June 2009

We knew that with summer starting, there would be some bittersweet moments. The entire month of June was one of them. Ty was scheduled to go to Alaska for just about the entire month for his job. The goodbyes never get easier but the kids and I had a lot to keep us busy with back in Wyoming for those 3 weeks. We said our sad goodbyes and literally headed in opposite directions.

My Mom flew out to help me drive back with the kids and we actually made the drive in about 10 hours. We made one long stop for potty, lunch and playtime and then hit the road fierce until we pulled into our little hometown, Douglas. Carter's memory never ceases to amaze me with what he remembers of the town, but for Whitleigh, each time it's a totally new experience. She thought the big white church in the middle of town was a castle, she waved to the statue of the man on the horse and got upset because he didn't wave back and she asked if the North Platte river that runs through town was "Papa's pool." What a hoot!

It didn't take us long to get settled but the monsoon rain took a little getting use to. It was a steady down pour for the first 2 days we were there which certainly didn't make for much fun at all. However, the sun came out on the 3rd day which was conveniently the same day the Schroeder's were pulling into town. HOORAY FOR COUSINS! Us girls immediately started preparing food and beds for more company that was set to come in the following day from Nebraska.

Everyone got to my parents house by later that next afternoon and we had such a great weekend filled with wild crazy children, fabulous food and good ol' family time! Most of us had never met the newest member to our family, precious Ava Lauryn, so it was great to get some baby time in too!

After a fun filled family weekend, the next week Carter started swimming lessons. The first day was a complete disaster. There was screaming, kicking, tears and one embarrassed Mom (ME!) That afternoon my Dad and I tried a little manipulation/intervention and surprisingly, it worked! I've found if I stay up to date enough with current sports players and remind Carter of those people... it pays off. I told him that Michael Phelps had to do swimming lessons when he was five too, otherwise he would have never won his gold medals. And, the light bulb turned on! Needless to say, the next day was much better and then only got better for the rest of his session!

We packed the rest of our days with fun play dates with grandparents, pool time, Wii tournaments, playground trips and much, much more. Our last weekend was Father's Day weekend and we made a day trip down to see my grandparents in Scottsbluff. We enjoyed a great Chinese dinner out at "The Wonderful House" where Whitleigh announced each time the waitress came in the room, "Look, Look, Look! MULAN!" Even though we missed getting to celebrate Father's Day with our own Daddy, it was fantastic to be able to spend it with our Granddaddy (or "G-Daddy" as Whitleigh would say) and Papa.

The best part about our trips back home is, it always make the time go by so quickly. It's another hard goodbye but once we're on the road, we are very ready to get back to our own home, rules and routine. Ty was to arrive on the following Friday but then got delayed through the weekend. He finally arrived on Tuesday morning at about 1:30am. The kids were shocked when they walked into our room later that morning and saw Daddy!

The rest of the month was filled with some down time as a family and getting geared up for July 4th weekend, when we were expecting our first company in quite some time! Little did we know of the adventures we were going to run into!