Project 365, Week 30

The summer has been full, mostly with camps. One thin I like about it is the home dynamics are constantly changing. Sometimes we have no kids, other times we have a combination of one or two. Its been special to get two-on-one or one-on-one time. And at camp, the kids are learning, growing important relationships and having an outlet to just be a kid.

July 24

Avery and Amanda were leaders at kids camp and had such a great time! I caught them on IG several times and also a couple friends sent me photos. So proud of them and the hearts they have for kids (they also greatly enjoyed late-night hangs with the other leaders their age).

July 25

Check-in for my first appointment in NY was 6:45 AM, after a 2-hour drive. Traffic was a breeze and the flowers everywhere were at their fullest bloom. A visit to the cancer center, for any reason, is always a jumble of emotions. Some days I have the strength to stop and admire the flowers, other days, they make me want to throw up.

July 26

Morning walks with the dog, the sun and my Jesus. Life is sweet.

This year, Kids Camp and Junior High Camp split the week, so I got the girls back....

....and gave up the boy. We missed the bus, but thankfully the camp is just 20 minutes from our house, so I brought him directly there. He was worried that I wouldn't be able to find it, but I assured him I've had a loose association with the camp for many years.

As the story goes...Shaun was in a men's basketball league and they had a playoff game on the same night he had a 3-hour upper level class at UCONN. He asked his girlfriend (me!), who was in high school at the time, if she would attend his Mechanical Engineering college lecture to take notes. I agreed, because love, and for all of those three hours the professor with a heavy accent talked about a crack on an airplane wing. 

The Camp gym comes in to play because that's where Shaun played basketball that night. We can't remember whether they won the game, but for the purposes of this story and posterity, we'll just say they won the whole championship. :)

It is strange yet merciful to have regular life and cancer life threaded together. Camp chauffer, patient of one of the top cancer doctors in the world and soccer mom...all in one afternoon.

I think I was mid-conversation with Avery when she fell fast asleep at Amanda's game. Camp, it turns out, is not really for sleeping. ;)

July 27

Most days this month we've had prime conditions for a rainbow appearing, so for many weeks I've been actively looking. Finally, when Shaun, Amanda and I stepped out after dinner, there it was!

July 28

Shaun, Avery and I worked at the office all day and then Avery and I closed out the evening at the lake.

July 29

We got to have some teens gather at our house. As they were spraying my house with nerf bullets, I was just so grateful that on a Saturday night they were at a parent's house playing games and being silly kids. Its a good tribe.

Project 365, Week 29

Summer, sweet summer. Family time and games and outdoor time. I am lapping up all the goodness there is, breathing in the moments right in front of me, wildly grateful for all of it.

July 17

Amy and I made a quick trip to Rochester, NY to visit our aunt, uncle and cousin. All of our lives, they  have been among our favorite people...consistent, supportive, involved. Growing up, they were the only family we had within a days drive.

We wanted to see them and see the house and have a couple of chill days to just be together. We got exactly that...sharing some delicious meals lingering around the table, taking slow walks, sitting together doing nothing but being with each other.

They bought a house just half a block from Lake Ontario in the sweetest little neighborhood, complete with a white picket fence. Aunt Bonnie's toils on the gardens have paid off and she's created a beautiful oasis in their yard.

July 18

Melody had some duties at school in the morning so we met her around lunch time and got a tour of her building and the campus. Its always cool to see "Dr." in front of her name.

After stopping for a lovely lunch we went home to condense vehicles and rest. Then we went to the beach at the lake, which really is more like an ocean in its vast size. We walked down the long pier to the lighthouse, a little over a mile round trip. We watched boats coming in and out, fisherman catching fish  and others who were not. The weather was magnificent.

Back at the house, we enjoyed the backyard until the bugs sent us in and then ate the meal Melody had prepared. For two days we were fed, served, loved on and spoiled. We came home with full hearts.

July 19

We stayed long enough for one last walk along the water and caught a beautiful sunrise, then with full hearts, we drove home.

Back at home, I noted what a gift it was to witness the rising and the setting sun in one day. 

Amanda's summer league game was under the lights on the turf field.

July 20

I picked Aiden up from the captain's practice at 9 PM. After a 2-hour practice, the whole team ran laps together...with no coach there.

July 21

My cousin, who lives in Washington state, was in town with her family for a few days. To get everyone together, my dad planned a slip-n-slide event, just like the old days. But forecasted for that exact time was severe thunder storms, so we pivoted and did dinner at my house instead.

I wish we'd gotten a picture together, but we did share several hours chatting and catching up. My dad was one of seven and, as it happened, the only one to move away to the east coast, leaving a multitude of family in the west who, because of distance, we didn't get to see often. But family is family and there is an undeniable connection when we are together. My dad is really great about staying connected to everyone and visiting regularly and I know they love us and pray for us from afar.

July 22

Avery was working and the boys were helping Uncle Nathan put a roof on his barn, so Amanda and I had a lunch date on a perfect summer afternoon. 

July 23

After church, Shaun and I waved to our girls as they drove themselves to kids camp, where they were leaders. The years have flown by from that first time we were sending them to camp as 7/8 year olds. I'm amazed at the young women they are.

Speaking of the years flying by, we watched the youth pastor's kids for the afternoon. I filled up a bucket of water and we spent the time outside. I miss the days when they would spend hours in the kiddie pool or sprinkler, living their best lives.

Aiden's team was getting shutout by a bunch so Aiden got to play in goal the last five minutes of the game. It was a ton of pressure in a bad spot. Being the freshman will have its challenges, for sure.