Day 6: I'm Beginning to Believe It's Summer or It Rained!

Jenn:  Summer is beginning to sink in around here; last night Matt came for Belle's game, and since he was coming back for Maddie's tonight he just slept here.  He got up to go to work at 6, and when he came out into the living room woke me up, so I got up made him breakfast, and saw him off before taking my aching back (the living room chair is my favorite, but sleeping in it did not agree with me last night) back to bed.  And then...it was 10:30.  Oops!  Talk about wasting time!  The girls swam this afternoon; it's so strange to have them going off to do their own thing without me!  They weren't very careful about applying sunscreen, though, so I made them watch this video as a reminder about how important it is:

Maddie's first game was supposed to be tonight, but it got canceled due to rain.  We ended up coming home and hanging out, watching the storm, and playing Phase 10. 

Day 5: Shopping, Swimming and softball

Maddie: Yesterday we had to go grocery shopping [our fridge was running low] then we came home and ate lunch after that we went swimming for three hours, lastly Belle had her first softball game they played Hesston it was tied at the end of the game but Belle got hit in the knee when she was catcher. Over all I think it was a pretty good day!

Day 4: Hunting for Treasures

Jenn:  I'm not sure when it's going to set in that it's really summer vacation.  I suppose after a few days of not having to get up at 8 I'll catch on!  We went to Wichita for lunch with Matt, then we headed over to The Museum of World Treasures.  If you've never been there, you should go!  It's an awesome mish-mash of privately collected artifacts including the 3rd most complete T-Rex skeleton in the world and tons of other amazing stuff (mummies, shrunken heads, etc.).  On our way back to Matt's we passed some of the MX trucks coming up from the race in Dallas...very exciting for at least one person in our car.  There may have been some waving and shouting out the car windows as we passed each truck and took pictures. ;)  After a refreshing nap I attempted to overcome my ADD enough to work, and the girls played softball with S.  3 games this week, then the lake this weekend...should be a good time!

Day 3: Back Home, The Meadering Version

 Belle:  Today we came back home from MO. We stopped in Joplin and went to a really cool park that Extreme Makeover built after the tornado. The park was across for the hospital. We went to Pitts Burg and saw Big Brutus. It was HUGE!!!!! It was an AWESOME day!!!!!

Jenn:  Back home indeed.  While I'm totally exhausted, I'm glad we went.  This morning the girls got some pool time at the hotel before we hit the road.  We were a little torn about which way to go; back to the lake to spend time with Kris and Jessica, or home.  I was a little worried about going to the lake and then home because I new I'd be super-tired, so we decided to head for home with a few stopping points along the way.  When we got to Joplin we did go to the park; it was amazing!  There were some very fitting memorials to all of the volunteers and those who lost their lives in the tornado.  The destruction truly was indescribable!

From there we cruised on over to the almost non-existent town of West Mineral and Big Brutus.  Big Brutus was once the largest electric coal-mining shovel in the world.  I cringed a little at paying to go look at a big piece of equipment, but we got to go up inside of it, too.  It was definitely something that everyone should see at least once! 

It was good to be home, although a little exhausting because Maddie had softball practice as soon as we got here.  All-in-all not a bad "mini-vacation,"  in seeings as to how I was cranky about not getting to really do anything on the trip!  Again, I can't be reminded enough:  enjoy this, because it could all be gone tomorrow, and someday soon my girls won't be begging me for piggy back rides in the swimming pool!

Day 2: Family are the People...

I'm going to be honest here...I wasn't thrilled about this weekend.  My cousin on my dad's side was getting married in Shell Knob, Missouri and had invited me.  She doesn't have a ton of family, and I knew it was important to her that I be there, but driving six hours to a wedding, staying in a hotel, and coming back home the next day did not thrill me.  Unfortunately fundage wouldn't allow for much more.  In hindsight...I'm so glad we came!

The drive wasn't bad; we came through Joplin, and when we were looking for a sporting goods store we ventured  into the area where the tornado hit.  Wow.  It's been one year, but the damage is still apparent.  Laced in with the newly-built homes are boarded-up homes, and the high school is still just a pile of rubble.  We got to see the "Hope"  high school sign and an awesome tree that had died but someone had painted.  The amount of new and rebuilt businesses was awesome; good to see business providing services to such a hurting place!  Maddie is such a lover of storm stuff, I think it was good for her to see first-hand that it's not all fun and games, but serious too.  Makes you thankful for what you have!

As for the wedding...perfection.  Both of my cousins were there; we grew up seeing each other during summers and sometimes on holidays, and they are my dearest family members.  The closest thing to a brother and sister I have!  Our life choices have taken us far away from each other in more ways than just distance, but there's still a glue there.  Our Grandma Cherrie was an amazing woman, someone we all loved and respected, and I'm so thankful she gave us each other.  I have always felt like an outcast on the other side of my family, but with these two...I'm right where I belong.  I don't have to prove anything, I don't have to feel uncomfortable, I can just be who I am.  We had a great time at the wedding; it was wonderful to meet the new groom and my other cousin's girlfriend, and to be in such a beautiful place (Table Rock Lake).  We ended the day with someone trying to convince us to come back to the lake tomorrow; we'll have to see, and playing in the hotel swimming pool.  It reminded me of something that occurred to me last summer that I had forgotten during the school year; my girls are growing up fast, and right now, when they still want me to play with them sometimes, I need to do it, because soon enough they won't want me there.  It also reminded me to enjoy the little things, like giggles in the backseat as we go up and down "roller coaster" hills.  Such a thankful day!

Day 1: The Kingdom of the Mentally Unstable, Where We All Eat Cake & Vodka

Jenn-Day one of summer...it was simple but good as we shakily tested out our freedom feet after a full 9 months of school.   I had to work; managed to make my classroom cabin sign to decorate with next year and to get my entire classroom torn down.  I even got my closet cleaned out.  Have you ever seen that episode of "Friends" where they discover Rachel's nightmare closet?  That's what my classroom closet looked like.  Scary. 

We went to lunch with friends; the girls insisted that they eat at a table far, far away from us grownups (because who wants to eat pizza with their mom?).  When we got back to school the girls used the stage to put on plays (with one of the lines inspiring the title of this post...cake and vodka?  I haven't had any cake and vodka recently....or ever). 

Once home I surprised the girls with a schools-out basket; pool toys, movie passes, stuff to make s'mores, sunflower seeds and ribbon to tie up softball shirts, and sno-cone supplies.  It was fun!  I walked with  Carla and ended the day by getting locked out of the house.  Not a bad first day!