Month: July 2022

We had to say goodbye to our friends this morning. We took a few last pictures and got a few last hugs. There were several (or a lot) of random ways to procrastinate before all three kids were loaded up and headed back to Milwaukee with Amber. We were sad to see them go but so happy they came!

Because we had a couple free hours on our hands and some really good light before it got too hot, I bribed my children into dressing up for Porch Portraits – something I have been doing the last several years on Gram’s porch every summer.

Today we did a little bit of everything. The big boys spent the morning drawing while the younger kids watched TV. Then we remembered that we hadn’t actually taken a picture of the seven kids together (what is happening to me!?!). Next up was a trip to Vertical Jump. This had been high on Kaitlyn’s list of things to do in Paducah and even better to do it with good friends. Then we had BBQ for lunch. We spent the evening at the country club and wrapped up the evening with a game or two of Bingo. Abram also brought his virtual reality at Alex’s request and he tried it out after everyone else was in bed.

We normally spend at least a few days of every summer visiting old friends in Milwaukee. Sadly, we couldn’t make our schedule work with our friends’ (two families). It turns out that the nine kids and working adults have very busy calendars. I had given up on seeing them when Amber asked if she could bring her three kids to see us in Paducah!? We of course said yes and were so excited when they arrived late last night.

We had a lazy morning watching TV and eating breakfast in shifts.

We then spent most of the day at my dad’s pool just being us. Except for one unfortunate encounter with a bee, we had a great time.

We headed to the pool again and everybody kept themselves entertained – thankfully. This heat is no joke! Ben is still loving the high dive. He has also been practicing swimming without his floaty. I’m hoping he will do just as well when we get back to his swim teacher.

We didn’t have any “big” activities planned today. The kids love getting up early and then watching TV in their pajamas. My only rule is at some point they have to watch a show Ben actually enjoys, which gets quite a few groans, but nobody leaves the room.

Then we picked up Starnes BBQ and headed to the CSI park to enjoy a “picnic” lunch.

We knew this week was going to be insanely hot and that would rule out most of our non-water related activities. My kids love the water so I also knew multiple trips to the pool would not be a problem. We had a lazy morning at Gram’s and then met the cousins at the pool. What has surprised me is that how few people have been at the pool. I expected it to be fairly crowded but only a few families have been there each time with us – which is probably a good thing. We are a fairly crazy crew!