Wheew!! What a fast month it has been. Time certainly does fly when you’re having fun. I’ve been lackadaisical when it comes to posting. I apologize for leaving you hanging wondering what in the world we are doing, but a good friend of mine (thank you for helping me keep it in perspective Michelle) reminded me that it’s okay I haven’t posted because I’ve been living and enjoying life with my family. Which isn’t really good for you, my loyal reader family, but, I know you understand.

Anyway, back to what I was saying, I can’t believe we’re over half way through July already and moving quickly into August (the dreaded month of returning to work and saying goodbye to summer break).  It’s like I blinked and June was over and things started moving so fast I couldn’t, probably am still not able to, keep up. 😉

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the last time we spoke I was getting ready for the youngest to go visit with his dad for 2 weeks and I was packing for a trip to Kansas to see my sister. I think the last thing we did for Summer of Fun was creaking where my son’s friend broke his shoe 10 minutes into the adventure.

Oh my gosh, A LOT has happened since then.

Friend, we have got to sit down and get caught up! Grab a cold one and let’s talk for a bit.

The youngen arrived at his dad’s safe and sound and I packed into the car with my mama and two nieces for an almost 13-hour drive. I love road trips!! There’s just something about being on the road and getting to see everything you pass by. I don’t mind flying, I just prefer driving. I feel like I don’t miss as much and I get to see things I might not normally see (like Lucas Oil Stadium! Talk about HUGE!!! WOW!)

A TRIP TO OZ

So, Kansas was ah-mazing! My sister lives out in the middle of nowhere, no, like literally, nowhere and I LOVED IT!! Speaking of nowhere, I recently read nowhere is not a conjunction of ‘No’ and ‘Where’ but is NOW and HERE which is everywhere and where God is in every moment and doing great things (Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust). Which in fact means, my sister lives right in the middle of everywhere, the Now and the Here. 🤔 Think about that for a minute.

Onward…

Her little town has a four-way stop, two churches, a diner, and a post office. That’s it. End of story. There is N-O-T-H-I-N-G else. The closest anything is a 30-minute drive and that’s a Walmart, fast-food joints, a couple of dollar stores and a few local bars. I mean she has friends there too, but as far as entertainment goes, there really isn’t any. If you want to be entertained, plan on driving 2 – 2 1/2 hours in any direction!

I loved getting up every morning, going out to the front porch and watching the sun come up over the horizon, hearing the birds begin to sing, and getting a ‘gift’ from my sister’s dog, Zena. Yes!! Her dog brought us a turtle. Yes a living turtle, every.single. morning for three days. It was hysterical. She never hurt it and was always gentle when she placed it in front of us. The turtle pics may or may not be the same turtle, they all look the same in the photos! LOL!

I also enjoyed spending time in the evenings looking at all the stars. I always knew they were there, but where I live the light pollution drowns them out. In Kansas, where I was, there was no light pollution and the stars were STUNNING!!! My mama and I downloaded the Sky Map app and had a blast figuring out what things were in the night sky. It was breathtaking!!

Spending time with family is never a waste of time and I enjoyed relaxing with my sister and nieces. We laughed and talked, laughed and talked some more, had a bonfire and just reveled in being together. Then it was time to come home. Bittersweet to say the least, but I was so glad to see the boys and Mr. Right!!

The next few days I was really exhausted. It’s funny really, how you need a vacation to rest from your vacation. I was pretty much a slug for three days and slept quite a bit.

Still, we managed to get some Summer of Fun activities done. I love our activities. They provide us with cool things to do, give us ample time to be with each other, and give us new things to try and learn. It’s a win-win all the way around.

21 SUMMER OF FUN ACTIVITIES

Since it’s been so long since I posted about our fun and for the sake of your time and mine, I’m going to list the activities and then you can watch all the photos flash by in a slideshow. Sound like a good idea? Yeah, I thought so too.

Since being gone and back again, we have done:

*domino design and tumble – Ours wasn’t quite as elaborate as the video link, but you get the idea

*blow bubbles – yup, even at 16 my son still enjoys doing this. It’s actually more fun with him being older because he really tries to make them HUGE!!

*a no technology day – can you survive? We did.

*learn one word in 10 different languages – We chose the word FRIEND and learned it in Finnish, Arabic, Greek, Swahili, Japanese and a few others. Did you know, that in Swahili the word friend is Rafiki ( I love the Lion King!!)?

*created a popsicle stick chain reaction

*did a spaghetti challenge

*shot off chalk rockets

*designed and ran a Lego zipline

*created glow-in-the-dark fans

*made elephant toothpaste – you can find 6% hydrogen peroxide in your local beauty supply store

*started a wax bottle – this is an older type of fun. Grab that empty wine bottle, stick a candle in it (let it burn down a bit) and then hold crayons in the flame and let the wax drip down the bottle. Definitely an activity for the older ones.

*made a pom-pom rug

*went swimming

*made and used a shoebox phone projector

*survived 4 days of church camp

*went to the art museum – Our local museum has an interactive map where you create the map as you enter the museum and then find the pieces you added as you walk through the museum.

*did an online scavenger hunt – We just picked one from a Google search

*had a picnic

*had ice cream from an ice cream shop – our local ice cream shop is called 3 Dips and it is fantastic and nostalgic!

*had a jammie day

*canned 50 pounds of fresh peaches – this was a mom and nana activity but the boys and Mr. Right benefitted, to say the least.

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WOW! What a whirlwind of activity, huh? Each day holds a special place in my heart and the memories will last a lifetime. I can’t wait to sit in my rocking chair on the front porch holding my grandbabies (waaay in the future of course) and tell them of all the adventures their dads and I used to have together.

I hope your summer has been as fun and special as ours and that each day you take the time to see the special moments in the little things.

See you next time,

Robyn

** Update: Magical Mystical Mimi asked about our pom-pom rug so I decided I wanted to expand on that for a moment. Our little rug turned out so cute. Just a quick tips: the video we watched said to wrap the yarn 20-30 times around two toilet paper rolls. We found that wrapping them about 80-90 times made for a much fluffier and prettier pom-pom. It uses a bit more yarn, but is sooo worth it!

Tying those little buggers was the challenge, as Mimi pointed out. I found that if I didn’t have someone’s finger to hold my first tie tight, I could lay the wrapped yarn on the tie string and put the whole thing on my thigh. Then,  I could use my middle finger to hold it tight as I finished the knot (it’s challenging, but don’t give up. YOU CAN DO IT!!)

We went a little more adventurous with our design because my son wanted the Batman symbol, but it turned out quite cute. (don’t tell him I called it cute; he’d have a cow about that. LOL). I had the youngen draw his design on two pieces of parchment paper taped together. We cut it out,  then traced it onto the non-skid mat using a Sharpie marker. Worked like a charm!

Now, I have one more Batman symbol rug to make. The oldest wants one too, of course! I’m also going to make one for my kitchen, (not Batman…tee hee hee) and one for in front of my recliner in the living room. So much fun!

If you give this a try, I’d LOVE to see how it turns out. Be sure to come back and share your photos of it with me!! See ya soon!