Penny's Baptism, Renassiance Festival

Sunday we had church in the morning and when we came home I got things ready for dinner and prepped some fruit for the baptism. We went early to the church to get Penny's hair done by Ranell- she is much more talented at hair than me. I had this plan of having a low key, small baptism in the RS Room and serving food out the kitchen but when the baptism started, the RS room was basically full. And then as my mom gave the first talk on baptism the room overflowed. So after Penny was baptized we all moved into the Chapel. Although  I would have preferred it to be more low key, I think Penny enjoyed all the people (and the gifts!). After the baptism we ended up moving the treats into the cultural hall. Then I had the stress of trying to say "hello" to all the people and make sure everyone felt welcome. Yes, that stresses me out. Mike and Sharon (our neighbors came) which was nice. They didn't stick around for treats but she did text me how she was impressed with how nice our Bishop was and what a good support system we had at our church. Lucy's friend Angelica came with her sister and her mother and so I tried to introduce the mom to the missionaries but she started to walk away as soon as I brought them over. Awkward. Oh well, she sent me a nice text after, saying how Luna was explaining what she had learned at the baptism to her dad. So even though I felt so awkward about the whole thing, I don't think she felt awkward. When everyone had left and pictures were taken, it was back to my house for dinner and then I zonked out that night. It was a long day.

Monday morning I had to take my parents to the airport so they could go back to Arizona. Goodbyes are always hard. While I was at the airport the kids went and played tennis with their Grandma Hatch. They were still gone when I came back from the airport so I was able to get a bit of cleaning done. When Grandma Hatch and the kids got back we had some lunch and then headed to Marvin's Mechanical Museum. The kids all got $10 worth of quarters and had a good time spending them and the Grandparents even played some pinball. At the end all the kids were excited to get some silly things with tickets...except Steven who came up 10 tickets short from getting the mini playing cards that he had wanted so his life was basically over.

After they bought their stuff with their tickets it was now time for Tyler's parents to go to the airport. They had a rental car so we parted ways and went back home. It was time to get back to real life.

Tuesday Steven had Freshman Orientation. We picked up his friend Evan so they could go together and the boys sat in awkward silence with me trying to make conversation for them. Sometimes I worry about Steven's social skills. Afterwards, Steven said the orientation was was mostly just people talking about rules. Sounds thrilling. 

Wednesday Steven had another tennis match. It was another doozie. It was 2 hours before he actually played and then another hour until he was done. I spent the first 2 hours talking with his coach's mom. She was a nice lady and we actually had some pretty deep talks about covid, politics, and religion. We had a moment where we both shared experiences that we felt God's love, it was really nice. Anyways, when Steven finally played he was really lucky to have a partner that was really good (and nice to him) and he didn't lose by quite so much- 4 to 8 this time. 

Wednesday night I had some frustrations with kids at different places for church activities and still having just 1 car. Thankfully friends came through and the kids got where they needed to be. I really wish they would just keep activities at the church. I know that can be lame but it is just so much easier on my life.

Thursday afternoon I got to be a Karen. I saw on an email that Children's Place had $13 backpacks so I decided I would let the girls get new backpacks, even though they really didn't need new ones. However when we got in the store it was not showing the $13 price so I had to be that lady at checkout saying "but the ad says this" and it took far too long for me to get them at the price in the ad.

Thursday night I had more frustrations with just having one car. Tyler went out with his friend and said he would be back at 9pm to take Steven's friend who was over home. However, he ended up not getting home until 10pm and his friend's mom wasn't super happy about the long delay. I hate feeling like a flake.

Friday Steven had tennis pictures and at least they weren't 3 hours long but they were still 1 hour long. Afterwards we did a beach day with some friends. Cherish came and we had a long talk about school and how much we should shelter our kids from the world without making them unable to handle the world- does that make sense? It is a tough balance. Also at the beach Lucy's doughnut floatie and her friend's floaty drifted off. After much tears, and giving up on the  floaties floating to shore, we decided to leave but right as we were leaving a boat came along and rescued them and brought them over. It was a little miracle and we were grateful for that young couple that got them to us. Friday evening we had Gabby's Grad party. One of the families from church that have been fairly inactive came and so I got to catch up with them and find out how their daughter is doing. She is apparently super into power lifting now and I learned all about the powerlifting diet, ha ha. I think I'll stick with my itty bitty weights. After we left the party, I had a girl's night with some friends. Sometimes I feel like I don't fit in. They're all a little bit  more rebelious than me. I am definitely more conservative and more of a traditionalist then they are.

Saturday Ben had a birthday party to go to but we took the rest of our kids to the Renassiance Festival. I am not sure why but I just felt a nostalgic desire to go and I also just wanted to have one last hurrah with the kids before school started and soccer started and life just gets to be too much. It was a busy day at the festival so we had traffic just getting to the parking lot and then a long walk from the lot to the gates. It was also a warm day so that meant we were all a little sweaty and the kids were a bit whiney about it. Things we did while there- we looked through shops, the girls made fairy wands and got dusted with fairy dust, we walked through a cool fairy garden, the girls got to see a Merman (the Mermaid left the tank just 2 families before us) and he gave them magic stones which Penny made a wish on when her tummy ached and is convinced it helped, we watched a jousting which was a lot of fun, Lucy paid to throw tomoatoes at a guy (he was really rude to everyone so he deserved it, and she was a good shot), and we ended with watching a man tight rope walk (and ride a bike). I think overall it was a good time, just maybe if we went again we'd go when it was less peopley and warm.

Penny's 8, Schell Family Farm

Sunday was the debut of my new hair color to all my church people. My friend, Fancy Nancy, decided she needed to announce to Relief Society that I did something new to my hair so that was fun, aka embarassing. 

Tuesday morning we took my parents on a walk at Proud Lake. Steven didn't come because he had tennis practice at noon and that was going to be enough outside time for his teen self. The bugs were out in full force and Ben did not appreciate them. He got pretty upset with the constant biting and started crying at one point. Thankfully when we stopped at the little deck over the water, we got some relief from the bugs there and helped all the kids survive the rest of the walk. It's too bad all the bugs come out in August because the weather itself was really beautiful and it could have been a really perfect walk.

After I dropped Steven off at tennis practice Tuesday, the rest of us went to the 12 Oaks Mall. Poppy got some lunch and we got some pretzels. We were going to walk the mall but just didn't have enough time before having to pick up Steven from tennis. It was a rushed outing. Later that evening we got ice cream at Diary Twist. My dad and I shared a banana split which we haven't done for ages but I really do love banana splits. Fruit and ice cream are a perfect combination.

Wednesday morning I walked with my dad to the library to pick up some books. He has been reading like crazy since he got here. I managed to get Lucy and Ben to come along by bribing them with a stop at seven eleven. Most of the time when we got to seven eleven the man who works there doesn't say a word to us as we check out but that day he was chatty. He commented that it wasn't right for the adults to be paying but the kids were the only ones getting candy. Poppy suggested that the kids could work there to earn their candy. Who knows, maybe I have some future seven eleven workers on my hand. They would probably be happy just to earn 1 free candy ever hour...

Wednesday evening the youth activity was at our beach so I went to "supervise". It was actually a really nice night hanging with the other youth and youth leaders. I think what helped it to be so nice was the lack of responsibilities I had. I just got to come and chat with everyone and enjoy the beautiful weather. While I had a good time, Ben did not. He has become so anti beach lately because he hates getting in the water and Wednesday night was no different. All his friends wanted to play in the water and he didn't so he was very grumpy.

Thursday Poppy requested another trip to the mall so after baking a strawberry bundt cake for Penny (which turned out super yummy) I complied. This time we went to the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets. We grabbed lunch and then walked the stores. I was looking for a white shirt for Steven for tennis. I had thought he needed maroon shirts but apparently he needed white. We ended up finding a white athletic polo and a white t-shirt. Then we grabbed pretzels again (because we love them lots) and headed home. 

Friday morning Steven had his first tennis match. He wore his white polo and ended up being the only kid in a polo. Ugh. I thought tennis people were supposed to be preppy. I made poor clothing choices as well and wore real pants and a nice shirt- I was trying to be the put together mom for once. I also did NOT wear a hat or sunscreen. I ended up being the hot, sweaty mess mom. The sun was right in my face the whole time and it was warm in real clothes. I forced myself to be an extrovert and introduced myself to a few ladies. I hate new things. For being his first match ever, Steven did good. He did two matches? (I still don't know the proper terms) and won 1 out of 9 games played. Yes he lost 8 times but for being such a newbie, you gotta celebrate the little wins. Most of these kids have been playing since they were young. 

Friday evening Penny had her birthday party.She had 2 sisters from school (Luna and Angelica) and 2 sisters from church (Anna and Lara). I think it turned out pretty fun. They ate some pizza and played around outside and then they sat down for their spa treatment while the movie "Spies in Disguies" played. First I gave those that wanted one, a chocolate face mask and cucumbers for their eyes. Then we washed their feet in a tub with a bath bomb. Next I began the long process of painting toenails and fingernails. 2 layers each and a top clear coat takes a long time when you have 6 girls. Caroline also came over and put cute threads in their hair. I think that all the girls loved the hair threads best, I am so glad she was able to help out. When the spa treatment was over, we sang the happy birthday song, opened gifts (more stuffies ;) ) and ate cake. Basically all the kids were not impressed with my strawberry bundt cake (probably because it had real strawberry pieces in it) but Penny loved it so I suppose that's all the matters. 

Saturday was Penny's real birthday so of course we began with the traditional opening of birthday gifts. Pokemon binder, Paw Patrol toy, stuffie and watch from us. Lego set from the Brady's. Pokemon cards from Ben. 

Tyler's parents arrived in Michigan in the early am hours of Saturday so after they caught up on rest, they met us for brunch at The Grand Diner. At the Diner they gave Penny her birthday gift- her own set of scriptures with her name on them in a cute, pink scripture tote bag. 

When we were done eating we all decided to go to Schell Family Farm to see the blooming sunflowers. I wasn't sure if it would be a very exciting outing but I think it turned out pretty good, aside from the massive amount of bees and it being a little warmer than I would've liked. They had a corn maze that we did first. Tyler's dad decided to go different ways than us and then he would crow like a bird and the kids got a big kick out of that. I feel like we did well in the fact that just as it seemed the kids were done with the maze, we found our way out. That was a bit of a relief for me too. It was rather humid in the maze and I was starting to get anxious about getting out too. When we finished with the maze Poppy Hatch got all the kids Apple Cider Slushies to help them cool down. Then we went and picked some peaches. It most not have been quite peach season because it was tricky trying to find ripe ones. Our last activity was going in the sunflower field to pick some sunflowers (we got 4 with admission). They were really pretty but they did not make it home. I guess they don't do well in warm cars. We ended our outing with some fresh, cinnamon sugar doughnuts.

Everyone was pretty tired after the sunflower fun so we went back to the house. We rested up some and then got dinner at Kickstand Brewing Company. It is right by our house and we have been meaning to try it out so we finally were able to. It was really good, I am a bit annoyed with myself for not getting out their sooner. We had both sets of grandparents there and the kids behaved themselves well, it was a good outing. When we were leaving Ben decided to sit on the bike statue outside of the place and as he was getting off, he flipped over and his shorts got stuck on part of it. It was a really funny scene that will last forever in my memory. Afterwards we came back to our house and watched "Jurrasic World: Dominion". It was just as bad the second time around and I think all the adults felt similar to me. The kids still think it's cool though.

My Birthday, Milford Memories

 Monday was my birthday. I guess I got all the fun out that weekend because my birthday was extremely lame. The best part was probably sleeping in and the phone call from Lucy and Steven. Tyler also spoiled me and got me a Kitchen Aid Mixer, and Succulent Lego's (plants that will never die!). When I did get up, I cleaned the house because it needed it. Then Tyler picked me up lunch at Tropical Smoothie. After that I went to Grace's so she could cut my hair and style it. She was my only friend to really acknowledge my birthday and make me feel special so I appreciate that. My other friends were turds. After that I made my own cake because I had something specific in mind (vanilla, whipped cream frosting, strawberries) but the cake did not turn out right, it was really dense, and not delicious at all. For dinner Tyler picked up Culver's- I have really been craving their pretzel bites with cheese- very yummy. 

Tuesday I took Penny and Ben to see the "DC League of Super Pets." Not my favorite to sit through and it had some inappropriate things that I didn't love but I still love escaping life (and eating popcorn) with my kids. That evening Tyler and I went to the temple. It had been awhile so it was nice to get back. Guidelines have changed since we last went and they can fill up sessions again so ours was completely full. I liked them better when they were less peopley. I went into the session just looking for guidance/thoughts on seminary and the word "joy" really stuck out to me. My hope is that seminary can be a joyful and uplifting place for our students. Tyler was negative and said that all depends on the teens but I am hopeful that we can do our best to foster that environment.

Wednesday I invited some friends to our beach and we spent a couple hours there. One of the friends I had invited was Penny's friend Luna. Her mom had dropped her off and came to pick her up as everyone else was leaving. I ended up having a really good chat with Luna's mom about the church. I had mentioned Penny was getting baptized and she expressed that she wasn't sure what to do for her children regarding baptism. She was the first friend I have discussed the church with that genuinely seemed interested and not just interested because they think I am weird. She even seemed really excited but certain practices- like missionary work. I invited her to Penny's baptism and I hope her and her family come. 

Wednesday evening I had a parent tennis meeting. I had sat in the back and ended up by a couple dads talking about various sports. I really felt like I needed to make some mom friends- especially because I might need help getting my kid to games and practices- so I forced myself to be an extrovert and went and sat by 2 moms that I heard mention their kids were freshman. I attempted to insert myself in and well they were happy to answer my questions, they seem uniterested in asking me any :/. The meeting felt overwhelming. We have to pay all this money just to have our kid in tennis AND then we still have to give them all the rides to games and practices and buy their uniforms. There are also all these rules that must be followed. I never do good with getting all the information like that, I need small chunks to digest at a time. At the end I had us all exchange numbers and at that time the 2 other moms realized that they are practically neighbors. I have a feeling I will get pushed out of the carpool because I am not that close to them but at least I tried?

Thursday I went to Walmart to get Ben new Crocs because he had lost one. Turns out that he had lost it in the Suburban and of course we found it just 2 days after buying the new ones. Thursday was my last day with just 2 kids. Ben spent his last day with Andrea and Penny spent hers with Isla. I spent the day getting seminary stuff organized and I made Steven and Lucy a fun little welcome back poster. When they arrived with my parents they were not that excited by the poster but thrilled for the candy. Not at all surprising. Within moments of them getting back the house was immediately louder and messier. I really was spoiled while they were away. 

Friday morning we went to Milford Memories. It was the perfect day weather wise for it. We met the Mays there as well. Caroline definitely shops differently than me. She talks to the shop owners and get their cards, whereas I would rather avoid all eye contact. Regardless it was a really nice outing. Around lunchtime we got pretzels and shaved ice- super healthy. Grams got some yummy funnel cake that she shared with all of us too. Lucy was the only one to buy something. She ended up buying a crochet frog from a teenager and she was really proud of herself for supporting a teenager- it was pretty cute. We ended up staying at the festival for a few hours and then when we left, we took Steven's friend Max home with us. Side note- Ben wore his bat hat that Grams had gotten him the entire time at the festival, he is such a character.

Friday evening Steven had his first official Freshman High School Tennis Practice. He left with a negative attitude and came home with a negative attitude but according to Tyler, he looked like he was enjoying himself while there so I am hoping that this silly sport is worth all the money were throwing into it.

'

Saturday was busy. Tyler and I had a seminary training from 10-3. It had some really good stuff but it also always leaves me feeling overwhelmed and like I should be doing more. I think my favorite part was the lunch where we ate good food and got to talk to other seminary teachers. It always feels good to know that we aren't the only ones who don't know what we are doing ;) After the training (which was an hour away) we picked up the kids and my parents and went to clean the church. Then we drove everyone back home and Tyler and I took the boys with us to see one of our seminary students get his mission call. Jake was one of our best students and he is such a good kid. He got called to Tampa, FL which I think was a little unexpected- his dad and sister went to Japan. Not to mention his mom is from Japan and he was born in Japan. I think Florida will be lucky to have him. After the mission call and some socializing, Tyler had to go help Caroline replace her battery in her car. An extra long day for him.

Also this week, Tyler fixed out the part that he thought was causing my car to be broken but discovered that was not it. He ended up having it towed to a local car shop because it is out of his wheel house. I really hope it comes back to me in top condition and doesn't cost a fortune. With school starting and all these extracurriculars we are going to need 2 working cars.

Car Problems, Alpena

Monday night Tyler and I went to Costco to get Toilet Paper and water bottles and apparently it was Costco Night. We saw three people from church their, including Chalsea, who pretended not to see me. Cool, cool. Tyler also found a purse in a shopping cart and was nice to turn it into the store. 

Tuesday I went to take Ben and Jacob to Target to get some Pokemon cards and when I started the car, it sounded really grumbly and bad. I decided to have Tyler check it out before we left and he said it was loud but should be fine. It was not fine. As soon as I left and tried to accelerate it made even more noises and struggled to gain speed. We turned around and went home, gratefully it made it. Then we switched to Tyler's Suburban which is also crappy, the alignment is so bad. The boys spent an excessive amount of money on Pokemon cards and I managed to find a couple cheap puzzles which always makes me happy.

That afternoon Penny and I went swimming at her friend Luna's pool. As much as she has been wanting to swim in a pool, she was not entirely happy with the experience. The pool bottom was rough and gave her little blisters on the ends of her toes. Next time she might need to bring water shoes. Afterwards we stopped at a karate place to get their uniform for school. It was sort of a sketchy area and then Penny made things awkward by not responding when the lady asked her questions, she is definitely my child. 

Wednesday we went to the Great Lakes Crossing Mall to get Ben some shoes at Under Armour and everything was buy one, get one free. We ended up getting Penny a pair of shoes too. I wish Steven and Lucy had been there so I could have gotten them shoes as well. I don't like to buy shoes without the kid there to try them on. We also went to the Lego Store to look for a King and Queen minifigure for Penny's castle cake. I was hoping they'd have the stuff to make what we wanted but all they had were Western themed pieces for minifigures. No good. Despite being unable to find a King and Queen it was still a nice outing.2 kids are so much easier in public than 4.

Wednesday evening Ben and Penny had church activities and the weather was awful, super hard rain coming down. I seriously considered turning around and going home because driving that Suburban in bad weather is terrifying. However, we persevered and the kids had a good time while I got to socialize with Caroline.

Thursday Penny and I went to get a few more things for her party. I went to a different Marshall's because it was by a Dollar Tree and I had wanted to go to both stores. That was a poor choice. I hit a ton of construction on the way there. And then to make it more frustrating, the Dollar Tree was closed- at 2pm on a weekday. Oh well, we hit up another one and were still able to get the things that we needed.

Friday I went on my girl's getaway to Alpena with Grace, Caroline and Melissa. We left late morning in Melissa's minivan and the drive went smoothly. When we got into town we went to Culver's and had a late lunch. Right as we finished our lunch the power went out. We felt very lucky that we got our food before that. Then we went to our airbnb which was a really fun (and big) historic home. I love old homes and all their quirks. This had 3 bedrooms so I got to have a room all to myself. The only drawback was that it had no air conditioning so it was hot. 

After settling into our airbnb, Melissa offered to take us all out to get pedicures, her treat. That was really kind of her. I haven't had a pedicure in forever. I think I have only had 2 in my life? Anyways it was nice to get pampered and it only tickled a little bit. At first I picked out a teal color but then I decided to be bold and got bright orange. I am glad I did, way more fun. While there Melissa and Caroline made friends with the workers and got us some fun restaurant recommendations (extroverts). The workers laughed when she asked what fun things there are to do in Alpena. Apparently it's a sleepy town. She did recommend a fun graveyard/lake hang out which we did end up visiting.

After our toes were cute we drove through the small town and discovered that it smelled like a wet diaper on the north side of town. It was a really awful, overpowering smell. I can't imagine living there. Apparently there is a wall paneling plant that is causing the odor. Once away from the smell we did a walk down a pier and then went to Fresh Palate and had a really yummy dinner. The service was slow but apparently they have 3 separate rooms that they serve dinner from so the waitresses have to cover a lot of ground. 

When we finished dinner we picked up some things at Meijer's- including hair dye. I had told them that for my birthday I wanted new hair so...why not!? Back the airbnb Grace dyed my hair while we watched a movie. After letting it sit I went up to the bathroom to rinse it out and that was MESSY. First I accidentally bumped my colored hair on the low ceiling and had to frantically wash it off. Then in the shower the dye seemed to coat the whole shower and I was just frantically wiping it off because I did not want to be responsible for ruining someone else's shower. But when all was said and done, I have a pretty fun new hair color. Grace (who used to cut hair at a salon) said she would cut my hair sometime as a birthday gift so that's something to look forward to.

That night after using the downstairs bathroom I had a slight fear that someone was going to try to scare me because it seemed like everyone had gone upstairs. When I went upstairs, I went to Caroline and Melissa's room and Melissa wasn't there but Caroline just said she was getting something out of the car. Calling it a night, I went to my room and as I sat on my bed to plug in my phone, stupid Melissa grabbed my ankles from under the bed and yelled "Jenny!" I screamed at her that she was a piece of trash and I wanted to punch her in the face, but didn't. The only joy I got was that when I checked under the bed after she left, there was a nasty used thong that a previous occupant had left there. She had been "cuddling" with it. The next day, as payback, I put the thong in her purse and she yelled a very loud "Jennifer Brady Hatch!" when she discovered it. Anyways, that night I had a tough time falling asleep thinking of all the creepy things that could happen to me.

Saturday we had a lazy morning. I was the first one up because my body woke me up at 7am and I just couldn't fall back asleep. Not to long after the other girls woke up and we all took our sweet time getting ready for the day. Then we played one of Ben's games that I had brought, "Liar, Liar." It was a fun one and I kept getting the "Liar" card and I did surpisingly well at lying ;) Also learned some interesting things about my friends. 

When we finally got out of the house we headed to the Old Presque Isle Lighthouse. I always get a little nervous with climbing to the top of a lighthouse tower but Caroline did not do well at all. She apparently didn't realize she was so scared of heights. Going back down the little ladder they had fromt the top to the stairs about gave her a heart attack. I was more terrified of the SPIDERS that were everywhere. I do not like spiders. Grace got bit by something and I am convinced she is going to have spider powers any day now. 

After climbing the lighthouse we walked on the rocky beach and enjoyed the cool water and nice view for a minute. I love a good rocky beach. I am not into playing in water and laying in sand so much. I feel like I would be much happier perching on a rock and listening to the waves.

Just a mile down the road was the New Presque Isle Lighthouse. This one was taller so Caroline was out and Grace wasn't up for it either. Thankfully Melissa climbed to the top with me and it was beatiful view with water on all sides. BUT once again, there were spiders!

Next we hit up a nearby beach. Like I said, I would much rather perch myself on a rock but it was still nice. I dipped my feet in and then- because it was so dang hot- moved my chair near the water so I could keep my feet in permanently. I found the heat uncomfortable but it was nice to be lazy and read a book. I even laid out and dozed for a few minutes before the sun felt like it was burning a hole in me. Every once in awhile we would get this amazing cloud coverage and it just felt like perfection.

After the beach we went back to the airbnb and cleaned up. As everyone was rinsing off and changed, someone put on movie. When everyone was cleaned up we went into town. There weren't many shops and the town was dead- more dead than the night before- it was eerie.(We decided A- the apocalypse was about to happen or B- the mayor's daughter was getting married and everyone was there.) I wasn't super interested in the shops, trying to be frugal, so I am glad there weren't too many. Then we got some lunch/dinner at a Mexcian restaurant that was actually really good (Mango's). The service there was quick and that was refreshing change. 

Back at the airbnb we finished the movie we had started and then Grace got to talking about some of the rough things she had been through in her life and before we knew it, it was getting dark outside. We are weirdo's and decided to go to a graveyard and have Caroline read our Tarot cards. We brought candles and burned sage and everything because we are cool like that. The bugs were out in full force and that was a bit distracting but it was actually a really cool experience- not creepy (except for the guy walking his dog). The cards Melissa and Grace got were really spot on. Mine said that I had built a proper foundation so to speak and to be ready to embrace the change coming in my life. That sounds ominous ;) Or maybe it's about Steven starting High School?

That night was more chatting, it was a late night but at least I slept like a rock until 7am. I was downstairs alone for a bit Sunday morning but then Grace came down and we had a really good chat. I really do like my friends a lot more one on one than all combined. I don't know if that's weird or maybe it's just me being an introvert and preferring less people.

And then it was back home. There was quite a bit of traffic but nothing too awful and it was good to get home and be back in my own bed.