It's been a long time!

April 29, 2018 

Last year Hurricane Harvey hit us during the time I started blogging about our summer. Even though we personally did not suffer flooding in our home, the devastation around us and that our friends suffered was emotionally draining. Going outside to milk the goats during the storm was dreadful to me. My rain boots sunk 10 inches deep in some places. Our 5th wheel sank a couple of inches and I had imaginings of us all falling into a sinkhole. It was just so miserable to see so much rain. Rain was dreadful for some time after. Each time I have sat to finish this post I have felt blocked- either the words wouldn't come or the pictures just won't load for some reason. Working through this post is helping me to overcome that sense of dread that I have held on to for far too long.

August 29, 2017
As I feverishly plan out our school year (too much thinking and too little doing, lately) I wanted to take the time to share our summer fun with you.

We started the summer with a mother/daughter retreat to a beautiful place north of us. There were tons of things to do. The girls worked on bb gun shooting and had plenty of time for water fun. Kailyn and Lacey were in different groups, so I got most of my pictures of just Lacey.

Lacey and Kailyn both shot the water bottles they were aiming for!!

Kailyn paddle boarding 

Lacey paddle boarding

Lacey and I canoeing



The girls and I stayed in one of the coolest rooms in the retreat center. We had a nice loft above us, which many of the girls enjoyed hanging out in. I brought all my pretty purple stuff, including my diffuser, as well as some sweet luxuries, such as my foam mattress pad and my tiny lamp to make it really cozy.

I was quite comfy! I used the tote to bring my stuff and as a nightstand.

There was a vaulted ceiling up there. That light is the sun through a window.

Maddox joined a new Cub Scout pack. It is a very hard thing to change groups. I have been with that group since Korbin was 6 years old, which was 11 years ago! Our pack was just so small that Maddox was missing out on the social aspects of scouting. It is simply more fun with more people. I did love the quiet and close-knit group we had, but most of them aged out this year, so I made the hard decision to move on to a larger group. Over the summer Maddox and Lacey have been to a nerf gun battle as well as the Federal Courthouse and US Marshall's office downtown. I'm still mourning the loss of my tribe, as Korbin will officially age out in January, but here's to new beginnings!!

Tranquility Park across from the federal courthouse in Houston

Judge Hittner's courtroom

like sardines in the elevators and rooms between hallways

US Marshall Blankenship's office

holding cells for inmates awaiting their hearings

The US Marshalls enter codes on each doorway. There is a network of hallways leading to courtrooms.




In August I hosted a shooting sports day for the older girls in our AHG troop. We finished up most of the bb gun shooting requirements.

I really enjoy going to Houston each summer to watch the Shakespeare plays put on by U of H. They always put on a comedy and a tragedy. Jeff isn't fond of them, but agreed to at least go to the comedies each year. Even though I really wanted to go see Richard III this year, I agreed to take everyone to see A Comedy of Errors. However, when we arrived, I thought it was a mistake that my ticket said "Richard III." Then we took our seats and noticed...this was no comedy! Mummified body bags were hanging all over the stage. It was so funny. It was not at all what I had expected. We stayed for the play, and I'm glad we did. We actually begin our year in school reading Richard III. I think next year I'll just plan to see them both. 

Richard is finally dead. Once his body was raised on the cable, the rest fell to the ground. Well played.

The week that school started back here was the week we decided to take a family vacation.

DAY 1:Moving this RV is just a nightmare to me. It was slightly better this time than it was when we took it in for inspection last month, but it's going to take me a LONG time to get over it. Jeff is a really good driver! But the angles we have to navigate to get this thing out of the driveway are really difficult. Event the delivery driver was scratching his head.  And for the record- I haven't even attempted driving his truck yet- other than pulling forward about 20 feet into our yard, which hardly counts for anything.

When we left, it took us roughly 40 minutes to back it out of our driveway. We need to widen it; that would make all the difference in the world. We left at roughly 8:30 and got to the RV park in Dallas right at noon. We took it slow and steady.

Once we checked in and parked, we set up electricity and headed to the Astros game at the Rangers Stadium. We got there an hour before the game to enjoy the many food offerings provided there. The Astros won the game, and then the kids ran the bases after. It was the first baseball game for all of them except Korbin!

After the game we made a stop at Walmart to replace the water hose we broke when we left and the sewer elbow we left behind. Then, we headed home, finished setting up, and I took Maddox and Lacey to the pool. I honestly think the pool was one of the biggest highlights of the week for them! The teenagers never even looked at it. 

to be continued...