Staycation

There is always so much to do on the weekends, sometimes it's hard to do the fun stuff around our own town. We sat down as a family and decided what we wanted to do with Dave off for a week. They had a ton of great ideas, and this is what we did...

The week started off with a mini Williams family reunion. My dad's brother came down from New Jersey and my dad's sister and her family came down from Tennessee. We met at a lovely park in Asheville. The weather was nice and overcast, so we weren't too hot. We played Bocce ball, cornhole, washers, and nok hockey. The kids had a fun time running around with cousins and second cousins. 

Monday, poor Dave had a tooth problem, so he had to get some dental work in the morning. We still managed to get to Chuck E Cheese that afternoon. 

After Dorothy's nap, we took off to the aquarium at Concord Mills. I was impressed by this little aquarium, and the kids loved it! The bigger fish scared Dorothy, so we had to look at those from a distance. She wanted nothing to do with the "touch tank" where you could pick up sea urchins and star fish. 

This is the only family picture we took the whole week; I hate that Dave looks slightly like a ghost! 

After the aquarium, we spent some time at the Lego store. I'm not sure if Dave or the boys had more fun there?

Tuesday was another rainy day, so we went to Discovery Place in Downtown Charlotte. I ended up buying a membership, because the kids enjoyed it so much!

Dorothy was a little nervous about the IMAX, but she ended up doing really well. We saw a fabulous movie on national parks, and now we all want to go to Yosemite and see the redwood forest! Every time I look at this picture, I crack up.

The boys have been wanting to see the angry birds movie, so we rented it that night. We had movie-style boxes of candy that we all shared. Dorothy got a little bored, so she brought her baby out and was helping her baby "see."

I was mommying so hard...

In one day, the kids and I made refrigerator pickles with cucumbers from mom's garden. Drake and I both really like them, but everyone else thinks they are a little too spicy. They look so beautiful in the jars!

Later, we sewed pillow cases from fabric that we have had since winter. The boys helped iron, thread the bobbin and press the accelerator. Lincoln took this picture.

Later that day, we ended up at our neighbor's house.

I love summertime, when there's time to teach the kids new things! It makes me feel as happy as when Dorothy dresses up.

More Summer

We wanted to do something spontaneous one Saturday, and we ended up at a Charlotte Knight's baseball game. What a great atmosphere, right in downtown Charlotte! It was a little warm, but we had a nice shaded spot behind the screen. Dorothy and Drake loved rolling down the hills and dancing to the music. Lincoln loved asking me how long the game was going to last and when we were going to leave. I guess you can't please everyone!

It took a little less than a week for everyone to recover from the stomach bug we had. Usually, we go to the pool in the afternoon, so instead we spent some time in our front yard. It is really too hot to do anything else besides water activities. The kids kept complaint about getting "shot" in the eyes, so we got out the safety goggles and sun glasses!

It was a momentous day, when Drake graduated to a short cast! 

Since he has had the short cast, he has made really nice progress with swimming!

I tried to get everyone in this selfie at the pool.

Everyone loves going to the pool: Link thinks he is a big shot, getting to hang it with big kids at the deep end; all the girl life guards have crushes on Drakie, since he freely gives hugs; and Dororthy has more friends than the boys combined! I have pre-teen girls asking what days we are coming, so they can come play with her.

Speaking of her, check out this hair! Seriously, I hope she never dislikes her curls.

Lincoln went to art camp, and had a wonderful time. He came home with some beautiful things, I can't wait to display around the house. We celebrated his last day, by checking out the new snowball place in town.

I was in charge of covered wagon craft/treat at our Pioneer Day celebration at church. I didn't know they were also doing a cupcake walk and a pie eating competition. The kids were so sugar loaded! 

Before the sugar feast, the kids built Thor with Fave at Lowe's. They only need to build 2 more to have the complete set.

This summer has been a great mix of having things to do and not having things to do! 

Family Reunion

Imagine this...4 adults and 5 kids in one van for a ten hour drive. It actually went a ton better than expected. The kids were very well behaved and we didn't hit much traffic. This is what the van looked like when we got to New Jersey.

We had a great time catching up with family we haven't seen in a while. I'm so glad we were able to make it happen for my grandma!

We splashed at the lake, watched fireworks, played minute to win it games, marched in a July 4th Parade, and walked to the deli. 

Poor Link picked up a stomach bug  a few days before we left. He threw up so violently, he ended up with purple dots on his face.

He had to ride home with a fever. A few days later, Drake and I got the same bug. It was miserable! Ugh, Dave was out of town and I just kept having to repeat, "I can do hard things."

Time with the Littles

Lincoln has been asking to play football this Fall. Honestly, football isn't my favorite sport, and it's a big commitment, so I wanted to have him try it first. He went to a football camp at the Y. It was brutally hot and he was dripping with sweat when he came home. He enjoyed it, but said he wanted to play basketball instead. Yes!!!

With Link gone in the morning, it gave me some good time with the Littles. We checked out a new park in town.

We also did some spa treatments.

We caught up with some friends.

We all cooled off at the pool in the afternoons.

I love to see this boy enjoy books!

Funnies

From Drake:

"Mom, I really enjoy pooping, because I can relax in peace."

"Get out of my head mom, I was thinking the same thing!"

I wasn't singing loud enough for him so he told me, "Come on girl, sing it!"

From Lincoln:

When we were at the lake, Cleve escorted Lincoln to the bathroom while I was watching the other kids. Lincoln changed into his swimsuit in a stall, and when he came out he handed Cleve his clothes and said, "Bro, can you hold these, no one likes wet undies."

We had the missionaries over for dinner and they read a scripture about affliction. Lincoln asked what that meant and the elder explained it as having to go through something that is hard. Lincoln said, "I know something hard we have to go through...a door." There was silence, because we weren't sure if he understood and then he said, "It was a joke!"

Father's Day

Fathers are wonderful, and I'm so thankful for all the dads in my life! Because Dave traveled so much the previous week, we had a very mellow Father's Day. I made dinner; smoked chicken, asparagus with hollandaise sauce and smashed gold potatoes. Dave requested milkshakes for dessert. While I was cooking, the kids and Dave played some new board games.

What a wonderful day! I hope Dave, Papa and Papaw know how much we adore them!!