Stellar VBS 2023

 I survived Stellar VBS week! 

We (Mostly I) started set up on Friday the 23. One of the first things I did was set up the galaxy lights. They really did look awesome!

We spent a ton of time setting up over the weekend. Here was our photo booth area. It was a hit. I was really proud of it!

VBS was in full swing. Monday, June 26-June 30

Me and my kiddos. C was a helper this year! And the VBS shirts glow in the dark! 

Thursday night, we had an ice cream social, and watching a segment of the kids singing about Jesus was so good. It honestly made me tear up and was the moment I felt the most pride in all I had accomplished. 

Our moonscape was pretty cool and I enjoyed it!

And by 2:48 pm Friday afternoon the hall was back to normal as we officially rolled out. 

VBS is a large part of my job. This year we had 134 participants and over 80 volunteers in some capacity. It is a huge undertaking and I am glad it went so well. But it is also worth mentioning that I had some really complicated feelings about it this year. For the first time ever I don't know that I enjoyed the VBS with the pressure to keep everything under control. 

There were a lot of plan B's over the week when especially the weather got in the way. (WHY did it need to rain only during drop off or pick up?!) 

But God is good. And the kids had fun. So even if it wasn't my favorite VBS we've done, I am still proud of it. 

So that's where I was for the end of June. Running all of that. From beginning to end. 

How We 4thed

After my not completely unexpected blogging hiatus for VBS (more on that later), I decided it's time to get to updating on our goings-on. 

Obviously, Tuesday was the 4th of July and we celebrated exactly how we normally do. Which is to say, if you've ever read a post of mine about Independence Day... this one is going to seem awfully familiar. 

As it happens I did actually suggest we mix it up this year and go to watch fireworks. I was vetoed. Traditions clearly run deep. And you know what? I didn't mind one bit. 

We took it nice and easy. We worked on a Lego. 

We made a strawberry lasagna that looked like a flag. Weirdly this wasn't on my radar at all. Nor Husband's but C was at the grocery store, saw the Golden Oreos and grabbed them, and said "We need these for the strawberry lasagna for 4th of July!" 

It was on our radar then. And it was delicious again. 

I texted with my family group text. And laughed out loud when my brother clearly won 4th of July patriotism. 

We had grilled ribs and mac and cheese for dinner. And watched The Music Man as we do annually. 

Then Macy's fireworks with glowsticks. 

No bugs. No crowds. No extreme heat. I was content. And so were they! Crazy we've been doing this since 2015. I really figured they would have outgrown it but nope, I actually think there would be a revolt if I forced a change. 

When they were 8 months (M) and 3 (C). 

That was our 4th of July in a nutshell. 

A Sneak Peek of a Week

Here's a little glimpse into our week. 

Monday the kids started Oceanographer's camp at the museum. 

Tuesday I cleaned out the basement at work. It doesn't look like much in this picture but I promise you, it looks SO much better now. 

Wednesday night I spent the evening hanging with M outside. It was beautiful. She was hula hooping and I timed her. 

2:46 is pretty good for hula hooping. So she ran around and practiced some soccer drills. Then decided she wanted me to time her again. So we did.

17:38!!!!!!!! I was excited when she beat her time but I didn't tell her because I wanted her to keep going and then thought, "maybe she can get to 5 minutes." And she was just hooping and talking to me. 5 minutes came and went and at one point she said, "I think I beat my time." It had been like 8 minutes at that point. So she decided to go for 10 minutes. 

And we just kept giggling to each other. I walked the fine line between telling her how long it had been vs. not letting her give up. By 15 minutes I was calling C downstairs to watch. Spoiler alert: he didn't make it in time. But come on, 17 minutes of hula hooping is impressive. 

Last night, Thursday, the kids went to the art museum to see the Charles Shultz exhibit. You know C loves Charles Shultz. 

I met up with some friends at their country club (I was a guest!) and we swam and chatted and it was SO good. 

And now it's Friday. I am so glad. Happy Weekend friends! 

A Weekend of Work and Fun

 Friday night for Family Movie Night we went as a family to see The Little Mermaid. 

We liked it! It's not as funny as the animated one. But it wasn't bad. We liked the new songs quite well and even though we did miss Chef Louie I get that it wouldn't have made sense. 

BUT my one criticism was the seven sisters being all different races with the same dad. It doesn't even make sense and just felt forced. (Is it like Jacob and the tribes of Israel? 7 wives? Even still... it left far more questions than answers for me.) Don't want the mermaids to just be white? Fine by me. But the sisters should've looked like siblings and that's how I feel about it. 

Saturday I spent the day getting things ready for VBS. Because it's that season. This year we teamed up with some other parishes so I had to have a couple things ready for their VBS that started this morning.

So here is my Mars Rover. 

Saturday night we went to Smoothie King as a treat/dinner for one little Miss who is obsessed with Smoothie King. Then we went to see Two Gentlemen of Verona in the park. 

Yesterday after a long Mass (we had someone come into full communion, receiving confirmation, Eucharist and they had their marriage blessed) I got back to work to create a control panel. 

Then I wrapped the weekend up by hanging with a group of kids for confirmation large group. So plenty of work but we mixed in some fun too and that's good! 

Summer!

So how has summer gone so far? Pretty good over here. 

The big second-grade end-of-school bash was a blast! 

We went out to dinner to celebrate a good year!

M and I went to see Hello Dolly!

The kids have already had their first pool afternoon. That's always a treat! 

We saw baby robins. Man are they ugly. But it was neat!

And Husband had his piano recital last night! 

With that, we officially ended all the extracurricular activities and school-year stuff. So now it is really and truly summer. 

We Made It

 School's Out for the Summer! 

A little first day, last day action. 

A Long Birthday Weekend!

So way way back 11 years ago when C was born, he decided to appear on the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend. So this weekend was a throwback in many ways. I liked it. 

His birthday banner is themed appropriately for our portion of the fun. We picked up the kids early from school. It was Day of Awesome so they weren't actually learning anything anyway. 

We got on the road and headed to MN! When we got there, there was a Harry Potter party waiting. Because 11 is the Harry Potter birthday after all. 

It was a fantastic themed party! And C was given some lovely gifts he was very excited about. Saturday we took it easy and celebrated my brother's birthday. We also celebrated Pentecost because we had Sunday plans. 

A day at Nickelodeon Universe and the Mall! We are the worst at visiting my family and never actually experiencing the fun. So this was C's big birthday gift from us! 

Lunch was at Rainforest Cafe. Also C's request! They see it at Disney World and I always ask, "why come all the way to Florida for a place we can go at home?" C reminded me this past trip that he doesn't actually live near a Rainforest Cafe so I decided to make all his dining dreams come true. It was not the best part of the day. Our table wasn't great and our waiter was even worse. (And the waiter at the table next to us would not stop talking. It was dramatic overkill.)  

But the birthday boy liked it and was happy to have the experience so I am happy too! 

This gal is basically a teenager. She wanted a fanny pack belt bag (epic rebranding there world) so so so so bad. She got herself a Lululemon one, filled it with hand sanitizer from Bath and Body Works where she also got some "Fine Fragrance Mist" and then walked around like she owned the place. 

Throw in a Jamba Juice and I could have cried at how grown she seemed. Stay little M! 

Yesterday was my Dad's birthday. (Yes, our fam has 3 Memorial Day Weekend birthdays.) So we celebrated with him with a French Toast bake before hitting the road for home. 

I did stop and get an iced Campfire Mocha from Caribou because that's how I roll in MN. 

And that was our Long Birthday Weekend in a nutshell. We had a great time and are ready to tackle the last bit of school here.