Update

The boys have made it back from NH and their Father/Son Camping Trip. They had a blast, got to catch up with lots of friends. They unpacked and just have to vacuum the car.

Girl Scout camp has been tiring and busy, but well worth it. Anna is having fun as a camp counselor, her camp name is "Sleepy" and I've been dubbed "Harmony".

It's been cooler here, which has been very nice.

Boys' Camping Trip

Bogdan and Gabriel have arrived in NH for their Father/Son camping trip. They also picked up Gabriel's friend Owen and they are all headed up to Glen, NH for a camping trip with our old parish. They should have good weather.

Here, we just got pelted with a huge cloudburst. Marian and I were at the bank and got doused just going from the car to the bank.

Fireflies

Amazing fireflies around here every (clear) night. We can see them in our big picture windows in our bedroom and family room. We've noticed that they are quicker here, they seem to flash off and on quicker than in NH. Also they are more green than yellow colored in their light. Interesting. I'm sure there's a scientific reason.

Marian had a double header softball game last night, at 6:30pm it was 98 (F) outside! It finally cooled off to 85 (F) by 9pm. We doused the girls with water in between innings. They went through 5 gallons of water.

Anna has a double header tonight and it's predicted to be 95 (F), so it will be another hot evening for them.

Splash Country

Wet, but fun, time at Splash Country. (Dollywood with water) We all have sun on our shoulders and faces, but it was fun. And it was very hot, so the water was cooling.

Busy Week

VBS is almost done and it has gone so well. Except for a stomach flu going thru the group, yes, my kids got sick, but are all better now.

We are all looking forward to sleeping in!

Sweltering

It's been very hot here, 95 most of the day! Gabriel was happy that the lawnmower wasn't working, he really wasn't looking forward to mowing in this oppressive heat.

1st day of Vacation Bible School was successful and fun.

A Night Game

We went to the Smokies baseball game tonight, they are a AA team that feeds into the Chicago Cubs. They had a special deal for ORNL and we got a BBQ meal and tickets and had a nice night out. They lost to the other team (Jaxx?) 7-5.

There was rain predicted and it did rain on the way there and back. It was a warm night otherwise. It went from 90 to 84 by the end of the game.

VBS is this week, so we'll be busy.

Dollywood Saga

Here is the short story of it, well it may turn into a long story

6 Girl Scouts + 2 siblings + 2 leaders + 6 other family members=16 people

5 seats in car A + 5 seats in car B + 5 seats in car C= 15 people

The math is pretty clear, I needed to borrow a mini-van. So, I set up with
someone to borrow a mini-van, and then this woman ditches on me at the last
minute. Literally, at 8:30pm last night, before I had to leave this
morning. Liability, what if one of the girls sues me? She tells me. I left
without saying much at all, for fear my anger would kill her.

On the phone with car rental places, none has any mini-vans in area. NONE.

Decide to leave my older kids home and not come. Tears and frustration and
bad words. Then, miraculously, 3 people back out and now we have enough to make it this morning.

And I survived Dollywood with all the kids and we didn't lose anyone,
anyone's cell phones, anyone's glasses/sunglasses and we were all pretty
happy. AND it didn't rain!! Well, it did sprinkle a bit, but that doesn't
count, we were already wet from the water ride at that point.

Oh and by the way our AC is not working....repairman coming tomorrow morning. UGH

Southern Hospitality is Dead

Remember asking a neighbor a favor, like a cup of sugar, or borrowing something. Well, those days are gone now. Liability and worry have taken over and the simplest of exchanges no longer happen.

All those stereotypes about the South are just urban legends. There is no Southern Hospitality. No one lends helping hands, no one cares. So, tell me how do these begin?

All kids accounted for

7 boys slept over and all are accounted for this morning. Most are all still sleeping. They abandoned the movie we got and spent it outside instead. When they all went to bed, we realized that the air conditioning is broken in the basement. So we gave them box fans to cool down with.

Now, of course, we have to see about the air conditioning! The joys of living in the south.

Rain is predicted for most of the week, and Marian is worried about our Girl Scout trip planned for Dollywood on Thursday.

Lat Day of School!!

The kids will be home shortly, last day of school and it's a 1/2 day at that!! They are excited. If the weather cooperates, we will be heading to the pool. Gabriel is having some friends over for a sleepover. He is very excited.

Florida trip

We took a spontaneous trip to Florida this past weekend. The kids were excited to go and so we went to visit Uncle Jerry and Aunt Marilyn. The kids got spoiled by them, and came home with tons of junk food (all gone by now!) It was a nice trip and we all arrived safely home in time for dinner yesterday.

Things we saw along the way:
More tire treads than we could count in GA
A purple Lamborghini in GA (Gabriel was very excited about this siting)
A mail box in the shape of a golf ball
A huge peanut off of I-75 in GA
6 roadkill deer
A Swift truck that Anna thinks is following us (still) from NH
Gas as high as $2.90 and as low as $2.49/gallon
Alligator sighting signs at the beach

The kids have 4 more days of school, but not much going on, just fulfilling the state requirement of a certain number of school days. Anna does have 2 more finals and then she will be (officially) a high schooler!

Weather reports predict rain for the next 10 days, so there may not be too much softball practices or games this week.