The Blog Archive: Staycation Fun!

Happy 7-7!! ❤

Let me start with a very heartfelt thank you to the man who opted not to hold a recount after the primary elections! We had a court hearing set for that on Tuesday morning, but since he changed his mind, I got the full week of July 4th off work! To that, I say Huzzah!! lol

This = a lengthy, picture-filled update from the past week. I didn't leave the state, but I had a great time with family and friends! Starting with seeing Won't You Be My Neighbor? at the Warren Theater with Tiffany. It was surprisingly great and emotional, and it made me wish I had watched his show as a child (or known him as an adult). I got a pic with Cate and Sandra just for fun. ;-) I don't quite have the fierce criminal look down.

I drove to MWC on Saturday, then joined Mom and Dad for dinner at Hideaway with Bill and Jill. I just love them - they're fun and funny and always have great travel stories! =)

Sunday I went to church with Mom and Dad, then Charlene joined us for lunch at Ted's. Then the Parrishes got back from their lake trip and the kids all came over to play for a bit. =)
Kyndal: "Take a picture of me riding with no hands ...and send it to Charlene!" lol I did.

Monday was an awesome fun swim day at JoBug's pool with all four kids. (Also a not-so-fun sunburn day for fair-skinned Aunt Lindsey. lol)

I brought my CR machine home, and Mom helped me practice. We found my old notebook and made some new briefs and just kept my speed work up since I'm taking a test soon. I was proud of myself for not missing a day of practice, and it was cool getting to practice with Mom again! =)

Tuesday was baking stuff for the 4th, then hanging out with J&K while Rach took the boys to Brooke's. (We also got some bad news and did some online searching for more info that day... it was the only negative thing that happened while I was there, but it was big.) Anyway, it was fun playing store with the Miss K and watching her play the Mom to Rach's old Lee Middleton doll. =) (a/k/a Carter's "practice Jace" doll from 2011)

It was hilarious how long they were entertained trying to watch and wait for the roly poly to unfurl. lol

I joined them for a while watching it, but they kept picking it up to try to help it. lol Patience is not their strong suit. lol After they left, I went to Planet Fitness for a double-workout, then to Crest and Walmart for groceries. =)

Mom and I got on the Canva Design website and made these happy light-and-life-themed quotes/verses to go in my bedroom... I love them, and I'm super excited to hang them soon! ❤

I found The Patriot on the movie channels, which I recorded and watched on the 4th, which felt very appropriate. It's got some brutal scenes for sure, but it's one of my favorite movies EVER. The courage of conviction and the will to press through and fight are so fantastic, and that last battle scene - I just can't even talk about it!

So now we're to the 4th of July itself! I helped dust and clean in the morning, then we had Dad's side of the fam over that night. We broke tradition and did taco salad for dinner, which was awesome and tasty. The Miss K looked ever so cute with her glittery red, white, and blue eye shadow! ❤ #preshface

The adults were watching Indiana Jones, which is NOT my fav, and it had some inappropriate scenes for these two, so we came outside to hang out and chat a bit. ❤

Chocolate cake and sugar cookies by Georgia. =)
Jace: "But you forgot to put the stars!" lol

The neighbors came over and the kids did some sparklers and firecrackers together. =)

Kyndal and Brielle were instant friends, and Kyndal told Rach she wanted some cornrows in her hair next time. lol

The 4th of July two years ago was the night Mom fell shortly after her back surgery. It was fairly traumatic for everyone involved, and now it makes me extra thankful that her back has gotten better and that she's able to enjoy this stuff with the grandkids! (Not that she ever loves fireworks, but she loves Jace enough to tolerate them. lol)

Mom: "We're just watching the fireworks show!"
Jace: "Wait - this is a show??" lol
Me: "Whaaat? Where's the music!?"
(I got out my phone to play The Greatest Show and then he was more on board with it. lolol)

Fun times watching fireworks from the backyard... me, Mom, Dad, Al, Charlene, Georgia, Alan, and Jace off and on (he ran back and forth from us to the neighbors with the rest of his fam. lol)

This = a happy Google Photos movie... it's the closest thing to Flipagram I can find so far. I'll take it! =)

Thursday was another fun swim day! I grabbed one of Dad's baseball caps to avoid more facial sunburn, and I went with Lexus because it made me laugh and I figured it'd be the one that mattered least to him. Here's our sister pic! =)

And one more with Jace and Kyndal Faith! =)

When we got home, Babah and Grandad came over and brought tons of old pictures and other special things they've saved with them... we all spent hours going through them and reminiscing about old stories and memories, and I LOVED it. ❤

It included lots of awesome childhood memories

LOL

As well as some pics from Babah's childhood...

And Grandad's cowboy days!

And Mom and JoBug...

And their country childhood...

And Channing high school events... (I ❤ this dress!)

Here's a gem of me from when my hair was growing back in after it fell out due to kidney disease.
Me: "Hmm, that's attractive."
Babah: (tries to stop herself from laughing but can't) "Well, you were sick!" lol

One more video:

Anyway, it was a treasure trove of memories, and so great getting to go through them with everyone, constantly asking Grandad and Babah who certain people were. Mom picked several for us to scan in for a slideshow she's working on, so I scanned them in that night whilst watching Princess Diaries on their computer. lol

Friday, we did a bit more scouring through old pics and scanning in the ones Mom wanted to use...

Then Mom and I had a nice lunch together at the MWC Bricktown Brewery. (I recommend the "chopped n' chipped nachos!")

I headed back to Tulsa last night and had a semi-restful night, aside from resetting my computer due to a possible hacking attempt. That kind of stuff really stresses me out.

Anyway, I slept in crazy late today, then tried in vain to fix the TV issues again. I met Tiffany for LifeChurch's At the Movies service. The movie this weekend was The Greatest Showman, so that was awesome! =)

Then we met Chet, Karli, and Tate for dinner at Panera (my plan to cook fell through thanks to an uncharacteristic Shipt failure, so we did dinner out instead).

Tate's so smiley and cute - I love it!!=)

Lol so entertained by Aunt Tiffany!

The dinner was "payment" for them coming over to help me switch my couches. The pink couch is cute, but not comfy, so I needed to move it to a room where it could be enjoyed visually without making anyone uncomfortable. lol I mentioned that we could probably scoot the black couch out if we took the door off, and I had NO IDEA how simple that was. I'm so happy to know that now, and glad we did it that way intsead of trying to lift and tilt it. #themoreyouknow We did have a funny "PI-VOT" moment getting it into the hallway. lol