Monday, August 22, 2022

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.

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