Four on Friday

Hope everyone had a lovely Fourth of July! We stayed home together...ate good food, played some games & watched a movie. It wasn't the most exciting, but it was good. :) I realized, too, that it's been ten years since we went to see fireworks. Apparently we're fine with that, as none of my guys wanted to venture out yesterday even after I pointed that out.

In other news, here are four random things to share that make me happy...

1. Moms' Night Out. Last Sunday, I was able to get together with a group of mom friends. Yay! We all homeschooled our kids together, and it was great catching up and hearing about how everyone and their kids were. 

A few weren't able to make it and we all agreed that we need to get together more frequently, but it was awesome. So happy to have these women in my life! 

2. Werther's Candies. During our road trip, I happened to grab some Werther's candies for snack bags. I hadn't had them in ages. I realize some might consider them "old people" candy but apparently I really like them. :) 

3. Lucky Ducky. On Monday, when we went out for Asher's birthday, I had this drink...

It's called the Lucky Ducky and it was yummy...and bigger than anticipated, lol. It was fun drinking out of a bathtub. :)

4. King of Tokyo. We enjoy playing games here. We tend to get in ruts, though. Recent favorites have been Ticket to Ride and 7 Wonders. Yesterday, then, we decided to play three games we hadn't played in ages. One of them was King of Tokyo and I got to be Gigasaur...

I died first but it was good. :) So happy to be able to enjoy time together with my guys, even when I lose. 

Okay, that's enough for now. Happy weekend to everyone! 

Twenty two

My Asher turned twenty two yesterday. :)

Yup. Good looking guy who makes faces when I try to take pictures of him. 

He's worked a couple of short term jobs this summer and is mostly relishing a lazy summer. He's been staying active with parkour, demo team, and riding his OneWheel...sometimes with other demo and Taekwondo Club friends. He's also been re-reading his way through all the Rick Riordan books and making plans to possibly tackle some other fun experiences (but has been waiting out some injuries). 

In August, he'll head back to UNC (University of Northern Colorado). He'll have two more years in his program (Sport & Exercise Science: Physical Education K-12 Teaching)...will be living in the same dorm room again this coming year...and is looking forward to another year in the UNC Taekwondo Club (along with the UNC PE Club). It's been lovely watching him find his people and enjoy his major. Having seen him with his younger cousins recently, it's clear that working with kids and keeping them active is a good path for him. Listening to him talk about some of his classes, I know that he truly cares about it, too. 

We didn't do anything particularly exciting yesterday (hard on Mondays anyhow)...went out to dinner and dessert, played some games, and opened gifts from his brothers and grandparents. I love that he loves hanging out with us still and am looking forward to seeing what the coming year brings for him. 

Allow me a moment...

As we're finishing out the first half of the year, please allow me a moment to brag on my guys...

MICAH has been volunteering down in Boulder a few times this summer (helping prep the CU stadium for events). He's now an officer with the CU Taekwondo club and has been helping organize these volunteer opportunities that earn the club funds for the coming year. (CU sets aside funds for the groups who volunteer and distributes them based on how many people each club brings.) Really proud of how he's stepped up in this leadership role and glad that he's so enjoying his teammates.

ASHER made the Dean's List at UNC for his first year there! (UNC does their Dean's List by the year rather than by the semester; Dean's List requires a 3.75 gpa or higher during that time.) So proud of the hard work and dedication Asher puts into his schoolwork (and always has). 

NOAH recently got a promotion at work! He's now the assistant manager. Very proud that he's doing such a good job at the bank and that his coworkers have become friends. This time at the bank continues to be a great learning experience, and it's lovely to see his efforts being rewarded.

NATHAN took me to the Candlelight Dinner Theater last night as the final gift in celebrating my birthday. We had a wonderful time, enjoyed our meal and drinks, and were impressed by the performance. So proud of the work this man does to provide for our family and lifestyle! We've had some rough years financially but are in a good place now and we don't take that for granted. 

(This isn't the best photo, as I didn't remember to take one until we were leaving.)

So. Just wanted to acknowledge these things. :) Incredibly proud of all my guys and blessed that they're mine! Here's to the second half of 2024...

Thankful Thursday: Road trip edition

So. Just a few things to wrap up our road trip...

Things I'm thankful for:

1. Snack bag tradition. Years ago I started a road trip tradition of preparing snack bags for each boy. I'd gather candy and snacks that each particularly liked and put them in a gallon sized ziplock bag with his name on it. This system has served us well for many a road trip! It keeps things tidy (trash can just go back in the ziplock bag as it's generated)...it keeps boys from asking for things (as they're free to eat from the snack bag whenever and tasked with spacing things out for the duration of the trip, as bags aren't refilled)...and it prevents needing to reach across the entire vehicle or toss things to people in the back seat. 

Even though it isn't really necessary any more, I prepared snack bags for each boy for this road trip for nostalgia's sake. Thankful to have had them all with us on this trip, as I know those days are numbered.

2. Small hands. I'd never really thought about it before, but did you know that larger hands don't fit inside Pringles tubes? ;) It's not been an issue for me, but apparently Micah and Nathan can't get their hands into Pringles tubes. It was pretty entertaining watching Noah reach right in sitting next to Micah in the backseat. :)

3. Restaurant finds. While we've made the road trip to Washington a number of times for family visits, we don't usually drive the CO-WY-UT-ID/OR-WA route. (We usually go CO-WY-MT-ID-WA.) There aren't as many places to stop along the non-Montana route. So, we were delighted to discover a couple of great restaurants this time on our way to Idaho. Thankful for Wonderful House Restaurant in Rock Springs, WY and for Fat Clarence Pub & Grill in Jerome, UT!

4. Vinnie. Our dear mini van has been with us for 15.5 years now. We got him new and his name is Vinnie, well, Vincent Van Go. He's reliably transported us all over the place. This trip was no exception. He survived 2240 miles and we're very grateful. I know he's not the most stylish vehicle and that one of these days we'll replace him, but I'm ever thankful for the space, convenience and dependability. 

5. Silly faces. Mostly, though, I'm thankful for the time with family! Look at these silly faces...

It was lovely watching all the cousins interacting and just having the time together. So glad we were able to get together with everyone! Happy sigh. :) 

Family visit road trip

So, we got home late Monday from a family visit road trip. We started out last Wednesday and drove and drove. With stops, we were on the road about 15 hours and crashed for the night in McCall, Idaho. Thursday morning, we got up and on the road early again...stopped for a few things and continued the 2.5 hours(ish) to my baby brother's home. We spent the day there...

There were group photos...

The top left is my guys and my brother's eight kids...top right is my mom, us, Joe and his kids...bottom left is me, my mom, my baby sister (Cas) and my baby brother (Joe)...and bottom right is all of us: us, Cas and her two boys, and Joe, his wife Bridget and their eight kids. (It's not a full family photo as we're missing Cas's husband, my other brother, his wife and three kids, and my other sister and her three kids.)

There was a lot of playing...

• my eight year old nephew (Case) challenged Micah to basketball (and won...he also beat Nathan later)
• Micah negotiated with cousins in their capture the flag game (it was all the littles against my three bigs)...the game lasted a good while and involved lots of "jail" time
• the oldest little (Blaze) delighted the youngest two boy cousins with his "roller coaster," pulling them around in the wagon

• swings were swung
• Joe gave some of the kids rides on the tractor
• Blaze started out pulling the wagon with the bike but decided just walking/running worked better
• Asher, Noah and Case had deep conversations
• Asher was enlisted to climb a tall ladder to put a baby bird back in the nest (there was a lot of drama about trying to save the injured bird that had fallen from its nest...and debate about whether Cas would take the bird home (which she did NOT want to do)...and a decision to put the bird back...and then a funeral after the bird fell again and died)
• and sword play.

And then there were just lots of family moments...

• Micah holding Clare (the youngest...she's 4 months and adorable!)
• Tim (3) kissing Clare
• Nathan with Clare
• Nathan with Bobby (almost 2)
• Alice (10), Clare and Sam (7) with Bridget
• Blaze (10) with one of the cats
• Nana with Mary (almost 5)
• Nana with Tim 
• Nana with Clare
• Asher with Bobby

And there was a massive water fight...

Micah later regretted showing the littles that dumping buckets of water worked better than the water guns, lol. All three bigs suffered from that, lol. 

And the girls particularly delighted in climbing and riding Micah...

I also have pictures of whiffle ball and ice cream and more of the sweet littles. (The pictures are heavy with Micah interactions, but Asher and Noah were right in the thick of it also. Asher actually pulled his hamstring early on so wasn't as able to play as he'd have liked but still participated, and Noah got targeted in the water fight, lol.)

We had a fabulous time hanging out and getting to see Joe & Bridget's property for the first time and eating together and visiting aplenty. Yay!

After dinner and dessert, we said our goodbyes and headed out. We drove to Lake Coeur d'Alene and stayed at Cas & Charlie's cabin there. We ended up enjoying some time on the lake with Cas, Charlie and their boys...with Asher and Micah tackling the aqua obstacle course with Case & Blaze and tossing a football and such...and with time on their boat.

While the water near the obstacle course was chilly but warm enough, the water in the middle of the lake was too cold ultimately. Case and Asher both tried wake surfing but we ultimately called it on account of the temperature. (Apparently, it's not been as warm there recently and usually takes another couple weeks before the lake warms up to reasonable temperatures.) Case knows how but was just too cold. (He lacks pretty much any body fat, lol.) Asher had never tried before and got pretty close.

After our time on the lake, we headed about 4.5 hours into Montana and stayed with Nathan's parents. We chatted and ate and played pinochle. It was lovely but I only remembered to take this one photo as we were leaving Monday morning...

And then we were on the road for about 13 hours before finally making it home to Fort Collins. Whew.

That was a lot of pictures and such. I'll be back tomorrow with some wrap up. :)