Fun Surprise

I got a text yesterday that flowers had been left on our porch. It was a very fun surprise when I came home:

Since we are traveling next week, Brad sent me anniversary flowers yesterday so I could enjoy them this week. I think I will keep him!
 

Fun Family Weekend

Saturday, we managed to check two items off our summer bucket list!

I'm usually snapping a million pictures, but this weekend I opted to just be fully present. That means this is the only picture I have from the NC Natural Sciences Museum:

We went to see the new dueling dinosaur exhibit, and that was the dino we designed. We were all super impressed with the exhibit! The museum hosts one of the top paleontology teams in the country, and they had found two, intact dino skeletons: a triceratops and a tyrannosaur. It was fascinating to learn about what they were discovering from the fossils, but we were excited to learn part of the exhibit is their actual lab. We could watch them work on the fossils and talk with them about the whole process. It was super cool. We also loved revisiting old favorite exhibits.

Brad also finally got to use his father's day present:

We love the smoker, but have a propane flat top will let us grill with less of a time commitment, and hibachi can be back on the menu!

We ended the day with s'mores in our fire pit. After the cooking, Evan got to play with some of the fire sticks Carol and Todd sent him for his birthday:

The blue and green flames were pretty cool.

We also snuck in some pool time and a lot of down time. 

This week Evan has wrestling camp, and Issa is helping with a dance camp. Brad and I are jamming in a ridiculous amount of work so we can have an actual vacation next week. We are hoping the fun weekend carries us through this grinder of a week!
 

No Photos But Great Memories

 Our little family is trying to be more intentional with our time this summer. We know it is going to fly by, and we know Issa is going to be launching in August. So...we have a family bucket list for the summer and are trying to find time to hang out just the four of us. Brad and I are also trying to carve out more time in between all of the family fun, taxi driving, and work chaos.

This week has been good for that. Mom has let us borrow her pool key, and we've been going over swims. We have always had the pool completely to  ourselves, and it's been fun to just bob in the water and talk.

We also went to see If at Silverspot yesterday. It was a phenomenal movie! None of us expected to cry through parts of it, but we did. 

Brad and I also snuck away Tuesday for one of our staycations. We have it down to a science. We get a room at the Colonial, go to our favorite local bookstore, and eat dinner at Nomad. This time we added a stroll to Weaver Street for dessert for the room. It's so good to have uninterrupted time and to sleep in without any guilt.

We have big plans for a museum trip on Saturday, which will be our first check on the list. Here is to a summer of intentional family time.

Book 14

I finished book 14 last week:

I originally picked this one up for a book club that fell through, and I've been grappling with it for the past week. I loved the beginning of the book and the way the author set up his argument, but the actual implementation of the strategies was not great. Most of the "solutions" were white privilege at its finest. My person favorite: I just check myself into a monastery for one full day a month. Bless.

What I did appreciate was the premise of not just doing what we think Jesus would do but being like him. Jesus didn't rush. He sat with people and was fully present whatever the moment was. I also learned that the word that is often translated to "desert" can also be translated "solitude." It's not that Jesus went off to the desert for the desert's sake. He sought solitude to recenter as He was doing the work.

I'm really trying to find the time to recenter this summer--daily when I can. It's a practice for sure, but I think it's one with pursuing.

 

A Lot of Hard Work

Our deck was in dire need of staining, and Brad mentioned he was considering hiring the job out. The kids asked if we would hire them, and it was a win/win. They earned some extra money and we saved some. They also realized how much work staining a deck is. After the pressure washing and sanding, they spent two days staining:

The lattice about took them out:

But they did it:

And it dried this very pretty cedar color:

And they even left a souvenir of their hard work:

It's been a long time since I've had their handprints on something!

We are letting them recover a bit before we offer them the fence gig.
 

Book 13

I finished book 13 this weekend:

I have always admired Sotomayor's presence and integrity, and her memoir was powerful. Reading about her life as a diabetic, ESL student in the 1960s was fascinating, and following her academic and career journey was so interesting. I really wish I was still teaching high school; I would absolutely use this text!
 

We Have a Graduate!

We spent the past weekend celebrating Issa's high school graduation!

No graduation is complete without an Edible Arrangement:

The high school gave each graduate a yard sign:

And we had a whole team assemble to celebrate our girl. The actual ceremony was Friday night:

Brad's mom came in to join us:

My mom, sister, and Aunt Carol and Uncle Todd also came in:

And let me tell you about this kid:

He was the absolute best brother this weekend. He did more hauling, cooking, and loading and unloading that is reasonable:

The ceremony was at the high school:

It was a little extra special because her principal and I used to work together:

We had great seats and could actually see her:

It was fun to cheer for Kai, too:

And she was so happy walking out of the stadium:

He was just hot:

Saturday, we had her party at Mom's neighborhood clubhouse, which was a perfect venue. Issa pulled her favorite pictures as decorations:

This board is going to go straight into her dorm room:

We served all of Issa's favorites: veggie cups, fruit with dip, chex mix, caprese salad, and cupcakes:

We had the best time celebrating her:

It was so fun to see all of her favorite people in one place:

Family, dance family, neighborhood friends, and friends since birth came out to celebrate:

It was such a fun afternoon, and once again I was so very grateful for her village.

We ended Saturday with a Moe's dinner at Mom's, and we spent yesterday having brunch, celebrating Kai, and then having one last family dinner before people had to head home.

Issa has worked so diligently the past four years, and she was so ready to close this chapter and begin the next. We are so very proud, and we can't wait to see what comes next!

Prepping

Issa and I started the final leg of the graduation party prep yesterday! She has really planned a very simple party exactly as she wants it. I have been proud of how she has considered ideas but only taken the ones that bring her joy. 

She has built cork boards of her favorite pictures, one of which will go straight to her dorm room. She also has printed pictures to put in stands. She is bringing back her dance display, but she decided she didn't want to bring anything else. She wants it clean and simple.

The menu is similar. She is keeping it completely gluten and nut-free for both herself and a friend. She also decided on simple foods that are her favorites--even if they don't typically go together: caprese salad, fruit fries, chex mix, vanilla cupcakes, and these little veggie cups:

We did all of the veggie prep last night, and because we are both type a we had a checklist to be sure we had enough:

We prepped some extra, but no cup will be without pepper strips.

By Friday, all of the prep will be finished so we can just enjoy the weekend, and I'm so grateful that she will have exactly the party she wants.

 

What a Weekend

Last weekend was one for the record books! Friday, Issa and I spent most of the day in Raleigh. We began our day on campus taking some cap and gown pictures, and then we found a new 100% gluten free restaurant for lunch:

Raw Raleigh makes killer lemonades:

And smoothie bowls:

I was starving by the time we got there! I had to navigate downtown Raleigh and the world's tightest parking lot. Thankfully, Issa is a great navigator. After lunch, we went to get scalp facials and massages. It was a blissful way to spend an afternoon--a bit of self-care in the midst of a lot of busy.

Then Saturday morning, my family kidnapped me! Issa told me what to pack, and we piled in the car. She was quite pleased with herself:

She was actually most pleased about the straw wrapper on that drink. They planned a weekend in Boone for my birthday! We spent Saturday afternoon shopping in all the fun boutiques of Boone before dinner at Mellow Mushroom and then swimming in the hotel pool. It was a tiny pool, but we all laughed so hard having a splash fight.

The main event was Sunday, though. The took me to Grandfather Mountain, which was completely blanketed in fog:

We had the place to ourselves! Watching the three of them play with the children's exhibits was hysterical:

The fog lifted enough for us all to enjoy the animal exhibits--especially my otters:

They managed to get the only four tickets for the day to paint with the otters! I was giddy:

You can't photo behind the scenes, but we were able to take a ride down the mountain to the otters' off-exhibit habitat. In the inside part, the spread paint on the floor, and Uno the otter ran through it and across the paper! We were only about a foot away, and it was so fun to watch him run and play. He also makes the cutest little noises. We were able to select our four favorite paintings to bring home:

I have ordered frames and can't wait to hang them inside! The swipes are from his tail!

We found a new BBQ place on the way home, too, which made it a truly perfect way to celebrate my birthday!