We managed to fly our whole family out to Washington for the fourth of July! James was coming with his whole family from GA so we planned our visit for the same time. The hot weather made for more downtime inside that we would have liked but overall I think it was my favorite visit to date. Maybe because my kids are getting older and a little easier each day, but it was a really lovely time.
Our first big day was the fourth. Bonnie and I participated in the fun run/walk that the South Hill Stake put on that morning. It was lovely to get some quality time with her as that time would be limited due to our kids still needing so much of our time and attention. It was fun to just have an hour to chat while we enjoyed the gorgeous morning. The Stake served a potluck breakfast after the run which everyone met us for. Then from there we drove all the way out to Fort Worden which is a good two hour drive. Not just the two hours, but we made stops along the way. We were underprepared as far as food and water goes but managed to keep our kids' blood sugar balanced enough to get through the long day. We spent time exploring the fort, then let the kids run wild on the beach. It was breezy with some big waves but the sun was beating down hard giving Justin and Jon sunburns. On our way home we hit BBQ Pete's (Jon's favorite) and stopped at Steilacoom Park for the rest of the evening. It was HOT but honestly such a good day. I loved being on the beach and the good family time at the park. We managed to watch some neighborhood fireworks before getting the kids off to bed, and then while the ensuing bangs and pops of fireworks continued that evening we watched The Sicario with Jon and Laura per Keaton's recommendation.
The next day we were originally going to do a day trip to Seattle but the group was pretty wiped out from the big day previously. We met up at a park in the morning and had a mostly low-key day. After lunch we took the kids to Tacoma to see the newest Despicable Me movie. I loved getting to to go the movies with the kids for their first time and it was fun to get movie theater snacks, but the movie was quite painful and the theater was hot. Thankfully I had a great book on my phone so I just read until it was over. We treated the kids to ice cream and headed home. Saturday was our last day and unfortunately it was supposed to be hot. Collectively the group decided to stay indoors considering we had family pictures scheduled for that night and we didn't want to set us up for failure by exhausting everyone. We mostly hung out at Jon's, played games, played video games, etc. Family pictures went really well and the kids got to finally play at the park when they were finished. We scrambled that night to get kids to bed and get packed up for our early flight the next morning. It was a whirlwind week but my kids loved being with their cousins, and about five minutes after we got home Emmett said, "Mom, can we go to Grandma's house?" as if it didn't just take us 7 hours to get home. Thankfully they will be back soon for Emmett's baptism.
Aside from our trip, I took Emmett to Idaho Falls this week just the two of us and got him a suit for his big day. It was fun to have the day just the two of us. We ate lunch where he wanted to go, and overall I tried to make it a special outing with Mom. He was a good sport as I was able to shop for some home décor and then of course, our Costco and Winco shopping. He was a great helper.
I noticed poor Beckham's toe was swollen so I took him to the clinic and sure enough they had to operate on his ingrown toenail. He didn't know what was coming so it wasn't so bad, just the obvious part at the beginning with the lidocaine shot. But once he was numb he was totally calm in my arms while the doc did all the rest of it. He has been handling the post-op really well. It was honestly nothing compared to Emmett's tongue tie release at the same age so after that trauma I feel pretty steeled to handle this kinda stuff.
That's a basic July update for now. I'm absolutely loving summer and already getting excited to start our homeschool year this September with both kids. I hosted a homeschool mom night with whoever wanted to come and share their favorite curriculum and co-op activity ideas. I hope to get a successful, consistent group going this time around.
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