2021 :: week 32

August 1

Laura and Trevor are in town! They taught the kids how to play "Bang!"(a shooting game similar to Rock, Paper, Scissors). It is mainly to played while trying to pass time, like when you are in line at an amusement park or driving in the car. Laura and Trevor are young at heart and do a great job of connecting with their nieces and nephews. 

August 2

We had dessert at my parents' house and said spent some Toms for the last time Monday evening. It was fun to get to see them in person, especially sweet Hannah. Girl cousins are few and far between on the Crane side so Lauren was especially grateful to spend some time with her.

August 3

The end of summer has me feeling all maudlin about how fast the kids are growing up. I snapped this picture of the four of them brushing teeth together. Bedtime is frequently a time when my patience is frayed and more often than not the kids try to push their luck with staying up late. But my heart felt full seeing them all together, compliant but goofy.

August 4

Blueberry picking is something I look forward to each year. This summer has been a different kind of busy for us. In the past we were all on the same schedule, the kids were in the same activities or at least overlapped. This year most weeks just one of the three older kids has something going on, while the others did not. I haven't wanted to go blueberry picking and not take all the kids because I like us all going together. I'm going to have to get used to doing things without everyone in the coming years, but I am very glad we got to go together again this year. We got lucky that the weather was gorgeous AND we had week free of daytime camps or lessons. We had a great time picking berries then snacking on the yummy blueberry muffins sold in the bakery. Emily, Tyler and Mikey joined us as well.

August 5

Elliott made his baseball "debut" Thursday evening, attending his first "official" practice. He had to wait an extra week because last Thursday we were under a heat advisory. He is on a co-ed team that is made up of ten kids in his grade from OPC. If you have spent more than five minutes with Elliott this summer you know just how obsessed with baseball he is right now. This is hands down the most exciting thing to happen to him all year.

August 6

Lauren wrote and original novel and she read it to me before bed Friday evening. I love most everything about Lauren at this age (9.5). She has so many ideas and is always creating something. This past week she wrote a graphic novel, wrote letters to a few cousins, made several original designs with her perler beads--including a monster truck for Arthur's birthday, and a felt baseball for Elliott's birthday.

August 7

Jill organized a tour at the Lenexa Fire Station for Arthur's 3rd birthday. It was interesting learning about the different trucks and all the useful tools the firemen use. In our area the firemen spend much more time backing up medical assist calls or helping with car crashes than putting out fires. The fireman pictured showed us all of his equipment and how each item would protect him if he was responding to a fire. It turns out that he was fresh out of the academy and we were his first tour. Miles wasn't sure what to think of his Darth-Vader-sounding oxygen mask. Anthony had to work from 9-1pm and then 5-8pm facilitating item refining, so he wasn't able to join us.