Day 1-
Lowlight- The two-hour traffic jam Mindy, Kinz, and Cameron spent in Knoxville, Tennessee, on their way to us. This is a picture of what they got to stare at for two hours.
Highlight- Welcoming everybody! We love having family come visit us! We get all sorts of excited with anticipation of the upcoming fun. Steve did his usual Costco runs buying the food that is never allowed in the house otherwise, the kids made welcome cards complete with chocolates for the beds, and the house is cleaned--complete with rarely made beds!
Day 2-
Lowlight- Getting up so early to start our day. I hate waking up to alarms! A runner-up for my lowlight was a Pinterest-inspired recipe that was a bust. Crescent cinnamon rolls--boo on you! You did not turn out like the picture, but somehow I still managed to shove you into my mouth on our way to church.
how they were supposed to look, but not at all how mine turned out.
Highlight- Another toss-up! First, it was attending church. Church usually isn't something that gets me too excited, but this one was different. St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church has a congregation that's about half African American. Take part Catholic traditions that I've grown accustomed to and add to the mix the pizzazz of a bluesy choir with a couple "Amens" shouted here and there and I was in heaven!
Highlight Number 2- We took a trip to Paris Mountain State Park and took the kids on their first canoeing trip! I wouldn't say Cannon loved the idea of being zipped into a tight life jacket, but he went along for the ride anyway. A third highlight could be that we all stayed in the boat which is a big accomplishment having a three year old lean from side to side to peer into the water.
Day 3-
Highlight- Steve does a great job an' all taking care of the kids, but let me tell you it's not quite like the skills of my 'sister wives' aka Mom and Aunt Mindy. I layed down for a nap because I had to work Monday night and when I woke up the house was picked up, children were fed and accounted for. It was amazing! In fact, on Wednesday (I'm skipping ahead here, but it's my highlight continued) when I woke up early from working the previous night Mom and Aunt Mindy had our picnic packed, kids dressed and ready to go, and Aunt Mindy even made me a cup of coffee! It was perfect for Steve, too, he would make dinner as he loves to do, but someone else was there to clean up. Steve teased he could barely put his cup down before Aunt Mindy was there to swoop it up.
Lowlight- As much as I love what I do, it's hard to leave to go to work when everyone at home is having fun.
Highlight- Everyone spent the day at the zoo and the park filled with dizzying whip-you-around rides.
Lowlight- I missed all the fun because I had to sleep to go back to work.
It would be nice if I looked this peaceful as I slept.
Steve tells me most of the time I furrow and look angry.
Day 5-Highlight- This is the day I woke up early with everyone and everything ready to go! We went to Reedy Falls, had a great picnic complete with sandwiches packed in personally labelled Ziploc bags. We loved walking of the rocks, Cameron even scaled the rocks climbing to the highest point!
Lowlight- After a fun-filled day of swimming and walking on Reedy Falls we all came home a little tired, so we didn't think much when Kinzie took a nap on the couch. She woke up hours later on the floor with a fever of 103, crying incoherently, hyperventilating, and gesturing her head hurt. With Steve's background as a licensed athletic trainer he does really well in emergency situations like that and he was able to calm her a little, but only long enough for Mom and I to decide she needed to go the hospital STAT! The ER doctor was initially just as suspicious as we were that it could be bacterial meningitis, but after lots of tests and three types of pain medicine later it was concluded to be a sinus infection gone really, really bad.
Highlight- Celebrating Cameron's 13 birthday! His birthday party requires a blog post all its own. More to come on that later, but, rest assured, it will be talked about for ages!
Lowlight- After spending the night before in the emergency room we decided to scrap our plans of a long day trip and spend it closer to home instead. We went to see Mirror, Mirror. This was not, however, my lowlight. The movie was great with the ending causing Harrison to literally sit on the edge of his seat (although I'm not sure if that was because it was a nail-biting ending or that he really, really needed to pee from all the soda he drank. But, he wiggled with anticipation nonetheless.) My lowlight was the shock of how much it cost to go the movies! I know I'm showing my age here by even uttering the words, "when did your prices go up?!" But, seriously, buying three matinee tickets, one popcorn and two drinks should NOT cost $48.00!!
Day 7-
Lowlight- Having to say goodbye to my family. I continue to be blessed with a family that gives endless love and friendship.
Highlight- A nap! Our days of activities and our late night chats left me exhausted!
Again, pretend this peacefully sleeping chic is me.
If you squint your eyes you can see some similarities.
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