITH IT, but then America reopened from the shut down that actually wasn’t even a shut down, and so far, things have gone spectacularly not that great, but everyone is on Facebook arguing that masks kill because no one knows how breathing works, but then Florida was like hold my beer and let me show you how we’re number one in all things, including new Not Corona Beer Corona Virus. Trump decides now is a good time to ask the Supreme Court to shut down Obama Care because what better time to do so than in the middle of a pandemic, but then we learned there was a massive dust cloud coming straight at us from the Sahara Desert, which is totally normal, but this is 2020, so the ghost mummy thing is most likely in that dust cloud, but then I learned of meth-gators, and I'm like that is so not on my stupid 2020 Bingo card, but then we learned that the Congo's worse ever Ebola outbreak is over, and we were all like, there was an Ebola outbreak that was the worst ever?

In July…. Aliens? Zeus? Asteroids? Artificial Intelligence becomes self aware?

Day #111

Guest post by Delaney:

We woke up and had pancakes and bacon. Me and Evan wanted all the sausage and bacon and Evan kept on saying “I’ll fight you for it!” We split the extras. 

We took down both the tents and packed up the rest of the stuff. While we were doing the tents, Aunt Chantell accidentally dropped her chapstick into a place in the car where she couldn’t reach. I tried, but i couldn’t reach either. Uncle Dan had the idea to use gum to get it out. It turns out i was chewing gum, and Aunt Chantell had a marshmallow roasting stick so we put my gum onto it and then Aunt Chantell gave me a new piece of her gum. We got it out! 

Then when we took down the tent we had accidentally left some poles in the closet, so i crawled in and got them out. 

Evan went early to the beach to set up Our canopy and then we went. We swam and when we went into the really deep part mom kept on shoving me down so I could touch the bottom, and she held my hand so I wasn’t scared. We also jumped off the boogie boards and kayaks, I thought it was fun to dive off, and it was! 

We took a family photo and then we left. While we were going home we listened to Harry Potter and I had chips and a hello panda. When we got home we unpacked. 

After that we were all tired, so me and Frankie made ramen and then we went up to read scriptures, said a prayer, and talked as a family. And then we went to sleep. It was my second time camping! I found a tick during dinner, but daddy got it out for me. 

Side note by Michelle:

Somehow I didn’t take any pics Friday. 🤷‍♀️ We wanted to do another hike before the beach, but it was already in the 90’s, so we decided to skip that and just go to the beach. It was crazy crowded, so we spent a lot of time swimming past the enclave, out in the deep water. The adults would hold onto the ends of the boogie boards and kayak, and the kids dove and dove. It was fun to be just across the Potomac river from where we usually go to the beach at Newtowne. The beach was very different. It was more rocky at the beach, and then sandy in the water, whereas Newtowne is sandy, and then slimy in the water. Also, Newtowne is super shallow all the way out, I swear you could walk a mile and still not be underwater, but at Westmoreland it gets very deep very quickly. 

We swam and played till almost 5, it was great, and exhausting! We said goodbye to the Virginia Rays and then went back to our camp bathroom and everyone showered. It felt so good to be clean and cool!

We stopped into Gordmans on our way home because addie needs sandals and those are hard to buy online. That’s a super fun store, I wish we had one here. 

We continued our amazing family working together and got things unpacked, put away, and dirty laundry started quick style. We are in the very best stage! I taught Frankie and Delaney how to make ramen - best mom award. And a successful camping trip was finished!

Day #110

Guest post by Addie:

We sleep for the first time in our tents. Our tent is a large eight-person tent, but the other Rays' is a tiny pop up tent. Evan sleeps outside in a hammock. Sounds fun.

We eat eggs and pancakes. Only three for each of us. I can eat eight pancakes with room for more. Last time we made pancakes at my house, I, I mean we accidentally made five batches. We ate like, three.

We walked after breakfast to a board that showed us what trails we could walk. We took the longest route, had some detours, and two hours later we finally  go back to the campsite. We get to the beach and soon to follow finished a bag of peach rings. We went to the farthest cove, and it took forever to lug a kid paddleboard, six bags, a twenty-pound cooler, a beach canopy and etc.  across a half-mile beach. We had a good time, though.

We rented paddleboards, dove, and swam in the ridiculously deep river. It was fun. We ate our lunches, swam, and for some reason, Evan brought a book that miraculously didn't get wet during our stay.

We took our heavy load (that's what I'd call an understatement) back to our cars, had foil dinners, discovered a miracle called stackers, and type of marshmallows that you can stack. Amazing. We finish the bag (Suprise) and fall asleep to full stomachs and to our dad's coming. I hope that they are prepared to walk a mile to get to a functioning toilet, but I am very happy to see them.

Footnote by Michelle:

Addie did a great job summarizing our day. One thing that happens to all good bloggers is that we sometimes mix days. That’s what happened with Addie’s brekkie explanation, we actually had pancakes on Thursday. Now that’s been set straight. 

Chantell had mentioned that dan was off Friday and might drive up and join us. Matt was supposed to work Friday, but ended up getting the day off, so I texted him and he was super excited to come. 

I have assisted Christian in making many foil dinners, but I’ve never actually eaten one. At least not that I remember. 

They were tasty! The girls weren’t in love with them, but they ate then to make way for their s’mores. 

Though I wish our kids were closer in age, Evan and Izzy are very sweet with the little girls. And the girls aren’t ever shy, so they feel like they are best buddies and why wouldn’t anyone want to sit and chat and swim with them? 

Evan was quite the fire master. It’s something boys are born with. 

It was fun to have matt there. This picture left us all cracking up. Check out Chantell behind Delaney. As we were positioning and making sure everyone was in the picture, she somehow lost her balance and fell, but saved Delaney’s foil dinner and thankfully didn’t burn herself in the fire. And also thankfully, I got a pic mid fall. 😂

Second times a charm. 

Dan arrived after 10 and after we got the girls to bed, we stayed up and talked for awhile. Our first night we didn’t have any other campers around us, but the next morning a huge group showed up right next to us. There were at least 3 families in a spot meant for 6 (we eventually had 9, so I can’t complain about that part) and they were loud. They played music and talked loud even after quiet hours. It was a bummer, but by the time we went to bed they had quieted down some, and we were so tired that we slept pretty well. And Frankie didn’t wake up to go potty at all, so yay!

Day #109

Guest post by Frankie:

On Wednesday we woke up early, like around maybe 9:00, and we cleaned up our rooms and made our beds. We went down for breakfast and watched tv. We had to put away our dishes and fold up the clothes and do the dish drain too. And then we had to pack up all of our stuff that we had picked out. So then we packed up the rest of our stuff. It was a lot of stuff because camping is really hard! There was a ginormous storm right when we were in the middle of packing! We did tutoring and Delaney and I were a little bit scared. We did tutoring for 30 minutes. Then we packed up our cooler and got in our car. 

We drove and we went to Walmart and me and Delaney picked these really pretty solar clip flowers for our hair that were first just white and then my mom got a tarp. We listened to Harry Potter. We stopped at wawa because I had to go to the bathroom with mommy. My mask kept on falling down and then we drove and I didn’t know where we were going. I was like “ugh, how much longer?!”

There was this really kind lady at the campground and she was in the security box before we went in. She lead us to our family and then we got set up and unpacked. It took a long time to set up. 

For dinner we had hot dogs and I cooked mine and we thought that ours would burn like marshmallows, but they didn’t. The s’mores were really good!

I couldn’t wait to sleep! But then when we finally got to sleep, I couldn’t! I woke up at 2:00 and I woke up my mom and we had to go to the bathroom with a lantern and we had to be super quiet cause other people were sleeping. After that I got to sleep better and I slept till 6:00 and then had to go to the bathroom again. 

Addie’s artistry.👆🏼 

Footnote by Michelle:

We had a super fab morning prepping and cleaning and generally working together. We talked about how much work camping is but how excited we were and how it wasn’t bad when we all work together. 

There was a chance of rain all day for here and also Westmoreland State Park where we camped. We had planned to leave in the afternoon, but as we were tetris’ing the truck, the thunder started and it started to downpour. I love a summer thunderstorm and they are always so short, except when we want to head out. This one lingered and was torrential. We got at least 3 inches in one hour. 

Westmoreland is just over an hour away driving, but only 16 miles as the crow flies (one of my fav sayings). Our tarp has been missing for some time now and Walmart was on our way, so we popped in. The girls were so stoked and loved looking at everything they could. They each bought something. I believe in letting kids earn money, “encouraging” them to save, and then letting them make choices. 

Chantell and I rocked the setup without the menfolk. Evan was there and was helpful, but he’s a man child, not a man folk. We laughed about the 60 second canopy setup that took us more like 60 seconds plus 15 minutes, but we did it and it all looked great and was sturdy. 

We each took a dinner and a breakfast. We brought hotdogs and brats, potato salad, veggies, and cotton candy grapes - which are some of the best things ever grown, imho. 

Our first day was a rousing success and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t ridiculously hot in our tent. The one snafu was that I “forgot” my sleeping bag. All the sleeping bags are the same and the girls got theirs all set up and were like “oh man, mom, you must have forgotten your sleeping bag.” 🤷‍♀️ I had sheets and was fine until Frankie’s first bathroom trip, but I grabbed Laney’s small blanket and a beach towel and was totally comfortable. Everyone slept great! 

Day #108

We’ve actually been doing things and I remembered why I don’t normally blog every day. Time to catch up!

Tuesday, June 30th. 

I got up early and went for a bike ride. I had errands to run and wanted to get out and done early. Chantell texted last week and asked if the girls and I would like to go camping with her and their kiddos, sans hubbies W-F. It took me awhile to wrap my head around it, but i figured we should have all the safe fun we can this summer, and we miss our family. 

Dionna texted that morning and asked if we could go to the pool since they were leaving for their new home in Florida the next day. She ended up taking Frankie with them since I was shopping and then had tutoring. I met them up at the pool with the other girls and grabbed these pics before they left. 

My girls best school friends always move, and it’s always hard. 

Delaney got a special delivery from Kai and her mom for book club. She got candy, slime, and popcorn and she was so stoked. Nina is amazing and has made 2 very fun book clubs for the kiddos to participate in while social distancing. 

Also, we would have been on a plane to Spain Monday night and into Tuesday morning, and we thought about it and talked about it all day. Covid disappointments continue to mount. And also, we’re so blessed, it feels silly and immature to be sad, and also, it’s ok. We are human and we are trying and we are ok. 

I thought this was hilarious and also a really good point. We’ve already got loads of layers, what’s one more? 😂

I think I’ve shared this before, but it always gut punches me when I read it. I only ever want to build them up. 

And another one I feel deeply. I love naps so much. Pulling all day’ers is hardcore.