Ruby Turns 2

Monday I took the younger 4 kids to Skyzone, Penny was happy to be back at the jumping. I was nervous but Penny didn't go too crazy. She basically hung out with Ruby. Their favorite thing was playing on the basketball/soccer court. Ruby would flop onto the ground and Ben would call it a foul and let them get a penalty shot. They all had a good time.

Tuesday Tyler and the boys all left on the young men's camp out. Having them out lent to a more chill week with no pesky brothers and less driving people places. I was a little nervous about Tyler driving all the YM in our ward to the camp in Grand Rapids in our untrustworthy suburban but *spoiler alert* they got there and back safely.

Wednesday after I dropped Lucy off for babysitting, I took Penny and Ruby to the Detroit Outdoor Center. It was fun for Ruby but Penny was less interested and kind of rushed Ruby along. It took up a lot less time than I had hoped it would. So on the way home we stopped at Costco because I NEEDED more snicker doodle cookie ice cream sandwiches, and also to take up some more time. I could not believe how crazy busy it was at lunchtime on a weekday. All this time I thought our trips for pizza Friday were bad but they were not nearly this peopley.

Wednesday night was supposed to be a young woman's activity at our beach but the weather forecastturned on us. The girls had invited some friends to come to the activity too so they were very upset when I cancelled on the friends because they were sure it was not going to rain. They even made me drive to the beach early because church had not cancelled yet. We were at the beach for a total of 10 minutes before the rain came pouring down. So dumb. But I did see Christy and James and get to chat with them for those 10 minutes so that was nice.

Thursday we had Asher over in the morning. They played with toys and then went and jumped in muddy puddles. It was all fun and games until they splased in particularly deep one and she got water in her boots. She then insisted I take her rain boots off and then walked home barefoot.

That afternoon we had Mimi, Luna and Geli over. The addition of Mimi with Geli and Luna was a good one. There seemed to be less fighting and less boredom than when it's just Geli and Luna. They all entertained each other and it was an easy afternoon for me. After everyone left, we went to Wendy's for dinner just because I didn't feel like cooking and it seemed like a nice way to celebrate our last night as just us girls.

Friday was Ruby's second birthday. The boys were still on their camp out so it was just us girls celebrating. We spent the morning at the Toledo Zoo. The weather was absolutely perfect and we got to see lots of fun animals. Ruby had the most fun at the petting zoo (where she tried to feed a chicken wood chips and got in trouble) and at the aquarium with all the fishies and "baby" sharks. She also really liked the hippos and the elephants. She is also in this new phase where she calls all "big" things "daddy" and "mama" and she calls all "little" things "baby" and I love it. It is always a good time at the Toledo Zoo. The drive home, on the other hand, was not a good time. Google maps tried to take us around some highway traffic and instead took us to a closed on ramp and then to even more traffic as we tried to get back on the freeway on the next ramp. It was stressful.

After the Zoo Ruby had some quiet time in her crib (she did not nap because she got a power nap in the car) and then she opened her gifts from the grandparents- a train set and pretend food. 

That night the boys all returned from their adventures and Ruby opened her last two gifts from us. She was getting quite good at opening gifts by herself. We got her a Paw Patrol Skye in a plane and a Doctor kit. Not much from us because I have bought her too many things already this past month and counted them as birthday gifts.

Saturday night we had Asher and Miss Julie over to celebrate Ruby. I was going to have them over on her actual birthday but we weren't sure what time the boys would get home from camp so we changed it to Saturday. I made a moon cake because Ruby loves to talk about the "moon, high, sky" and gets so excited when she can see it out before night fall. We sang "happy birthday", ate some cake and ice cream and then she got to open her gift from Asher (a bubble machine and sidewalk chalk). After that the babies played together, opened moon rocks that had lollipops inside (aluminum foil), colored on my parent's driveway with her new chalk and then played some inside until Asher melted down and had to go home. Is it wrong that I was happy to see him behave like a normal toddler? He's always so sweet and pleasant and patient with Ruby. It was nice to see he wasn't perfect ;). I am mad at myself though, I did not take any pictures of the two of them together that night. Failure.

Girls Getaway

Sunday Primary had a visit from a Pioneer- it was a fun primary and they were actually quite reverent. Afterwards I only had 2 girls in my class- Penny and Lyla. It was one of my best classes yet. Also I did Ruby's hair really cute for chuch that day, I was proud.

Monday I had a major brain malfunction and thought I had plenty of time to take the 3 younger kids on a walk to the library before Steven's yearbook headshots. I did not have plenty of time. I had the time of the pictures messed up in my head. We had a nice walk and were enjoying the library when I got a call from Tyler asking where I was because Steven was saying he needed to leave for his headshots. Thankfully Tyler came and picked us up from the library and then Steven and I sped over to the photography place. We were a couple minutes late but we made it. They had us go through the pictures to pick the best ones which was really tricky with Steven's lack of opinion. They took some with his glasses on and some with out and we (more like I) picked our favorite of each. I am really hoping they can photo shop the glare out of his glasses because that was my absolute favorite.

Tuesday morning Ben,Ruby and Penny walked with me to seven eleven- we have to take advantage of the cool weather and this is their favorite thing to do. It was nice to walk this time and it was nice to not be late for something, lol. After the walk I took Lucy and Ruby to Taco Bell where we got to see Steven at work. It was funny to have him come over and say "small drink for Jenny" in a very flat tone. Afterwards we went to Hobby Lobby and I found some little animal figurines for Ruby on clearance and a couple birthday party things for the August girls.

 

That night Ben had his last soccer game. His team did not win- I think part of their problem is that they don't communicate enough during the games. Ben seemed a little off and down during and after the game. He had had to work earlier and I think he was worn out. I am not sure how well the soccer, work and school balance is going to go for him next month. I worry.

Friday morning I left on a short girls getaway with Grace, Caroline and Melissa (Melissa had surgery on her ankle and had knee scooter to cruise around on). I was excited about getting a break from the kids and I was really excited about our destination. This year instead of centering our trip on a beach, we centered it around a bookstore in Ohio that I had been wanting to go to- The Dollar Book Swap. It was a bit of a drive- 3.5 hours. We stopped once to get lunch at Chipotle and then we went to the book store. I really wish it was closer because it was a really cool. It was inside a warehouse and full of lots of books and everything was just $1.25. I wanted to buy so many books for Ruby,I am such a fan of Children's books, but I restrained myself. I kind of wish I hadn't though because who knows when I'll ever get back there. The only bummer part was that it wasn't air conditioned so it was really warm. If I ever do go back, I will try to go in the spring or fall when it won't be so warm. 

After the book store we made a stop at Walmart for snacks and then  went to the Airbnb. It was really a nice place but a bit of a bummer for Melissa because there were about 4 steps to get up to the door and then about 4 more steps to get up to the bathroom and bedrooms. She crawled or hopped them so gracefully ;). We took a bit of a break once there and then headed out for dinner. We happened to leave just when a storm broke out and got soaked just walking to the car. The rain was fast and hard and bless Caroline for driving because we could barely see out the windows. The place we went to was only 10 minutes away but by the time we got there, the weather had cleared, and we looked pretty silly walking into the place all wet. The place was called Taylor's Tavern, a bit of a small town place, but the food was good. 

When we got back to the bnb the power had gone out which was going to be a huge bummer because our plan for the night was to watch scary movies and eat junk food. Thankfully after about a half hour (in which a dog in the adjoining home was continually yapping), the power came back on so we were able to still carry on with our plans. We ended up watching "Heretic". It had a long start and didn't really get good until the end. Then (after much indecisiveness) we ended up watching a classic scary movie "What Lies Beneath". Then it was late and time for bed. Grace and I got our own rooms. The snorers- Melissa and Caroline- shared a room. I was grateful Melissa had a bum ankle so she couldn't pull any pranks on us but we did have a funny fiasco with a laundry chute. Her bed was right next to it and she was all creeped out by it because she didn't know what it was. I threw a washcloth down it- hopefully it actually still has an exit for that wash cloth. That night I turned on ambient noises on my phone because it was too quiet and then too noisy when the snorers got going.

The next day I was the first one up because I can't seem to sleep well these days. I sat in the sun room reading my book for about an hour. If I couldn't sleep, this was the next best way to spend a morning. Once everyone was up and had breakfast we went to the downtown area of Yellow Springs to do some shopping. We stopped at their farmers market first. It was a very tiny and sad farmers market. Grace and I found a shady spot and chatted while Melissa made friends with the locals. Then we walked into the town and stopped at a little jewlery shop while we waited for all the other shops to open. Melissa once again made friends and bought some things. We visited a few more shops (another book store, yay!) and then had lunch at Ye Olde Trail Tavern. Of course it had steps making life tricky for Melissa but we worked it out. The place was a really neat historic building and I got a tasty burger.

We went to a couple more stores and then started to drive out of town. We were lucky enough to be on a bike tournament path and Caroline had the joy of constantly passing groups of bikers. Once out of town we hit a thrift shop and then went on a nearby army base to get gas (Caroline has the proper ID because of her husband). It was such a pain to find the base entrance and then the gas station but they said it would be worth it because gas is cheap. Well we stopped at a gas station to go to the bathroom about 15 minutes later and the gas there was 2 cents cheaper, jokes on them. After that we officially started our drive home. I was feeling a bit ADD and started reading some "would you rather" questions to everyone. It was a good way to pass time for awhile and fun to listen to other's answers. After a couple hours of driving we stopped at another thrift store so we could all get out and stretch and because I love thrift stores. It was just outside of Toledo and not in the nicest of areas but it had an impressive amount of inventory and some fun finds. I ended up leaving with some jammies for Lucy (she was telling me she could only find the jammies she wanted on Temu so I was happy to prove her wrong) and I got a dress and shirt for me. Thrift shopping is really my favorite thing. The rest of the drive was uneventful and it was really nice to be greeted by my kids when I got home. Overall it was a good little getaway.

As far as the bathroom...Tyler applied for the permits, paid some money and now we are waiting for an inspection. They won't be coming until August 6th so we're going to down to just one bathroom for quite awhile at this rate. It is starting to wear on my because the kids are really impatient when they need the bathroom and it's occupied. They are all too lazy to just go next door to my parent's house and would rather just complain or yell at whoever is in the bathroom. It's going to be a hard wait for this bathroom to get done.

Girls Camp and Chauffeuring

Sunday I had to play the piano in primary since the pianist was gone. I don't know why they don't just ask me to play instead of making me offer when I find out during primary. That's not doing me any favors. Then my primary class was rough. They were all super chatty and distractable. And they were obnoxious, telling me that we had done that activity before. There are only a certain amount of ways to teach a church concept, I have got to cycle through them. Needless to say I left church feeling a bit annoyed with all the things.

This week Penny went to Create and Care Camp. It is held at the church where the girls go to school and is every morning from 9 until 12:30. Penny and Lucy have been going there for the past few years but Lucy aged out and had girl's camp this week so she didn't join in. After dropping Lucy off at camp, I took Ben, Lucy and Ruby to Skyzone. It was a good opportunity to take them without making Penny feel bad. 

When it came time to pick up Penny she was in a very good mood, She had had a great day, a great snack and made a new friend. Interestingly enough the new friend is the granddaughter of the principal of her school. After picking up Penny I had to put Ruby down for a nap and go to the dentist. I hate going, They keep telling me to wear a mouth guard because I am grinding my teeth at night and the damage shows. But I struggle enough with sleep and adding in an uncomfortable mouth guard just doesn't help. I am a grown up and I just don't want to so I wish they would just leave me alone and let me damage my teeth. Then when the dentist came, he picked at a tooth and after causing me some major pain was like, you have a cavity. Gee thanks, it wasn't bothering me before. Seriously I hate the dentist.

That night, I invited Julie and Asher over and Ruby was a bully once again. Ugh. Just the usual pushing and taking toys from him. He's really too nice and I sort of wish he would fight back because then maybe she would stop. While she was over, I took her on a tour of my parent's new house because she had had friend who once lived there. There's a room in the basement with drawings on the wall and...her friends name on the wall. So funny that my friend knows the person who doodled on my parent's wall.

Tuesday after I dropped off Penny at camp I ran a couple errands with Ruby and then when I came home it was time to take Lucy to Girl's Camp. Lucy was super excited about it but also gave me drama about packing. She was cramming everything into a small duffle so I suggested taking a suitcase to organize her things better and she thought I was the worst to suggest such a thing. Who takes a suitcase to girl's camp!? Considering they were not tent camping, I am sure lots of people did. She is just so angry with me all the time lately. Anyways parking was bad when we got there so we had to walk a bit to get her to check in. That was kind of a pain because I had Ruby but all the teen girls thought Ruby was just the cutest. My old seminary "boss" was there (he's also a bishop in our stake) and he was nice and said that "retired" seminary teachers should get special treatment. Ha. After we checked in, Ruby and I walked Lucy to her bunk bed and then said good bye. I was happy she was somewhere that would make her happy. Like I said, she's been grumpy with me lately.

Later I picked up Penny from her camp, and then dropped her off at Mimi's house. Then I had to take Ben to work and pick him up. And then I had to take Ben to his soccer game. I feel like I am nothing but a chauffeur these days and I don't love it. But Ben really seems to be enjoying his job. It sounds like his co-workers are all pretty decent and I think it gives him a good sense of accomplishment. His soccer game was later that night, 8pm. I debated taking Ruby, but ended up taking her because I didn't want to have to make another trip to pick Ben up. Penny came too and they both were ok spectators, they didn't drive me too crazy. Ben's team did not win which was a bummer. There was also another team there (waiting to play the next time slot) and they were obnoxious. They played loud music from a speaker, did weird tik tok dances and apparently were cussing out Ben's team. Not cool. On the other hand, Ben's coaches and team mates are really being good to Ben and giving him lots of feedback on what he is doing well and what he can work on. I raelly appreciate that.

Wednesday morning, after dropping Penny off, Grace, Ruby and I walked to the library. It was so hot and humid, I am not sure it was the best choice. But I do love my chats with Grace so I guess it was worth the heat? 

That night I went to Activity Days at the church because that is one of my other responsibilities as Primary counselor- I am supposed to oversee it. They were doing a planning activity so it felt like I really should be there. I ended up taking over the planning activity. They were putting up some good ideas but they needed some help with organizing. I went up and put the dates we needed to plan for the rest of the year and then helped them plug in the activities and who was in charge. I don't know if someone would have done that if I hadn't but I guess I didn't have the patience to wait and find out. It's definitely a character flaw.

Thursday, after dropping off Penny at her day camp, Steven and I went looking for a suit coat for his yearbook picture. I was hoping to go cheap so we went to salvation army. But I was also super worried we wouldn't find anything that fit him there because he is so tall and thin and then we would have to go elsewhere which could be pricier and also frustrating with a kid who hates shopping. I said many prayers and we were so blessed to find one that works really well at Salvation Army (only $8!). We even found him a pair of jeans (which is something else he needed). It felt like a tender mercy.

Thursday afternoon I had to go get my cavity filled. It was not a pleasant experience. The stuff they put in your mouth to numb the spot where they give you a shot had the worst taste ever. I thought I was going to vomit. Then I had an assistant who must have been new because she kept spraying water all over my face and neck and she sucked up my tongue a couple times. I really wish I didn't like sugar so much and that I had better teeth,

On Friday we got a letter from the Commerce Twp Building Department issuing us a warning about working on plumbing in the house without a permit. They sent a photo of Tyler's trailer with pipes in it as evidence. Now Tyler has to stop all work on the bathroom until this gets taken care of and who knows how long that will take- the government usually works slowly. I really hope someone from the township just happened to be driving by and saw it and that it wasn't one of our neighbors tattling on us, that feels less hurtful. I am just frustrated and honestly a bit depressed. The light at the end of this project just dimmed. To be honest I didn't realize you had to get a permit to do work on your home. Tyler suspected but didn't want to pay the money. I get it, but at this point I wish he had either hidden the pipes better or just gotten the dang permit.

Also Friday Lucy came home from camp- she had a good time and seemed to love all the things. She especially loved the rope course, even though it made her nervous. 

Penny had her last day of camp Friday as well. They were having a party afterwards to celebrate Penny's camp but it wasn't much of a party. They had some food sitting in the sun and not looking so tasty and some crafts that they had already made that they could make again. It was awkward so we didn't stay long, but I am glad that she enjoyed camp overall.

Friday night Caroline came over and we hung out at my parents house and chatted. It was nice to have a kid free space to hang out at. It had been awhile so we had a lot to catch up on. She informed me that Andrea had told her that Steven asked Renee to be his girlfriend and Renee said no. I wish Steven felt like he could talk to us about these things because getting the exaggerated third hand version is not my favorite. I asked him about it and he denies it but I think there is some truth in it. It's hard having a kid that doesn't talk to you about things.

Saturday was spent cleaning my house and also going through things in Gram and Poppy's house. I have been doing a little bit of that here and there. There are some things that are really just junk and I wish he would have taken care of before he left but you get the bad with the good I guess. 

Saturday night the weather was beautiful so I was outside with the girls when Ruby decided to walk her little bike right off the edge of the deck and onto the driveway- head first. She immediately got a huge bump and a big scrape by her eye. It was very sad. Thankfully I was able to ice the bump and the swelling went down. This is the damage the next day...

Tyler Turns 42, Cast Comes Off

Monday was Tyler's 42nd birthday. I made him scrambled eggs for breakfast and then he spent most of his birthday working on the bathroom, kind of a bummer birthday for him. The weather wasn't too awful that day so I took the youngest 4 kids on a walk to seven eleven. The library was having its story hour outside right next to our path to seven eleven so it was kind of awkward to walk by the crowd. I made the kids hide their candy on the way back because I didn't want to be judged for giving my kids candy in the morning. That evening Tyler took a break and we all went to Chili's for dinner (except for Steven who had to work). It was a good outing where everyone mostly behaved. After we got back we sang to Tyler and had cupcakes. Ruby is really getting into "happy birthdays" and joined in wishing him a happy birthday. 

Tuesday morning I attempted to get back into exercising but Ruby got super fussy and did not appreciate me neglecting her. It makes it really hard to take care of myself since I don't exactly enjoy working out anyways. Later, after I put Ruby down for a nap, I took the older 4 kids to see Jurrasic World Rebirth. At the theater I had to make Steven switch seats because he was being a pest to Lucy, sometimes my oldest acts like my youngest. Anyways, I had very low expectations for this movie since the last Jurrasic movie had been such a flop, so maybe that helped, but it actually was not too bad. 

That evening I had a primary presidency meeting and it didn't feel like anything was accomplished. We just tossed around more names for possible callings and that was really it. The only good thing that happened is they do want to try to get someone else to play the piano in the primary program so I don't have to- that would be really nice if that works out. We probably should have talked more about the program since that is only a couple months away. That makes me a little anxious to think about.

On Wednesday we had an early morning appointment for Penny to get her cast off. I had a feeling she would melt down once the cast came off like before and sure enough, she did. She just really doesn't like to see the bloody bandages on her arm where the stitches are. They took her to get an x ray after they took it off and she came back complaining about being dizzy and feeling like she was going to faint. It was very dramatic- they made her lay down, put a wet wash cloth on her head and got her water (which she was crying for). It was a lot but they were very patient with her and let us go see the x rays when she finally recovered. We took pictures of the cast before going but they also let her keep it so now she has it in her room. She will have the brace for 3-4 weeks and is able to take it off periodically. It's mostly for extra protection when she is out and about.

Thursday after I put Ruby down for a nap I went with the other Primary Counselor to visit a new family in the ward. They are a decade younger than me and living in an amazing house and also own an airbnb which is an old chapel they renovated. I am slightly envious. They seem nice though and who knows, maybe we can be friends down the road.

Thursday evening Ben had a soccer game (they did not win) and then we went to David's Court of Honor. Ruby was in a fussy mood so the Court of Honor wasn't the most fun for me but at least there were treats at the end.

Friday morning, Steven and I had eye appointments. I scheduled us for a different doctor than we normally see at that practice and I like her so much better. She is much more patient and kind. Steven's prescription changed so he needed new glasses but he refused to try out new frames- he got the exact same ones he got last time. Boring. I had to get my eyes dilated which I never enjoy and they stay dilated for hours so that's no fun. Lucy had been asking me all week to take her to Target so after the appointment I had Ben drive us there since my eyes were still crazy. Lucy spent more of her babysitting money and I ended up buying myself a dress that was on sale and I bought a couple toys on clearance for Ruby's birthday.

When we got back from Target, Julie invited us over so Ruby and I went to her house. Ruby loves Asher's backyard but she still struggles with sharing and she pushed him over at one point because he entered "her" turf. He grabbed some toys away from her later on so that made me feel better- at least my kid isn't the only one bad at sharing. Later that day I met the realtor at my parent's house to get the keys to their house- it is officially all theirs!

After getting the keys I came back home and Mimi's mom was there to pick up Mimi. She was feeling chatty and my kids were very much indulging her. I like her but I needed to get dinner figured out because Lucy and Ben had the temple that night (Steven was working so he couldn't make it). I tried to politely say we needed to get the kids ready to go but then the kids said they didn't need to get ready and made me look like I was lying to get her to go. Ugh. Yes they didn't have a million things to do before they left, but I did! I was super frustrated with them.

Once I got the kids fed and out the door to the temple(Gavin gave them a ride) things calmed down. Ruby saw Asher walking by so they played in the yard for a bit and then we went inside to watch a movie. After I put Ruby to bed I went over to Grace's and stayed way too late chatting. We had a lot to catch up on. She is so nice and is still excited to plan my 40th birthday. I just have to figure out who to invite. I don't want a bunch of people but enough that it is a good time.

Saturday wasn't too crazy. I cleaned the house and I also picked up paint for the bathroom. I wanted a gray but there are a billion grays and I wasn't up for sorting through them all so I ended up just getting the same gray that we have in our living room. Unfortunately the bathroom is still not done and Tyler heads back to work Monday. Who knows when we will have a functioning bathroom again...

Also this week, Ben got a job at Dairy Twist and he will start on Monday. I am a little nervous about how this is going to work with soccer and some other things he has going on but hopefully it wil work because he really wants to earn some money.

Shipshewana, The Fourth

Sunday was a big day. After church Steven and Lucy got their patriarchal blessings. The rest of the kids hung out in the nursery room while we did this. The grandparents got to go in with us which was really special. Both of their blessings were a lot more specific than mine was and I am not sure how I feel about that. Lucy went first and some things that stood out to me were that it talked about her choosing a good college, writing curriculum for the church and traveling with her callings. It told her the temple will be a place where she finds answers. It also talked about her being a wife and mom which made me tear up because it is hard to imagine my daughter all grown up. Steven went next and some things that stood out were that it talked about him serving a mission, marrying his second love, being financially well off and it his also spoke about traveling for his callings later in life. At the end of his we found out that he was from the branch of Judah which was surprising because after Lucy's the patriarch had told us how 95% of memebers came from Ephraim. Definitely a monumental day.

Monday I made a spontaneous decision to get some of us out of the house on a day trip while Tyler demolished the bathroom. All the girls, me, poppy and Grams left to Jones Michigan after Ruby's nap. (Steven had a dr's appt so he couldn't come and Ben was not interested in joining us) There is really nothing at all in Jones but it was only 30 minutes out from an Amish town in Indiana that had some fun things. The drive their was full of the girls being obnoxiously loud and asking constantly if we were there- it was literally only a 2.5 hour drive so that was annoying. That night we got some food at DQ where Ruby had little bites of everyone's food and then lots of ice cream. Then we hit up Walmart for some groceries and made it to our bnb. The bnb was right off an interstate but not a busy one. It was pretty decent but Grams did not sleep well that night because there was a light from outside shining in her window. 

Tuesday morning we headed off to the Shipshewana Flea Market. The drive to it was pretty neat because we saw lots of Amish people in their buggies on our way. It was a warm day but in the shade it wasn't too bad, especially when their was a cool breeze blowing. I saw a few things I wanted but ended up not buying them because life has been expensive lately...although I really want a concrete goose to dress up and keep by my front door. Grams and Poppy were nice and got Penny and Lucy something. I was going to buy the things for them but everyone charged a huge fee for credit cards. I should have brought cash. They got Penny a cute Shipshewana shirt and Lucy a crochet turtle. We all admired some porch swings while we were there and enjoyed resting on them. We also got some delicious soft pretzels. 

Our second stop of the day was the Dutch Creek Animal Farm. I made a fool of myself twice while there. The first time we pulled up and it said to pay at the booth before entering and it seemed like the people in the car in front of us were just sitting in their car and not getting out to pay so I got out and went inside to check about paying. The man basically told me to wait my turn because I guess he had already taken their card. Awkward. Then once we parked, we saw a wagon loading up and I assumed we were able to just get on one but my mom needed to use a bathroom so I asked if they would wait or if we needed to load up on the next one. The man told me we had to wait until "the girls came" and told us it was our turn. I felt stupid again. After those embarrassing moments, we had a lot of fun. One of the amish girls did come and tell us it was our turn and the wagon tour was very cool. We all got a bowl of feed and got to feed so many different animals- ponies, deer, bisons, zebras, cows, horses, bulls...Ruby wanted to feed them but could not figure out how to angle her hand quite right so she would take mine and get me to feed them (it was always a slimey experience when they ate from your hand). Penny kept saying how much fun she was having so I know it was a hit. Even the grandparents seemed to have a good time.

When we finished the wagon ride we were able to walk through another area with animals that we could pet- ducklings, bunnies, goats, ponies and my favorite, alpacas!

By the time we finished walking through, it was time to go back to the airbnb so Poppy and Ruby could take a nap. I thought we might be done for the day after naps but the girls were complaining of boredom so we ventured back out to Shipshewana. We ate some more amazing pretzels. When I went to pay for them, I couldn't find my wallet for a moment and had to take out the contents of my backpack on the counter to find it, super cool of me.

When we finished eating the pretzels, we had only a little bit of time before everything close because apparently every thing shuts down at 5pm. We managed to hit a couple of stores- a puzzle store, a toy store and a candy store- and then I decided to let the girls ride the carousel. The man running was very iritated that we wanted to ride it so close to closing time (there were 15 minutes left). He shut down the token machine right after I used it. Then he got upset when I told him my daughter was still coming (Lucy was still buying some things at the candy shop). I almost thought he wasn't going to wait for her. We still finished the ride with 7 minutes to spare before 5. He made sure to let us know that everything was closing at 5pm so we needed to go!

Since everything was closed, we headed to Walmart to pick up some TV dinners and then went back to bnb for the night. Ruby was not happy about sleeping in the bnb and she went to bed screaming. When I finally went in for the night, I saw the pack n play was empty and I almost had a heart attack until I saw her sleeping on my bed- apparently she had climbed out.

Wednesday morning we headed out bright and early since I had a doctor's appointment at 11am. The drive home went fairly smoothly and we were able to make it home with no stops and less complaining from the girls. My doctor's appointment was actually kind of nice because I feel like the nurse and doctor are my friends, lol. Most of the appointment was us just catching up on each other's lives. 

Wednesday evening Steven had his senior pictures. I used someone different than our usual photographer because she was much more affordable and I think it was a good switch. She was really nice (she did well with Steven and her husband helps out and was good to chat with while I watched), she took some great pics of Steven and she got them back to us in less than a week which is majorly impressive. Here are a few of the gems.

Thursday was a day full of errand running and getting things ready for the fourth but we did fit in a fun stop at the playground by the library and a little visit to the library as well. The library just opened up a decent little "friends of the library" book store that might be a temptation to me. That night we also took Grams and Poppy out to the Filling Station to celebrate their anniversary. They were a little slower than usual but the food was still fantastic. It was nice to have a kid free night out with my parents. Hopefully we can do more of that when they move out here for good.

Friday was the fourth and we decided to go the fourth of July parade of Northville. Tyler stayed at home to continue to work on the bathroom remodel and Steven was sleeping (and we didn't have enough room in the traverse for him) so we left him behind. We got there about an hour early and that was good timing. Still plenty of parking and we were able to find a mostly shady spot to sit with our friends the Mays. In the beginning Ruby got missed for candy so a nice guy gave her a lollipop. She immediately set to eating it and then more candy came so she threw down the lollipop to eat the gummy lifesavers. But when someone from the parade handed her even more candy she did not know what to do and just stared at it. She was overloaded. All in all it was good parade and everyone enjoyed it and for me the bonus  was there were no parking issues or traffic going home.

 

I did some more bbq preparations after the parade and then it was time for the bbq to begin. Steven had to work at Taco Bell that night so he missed out on all the festivities which was a huge bummer. We had the May's and Towne's join us and it was a really nice time. The food was good, the water balloons were a massive hit with all the kids (even Penny joined in with a garbage bag on her arm) and after that they went through tons of sparklers. Ruby was a little scary with the sparklers but had some fun too.

When everyone had left we brought out the ice cream cake that I had made so we could wish my dad a happy early birthday.

Then after celebrating my dad, we went and saw some fireworks at Long Lake. My parents stayed home with sleeping Ruby and Steven was still working. We got there about 45 minutes early but I think we would have been ok getting there just 30 minutes early. The kids brought the Switch to play while we waited because they are screen addicted. The show was nice but I kind of wish we had had Ruby there...maybe next year...

Saturday was not the most exciting day. I had to take my parents back to the airport which was sad, and then I spent the rest of the day cleaning and catching up on things.