2023 :: week 25

Summer Week #5

June 18

Happy Father's Day to Tony! He's a great dad and we are glad he's ours. During church he "helped" Miles give a talk in primary, and by "helped" I mean he delivered the entire talk while Miles looked the other way. In the afternoon he took a nap, and my sisters and I prepared a potluck dinner of Hawaiian Haystacks. 

June 19

After a busy day of laundry, yard work and other pre-trip preparations we spent the evening at Bluejacket. It has been so incredibly amazing to have Bluejacket open this summer. Of course we hope it will be open again next year, but if the past three years have taught me anything it is to be grateful for what you have one day at a time.

June 20

Tuesday morning Miss Julie came to our house for a piano lesson "home visit." It went well, though she again reminded us we need a piano light...just like she did when she came a few years ago. Julie is a wonderful teacher and we are so grateful our kids get to be taught by her.

June 21

Back when all my kids were little we would see one or two of the cheap movies at the theater during the summer. Now my older kids are so busy if I want to go to one I have to put it on the schedule weeks in advance. Miles loves minions, so we saw Minions: Rise of Gru. On our way to the theater we made a quick stop at the Dollar Tree for the kids to pick out their movie snacks. It was all worth it to see the look of adoration on Miles' face when the minions started to sing "You Can't Always Get What You Want," near the end of the movie. The rest of the day was spent prepping for our trip to WV.

June 22

Thursday we hit the road for the first leg of our 10 day summer vacation and drove to Lexington, KY. The family was gracious enough to let me go to the 8am water aerobics class and then hit the road. We had a fairly uneventful first day. I baked banana muffins and packed a lot of food, so the kids were pretty bummed we didn't stop to buy food. Anthony and I listed to the audiobook The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter. It was an interesting book that gave us lots to talk about. Basically, the author posits that modern life is too comfortable and that unless we push out of our comfort zones we will be unhappy and unfulfilled. One of our favorite things the author said was "hunger is the best sauce," meaning everything is better when you've worked for it. He also has us considering rucking and intermittent fasting. 

June 23

Every other year Tina rents a house somewhere in the US for the entire John family to gather to for a week. As the family grows so do the "homes" we stay in. This year we stayed at a lodge on the Timberline Mountain near Davis, WV. Right out the back was a ski run, It was amazing--5 floors, 10 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, an indoor pool, sauna, game room and even an elevator! There was plenty of room for everyone. Each couple had a room for themselves (kids born in 2019 and later slept in the room with their parents--Lucas, Miles, Mateo and Evangeline). Will and Sadie shared a room with two double beds. The 2022 cousin camp kids (Elise, Lauren, Weston, Adelaide, Nolan, Derek and Camille) slept on mattresses on the very large 4th floor family room floor. The remaining cousins (Elliott, Brigham, Lola, Grant and Felicity) shared a room nestled between most of their parents. As soon as we arrived the kids were off and exploring the house with their cousins. I love seeing how quickly the kids pick up after not seeing each other for a year or more! Miles quickly became interested in Lucas and especially Felicity and spent much of the week playing with them. Miles introduced Felicity to the joys of sports cards and the two of them could often be found "making teams." We ate a lot of delicious food throughout the week. Each couple was assigned a night for dinner, and a few people made extra desserts. 

June 24

The indoor pool was an integral part of the week's success. Rain was in the forecast for most of the week, and the area around the house was very steep, which made it difficult for the kids to easily burn off some of their energy. Most of the kids spent hours playing in the pool. At times things got a little chaotic, but it was a great escape. The west wall was all windows which made the room feel bright and open. There was a "hot tub" which wasn't actually hot, and we used as a "baby pool" for the younger kids that needed puddle jumpers or adults to hold them in the big pool. 

2023 :: week 24

Summer Week #4

June 11

Baking cookies is a regular Sunday afternoon activity in the John house. I think that licking the mixer attachment and being "taste-testers" are equally as motivating as the actual cookies.

June 12

I have an entire series of picture on my phone of Miles sleeping in the car. Despite the fact that Miles "doesn't need a nap!" he falls asleep in the car almost anytime we drive somewhere after 4pm. Monday evening Lauren had her second to last softball game. The girls played well and Lauren had fun.

June 13

The boys finished their swimming lessons this week. Miles barely participated and is on track to repeat the level one class again next year. Though I am frustrated with his failure to acclimate more quickly to the water, it has been unseasonably cool this June, which means the water was quite cold. Elliott passed level five and will move on to level six next year. A big focus for his level was crawl strokes--both forward and on his back. He was the youngest in his class and also first in his class to jump in the chilly water each class.

June 14-17

Lauren spent Wednesday through Saturday our Stake Girl's Camp held at Camp Galilee (a non-denominational religious campground) in El Dorado Springs, MO. She had a great time! The girls slept in cabins divided by wards, and our ward was definitely the smallest. The girls did a lip sync battle, Lauren's group performed "I've Got a Dream," from Rapunzel, that was well received. One day they did a spiritual walk, where there were mirrors the girls could look into that would say things like, "I am a child of God," and pictures of Jesus. There were crosses symbolizing different periods of history. During their free time they could choose to go to the pool, snack shop, craft shack, and play gaga ball or tetherball. One day they did team building activities by year where they did trust falls, had to get each girl onto an elevated platform, balance the group on a small platform, etc. We know Lauren did girl's camp right, because she came home and slept most of the afternoon on our couch. 

June 15

Anthony and I snuck away to Wichita for the evening and saw Hamilton perform at the Century II Concert Hall. On the advice of my friend Sang, I entered the lottery for the Wichita performances because the competition isn't as fierce and I won! The Allreds agreed to watch our younger boys overnight and we made a mini-roadtrip out of it. Coincidentally Sang and Devan also won tickets to the show and so Devan drove with us. (Sang drove separately from Girl's Camp because she is a diehard fan). We had a great trip, even though we got caught in a speed trap and Tony got a speeding ticket despite being passed on the right and the left. The play was amazing! We had watched the recording on Disney+, but seeing it in the theatre was so much better. Our seats were incredible, second row, two seas right of center. 

June 16

Tony and I were tired from our late night drive, and we had a slow start to the day. Anthony went to work, but then we went to Firehouse Subs for lunch, where they were giving away free medium subs to people with the names "Thomas," "Linda," and "Asia." That evening we let the boys pick our adventure. Elliott wanted to go to Crown Center, so we did. We explored the "Fairy Tale Village" installation, got dinner at Spin! Pizza, and did some people watching just outside the gates of the Boulevardia festival that was taking place over the weekend. Then we walked across the skybridge and rode the streetcar down to the City Market. We hoped to get ice cream at Betty Rae's, but the line was way out the door, so we decided to head back home and Frostys from Wendy's instead. It was a fun evening and reminded me of how much more simple things were when we just had two young kids. 

June 15-17

Will spent Thursday through Saturday biking part of the Katy Trail, heading east, from Sedalia to Tebbetts, MO. They rode for three days, riding for 26, 43, and 25 miles per day respectively. On Thursday evening they stopped at the Pilot Grove and were able to play basketball and swim in the pool at the camp ground. The second day of biking was the longest day riding, a few of the boys (not Will) had to stop and ride in the car for a bit. The boys stopped in Hartsburg for the night. They were all pretty tired, so they just ate burgers and hung out at the campsite. The final day the boys rode to Tebbetts, then drove to Columbia to feast on pizza at CiCi's. Will and Jude came across a deer on the trail and Jude was almost knocked over as the deer jumped right in front of him across the trail. The boys spent a lot of time talking about basketball players, debating who is best, with lots of the guys dissing Jason Tatum. Will said it is okay, because he "knows they're wrong." Overall Will had a great experience. And thus ends the busiest week of our summer so far. 

2023 :: week 23

Summer Week #3

June 4

Elliott has always been an excellent snuggler, especially when he isn't feeling great. He had a low-grade fever Saturday and woke up feeling sick Sunday morning. I stayed home with him while the rest of the family went to church. His fever broke not long after they left and then he was full of energy. I was expecting a quiet Sunday morning at home with him, and after we watched Sacrament Meeting we played game after game of Clue Jr., Eye Found It and Sleeping Queens. That evening we went to my parents house and Elliott brought the star blanket my mom gave him for Christmas a few years ago. 

June 5

Our mornings were busy this week! Will had basketball camp 9-12pm Monday through Thursday. Elliott and Miles had swimming lessons from 10-10:30am Monday through Thursday as well. Adding in Lauren's piano lessons from 10:30-11 on Tuesday and you've got one busy driver (mom). 

June 6

We stopped at Rosehill to pick up lunch on Tuesday after running errands and picking up kids. In the afternoon we met the Throssells at Bluejacket and then Kendall came over to play with Miles and Elliott and G&H walked to Target with Lauren and Will.

June 7

As busy as the mornings have been, it is nice to have a little more time in the morning for breakfast. 

June 8

Wouldn't it be nice to have the metabolism of a 13 year old boy? Will spent the week playing basketball for 3 hours in the morning, and then went to the pool for a few hours in the afternoon with friends. I love having having the pool so close now that my older kids are old enough to go themselves!

June 9

My book club went on it's first "field trip," to Ozarks this weekend. Our plan was to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder House in Mansfield, eat lots of good food and have fun. We drove down in two cars, I rode in Janice's car with her and Alexa. Shortly after we arrived we went to Lamberts for an early dinner, which is always an experience. After dinner we headed back to our Airbnb and played the game Marrying Mr. Darcy, which was surprisingly fun. Then we tried out a clay mask, ate ice cream and watched a few episodes of Little House on the Prairie. No one wanted to stay up too late, so we went to bed. In the morning we went out to eat again, then headed to the house and museum. Though Laura Ingalls Wilder lived all over the Midwest, it wasn't until she was living here in Mansfield that she penned her stories. We spent a few hours visiting both the Farm House, Rock House and Visitor's Center before heading home. On the way back we listened to the audiobook Daddy Long Legs, which was quite amusing. It was a quick trip, and fun getaway with my friends. Pictured: Kate M, Sang M, Tami O, Allison B, Alexa, Janice, me

June 10

While I was in Springfield, the Hintons arrived. Each summer they make an annual pilgrimage to Mississippi to visit Liz's family and they make a stop at our house either on the way there or back. Anthony and Darren always enjoy catching up and enjoy talking about sports in a level of minutia few can appreciate (our boys definitely do!). I arrived home in time for dinner and insisted we take a picture of the kids as we were getting ready for bed. Miles was NOT excited to be in the picture.

2023 :: week 22

 Summer Week #2

May 28

We celebrated my birthday Sunday evening. I took this picture because I liked the view of everyone singing to me. We taught our last youth temple and mission prep class of the school year and talked about maturity (how you know if your ready to serve a mission/go to the temple/get married) and spiritual momentum. 

May 29

Because last Memorial Day my mom had a stroke, I was dreading the day. I made plans to go out to breakfast with my friends Kristen and Sarah (we all have the same birthday), but then we had to reschedule last minute bc of sick kids. Instead I slept in, which felt amazing. Will spent the day with Jude and Adrian, first at the skate park, then at Sonic and the Benson house. The rest of us went to Young's Pool where we ran into several friends, which made the experience more enjoyable because the water is still pretty cold. For dinner we went to the ward picnic at Sar Ko Par Park. After the picnic we visited my parents where we all agreed to avoid having strokes in the future. In all seriousness, we are very grateful my mom is still around, and that she has improved so much this past year.

May 30

Tuesday morning we picked up yummy Chick-fil-A breakfast bowls for breakfast. The CFA near Will's school was running a promo for a "free mystery breakfast item" every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in May. Will and Anthony picked it up a few times before school got out, but the other kids wanted in on the fun. They gave away a variety of items, some better than others, with the breakfast bowl being the best. It was our first "normal" non-holiday, non-weekend, non-vacation day of summer.

May 31

Miles isn't scared of the slides anymore! Tyler came over for a few hours in the afternoon and the boys had a lot of fun playing with him. 

June 1

Imagine our delightful surprise when we pulled up to the library at the exact same time as some of our best buddies! Elliott and Nicholas picked out the same free book (The Fifth Quarter) then each collected several sports biographies before settling down and reading together for about 20 minutes. The rest of us collected books too, then we met up at Tomahawk Pool later that afternoon.

June 2

In February Leah turned 8, and though they wanted to, my parents were unable to fly to Boston to attend her baptism. Andrew decided Leah and Melanie should take a special trip to visit Memaw and Pepaw and they decided to come the first weekend in June so Melanie could also run the Hospital Hill Half Marathon. They arrived Thursday, but we didn't see them until Friday morning when we met up at Lamar's to celebrate National Donut Day. After our donuts we spent a few hours shopping from our neighbors at the Oak Park Home Neighborhood Garage Sales. Everyone came home with something--a pair of shoes for Leah, a nerf gun and tennis balls for Elliott, a book for Miles, and shorts and a bunny night light for Lauren. That afternoon we all went to the pool. Bluejacket, our beloved neighborhood pool, is finally open after 4 long years!

June 3

Will spent Thursday through Saturday in Pawhuska, OK, participating in Trek, sponsored by our stake youth program. The stake adjusted the date to the first full week of summer because in year's past mid-summer treks have been very hot. Will had a great time with his family, headed by Ma and Pa Mattox of the Cedar Creek Ward. Will's "brothers" included good friends Benji W and Adrian B (with whom he shared a tents), as well as new friend, Neil. The four "sisters" were all from the Chapel Hill Ward. Will had a great experience at trek. The work was hard, but we were told by several leaders that Will had a great attitude, was a hard worker and team player. As with many youth events this year, Will was the youngest participant. Each group pushed their handcarts for about 5 miles each day. It was a little extra difficult for Will's group as they were youngest group in the stake. After they finished their pull they had free time where they could throw around frisbees and footballs, try their hand at archery and explore the area. Will enjoyed exploring the creek bed and reported that he saw multiple snakes. One night they had a square dance. The food was good--biscuits & gravy and eggs for breakfast, burgers and sandwiches for lunch, and steak kabobs and pork chops with mashed potatoes for dinner. In the evening there were devotionals and star gazing. They were transported to the trek site via bus and on the way home one of the bus drivers kept dozing off! Someone called highway patrol and the convoy ended up arriving over and hour after the scheduled time at the stake center.  

2023 :: week 21

Summer Week #1

May 21

Sunday evening we celebrated Jake's upcoming birthday (5/24) with tuxedo cake for dessert. It was pleasant enough outside for most of the boys to eat theirs outside. Arthur, Mikey are Miles are part of the run of five boy Crane cousins in five years. (1-Elliott 8/2015, 2-Mikey 9/2016, 3-Caleb 11/2017, 4-Arthur 8/2018, 5-Miles 3/2019)

May 22

For the first time since her stroke, Memaw attended a sporting event! She brightened Lauren's spirits by coming, and treated all the younger sibling spectators to a treat from the concession stands. "Making up for lost time," she told me. 

May 23

The last day of school and our annual "jumping off the school sign" photo. All four kids worked hard, made friends and grew physically and emotionally. We took this photo on our way to the airport as we headed to Atlanta for the rest of the week. When we didn't make any plans for spring break I got the itch to go somewhere. We had such a great time last year exploring Philadelphia, all of us were interested in going somewhere we hadn't been before. Though we passed through Atlanta on our way to a John family reunion in Florida in 2019 and Tony had traveled there on business, that didn't do it justice. It was our first time flying out of the new airport and it is very nice, though it took a bit longer to get to our gate. We experienced relatively pain-free travel. Our only instances of annoyance were that our flight was delayed an hour and the car seat that we gate checked was erroneously sent to the baggage claim. We made it to our hotel, the Hyatt House near Truit Park and the Cobb Galleria, around 10pm. 

May 24

Wednesday was our first full day in Atlanta. After enjoying the free hotel breakfast (which received two thumbs up from Elliott by virtue of its waffle maker) we set of the visit the Martin Luther King Jr., National Historic Park. We watched a video about his life and walked through a museum that chronicled events in his life and also what life was life for black people in the south after the Civil War. We also got tickets to come back later in the day for a tour of the home MLK was born in and where he spent his formative years. We walked across street to the Ebeneezer Baptist Church where King's father and grandfathers were pastors. Because we had a few hours we picked up some groceries, ate lunch and then went swimming at the hotel. We underestimated Atlanta traffic and almost didn't make it back in time for the home tour, but we made it and we were so glad we did. The tour was fantastic and a highlight of the entire trip. Our guide was knowledgeable, frequently going off script to add extra nuggets of information. The tour went much longer than we expected so we had to quickly grab a bite to eat at Chick-fil-A before heading to Truist Park to see the Braves take on the Dodgers. It was a fun game, with lots of home runs--including one by Elliott's first baseball love, Mookie Betts. The weather was nice and park had a nice atmosphere. Miles was most excited when he caught sight of Brave's mascot, Blooper.

May 25

We slept in a bit on Thursday, but were up in time to eat breakfast before it closed. Our first adventure of the day was hiking Stone Mountain. Stone Mountain is about twenty miles east of Atlanta, though it took us about 45 minutes to drive there. It is an monadnock (an isolated hill made out of rock millions of years ago, that is all that remains after the surrounding earth has eroded way). Though not the only mountain of this type, it IS the largest piece of exposed granite in the world. There is a relatively easy trail (1 mile up, 1 mile down) that we hiked for the most part without incident. The view from the top is beautiful and we were able to see Atlanta and other landmarks in the area. I packed a picnic that we ate at the top. We had a scary moment when Miles let go of Anthony's hand as we descended the mountain and he lost control and tripped and rolled about fifteen feet. We went to the Visitor's Center and learned about the geological history of the mountain, then briefly drove by the Confederate Relief on the back side of the mountain. Since coming home Anthony has done a deep dive into the history of the mountain and its ties to white supremacy and the "Lost Cause." After our hike we drove back to Atlanta and visited the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. I was pleasantly surprised by how engaged our kids were while we were there. Our younger boys were very excited that both Star Wars and the Muppets arrived while he was president. I enjoyed learning that my dad has a lot more in common with Jimmy Carter than he thinks. ;) At this point we were all starving so we stopped to eat at the Varsity. The Varisty has been around since 1928 and serves basic American fare--plain burgers and hot dogs--that you can add chili, cheese and bacon to if you want. We also ordered fries and onion ring that our kids devoured. After that we returned to our hotel, went swimming and most of us headed to bed. Anthony and Will went to the lobby to watch the Celtics beat the Heat to win Game 5 and keep their playoff hopes alive.

May 26

Friday we were all starting to feel a little tired. Our first stop of the day was at the World of Coca Cola. The first half hour of the tour is basically a commercial for their brand. Eventually we made our way to the tasting area where memories were made. In the testing area there are soda machines with Coca Cola products from around the world. The Italian beverage "Beverly" is famous for its bitter aftertaste--I thought it tasted like biting into the peel of a grapefruit. The John family consensus worst flavored beverage was the Chinese Fanta Sour Plum. It tasted like carbonated barbeque sauce. There were also machines that dispensed most of the Coke owned beverages in the US which our kids really enjoyed. After all that soda we were hungry, so Anthony led us to Max's Coal Oven Pizzaria. It was delicious and the fact that the waiter gave Lauren an adult sized glass and Will a glass with a lid brought a smile to her irritable face. We were all less irritable after pizza. That afternoon we took a brief nap, then headed to Newnan to visit our good friends, Pat and Stephanie Zysk. Stephanie and I were close friends in high school and then Anthony became good friends with Pat when we lived in Springfield and they lived 15 minutes away in Nixa. Even though they had had a busy week with school ending and McKenna graduating from high school they welcomed us with open arms. Our evening visiting with them was a highlight of the trip.

May 27

Saturday we had to get up early (6am) to leave for the airport. We rented a minivan through TURO and made plans to park the van in the short term parking. The only problem was when we arrived at the airport cones were blocking the entrance to the lot. Our TURO host Walter worked with us to find a solution, but in the end other drivers just pushed the cones aside and we parked there as planned. The airport was very crowded due to Memorial Day weekend traffic, but we made it to our gate right before it was time to board. Our flight home was uneventful, and we picked up our van and made it home around 11am. My sisters had stopped by the night before and decorated my door with 40 memories of me from throughout the years (it was my 40th birthday). They also left a batch of my favorite rice krispy treats on the counter. That evening Will invited friends over to watch game 6 of the Celtics/Heat series. I took this picture right before the Derrick White tipped the ball in right before the buzzer to win the game. After he tipped the ball in Will ran outside and screamed.