The One With The Very Wet Summer

What have we been up to lately?

Usually this a question we kind of hum and haw through . . . . oh you know work, life, church, just hanging out.

Not anymore.

We have been up to a LOT of playing in the water . . . like on a daily basis. We have been up to family parties . . . . like on a daily basis. We have been up to surgeries, well not any of ours, but family members. We have been up to moving the 16,000 sq foot showroom we have to a new location. We have been up to job changes. 

On June 30th my Mom went into surgery to remove some of her parathyroid glands. This sit on top of your thyroid (in your neck) and control the amount of calcium in your body. Hers have been on the blitz for years, and finally they decided to take them out. In surgery, they decided to take out part of her thyroid as well. They thought originally that some of it may be cancerous, but so far all the tests have come back clear. She stayed overnight in the hospital, came home with a five inch slice in her throat, and a tube sticking out to drain all the extra fluids. Parker always asked Grandma to see her "bleeds".

My parents also received an offer they couldn't refuse on their 16000 square foot showroom, located on Eagle Road. Some opthalmologists came in, made an offer to by it, signed some paperwork, and just like that we were moving the HUGE showroom. The new building won't be ready for us to move in for another 3-4 months, so the showroom has been moved back to the showhouse in the mean time. Seriously though, moving commercial property is a million times worse than moving your house. I thought I hated moving our house every time, seriously I would move my house every month if it meant avoiding moving that showroom ever again. And the idea that in another couple of months, we will be moving everything to the new location, makes me want to puke. It will be no fun. Eric has been working at the showroom every day all day for the last 3-4 weeks. He practically moved the whole thing himself, I felt bad for him. What a sore guy he has been. We had to be out this last Friday, so everyone kicked it into overdrive. My grandpa came, my brothers, my dad and the other employee. I even helped, although there is a weight limit currently on what I should be lifting, and so I couldn't help lift the heavy things like I would have liked to. Mostly I just overworked myself, and would spend the night in pain. Now Eric and I are both sick, but the showroom has been moved . . . mission accomplished.

On July 2, Eric and I put together a HUGE slip and slide, seriously it was over 80ft long, down a huge hill at my parent's house. Brittany and Jared came over with their kids. We had a lot of fun, my mom had just had surgery, so we stayed out of their house for the most part, brought over some hot dogs and stuff for a BBQ and just had a fun time. Everyone went down the slip n slide . . . yes including me, which is incredible because I usually don't love to do that. Of course Eric and I forgot or camera.

On July 4th we put the slip n slide up again for the 4th. Eric and I bought KFC for an easy 4th of July meal, my sister and her family, parents and both grandparents came over to my parents house. We did more slip and slide action and then lit off fireworks. It was of course lots of fun . . . and of course Eric and I forgot our cameras again.

July 9th, that Saturday, was my Dad's 51st birthday. The family and kids went out and had dinner at Macaroni Grill. He got a bunch of stuff for his N scale train set. So maybe he will actually set the thing up, since he's been collecting everything for it for 10 years.

Sunday the 10th, we all got together at my Grandma Lewis' house for my Dad's birthday with his extended family. My cousin Laurel and her husband Tyler, and their son Aiden were in town from Washington too, so it was good seeing them.

Then this last Saturday, the 16th, there was a Parker family reunion. Parker is my Grandma Lewis' side of the family. So all of her brothers and sisters and their kids, grandkids, and great grandkids got together for another BBQ and hung our since it has been awhile since we have all gotten together. (This side of the family is also where we came up with Parker's name . . .  obviously. :) )

So now you see what I mean when I say we have been having family parties practically every day.

Mixed in with all of this, the kids have been playing in the water in the backyard as much as they can. We bought a little plastic swimming pool for them at WalMart - it's not huge. But I have this severe reservation about buying the huge above ground ones knowing that it will kill the grass. So we buy a big plastic one, empty it out every few days, and move it to another spot in the grass. We also have a slip n slide that is not nearly as cool as the one we made at my parents, and of course they love running in the sprinklers.

Day one, Preslie decided she didnt' even need her swimsuit on. She jumped in fully clothed into the fresh feezing just out of the hose water. 

 This is the hot hubby . . . . ladies don't look too close.

 And this is why they invented swim diapers, and diaperless swimsuits for little ones. Look at the sag on that thing.

 The next day she wore her swim suit. She has three that we have to rotate out as she doesn't let them dry before she wants to go back out again.

 This is the "bigger" little pool we got at walmart the kids didn't fit too well together in the other. And please ignore our extremely brown grass, we found out just before this that the people who blew out our sprinklers in the fall broke them, so no water. . .  don't worry they are fixed now, and the grass is greening up nicely!

 Swimsuit number 2 from Grammy and Papa Marshall. Preslie plays on the bottom of the slide for HOURS.

 Slip n Slide time!

 And this is the other thing we have been working on, a garden. we had to fence it off so the dog wouldn't eat it, and then we thought everything died, so we kind of gave it over to the weeds. Then lo and behold, there were plants growing, so now we are getting all the weeds puled and enjoying peas so far!