Weekly Wind Down {Father's Day, Slow Days, Garden Update} June 18-24

Sunday was Father's Day.  We stayed over in Missouri and started our day at Mike and I's "growing up" church.  This meant we got to snag some Father's Day pictures with Papa Phil.

Mike, Zayden, and Phil all ended up matching!

Seven beautiful grandchildren!

Mike and his sister with Phil.

I took my opportunity, too.

After church we went out to my folks' for lunch and to celebrate Father's Day and Xavier's birthday.

I didn't do a great job taking pictures - I visited too much instead - but it was a fun afternoon!

Evalynn and Arthur - equally ornery.

Checking out Grandma's raised garden.

We had to stop by Tractor Supply for a couple of things on the way home.  The girls all ogled the Schleich animals and the little ones had big eyes for this dirt bike.

Back to Iowa for us.

Monday was a quiet day.  The girls and I were supposed to go swimming in Newton with friends but Natalee came home with a sprained ankle, and a couple came home with head colds, so we decided to stay home.  We went to the chiropractor and then just spent the day at home.

Mia braided beads into her mannequins hair.

Monday evening my friend, Shonya text and said she was in town and asked if I wanted to get supper.  Mike was already planning on making chicken noodle soup for supper and told me to have a good time.  It was so nice to visit!

The children love Daddy's chicken noodle soup the best and that's just fine by me.  It is very yummy.

Tuesday with this dolly.

Mike played softball with the church league Tuesday evening.

Wednesday we got out and went to the library.  Everyone felt well enough to spend some time at the public pool, although Natalee took it slow and still overdid it with her ankle a bit.  Back home for supper and some warm oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Mia and Evie made a "store" with novelty food erasers and invited us to their grand opening.  The store was based out of their closet.  I love their imaginations.

Thursday the girls and I went to hippotherapy.  The boys used Mike's lunch break to get hair cuts.

Evalynn and I fell in love with this sweet book from the library and read it several times.

Mike ended the evening at worship practice and Xavier subbed in for him for church softball.

Friday I intended to get up early and go to the garden before it was warm but I failed - again.  I still went but I paid for it in sweat.  I got the cucumbers going up instead of sprawling all over, pulled some weeds, and hoed around most of the plants.

Cosmos....probably should have been thinned.  I'm reminded again that we don't really know what we're doing.

The sweet corn is looking fine.  Xavier is excited for this!

I'm hoping to taste a homegrown watermelon!

The pumpkins that the kids planted the week before are coming up!

A beautiful head of romaine - that was admittedly a bit bitter.  It should have been harvested earlier in the week and earlier in the morning.  But it's still gorgeous.

Harvest!

The cucumber was so yummy!  And I brought Mike in a jalapeno pepper.

The rest of Friday was spent with household tasks.  I made a big lunch knowing we'd have a light supper.  Papa stopped by on his way back from Newton and brought frosties and visited awhile.  We left after Mike got off work for homeschool softball.

The kids had a great time and talked us into Culver's afterwards - more to hang out with their friends than because of the food.

We were late getting our Wal-Mart grocery pick up order coming back into town.  I called ahead and they left it at customer service for me to load myself.  Very thankful they didn't just say no because it had things I needed for Xavier's birthday!

Saturday we celebrated our 13 year old!!  The rest of us held down the fort while Xabe and Dad food hopped and shopped.

Playing outside around the rain showers.

Ending another week with this vibe....

A full week of fun!