Routine is Coming

School begins tomorrow, which is a giant Boo!! around here!  Here's what's been going on the last couple of weeks though...

Clayton spent a week at the Ocoee serving several families.  He had a blast and even found my love of pressure washing.

While he was there he got to raft the Ocoee and he fell into a rose bush.  I'm not really sure how that happened, but it did.

The other boys spent the week with Aunt Janice in Jackson.  They had a blast.  There was back to school shopping, eating whatever they wanted, and staying up late to watch Cardinal baseball.

Aunt Janice also took them to eat lunch with Fred's grandfather.  They had a blast!

While the kiddos were gone, we did all sorts of fun things like wash our fence and mow the yard.  Seriously, when these boys leave home, we are moving into an apartment.  I'm not maintaining this yard without them.  We did have lunch together and just enjoyed the quiet house.  It was all things glorious.

 Andrew had to go to the Little Clinic because he had an ear infection.  We were going to the doctor in a few days, but when your ear hurts you need immediate assistance.

 Speaking of taking boys to the doctor...if you haven't taken 3 boys to the doctor at once, you haven't lived.  Those rooms could not be smaller.  It's awesome. God bless Dr. Thompson.

Fred celebrated his birthday on Thursday with a Happy 16th birthday balloon, because I'm a dork.  Then, later that afternoon we drove to Jasper, Arkansas for a last hoorah before school begins.  

True story...I called the place we were staying for the physical address to put in my GPS.  They don't have addresses.  The place is so rural...they don't have 911 addresses.  I had a lot of questions about this, but I just kept my eyes opened as we were driving and literally said, "There it is."  Literally, no mail box, no sign, nothing.  I just remembered it by the picture on vrbo.  Who knew?!?

Our first day there we hiked to Triple Falls, which was more like Triple Trickle.  It was not much of a waterfall, but it was a fun hike none the less.  

All of the roads that led to trailheads were gravel.  Gravel.  I would not recommend a Honda Odyssey for this type of driving.  We made it out on a wing and a prayer.

After that hike we headed to Eden Falls/The Lost Valley.  We hiked to the waterfall and then did a little cave exploring.  When I say cave exploring, I mean crawling through spaces that were about 24 inches.  I am pleased to report that we made it, despite the fact that we followed the word of some teenagers that were in front of us assuring us that this was the way.  I'd also like to point out that one of the teenagers was wearing FLIP FLOPS.  Yes, flip flops.  And yes, we followed this kid through this cave.  Later that evening I asked Fred what we were thinking and we both just laughed.  I mean, when your boys are saying, "Come on mom.  Come with us."  That's what you do, right?!?

After that hike we headed to Whitaker Point.  Yes, we tried to squeeze in a lot in one day.  I'd say we succeeded.  The drive there was 6 miles on a gravel road.  Whitaker Point is the most iconic hike in this area, so naturally we had to hike it.  Minus getting separated from our children, the guys, and not having water (Mercy.) it was worth it. I mean, look at this view!  Please note that these pictures look worse that reality.  We were all safe in taking these pictures.  Really.  I wouldn't have walked out there or allowed my children to walk out there had I not felt safe.

After this hike, we decided to call it a night.  Saturday morning we loaded up and headed to Mountain View, Arkansas to tour Blanchard Springs Cavern.  Thankfully, this one was a guided tour with lights and guides and stairs and guides and safety precautions and wide passageways and lights.  It was worth the price of admission.

After the cave tour we explored Blanchard Springs and Mirror Lake falls.  It was beautiful.

We had the best time together!  Until next summer friends.  I think I better go get some boys to pack their lunch for school tomorrow.  Can you hear the cheers of excitement?!?  Ha...just kidding!

Since my last post

This summer has been so crazy, I'm just thankful I've taken pictures.  About the only way I can remember what's happening is by looking at my phone.  Since my last update, this is what's been going on around here...packing, unpacking, washing laundry, and repacking. Yep, that about sums up our summer.

Jack went to children's camp.  He had a blast!  Jack is made for camp.  He loves every aspect of it.  Although he did tell me that he chose his small group times incorrectly.  All the group times were outside and I think it was super hot.  Oh well.  He had a blast and took one shower.  I count that one shower a success, since he didn't even want to (nor did he see the need to) pack a towel.

Initially, I thought I was going to go to children's camp, but as it turned out, I was not needed.  I had already scheduled Clayton and Andrew to be in Jackson since I was supposed to be gone.  So, we continued on with the plan.
Clayton went to music camp at Union.

Andrew took some swimming lessons to go deeper in his knowledge of swimming.  Get it?!?  Go deeper.  Ha!  I am so punny.

While the boys were gone I did a few riveting things.  Like clean out and organize my freezer.

And, I helped a friend, who shall remain nameless, clean out her closet.  It was a blast, I tell you!

Oh and I cleaned out Fred's bathroom sink area.  I'm telling you, the fun that I have knows no bounds!

Once Jack got home, I opened his suitcase and gagged.  Mercy.  Camp laundry is the worst!

We had to repack Jack so he could go with Tee and Adam to St. Louis for a few days of fun.  No one can do a trip like Tee.  In fact, when we went on a trip this summer I wished I had counted how many times Jack said, "When I'm on a trip with Tee" or "Tee would let me" or "Tee takes me to (restaurant) and let's me get..."  They went to the Arch, the zoo, and a ballgame.  Oh, and they went to Cardinal Nation...twice.

Once Jack got home we had a few days and then we headed to EBC staff retreat in Paris, Tennessee.  We all met for dinner at Patti's and then headed to the cabin on the lake.
But before we headed to Paris, I had to take Dash the dog to the vet.  He has not been feeling well.  When we got to the parking lot of the vet, Dash got overly excited and scratched my legs.  You see, there was a dog in the parking lot...at the vet.  Mercy.  Dash is a little high strung.

 Once we got inside he was still feeling a little nervous.  He was so nervous, in fact, that they gave us our own special room.

 He even got the back of my leg in his excitement.  While we were at the vet I had them cut his nails.  Time well spent at the vet, I'd say.

 Then we finally hit the road.  Andrew insisted that he was not tired.  I encouraged him to rest.  Turns out, he was tired.  He slept for a good part of the trip.

We met up at Patti's for a delicious dinner and a photo bomber.

 We visited with a few friends while we were there.  And then we also met up with some friends at Dairy Delight, which was a must stop for Jack.

 We even stopped by the Eiffel Tower at the park.  We got an obligatory photo with the tower.

 Sunday morning Clayton left for the Ocoee for a mission trip.  We found out he was leaving about 2 hours before the trip.  For some reason we did not sign him up, but at the last minute someone backed out and a spot opened up for him.  He literally packed in 50 minutes.  I'm happy to report that we made it to church about 5 minutes late, which really isn't much later than usual.

Aunt Janice came to Memphis to get a friend at the airport.  While she was here she just picked up the kids.  So, Fred and I are kid-less again.  When school starts back we are not going to know what to do with ourselves! Fourteen days of summer left, in case anyone is counting.  I know I am.  Oh summer, how I love thee!

This week

While the two younger guys were in Jackson, Clayton and I were at youth camp in Florida.  I was the cook for the week and had a blast!  Clayton had a great time as well.  Fred even joined in on the fun on Thursday.
Here I am with about 25 pounds of taco meat that some teenagers devoured.

We tried to take a family picture and I tried to grab a kiss on the cheek from the almost teenager.  He ducked.  He pretended like I wasn't related to him all week so I didn't think one kiss on the cheek was out of bounds.  He did.  Ha!

We did manage to get one semi-decent picture of the three of us though.

Jack was finishing up basketball camp in Jackson while we were finishing up at camp.  I think Jack is about ready to go to college...if someone would just let him play basketball all day long.

 My grandmother, a.k.a. Union's biggest fan, figured up that she will be 98 when Jack plays for Union.  It brought me great joy to hear that she thought this through.  I have no doubt that she will be there cheering him on!

Andrew finished up this piece of art work at art camp.  He was so proud.  I told him I would find a special place at the house to hang it and he said, "No, I'm giving it to Mawmaw.  She needs some of my art work."  Ha!

Melody's crew was in town so Jack was able to reunite with his bff.  A good time was had by all!

While they were playing at Mimi's Fred assembled the basketball goal.  Our basketball goal kept falling over so this was goes into the ground and it a little more steady.  Since Jack plays on it a lot we figured it would be a good investment.  Sweet Fred worked all day on it. 

Eventually we all made our way to Jackson for Swim Weekend.  Swim weekend is all about swimming, relaxing while swimming, eating...and then repeat. 

Of course, while we were there Jack and I had to spend a little time at convenient care, because it is a holiday after all.  You know we can't go through a holiday without someone getting sick.  

In other exciting news, I went to the bank, Costco, and Kroger.  Click List has made its way to Bartlett and I'm sold.  I just order my groceries through an app, select a pick up time, pull into a designated parking space, call the number listed and...wait for it...they bring my selected groceries to my car.  Yes they did!  If you think that sounds awesome, multiply it by 100 and then that will give you a good idea on how excited I am to use this service.  It is $4.95 and worth every penny!

While at Costco, Andrew found what he would like for Christmas.  Andrew loves a stuffed animal!  Also while at Costco, my boys consumed many samples...which we bought.   

The boys spent a little bit of time at Fred and Renee's which gave me a chance to walk the 6 mile loop at Shelby Farms with a friend.  Then I got to go to yoga with Liz.  Fred and I went to lunch and we celebrated Grandma Beulah's birthday later that evening.  All in all it's been a stellar week!