3am wake up call, drive to Seattle. Have heart attacks in the airport always.
We rolled into Reno so early!
9:00
Emily picked us up, and we met up with cousins at Scheels.
It was so fun to dink around the mall, ride the ferris wheel for a dollar, then go to mini-golf.
The biggest bummer is that Jim had to stay home and work.
We did so many fun things he would have loved.
Like while we were playing in Reno, some of the men went mountain biking. darn.
So many big kids these days, but they have cousin fun just like always.
Change the water with Rob,
Sunday dinner, Sunday games,
So much Wimbledon on Jamie's phone,
lawn golf, mountain bikes.
Remember the surprising MVP of CanJam was Mylie and Damon? haha they were unbeatable.
This summer there was a litter of 6 kitties down at the old barn!
It was like a gift, just for our tourism pleasure.
That barn is so nostalgic to me. I spent hours playing around with cousins.
Climbing walls, raising each other on the car lift...
I remembered Randy had written Goo on the harvesters. Yep it's still there:
We blew up a thousand tubes then floated down the river.
This trip I got to spend a surprise lot of time with Aaron.
He and me and Jamie clumped together the whole time down the river.
We got talked in to going to gross Sonic after.
That night we rented the pool and had such a blast.
There are no rules when you rent, so the kids clogged the slide over and over.
Four-wheelers and kitties. Repeat and repeat.
Kitties are a highlight ever summer.
All the menfolk hate them. They are in the way and mangy.
But they keep the mice away!
This year the kids watched a lot of "Love on the Spectrum".
When we were brainstorming about what activities we should do, I remembered my favorite from when I was a kid - go to Sand Mountain and have a weenie roast.
We haven't been in DECADES because it kind of got taken over by four wheelers.
But we went on a weekday, and hoped for the best.
And it was THE BEST. I have forgotten how beautiful and impossible it is!
Even in 100 degree heat!
I was so nervous that it would be a terrible activity, but it turned out to be my favorite.
I actually can't stop thinking about it. It was SO FUN. And hard. The kids' faces were red hot at the top.
I love the blank canvas of the sand.
Hanging out at the top while the sun goes down,
hold sand in your hand like an hourglass,
Abe comes up on his four wheeler and makes us laugh,
slide down on a sled,
avoid the very top where the wind whips the sand in your eyes.
Then back down where the grandparents set up the fire and food.
Sand in your hair,
fire smoke in your clothes,
melted marshmallow sticky fingers.
It is the messiest and the best. That half hour ride home so tired and dirty.
The houses empty out day by day as families go home.
The cousin group gets smaller until they all fit into one car to go to Walmart.
Mom's mama cat was pregnant and disappeared - we wondered where she had her babies.
Then as the Kelvingtons were pulling away to drive home, we heard a mew behind this bush.
There was one crying baby and one dead baby!
The mama then moved the one baby to the garage and had three more kitties.
I don't know if the babies survived. The mama cat didn't really know how to stay put.
This whole week was so fun. My kids forget about their other life.
But also this whole week I had on my mind: the post from Sharley that Lance had a seizure and was now sedated. His final days were opon us.
Every day I wondered if he was still with us.
This has been 5 years of wondering if he is still with us.
But now it was going to be final.
When I touched down in Seattle and turned on my phone, I saw the pictures of their sweet family gathered around him as he passed.
I guess this is also part of why this summer feels so askew. Every minute with family is so precious and it feels like everything is flying out of my hands.
Is this just a normal feeling you get when you are 45?
Sand slipping through my fingers.
