Moving into the more relaxed days of summer was a breath of fresh air for all of us. Sleeping in, more dinners together (yay for no evening commitments over the summer!), eating on the patio, & playing outside together in the evenings. I love the simplicity of summertime meals – grill some meat & veggies, add some fruit & chips & you have a meal. And we enjoyed all kinds of outside games together – pickleball on our street, throwing a frisbee, kan-jam (a frisbee game), spike ball & ladder ball. Many nights after dinner, the kids jumped on the trampoline while Kenny & I enjoyed sitting out back talking & watching the kids. We all love those nights. 

Picking James up from band camp at the end of May I caught the drumline playing from the field to the band room. 

In early June we traveled back to NE & attended a family reunion with my parents. We enjoyed seeing so many family members on my mom’s side of the family. About 80 people were in attendance & we later counted that we were missing about 80 people as well. A big family. 

My mom’s parents – where this big family began. I’m so glad my aunt brought their photo to the reunion. It seemed strange without them there. 

While in NE we spent one brief night staying with my parents & did get to the shop to see Dad’s garden. James had on nice, new, bright white tennis shoes so he borrowed boots from my dad. And Anna borrowed a hat from Grandpa. Two goof-balls. 

After returning home, we noticed our frig wasn’t working properly. Thankfully, with a second frig in the garage, it was no big deal. Kenny got to work troubleshooting & after disassembling both the frig, then the freezer found the problem. Ordered a rather inexpensive part on Amazon & fixed it himself. I was SO proud of him! 

Kenny also outdid himself with our strawberry patch this year. Every year the squirrels & rabbits eat everything before the berries ripen. This year he fashioned a net over the top to keep the critters out & we harvested a bowl of small, juicy, sweet strawberries! They were fantastic! 

Father’s Day!

Some of Kenny’s favorite foods: Steak, grilled peppers, watermelon, potato salad & carrot cake!

As we are flying toward school starting next week, I thought I’d check-in. Posts about our summer will come; likely after the kids are back in school & I have a bit more time.

For now, we are working to get everyone’s supplies purchased, and new uniforms bought after kids have outgrown much of what they have. James & Anna are making plans with friends ‘one more time’ before school begins. And, Kenny & I are soaking up the remaining time with the kids home more. We love it. Time for more games together, meals together, watching the Olympics together, & enjoying each other’s company. 

Kenny & Anna watching the Olympics on a lazy Saturday morning.

This week, late afternoon & evening activities began for both kids – dance & marching band rehearsals. They are ready to get back into it & it’s nice to make that adjustment before school starts. 

While at Walmart getting school supplies, we may have bought a few new games. I’ve been telling the kids how much I enjoyed playing Operation as a kid, & we decided to go for it. We were sadly disappointed at how quiet the buzzer is compared to the old game years ago. That was part of the fun of it! So, Kenny looked it over & is pretty sure he can fix that. 😉

just testing notifications