Cops n Kids day

Last year we missed the cops n kids day in Harrisburg but it sounded so fun, I got it on our schedule early this year! It took place during the day of the homecoming weekend on Friday, and I picked one of the days the girls were with me, so I could take them. We were thrilled to see the rangers there as well as the fire safety house and lots of other agencies. 

The girls got to see the state patrol helicopter land right in front of us! It was windy and crazy, but amazing too. The kids all got a chance to get in it and even got up front (right before they told us there were too many sensitive instruments and made them get out, haha).

The rain was threatening all day, but the girls loved visiting the stations about gun safety, talking with police and fire and enjoying a community cookout too. It was really a sweet little event and the police even gave the girls shirts (even though they are adult-sized, they didn't care), coloring books and some other trinkets. 

The mobile bomb robot was there too, he wasn't operating that day, but it was still cool to see. Amara was particularly obsessed with the local teen band that was playing and made friends with one of the girls' (Rachel) who played games with her while Cora and I hit up the bounce house. They even gave her a CD of their music when they packed up.

They got to play at the old Harrisburg school playground a little bit too--we weren't really dressed for it, with the weeds it was super buggy (and all the rain) but there were plenty of kids around to play with. 

I had a great time on one of "my" days with the girlies. The summer is blowing by for sure--I definitely won't get to do all the things I imagined in my head when I planned to spend time with them this summer, but I'm getting to as many things as I can!

Whirlwind summer

This summer we wanted to try something different with the girls for childcare and since we had people offering to help we decided to jump in.

Some days were with Tiffany, Payton and Kennedy

lounging around the house, going to world of bounce, or just play...

Some days were with Grandma Jackie at the pool

They enjoyed pirate day, and got to go a few hot days for sure!

Some days were with neighbor Paige at Cosi, doing Tie Dye shirts, and making sausage sandwiches, 

some were even with Mrs. Sarah and Jonathan, back from Texas and it was amazing!

The girls never had two days alike for sure. Camps, friends, ice cream and water-play abounded. There will never be another like it and I hope and pray they have as much fun as I think they have had. Thanks friends!

Lost and found

We came home on the 4th of July from a great evening, to our worst nightmare. Ily was missing. 

At first we figured she was up under our bed, with all the noises, etc. but as we searched and called for her to give her treats, our panic turned to reality. We called mom and dad and they came and helped Eric scour the neighborhood while I stayed with the girls. Amara was beside herself upset, the girls were exhausted too, so that didn't help the emotional nature of things. 

I made this "lost" flier at about 2 am when Eric called it quits for the night, filed on Pet FBI, Franklin county lost dogs board, texted every neighbor and friend I could, and finally got some sleep. The next morning we were up and searching. We printed the flyers and started handing them out.

When the girls got bored, they went over to play with Hayliee for a bit. Amanda hopped in her car to help us look and talked to some guys on Denton who saw her on Lambert rd. the night before. She headed over that way and we followed her.

When we got to the Sheets farm, she was talking with the wife, and then Eddie, eventually who told us he said seen her in the bean field just that morning. Eric took off walking along the fence and within seconds, he saw her head pop up above the beans. I hopped in the car, drove over to the opening in the fenceline and called for her. She came charging toward me, hopped in the back seat and took a timbit I offered her.

I snapped a pic of her to post on social media--since so many people were praying for us, but literally without Amanda i don't know if we'd have found her. What a 20 hours!

4th of July

The 4th of July fireworks in GC were on the 4th, and at the end of a very long few days for us. We were thrilled that Hayliee wanted to have us over for her party in the pool then watching from her house again though!

The pool was the best way to dodge the mosquitos too though! it got cold when the sun went down, so we layered on the sweatshirts then packed up for a short walk down the neighborhood. The display moved from Beulah to the high school, so it was in the other direction this time. 

We had a nice view from behind a pond on Haughn rd, right across from murphin fields. We were there with a lot of people from the neighborhood and from their house too. 

We got back to their house and did a few sparklers before we took off for the night. Between Horton leaving that morning at 5, the parade and all the running, we were just cashed--but we were so glad to have a fun 4th with friends all the while!

Ashville July 4th parade

We love the Ashville parade. Zip in, our cousin Dee always in front, sit on the street, bands and vehicles and kids throwing candy. it's great.

I loved that the girls had their custom shirts from crafting with Evan and Ali to wear--we were excited!

Dee tossed us some silly bands--we love seeing her and Matt!

And I love holding Cora bee when she gets tired of standing. We even had a shady spot on a sunny day and we weren't looking into the sun!

One of the girls favorite characters was Uncle Sam. They were yelling and waving at him, so he came over and posed with them--he was probably 75, walking in the heat in that costume but was smiling all the way. 

And the best part--since all the parade people hand things out, those pieces of paper in the girls hands are "flyers" that Amara made to hand BACK TO THEM as they walked. They said Happy 4th of July and her name. Some said Thank you--everyone she gave one to, was shocked but also touched. Love her sweet heart. 

picking blueberries

On the way home from the Ashville festival, we took a tiny detour and grabbed some blueberries--and man were they good!

It was still kinda early, so they were smaller, but they were tasty! 

You could have just picked on one bush for 20 minutes, but the girls bounced around like little bunnies, picking and eating both. 

We had plenty to make yummy kabobs for our July 4th party the next day and snack as well--it was well worth the stop for sure! I can't wait till our bushes are big enough to munch on :)

Ashville 4th festival

We've done the Ashville festival a few years now and I think the thing that amazes me most when you have benchmarks like that is how quickly the girls blow through them. I mean it was LITERALLY a couple years ago when they weren't sure about the kiddie rides, the ones with the big umbrelllas on top that go around and around? And this year, didn't even ride one :(

I LOVE that the girls have each other for rides though. This year, Eric still had to ride with Cora on one or two, but it might have been the last for that too. 

I convinced Eric to get on the mechanical bull, so the girls wanted to do a turn too. The operator was very kind to the girls but Eric got thrown off, he said his legs hurt from holding on, haha. 

WABA (4th) parade

The "west side" parade is a long-standing tradition that we are happy to continue. The band was in it when I was in school and we started to take Amara there as tiny as she'd let us. Normally we stand on west broad at Demorest and mom and dad go, but this year it was rerouted because of construction, so we snuck down a side-street. 

Because this is the record-rainfall year that won't stop, we knew we'd rained on a tad. We got there as close to parade time as we could, and parked literally 15 feet away. We are finding lots of summer events with low attendance and I don't blame people. Luckily, we aren't afraid of a little rain.

It was just a LITTLE--really grazed us, and the parade was short and sweet as it was. One entry was a soccer team who dribbled the ball with the girls and they loved it. A few bands too, lots of political candidates, daycares, and the usual. 

The girls always love the fire, police, ambulance type trucks and horses if they are involved too. 

By the end, Eric caught this shot of Cora. She loves waving back to the parade folks but I guess we need to work on her upper arm strength, haha. 

mom's bday

The one thing I requested for my birthday this year (40th) was no big party, and Eric came through! The girls got me a butterfly bush, some bundlet cakes, cards, and lots of flowers. I worked, so when I came home, they were all ready to surprise me and it was super cute. 

We were racing around from the pool with Paige to dance camp that night, so there was no time to linger but it was a cute little evening with my lovelies ;) Thanks guys

Horton visits

We have come to really really look forward to Horton visiting us every 4th of July for a few years now--this one was no different. I love that we get to see them one day when they arrive and then right before they go--it gives the girls a few days to miss them, then meet up again.

Clearly we were busy playing, because I got VERY few pictures :) But we had a BLAST! We got to visit and have a sleepover on the night they flew in, complete with pizza party and beanboozled with Heather's brother in the barn. 

We made pancakes, they played on the trampoline, chased bugs, all the fun summer things to do with friends, while Horton and I (tried) to catch up. 

On the 2nd visit we made crafty 4th of July tanks for the kids to enjoy (since they were flying home on the 4th), the girls did chalk hair-color, watched Frozen in Amara's room, and stayed up way too late. 

The girls are always asking about Ali and Evan, when they can visit again, when we can go to the mysterious desert I'm always telling them about, and we will--but not yet. I can't wait to get on a plane and go visit them, but I still always will treasure their visits "home" to us.