July Gardening... Or Lack Thereof

July has been a difficult month around here.  We started off the month spending a large amount of time outside and ended up holed up in the house.  We had projects and we had fun.  Then I started to suffer from some pretty bad allergies that kept me inside and away from the pollen.  The kids suffered from insect stings, which kept them inside and away from bugs for awhile.

We've made quick dashes outside to gather up the fruits of our gardening, which, frankly, I'm quite surprised we've had much to gather.  Between the drought, the bugs and my lack of doing anything in the gardens this year, it has been a surprise that some of them are bearing fruit.

Onions, tomatoes, and strawberries have been our best crops so far.  The cucumbers and squash were attacked by the bugs and drought.  The peppers are slowly producing, but I expect them to pick up their game next month.  Most everyday we can venture out and gather berries or tomatoes.  It has been fun to harvest those.  Kellyn is the only one who will eat the berries as is, the rest of us need a healthy dose of sugar to make them tolerable.

This weekend brought rain.  Real, hard, cooling rain.  I'm looking forward to seeing what that does for the gardens.

Things Heard Around Here

Kellyn: Does God brush his teeth when he has stinky breath?

Me: I don't know.  We'll have to ask him someday.

Kellyn: Can you also ask him if he has a toothbrush?

VBS aka PTS aka PPS

Last week Ryan was gone on a business trip.  Every evening while he was gone the kids and I went to VBS or Vacation Bible School.  The kids never quite figured out what the letters were until Ryan pointed at a sign and explained it to them the last night.  All week long Aric referred to it as PTS and Kellyn called it PPS.

It was a long week!  The kids were overly tired by the end, but they enjoyed participating in their classes every night.  I helped teach the preschool class, needless to say I was also worn out by the end of the week.  I didn't take any pictures all week long, but we have some video from that last night.

Things Heard Around Here

Aric: Where do the disciples live?

Me: In heaven.

Kellyn: Where does Jesus live?

Me: In heaven.

Kellyn: *Gasp* He died?!?

Me: Yes, He died for our sins.

Kellyn: Was Jesus a baby?

Me: Yes, a long time ago.

Kellyn: Did he eat all of his food and grow big?

Me: Yes, he did and you should too.

And that was our conversation on the way to VBS last night.

A Day at the Lake

On Saturday we invited ourselves up to our friend's farm to use their pond for fishing and kayaking.  It went from a small we-won't-bother-you-at-all request to a fun day of fishing, kayaking, dinner, dessert, and a great time with friends.

The day started out pretty rough with a night of no sleep, and an early trip to urgent care to get medicine for a nasty bug bite Kellyn had on her ear.  I was exhausted, and I wasn't too hopeful that the day would go well.  We packed up the kayaks, fishing gear, food and went anyway. 

After we arrived Aric put on his life jacket and horsed around with Ryan in typical boy fashion.  In untypical boy fashion Aric had a panic attack while wearing his life jacket that manifested in  whispers and slurred speech.  It was bizarre and scary.  Thankfully we were at the home of a nurse, who immediately took over and made sure Aric was fine.  After resting on the couch for awhile sans life jacket with Ryan, Aric was back to his normal self.  So the four of us headed down to the pond.

We first tried fishing, but the fish were having nothing to do with our lures and we didn't bring any worms or bobbers.

The kids quickly became impatient and requested to go kayaking instead.  Except for Kellyn who decided she would just watch us from the shore.  I sat with Kellyn on the shore while Ryan and Aric kayaked.

Pretty soon the rest of the party joined us and Kellyn decided to go for a very short kayak ride.

Ryan brought Aric back to shore, because Aric was acting funny again.  Aric came over to sit by me.  After talking to him for a bit, trying to figure out what was wrong, I realized he was going to throw up.  I quickly leaned him forward.  After that Aric was happy to be held for awhile and watch everyone else kayak.

It was quite entertaining to not kayak.  There was a dog who learned to swim, and tried to get into the kayaks on the water, a capsized kayak, and a search in the muck for a lost shoe.

It was a great way to spend a day.  Thankfully the hot weather we were expecting was replaced with some light rain, cool breezes, and plenty of clouds to make it overcast.

It was a wonderful way to spend time with loved ones.  Despite the medical maladies, I'm ready for the next time we can go back.

The Fourth

Yesterday Ryan and I spent most of the day putting the stairs back together:

It was a full day's work, but thankfully the weather was relatively mild for July in Kansas.  It was more bearable to work in 80 degree weather than the typical July temperatures in the 100's.  Ryan finished digging the trenches for the drainage tubes.  I put the plants in and mulched.

We did try to squeeze in a little bit of celebration by grilling out, a patriotic dessert and letting the kids play in the sprinkler.

Since that wasn't enough of a Fourth of July Celebration we joined our neighbor's block party to watch them light fireworks.  We even had some of our own.  Ryan showed Aric how to use a punk.  After that Aric continuously lit fireworks.  We didn't buy any fireworks this year, but had enough small fireworks leftover from previous celebrations to satisfy Aric.  I can already tell that we will need to make a trip to the firework tent next year.

Kellyn ditched us most of the night to go hang out with "the girls" as she called them.

She returned for the important parts of the night: sparklers, hunger, thirst, and bathroom breaks.  I'm already seeing visions of how her teenage years will be.

Today we will be resting and recovering from the soccer game, backyard projects, and all of our fun this week.  I don't think I can handle any more fun.

Future Soccer Mom

Awhile ago we decided Aric was ready for some sort of organized team sport.  Ryan suggested T-ball or soccer.  We asked Aric, who decided he would like to play soccer.  I finally found an organization through a local church that would be a good introduction for Aric to a team sport.  He begins practicing in mid-August and the season lasts until the end of September.  Not too long for his first time and not too long for me to have to drive him to practice and games.

In an effort to build up Aric's excitement, Ryan bought tickets to see Sporting KC play the Vancouver Whitecaps.  The only tickets they had left were in the Budweiser Corner, which means unlimited food and drinks were included in the price. 

The kids were pretty excited to go to the game, but had a little hunger-related impatience by the time we were able to go inside.  I don't blame them.  Ryan and I were pretty hungry, too.  As soon as we were able to get into the Budweiser Corner Ryan and Kellyn went to save us seats while Aric and I went after food.

After we finished inhaling hotdogs and nachos, we went in search of warmer clothes.  Even though it is July in Kansas it was rainy, windy, and cold.  Thankfully, we were in a covered section of the arena, but we still felt the rain.

The kids were pretty patient waiting for the game to start.  They enjoyed the pyrotechnics and fanfare of the opening show, but Kellyn thought it was too loud.

Once the game started they were pretty excited.  Aric rooted for the other team for awhile, but eventually changed his mind and cheered on Sporting KC.  Kellyn claimed the pink guy as her team.

The kids were semi-distracted for awhile taking silly pictures of each other and the rainbow in the sky.

They quickly settled in and enjoyed watching the game.  Aric decided he wants to be a professional soccer player.

Now we all want to know when can we go back?