Week of Fun and Family

We had a great week in Ohio!  We drove out last Saturday, dropping a mini-van off at WSS on our way for Nathan to use.  We rushed to get to Ohio because Saturday night I had a little mini-reunion with some people from my high school class!  We had such a nice time visiting and re-connecting.  I've heard people say they don't like facebook because they don't want to hear from people in the past, like high school, but I think this is one of the best things about facebook!  I liked my high school classmates, and I really enjoy seeing them and hearing what they are up to!  Plus, we ate Marion's pizza and had delicious cake that Jenny brought, so it was a total win!

Sunday was church and then rides in the old 1928 Model A Ford of my dad's.  Then, for a change of pace, we did facial masks, which was so fun.  Some Korean friends had given my parents the animal and Shrek masks (that's what my dad is wearing, in case you couldn't tell), but they only had 4 of them--not even enough for all 5 girls!  So Bob and I had to make an emergency trip to Walmart to get the blue masks as well.  That gave us enough for all who wanted their skin revitalized and refreshed!  It was a lot of fun, and Verity wasn't TOO scared.

Monday we wanted to go bowling, but we forgot that the bowling alley is (still) closed on Mondays.  Whoops!  So we headed to the park and brought Chick-Fil-A for a picnic lunch.  It was overcast but oh, so humid.  We melted!  Everyone except Verity had fun, and that's because she was being a total crab for some unknown reason.

Tuesday was Kids' Day at Youngs, so Grandpa, Uncle Jim, and Bob took everyone except Verity miniature golfing, which Micah and Drew loved.  Then Grandma, Aunt Claire, Verity, and I met them for lunch and ice cream, and of course the obligatory barn tour.  There was a goat who must have been due any minute with twins and looked extremely uncomfortable.  Poor mama!

This is the cutest picture of Verity with her adored older brother, Luke.  Luke got to try his hand at driving a stick shift Tuesday night when Grandpa let him drive the Model A!

Thursday we went back to the base bowling alley, which was open.  We took up 3 lanes, and everyone had fun.  The girls had gone last week, as past of Grandma/Grandpa camp, and Grace didn't have a very good time because she didn't do very well.  But this time she listened to some good advice from Uncle Jim, conquered her fear of being up there all by herself, and was thrilled to bowl a 98.  Next year, 100!

After we bowled 2 games and ate lunch, we were dismayed to discover our big van wouldn't start.  Bob ran over to the BX and bought jumper cables, and we got it started, but that was unsettling.

Thursday morning the big van once again wouldn't start, but we ladies went out to Mimi's for a lovely breakfast in 2 other vans, and the men all went out to First Watch in another van.  But when we all got back, getting the big van fixed because a top priority.  We decided it must be the alternator, because I was sure we had replaced the battery lass than 2 years ago.  But then my blog came in very handy--I knew we had gotten stuck at TNT when the big van wouldn't start, and Nathan and Isaac had to come rescue us.  But when I went back and read my blog entry, I realized the battery wasn't the issue then, and we didn't actually replace it.  So we ended up replacing the alternator and the battery.  My dad was able to get a garage to work on our van right away, which was a miracle, because the soonest appointments anywhere were the next Wednesday, and THAT wasn't going to work!

Thursday after we went to a local waterpark.  I used to go there with the older boys when we were stationed in Ohio, but it has really changed since then!  The kids had a really fun time.  Grace faced her fears and went down a really steep water slide as well as diving off the indoor high dive!  Anna did too, although she wasn't as initially scared.  We went at 3:00, which was perfect timing, as the daycares were all leaving!  I think Micah, Drew, and Verity had the best time though.  They loved the place!  It was good to get that much energy run off of them.

Friday we sadly had to say goodbye to Aunt Claire, Uncle Jim, Emily, and Elia, as they flew back down to Texas.  We had hoped our 3 girls could go to the airport with them to say goodbye, but sadly the van wasn't finished yet.  This did allow Bob to take Anna and Caleb to the Pass & ID place on base.  Anna never got her first ID card, even though she turned 10 in March, and Caleb's had been expired since February (and he looked like a toddler in his picture, lol).  We had called to make an appointment before we drove to Ohio, and the soonest appointment they had open was in September!  But when they walked in, there were only 3 people ahead of them, and they were back home in an hour!  It was such a blessing to be able to get that done there, because it is a real pain back in DC.

Friday night Luke and I stayed up late to finish this puzzle we had been working on.  I love doing puzzles--it's such a quiet activity!

Saturday morning we had to leave early so we could stop in PA and visit Bob's parents!  His sister Ann and her husband were there, as well as his brother Paul, and a little later his sister Jane stopped by.  She brought ice cream, which was a popular gift on a warm day!  We spent a few hours visiting there, and then we drove on to WSS where we picked up Nathan and took him out for pizza.  It was so good to see him--it's hard to believe his summer there is almost done!

So we had an absolutely lovely week of vacation, which of course ended way too soon.