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.