39 and Milford Memories

 Monday evening Lucy had her friends Claire and Geli over for a sleepover. She wants to have a sleepover pretty much every time she has a friend over but I do not like to host very often, probably because I feel this need to be an extra awesome host and that unnecessary pressure takes a lot from me. It went pretty smoothly though. We had pizza rolls for dinner, they made cupcakes for dessert, they walked the nieghborhood chatting and then we rented and watched "The Fall Guy." I had been wanting to watch it for a bit and so had Lucy. The first half of the movie made me question if we should have picked it- it was mushy and a bit inappropriate (the fall guy was drugged and went on a bit of a psychedelic trip). But the second half got more fun and less awkward and all the kids seemed to enjoy it. After the movie I told them to stay out of my hair so that was the end of the night for me.

Tuesday morning I made the kids waffles and then they came with me to run a couple errands- The Dollar Tree and Party City. We are doing an early birthday party for Penny and I needed to get some things. At the Dollar Tree I bought them some candy and crafts to paint. At Party City they terrified Ruby with some masks and then tried on some cute hats. I also got lucky and the stuff I needed for Penny's party was all half off. I love a good deal! Then it was back to our house where the kids painted their Dollar Tree crafts and had a good time until parents picked them up that afternoon.

After Lucy's friend left we went to the library so Ruby could get some wiggles out- it had been a rainy day. Ben had fun dressing her up. She kept some of the costumes on for a bit before tearing them off. She had the most fun with the little alphabet magnetic board, just slowly moving the letters with her magic pen. She was so serious and focused. It was adorable but she was also super unhappy to leave it. 

Tuesday night we got tickets to see "Twisters". We didn't realize Ben had soccer conditioning that night and he was really bummed that he couldn't go with us. That meant we had an extra ticket so we invited Reggie to go with us. Penny and him were not so good at staying quiet during the movie. She said that he just kept talking to her and she didn't want to be rude. Ha! I am sure she was initiating the chatting too. They are really cute but I do not want to encourage anything more than friendship with those cuties. The movie was super predictable- I was really good at calling what was going to happen- but it was a really fun watch. I enjoyed it and would watch it again. I think the kids liked it too, there was plenty of tornado action.

Wednesday,after weeks of not working out, I did a work out. Man was I sore afterwards but I was proud of myself for getting back at it. Ben had an emotional morning- he felt like soccer was ruining his life- so I told him to invite some friends over. AJ ended coming over and just like that, he was cured of the sadness. The rest of the day was not super exciting. I did some back to school shopping with the girls during one of Ruby's nap. Both girls managed to find new backpacks that they liked. I am not sure why I got them new backpacks when they are only going to school once a week this year and had old ones that could be used.... I guess it's just because I remember how much I loved getting new things for the new school year.

Thursday was my birthday. Tyler was good and woke up early to go get me some fancy doughnuts from The Daily Dozen. They did not have a few of the flavors that I really really wanted but they still had some good ones. They make a good French Cruller and Cider Mill doughnut. The kids really liked the Red Velvet and Samoa. Tyler went off to work and it was just another day until he came home. My close friends are awful with my birthday. It's frustrating because I always try to make their birthdays special and they completely ignore mine. I got a one line text from Caroline and a late night text from Grace (although she dropped off a gift the next day that was thoughtful and nice) and of course, no acknowledgement from Melissa. I got more love from other people- my minister dropped off doughnuts (yay to more doughnuts!), and my friend Corrine who lives in Indiana sent me an Arby's giftcard and a cute cactus blanket. I wish I didn't care but I do...

Tyler came home in the early afternoon and we went to Dave and Busters to play arcade games per my request. I had had fun at the arcade in Arizona and this just felt like a good way to spend my birthday. It was a lot of fun to play games with the kids and I found out that Ben is really good at getting tickets. I had fun with the car and motorcycle racing games- I even got Steven to race me and it was a close race. I had fun playing a ghostbuster game with both girls- even if we couldn't defeat the stay puft marshmallow man. There was this funny hungry hippos game that Ruby got to play with Tyler and the other kids. In the end we pooled all our tickets together- we had 1,114 tickets- and the kids got Ruby a Pikachu stuffie, and a Mario stuffie and we got Tyler Fun Dip since he didn't get to play much since he was on baby duty. Once we got back I made a quick dinner for the kids, and fed Ruby. Then Tyler and I went to The Filling Station for dinner- it has this really amazing chicken burger with coleslaw and honey sauce and is never super busy which is nice. Afterwards I got the birthday song with a lit up doughnut- Tyler tried to use trick candles but they didn't work, ha! And to end the night we watched the movie "Frequency" while I built the awesome Lego plant Tyler got me!

Friday we headed out early for Milford Memories. I picked up Claire and Andrea so it was me plus 6 kids (Steven did not come). We managed to find a spot just one street back from where we used to live so not super far. Then we walked to the park where the kids played for a little bit. They had remodeled the park and there are more trails and seating, it looks nice. Right by the park was the kid's tent. Even the teens had some fun there- getting lollipops and prizes ;). The youngers did some coloring and crafts. After that I got all the kids shaved ice. I had a scary moment where I thought I lost my credit card. I even called the last store I was at and sat on hold for 8 minutes to find out they didn't have it. Turns out the card was just in a different pocket in my backpack *phew!* Good thing I had Tyler's card to use while I went on this hunt ;) When we finished with the shaved ice we just strolled all the craft booths. I think there were even more booths than there usually is. Claire and Lucy got fun crochet animals from the kids area but those were the only things bought besides food. As we were walking a woman was giving away fly swatters and Ben really wanted one because he is a goof ball. Unfortunately she kept passing by us. Andrea said she should go up to her and shout "Wow! A fly swatter! I have always wanted one!" I told her I would give her a dollar if she did that...and she did! I lost a dollar and Ben got his fly swatter.

Later on Friday, Lucy and her friend Claire decided they wanted to earn money and they pulled out the massive amount of weeds in our front yard planter. Tyler went and got mulch to put in the now empty bed. It was funny how we have had this mess all summer and within an hour it was all gone. Looks better now. That night we watched another old movie "The Count of Monte Cristo" I love introducing my kids to old movies that I liked. Ben was all about the revenge.

Saturday I got to go do some kid free shopping at Kohl's with a giftcard that my mother in law had given me for my birthday, It was really nice to do some guilt free shopping and now that summer is over, I finally have a summer wardrobe (now that it's almost over)that I reall love, ha. Then that afternoon we went to Marin's graduation party. We didn't know anyone there besides her family and of course everyone was busy chatting with all the incoming people so we did not stay long at all. We ate some food (they had fruit salsa and cinnamon chips- so good!) and played the lawn games. I had a really good round of redneck golf but Tyler still beat me. And then we left. Lucy was not happy because she was having a blast with her friend Jenna. It is nice that she has maintained that friendship so when she goes to high school she will know someone. Later that day I went and got the girls new shoes at Skechers. Penny hadn't bought any since the last school year so she really needed some. She chose some bright pink ones so I will never lose her again. Lucy went the other direction and picked some black slide ons. Then I used another birthday giftcard and got Arby's for dinner. Had to take a pic to thank my friend...

Girls Getaway

Friday afternoon I went on a girls getaway to Port Clinton, Ohio with my friends: Grace, Caroline and Melissa. It was sort of a rough beginning because- thanks to someone's tacky window decal- they got talking on politics and I learned how different my beliefs are from theirs. The especially hard differing point for me is their support of abortion. I just do not understand how Christians can support abortion. I did not want to get into this on what was supposed to be a relaxing getaway so I just asked that we change subejcts. After that we got into all the drama Melissa has. There is a woman at her husband's work who is quite insane. We read an email from her and it was clear that this woman is definitely vying for Melissa's husband. Her husband has tried to push her away but also I think he could be more clear. It made me grateful for a husband who I feel would have handled that better.

The drive was only a couple hours so we got to the airbnb and chilled for a bit before getting dinner. The airbnb was disappointing. It was supposed to have 4 beds but only had 3. The bathroom smelt like sewage. And we would later find out that all the window units were very noisy during the night and the beds were not super comfy. However, they did work hard to dress it up and the decor was cute so there was that. For dinner we went to Suacy Slice Pizzeria and the pizza was so good. I got the meatlovers and it did not disappoint. Grace and I traded slices and I had her cheeseburger pizza and made the dumb comment that "it tasted like a burger!" Yes, I am captain obvious but I was suprised how much a pizza could taste like a burger. It was good too. 

When we finished eating we went to Walmart to pick up some groceries and then went back to airbnb where we watched movies and ate junk food. We watched a thriller called "The Gift" and then a romance called "Find me Falling". I don't know how I feel about the thriller. It was scary at times but also had a weird twist in the end. The romance was very cliche but cute. That night I slept in the bedroom with 2 single beds- Grace took the other one. Melissa took the couch and Caroline took the bedroom with the double bed. I don't think any of us slept well. The noises of the window units turning on and off made it hard for me to fall asleep and I woke up pretty early.

Saturday morning we had a lazy, quiet morning chatting and then we went to craft fair at a local park. It sort of felt like we entered a time warp. All the crafts were very reminiscent of my early teens- just the flat, wooden painted holiday decor. They also had some art work that just wasn't quite the caliber of fairs I have been to before. But it was still fun to stroll and Melissa always seems to find something to buy. She took forever chatting and buying (she is such an extrovert) so Grace, Caroline and I ended up crossing the street and sitting by the lake while we waited.

When she was done (after circling back because she had left her bags at the last vendor she visited) we went back to the airbnb for leftover pizza and nap time. Then we got dressed and ready for some time at the beach. The beach we ended up at (by the Port Clinton lighthouse) seemed like it was more for boats. There was a line of then anchored out not too far from shore. One boat thought that everyone would want to listen to its music and they blared it the whole time we were there. Occasionally there was a good song but mostly it was just obnoxious. There were also a few songs with lots of expletives. That seemed highly inappropriate considering there were kids at the beach. Anyawys while there Melissa unloaded all her trauma and I think we finally convinced her that she ought to go get some therapy to help her deal with it all. She does not have healthy coping mechanisms so I am hopeful she will see a professional who can help her cope better. She has had a lot of hard things in her life. Afterwards she was just gushing about how much better she felt and how much fun this trip was. I honestly felt a little overwhelmed with all her things *sigh* When we left the beach we got a cute pic of all of us at the light house.

We went back to airbnb and changed and then went to get dinner at the Marblehead Galley Restaurant. It was super busy and slow and a bit stuffy. I got chicken and waffles and the flavor was AMAZING but they had let the waffles get soggy which was not amazing. When we finished eating we headed to the Marblehead lighthouse. I have been to this one before and I just love all the rocky outcropings that you can go sit on and a listen to the waves. This was a highlight in the trip. Just a really peaceful moment (minus me slipping on a rock and rather ungracefully catching myself).

On our drive back to the airbnb the sun was big and red and really pretty as it was setting. Back at the airbnb we watched another movie- Alone- and this one made us all angry. The main character did not make wise choices and we yelled at the TV A LOT. It was bedtime when the movie ended and I think we all slept better- maybe we were just tired from the night before?

Sunday it was time to head back home. We made a few stops first. We stopped at this Ohio gift shop in Toledo. It was very woke and I was not massively impressed but of course Melissa managed to find something to buy. Then we stopped at a bookstore. This was of course, the only place I bought something. I found a book that I have read before and really enjoyed. I am trying to start collecting more hard copies of books I like. I also bought a couple Golden books since I have a thing for collecting them. Then we stopped for lunch at Tiger Bakery and Deli. It had Mediterranean food. I ended up with some hummus, bean salad, chicken, rice and pita bread. It was so delicious but we all had to wait a long time to get our food because a woman who was extremely high energy was ordering 2 weeks worth of food from them. She was on something, had a mental disorder, something...? She was loud, commenting on everything to everyone, asking for everything, disappearing into the bathroom several times, sweating bullets. She was a lot to take. 

After that we headed back home and I was really really glad to be home. Tyler was nice and cooked dinner so that was an especially good and welcoming. I had also missed my squishy baby and she gave me some good cuddles when I got home. I also felt better after I unloaded all their drama onto Tyler, ha ha. I am just really grateful for my life and how stable and boring it is.

Arizona-Day 5,6,7,8 and Ruby is 1!

 Saturday we met Michael's family at Mi Amigo's because it is my favorite and everyone is nice and humors me. Mecca and Mike were nice and helped out with Ruby so I felt like I actually got to enjoy the meal. Ruby really isn't the best for taking out these days. All my kids got non Mexican food entrees- chicken strips and hamburgers- except for Lucy. She still loves tacos. Afterwards I went to Seagulls and they have such cute dresses- some that would've worked for family pictures- but I just can't justify spending $45 on something I don't need. 

Our next stop was the Arizona Museum of Natural History. We met Keshia's family, Logan's family, Tyler's parents and Jezerea's kids there. I think the kids enjoyed all the various exhibits-dinosaurs,native american history, prison replica, mining for fools gold (which some kids were convinced was real gold)- but I just wasn't a fan of the museum layout- it felt a bit like a maze and it was hard for us to stay together and keep track of kids. At one point Tyler's parents could not find Jezerea's kids so that was a bit of a problem but they did find them after a bit. Penny started getting pouty about Reese not hanging out with her again so I asked Bradley (Logan's kid) if he would hang out with Penny and that was a good choice. He was more than happy to hang out with her and that cheered her up immensely. I spent some time with my nephew- Ryan- and he was a sweet kid. I enjoy my time with the nieces and nephews but none of them ever know who I am or remember me since they see me so infrequently.

After the museum we walked to a place close by that had doughnuts with ice cream inside. I just love that combination. However, we were disappointed to find out that it did not have indoor seating and was just a window to order from. With it being super hot outside, I could not sit down and properly enjoy my doughnut ice cream without it melting. Still it was delicious and it also turned my mouth blue so that was super fun.

Saturday night was a quiet evening at my parent's house. My mom was nice and cooked for us and I think all the kids needed a quiet night. Time difference and lots of people all the time can make them super cranky.

Sunday we went to church with my parents. It was funny that this one lady said that it was too bad we weren't moving in because their ward could use more people. Their ward was so big compared to ours. I appreciated that it was noisier and my baby wasn't the only baby making noise. Although Ruby did really well and slept for most of it. 

After church we had lunch, a good nap and Tyler made Ruby's amazing Baby Shark cake. 

For dinner my parents went with us to Tyler's parent house so we could eat and have an early first birthday party for Ruby. My brother's family joined us after dinner. The party felt like a bit of a bust to me. The Hatch's and Brady's did not really mingle and that always makes me feel awkward. When we sung to Ruby the Hatch's stayed far away at their table and some of the kids were outside and missed it. The cake eating was a flop. The high chair was a mess from another baby so I sat her at a kid table and tried to video tape her cuteness but then she fell off the seat. That was sad. Then I sat behind her and her cousin, Lennon, kept stealing her cake. I guess it just felt like she was more of a side note than the baby of the hour. But the cake and decor was cute and she really loved eating the frosting. Unfortunately that night she got really fussy as I tried to put her to bed and then threw up all over herself so I think that was a bit too much sugar for her.

Monday we spent the morning getting things ready to fly out the next day. Around lunchtime we met Keshia's family at Fat Cats. We had to wait a bit because she was running late which is just the Hatch family way. When her family got there we bought the kids each a token card and let them have some fun at the arcade. My kids were nice and let me play a few games with them. I had a lot of fun with the game where we had to knock clown pins down with bean bags but Tyler and Ben had more than just fun- they earned 550 tickets from a round of playing it. Too bad it happened when Ben ran out of tokens so they couldn't try for another 550 tickets. I also played a shooting game with Penny and I kept shooting the good guys- whoops. Steven spent most of his tokens on a Minecraft game. At the end, when we went into the prize room, Ruby grabbed an armfull of stuffies and was very bummed that her siblings hadn't earned enough tickets for them. Even with all of Ben's tickets, he still ended up just getting candy.

After we were done there, we headed to Chick-fil-a for some lunch. It was super crowded so Lucy, Penny and Reese got to sit at a table of their very own. The girls had a good time eating and chatting- Lucy was too tall for them to play at the play place there. But she wasn't too tall to wear the cute cow mask ;)

When we finished lunch we went to Mike's house to hang out and have dinner. It was nice to chat and let the kids play. The girls disappeared into Lillian's room for most of the time. We had a guest appearance from their tortoise Palmy- it was fun to watch him munch on grass. Ruby enjoyed laying down in their baby doll crib. The boys had some fun playing a Hot Wheel racing game on the Switch. Oliver was a pro at it. Then we all enjoyed some hot dogs and hamburgers to finish off the night.

Tuesday we got up and at it quickly so that we could be packed and ready for our morning flight back home. Mike was nice and took us to the airport. I was feeling very anxious that morning because the flight to Arizona had been so tricky with Ruby and because we had been assigned seats and only 3 of us were together and the rest were spread apart. I was so anxious I felt like puking. I told Tyler this when we got to the airport and he was really good at being calm and getting me through everything. Thankfully we had no big problems with checking in luggage and going through security. We also had plenty of time to grab some food and take bathroom breaks. When we got on the plane, I was relieved to find out how empty it was. It was so empty that we ended up with 3 rows of 3 seats all to ourselves in the back of the plane. That meant that Ruby had her own seat on 3 different rows. We started out with her between Tyler and Penny and she ended up falling asleep really quickly and slept for over an hour. After she woke up she spent a lot of time on my row with me and Steven but the nice thing was that when she got a little fussy/bored I could pass her somewhere else. She "watched" some Baby Shark and "Dora the Explorer" and I watched "Boys in the Boat"- that was a good movie. She also played with her toys and ate lots of baby teething cookies and food. It turned out to be a really good flight. I think the fact that she slept in the beginning and woke up happy helped. I also think her having the ability to be in her own seat helped a lot. 

Getting off the plane we had some issues with getting things. First the stroller wasn't by the door when we got off and when the pilot saw me looking for it, he jumped off and went and got it. He was a really nice guy. Then when we got to baggage and Ruby's car seat was no where to be found. Turns out they put in a separate place for oversized luggage. That would have been nice to know. After everything was found, we only had to wait like 5 mins and then Caroline was there to pick us up. I was so glad to be back home in my own space. I love traveling, I do, but I also love the comfort of my home and my routines. I was worried how Ruby would do with adjusting back to Michigan time but she did really well. I put her down around 9pm and she woke up around 8am. All things considered, she does really good with traveling.

Wednesday I had a bazillion things to do but Grace sent me a text asking if I wanted to meet up at the beach and that sounded really nice so I went. It was a good break from all the things and really nice to catch up with her. She is a good listener and a good friend. 

Thursday was Ruby's real first birthday! She had one present to open that morning (since I had given ours to her early and the Hatch's had given her some fun books at her early party). The present was a fun little backpack with snaps and buckles and things. I think as she gets older she's going to love having her own backpack to carry things in and I love that it doubles as a toy as well! She had a lot of fun opening it and playing with the tissue paper. Since her early party had felt like a bit of a flop we did a redo with friends that evening. To prepare I went and got some balloons at Kroger's. I was going to do Ruby Red and Gold (it's her golden birthday) but they didn't have gold so I ended up with rainbow colors- she is my rainbow baby too so that worked. She loved playing with the balloons. 

We also decorated the house with some rainbow streamers (Lucy hung them up like a curtain into the kitchen) and I ended up running to Hobby Lobby and getting her a rainbow colored banner there. For her party that evening I decided to do shaved ice since the frosting had made her sick. The shaved ice was a hit with everyone and it did not make her sick so that was extra awesome. We had the Mays, and Bloomfield's over and Cherish and her 3 girls and Mia and Renee. It was a real party with lots of people who smothered her with love. Unfortunately, that love was a bit too much and she ended up in tears at the end of the birthday song- she is definitely a Hatch.

After shaved ice, the younger ones played with water balloons while the olders played on the Switch. I tried to get Ruby out and playing with the littles but as soon as she got wet from a water balloon she decided she was not a fan and wanted nothing to do with them. That's ok, I had fun snuggling her and talking with my friends. Even though Ruby was pretty emotional throughout the celebrations it still felt like a success because I felt like she was most definitely the center of attention. Steven's friend Renee even got her an elephant beanie boo which was so sweet of her. It was fun to watch Steven interact with his 2 friends that are girls. Renee and him seem to have a lot to talk about when it comes to gaming. He even did some pull ups in front of the girls- I was impressed ;)