September 2017

We took our annual Labor Day trip to Amarillo to see Uncle Gary and Aunt Sara. After seven and a half hours in a car, the kids were more than ready for a water park! Way better than having to listen to their mom listening to the Gators losing to Michigan on the radio.

The next day was Wonderland Park, which is the perfect amusement park for our kids. Naomi was finally big enough for this one ride that was honestly the most disorienting/dizzying thing I think I've ever done. I like that kind of ride, and even I was ready for it to end. So naturally we did it twice.

And then there's Sarah, who can barely see over the bar, but will do rides alone. I was with the bigger girls on another ride. And there's no way Clifton's going on anything spinny.

Oh man, babysitting Bella was an unanticipated fun part of the weekend. She got more loving than she could handle.

I had no idea that tarantulas were a thing in the United States. The innocence is gone. This thing was huge, getting hauled off by a predator wasp. 

We always have such a great time on this visit which goes too fast.

We always swing by Llano Cemetery on our way out of town. So we can remember. And tell stories. And make sure our girls know that they are part of a beautiful legacy of love and grace.

Family birthday celebration for Annika's 7th birthday

I love this picture. I love that these two are inseparable when our families are together. I love that they just seem to get each other. That they haven't figured out that it won't always be so simple to be a boy and a girl and be best friends. That doesn't matter. Because, for now, it is that simple.

First trip to Coors Field as a family.

So these might not be the best seats to teach your kids about baseball. Because you can pretty much see nothing. "See those guys? Yeah, those are people. Trust me. Somewhere there's a ball and a bat and a game being played. Here, have more popcorn."

But they tried to be pretty into it. Annika's got her game face on.

And then, the rain delay. So we all go under cover for a while. Then we come back and are the only ones left in our section. I'm talking to my friends from work (because this was a work event) and someone points out that Sarah's walking along the abandoned seats and eating out of someone else's sourpatch kids bag. Finders keepers. I tell her to stop, because I'm trying to look like a good mom who doesn't let her eat out of strangers' trash, knowing full well I would've done that as a kid.

Next thing I know Annika is down there, looking all surprised to be busted. At least it wasn't a half empty beer. Clifton had probably already finished those off.

On September 17th we packed up the kitchen and moved it into the living room for our kitchen remodel to start. This was day one. No big deal. What's so hard about not having a kitchen?

The fun wears off about four days in. These are last looks at the old kitchen.

We went six weeks without a sink. Six. Weeks.

Meanwhile, Annika turned seven!! Mondays are a bad day to have a birthday in our family--busy work day for both Clifton and me. And Naomi has ballet until 7pm. So it was a super fancy Klondike bar to celebrate!

That Thursday was International Peace Day. All the kids at school make a pinwheel illustrated with their hopes for peace. And then they get put in front of the school to blow in the wind. It gets me every single time.

Sarah riding home from soccer practice. This is the face of a girl who will run you over if she needs to.

Annika's birthday party with friends. I made these frozen eggs and the kids had to figure out how to free up the dinosaur in the egg. This was supposed to take at least 15 minutes.

Until the first clever kid threw it on the driveway and turned it into a 14 second activity. 

So we moved on to digging through fossils for dinosaur bones.

And hitting a dinosaur egg pinata.

Maybe next time I won't have a party with this many kids when I don't have a kitchen...

Naomi and Annika would like to recommend this book to you, written by our friend Jason. I haven't read it myself, so I cannot say much about it. But they liked it. And it answers the question: "What if you had unlimited resources to pull off the greatest pranks on a global scale?" And Jason's a super clever and funny person. So it's got to be good. Try it. 

During soccer this season Annika is on an all girls' team. It's 5 on 5 now and with a goalie. I'm pretty sure being goalie would be the worst thing in the world for me because I do not need that kind of pressure. But she likes it. So now it's just the worst thing in the world to watch my kid play goalie.

My friend Callie's daughter plays goalie. I've taken to texting her during games when I'm feeling all nervous for Annika. For the record, Annika's not the least bit nervous. So I keep this part of me to myself. But I find myself holding my breath during scenes like the one above. Callie talks me down. From seven year old soccer stress. I'm going to need an army of you over the next ten years.

But seriously, why can't she just play forward? She's good at it.

The kids humored me on my birthday with a hike around the lake. It's been a good year...