This summer had some unforeseen obstacles, but thankfully nothing too serious. About a week after school ended, Dan played ice hockey and got pushed hard into the boards by another player. He was able to finish the game, but he came home in excruciating pain afterwards. We're pretty sure he had a cracked rib or two, because he had gnarly bruises and his pain lasted more than 6 weeks. So, we cancelled our getaways this summer since driving or walking a lot would've caused him more pain.
One of the worst things about his injuries was the number of games he missed while he recovered!
Then Dan's car broke down and sat in the shop for almost a week while we waited for parts. It wasn't the best week of his life.
Once we got through those unexpected obstacles, we made some low-key plans.
We celebrated my mom's birthday at the Cheesecake Factory.
We also celebrated Father's Day with the best dad in the world!
My heart in a picture.
One of Dan's coworkers bought our girls a "Cup of Caterpillars" to care for at home. The sealed cup comes with five caterpillars and their food inside it. There's no work to do at first, you just watch the caterpillars eat, get fat, and create their chrysalises. Once they're ready, you transfer the crysalises to a butterfly net and wait for them to emerge. The transfer process is traumatic to the caterpillars, who vibrate as hard as they can inside their chrysalis to deter what they think is a predator. It's also extremely traumatic to the mom who has to handle the gross things while they vibrate, because her children refuse to touch them. Then, if all goes well, you wait a few days and see beautiful butterflies emerge.
Unfortunately, all did not go well for three of our five caterpillars. Two didn't ever emerge and one got halfway out of its chrysalis and got stuck, so its wings dried all crinkled up and it was unable to fly. Two of the butterflies did emerge, spread their wings, and were beautiful and healthy. Emma and Hallie claimed the living ones, and left Dan and I to bury our dead.
We let the two butterflies live in the net for a few days and enjoyed watching them, until I caught the two of them mating one night. I read that a female butterfly can lay hundreds of eggs at a time, which is obviously not allowed to happen in my house. So, the next morning, we released them in a nearby meadow so they could have their babies out in the wild.
While Dan was recovering from his rib injury, the girls and I took advantage of my parents' community pool.
We also visited the beach with my friend, Cynthia, and her daughter, Kailey.
We got to see our good friends from Colorado, Mike and Kate, and their kids, Charlotte and Cameron, when they visited Virginia.
We always pick right back up with them, no matter how long it's been since we've seen each other.
The night before Independence Day, we enjoyed the fireworks show at a local park.
We sat away from the crowds, but the view of the fireworks was still spectacular!
On Independence Day, we gathered with both sets of parents at Dan's parents' house.
Their pool had been newly lined, and the girls gave it two thumbs up!
I bought this huge unicorn float on clearance last summer, and they loved it!
Hallie relaxing with Grandpa after a fun day.
We planned a family "staycation" during 4th of July week. Dan and I took the week off and scheduled fun events each day.
On our first day, we drove to Richmond to visit King's Dominion Soak City Water Park. We didn't ride many rides since the girls spent time playing at every splashpad and playground, but we rode the lazy river a couple of times and did a 4-person tube ride together. It was a great day!
The following day, we picked up Dan's parents and visited the James City County Library. The library recently upgraded their children's section into a children's museum with tons of hands-on activities and games. There are building sets, a giant Lite Brite, a play grocery store, and even a robot dog that responds to commands.
This table has a touch screen where you can play a game or create art.
There's also a vet station with stuffed animals. Emma's pretending to be the pet, and Hallie is giving her a thorough check up.
Haha!
After the library, we joined Dan's parents for dinner, swam in the pool, and roasted marshmallows and apples over the fire pit.
Another day, we took the girls to the beach.
There's a great playground right on the beach that they love.
Then we had fun in the sand and surf!
Dan had to work on Friday morning, so the girls and I joined my friend, Judy, at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens.
We enjoyed riding the tram around the beautiful gardens, and stopping at the play areas and splash pads along the way.
Dan's ribs began to feel normal again, so he did some heavy lifting at work which threw out his back for a few days. About the time his back began to feel better, Virginia decided that it should be 100 degrees every day while he and his team worked outdoors on a major renovation project. They transformed the back area of the school into a beautiful pavilion and lawn for events and gatherings. It took long hours of hot and sweaty work, and no matter how much water and Gatorade he drank, Dan came home almost every night with severe muscle cramps from dehydration. Again, it wasn't the best week of his life.
But look how beautiful the finished area is!
Dan wasn't the only one having to work this summer. Emma worked on math fact memorization in order to earn screen time.
And Hallie began using a nighttime alarm to train her to get up and use the restroom at night.
This was the general consensus on the alarm. Heh! It disrupted the entire family, and we all hated it, but within a month, Hallie was doing so much better during the night!
For the past few years, my dad has been using my beat-up 1997 Honda CR-V as a second car to drive a few miles to church or the YMCA. It needs several major repairs that aren't worth the money because of the car's age. But with a lot of effort, Dad kept it limping along until this summer when it finally died and wouldn't start again. That little SUV took Dan and I all over the country on our road trips, and moved me from Nashville to Denver, then moved Dan and I to San Diego and Virginia Beach.
R.I.P., CR-V. I will always love Hondas because of you.
Since summer was almost over, we wanted to get away for a weekend at the end of July, but Emma came down with a fever and we cancelled our plans yet again. It turned out to be a double ear infection, so at least it wasn't contagious. Emma had been asking to go fishing, so we joined Dan's parents at Waller Mill Lake and fished for a while that Saturday.
Emma's first catch! She was so excited!
Hallie's giving that fish the side eye, making sure it doesn't come after her. She's a girl after my own heart.
Emma ended up catching about 6 fish that day and had the best time. Hallie was done fishing in 5 minutes flat, so she and I explored the lake instead. That evening, we watched the Wagster's Magic Theater show in Williamsburg. It's a fantastic, family-friendly magic show that we all enjoyed. We'd highly recommend it if you're in the area!
