It seems the pattern went: pack, clean, unpack, launder, re-clean, repeat. Well to be accurate, though it was in my plans, I skipped a few (or most) of those cleaning steps. And since most of the trips included my mom at some point, she sent us home with bags full of clean clothes, so that laundry step wasn't too necessary either. ...but don't tell my neighbors because I need something to blame our overgrown lawn and dead plants on.
The reason for all that fun (ha.ha.) was a summer full of traveling around. It started with planning a 10-day missions trip for Brandon and our youth to return to Costa Rica and work with the church we went to 3 years ago. Though it was tempting to strap Lil on my back and make it work so that I didn't miss this fun adventure, I decided to sit this one out. The kids and I survived by heading to Ohio for the first time since Christmas to see family & friends, celebrate my sweet nephew's 3rd birthday, and put to use our Kings Island passes! It was a great trip for Brandon and for us - lots of memories and pictures to remember those memories since neither of us do it well on our own. This is the blog Bran's sister wrote for their trip http://costaricamissions2012.blogspot.com/, and here is a look at our (slightly smaller-scale) fun!
IZ's birthday night! We went swimming and had a cookout, and ended with a very fun movie in the backyard for the kids to enjoy (and the parents to relax!). :)
We had fun at the zoo...
at Kings Island...
...and pretty much just exhausted them in everyway we could think of :)
Lots of fun for me too!...
Brandon had another trip to "go it alone" on - family camp. Yes, I realize that sounds terribly cruel, but basically it's a camp that all the pastors in our district are required to work at (Bran runs the sound for the youth services) so it was not by choice that we sent him there. :) And I won't go into my full version of details describing it because I don't want my husband to lose his job, ;) but I will just say that for our scenario: both of us having to work while there, with three kids, one of which nurses every three hours, and staying in a dorm (barn) where the walls don't quite reach the ceiling, making it too loud for little ones to nap or sleep in general but not too loud for everyone to hear when I lose my mind ... I just wasn't sold on it. The outhouses for 10 days didn't help either, though my description did change a little when they got the sewage system up and running a couple of years ago. Since we've lived here, I've either been pregnant with morning sickness or had a newborn, so I've yet to stay more than a couple of days. I'm weighing the pros and cons of having more babies for that reason only. ;)
Ok, sorry, small tangent. So with all of B's craziness, we decided to skip a big vacation with either of our families this year, but my parents asked to take Drew on vacation to SC with them. And since they were going to get a week with him, they also asked to take Benny to their house for some special time with him too. At the risk of sounding like I was trying to send away my family one-by-one, I asked my in-laws if they wanted to take the boys too so they could get in special time with them as well. They took Drew while my parents had Ben and vice versa because I couldn't stand any more time with my birdies out of the nest! The boys had a ball with both sets of grandparents, and thankfully they didn't cry or throw things at me when it was time for me to pick them up either time. :)
Drew in Folly with my fam
Benny with great-grandpa
It sounds like a lot of confusion and busy-ness, and it was. All of these trips were scattered throughout July, overlapping each other, people coming and going. We somehow managed to fit in a week of soccer camp for Drew, VBS, a mini-trip for Bran and me (& Lily- ha!) to Columbus to celebrate our anniversary and see aunt Lindsay, and hosting aunt Lauren & cousin Nate at our house for several days before they took off to Costa Rica with our church. Lily and I did the least adventuring, though we got in plenty of the driving. That was ok because I ended up with 4 or 5 days with just my baby girl - the first time for that I think! I got to sit around friends' pools and only have one baby to monitor. I could meet up to go shopping and only bring a single stroller. Ahh, the relaxing life with one baby. :)
A very cute one too!
The best part was being all back together at the end. I love all my little munchkins and having a husband to go through life with- this summer made me thankful for just that!
Now, to tackle Kindergarten supply lists and remind little boys what bedtime means...
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