Just Missed the Tornado!

 Last Sunday we went over to Super Star and Mr. E--'s house to meet their puppy.

She was so excited to meet us!!!!

She's a blur in every picture I took, because she was in constant motion for the whole hour we were there.  We could tell she was starting to get tired as we left, so I'm sure she slept the rest of the day away, but we all had so much fun together.

Monday was difficult.  I had a field trip planned, but there was just enough rain to wreck that.  The disappointment was more than Beowulf could bear, so he was irritable to the point of volatility all day.  His anger rubbed off on other kids until I was barely keeping everyone safe.  I made Brother and Beowulf (the two most likely to explode) run errands with me, and even though they like running errands, they were mad at me because I didn't give them the choice to stay home.  

I found an alternate activity, but because of continued angry outbursts, I didn't feel safe taking the kids out into the community.  

It was a rather uncomfortable day.

But we did our best to get through, and we succeeded in a couple of good reading sessions with Rowan Farm (finished this week) and Despereaux.

It was Tuesday when the tornado warnings started.  Our friend, less than a mile from us, saw the tornado, and it did touch down at the stadiums a few miles away, but we hardly even got a breeze.  

It knocked over a tree that took out our power for 6 hours.

But we were fine. 

The temperatures were still mild, and even though fierce, fierce rainstorms hit us, we kept our windows and doors open to catch any breezes.

If you're wondering if the jokes about midwesterners hanging out on their porches to watch for tornadoes is true . . . it is.  I was not about to hunker down in our mudroom when there wasn't even a wind to move the treetops.  We kept our eyes on what was happening, but we stayed in the living room where we were comfortable until the sirens turned off.  

Then I drove Nature Angel to work.

We did our usual reading and chores and free time activities--Mister Man and Brother are really into chess right now.

Wednesday was supposed to be very busy, but it turned out to be calm.  The wet weather kept Baymax and Beowulf home from their gardening apprenticeship.  We chilled at the library briefly, then we went to a friend's house for our first swim of the season.  

The moms thought it would be too cold, but the kids wanted to swim, so we took them.

And the kids were right.

By afternoon it was a great day for swimming . . . or at least for being a mom sitting in the shade watching kids go swimming. ;)

I didn't take a single picture (I'm not being very responsible about taking pictures these days), but the kids played hard for 2 full hours in that chilly water!

Belle and Nature Angel headed out for EFYSA--a young adult church conference of play, classes, dancing, and socializing.  

Sisters together on the first evening

We had breakfast at the park on Thursday morning.  

That's my crew playing Horse on the basketball half-court.

They divided their time between playing on the b-ball court, skating around the trails, and playing catch in one of the fields.  

I sat in the pavilion making grocery lists and talking on the phone with my mom.

I took everyone with me to Costco on the way home and then spent the afternoon processing fruits and vegetables so that we'd have easy snacks available.

By the time I finished canning a batch of strawberry top syrup, I was exhausted, so I was very grateful when Sir Walter Scott was willing to take the kids to their friend's party at the skating rink while I went to bed early.

Their favorite part was a game to see who could skate over the cones spread the furthest distance apart.

No picture of Lola, but she was there.

We headed to our usual exercise park after breakfast on Friday morning to run/walk/play.

I picked another couple of pounds of mulberries, and I was going to make smoothies with them, but my parents came over with pizza and a huge bowl of home grown strawberries from my sister's garden!  We ate pizza and the sweetest strawberries I've ever tasted.  My mom helped me cut the berries, and I put an entire gallon into the freezer for a future treat.  I processed the tops into more syrup.

Ladybug had a birthday party to attend that evening, and Little Princess said she'd take care of the rest of the kids during the evening, so Sir Walter Scott and I had an at-home date.  It had been a difficult week for behaviors--nothing major, thank goodness--and we were not comfortable leaving the house with no adults.  The kids had a marvelous time watching movies in the living room, and Sir Walter Scott and I were happy to watch movies in our bedroom.  

Win-win.

We started Saturday with chores and waffles.  The teens headed to the temple with some other church youth--Sir Walter Scott ended up being a driver.

Lola and Baymax wandered the house feeling lost because it was only them and me at home.  I made freezer quiches with the abundance of eggs we currently have.  

It was so fun to welcome Belle and Nature Angel home from EFYSA!  They were exhausted but happy and talkative.  I listened with delight until they each wandered off to their bedrooms where they dropped into deep, long naps.

As soon as there were siblings home, Lola and Baymax settled into activities--by themselves!!  Lola went into her room to draw, and Baymax curled up on the couch with a book.  They didn't even want more people at home to play with; they just wanted them in the house for ambience.

And that was Week 2 of summer.

Next week is Girls' Camp!