Two Wednesdays ago: My mom and I spent the day together. We walked around town, spent a great time in the fabric shop, looked at pictures and videos online, sat and talked for a couple hours, enjoyed the salmon bbq, and attended Ron Cline's session. It was so relaxing and wonderful. Our conversations and laughter was very enjoyable. It was weird not having my dad and brother here with us but I'm glad for the time with my mom. I was able to share a lot of what I've been learning and just in verbalizing it all, I was able to process a lot and figure out exactly what I have been learning. Saying it to my mom rather than a journal was great too because she offered helpful feedback and encouragement! It was a great day! I will share about a fun event from Wednesday night in a separate post because it is a long story.
Two Thursdays ago was my Mom's birthday! Unfortunately, it was also the day I had to work the most but we were able to do fun things in-between my shifts. I took her out to a new little Mexican restaurant in town for lunch--we were the only ones in there! I had machaca, my favorite; it was so yummy! Then I had carnival and mom came to visit me at my booth Flick It. After clean-up, I took her to get cupcakes in Seaside and walk around. That night's session was good and babysitting was fine. We had a great group of kids this week and I really loved each session with them. Except for one girl that liked to create cliques and not join in on any of the activities.
Two Fridays ago: work and more time with my mom. We walked to Haystack Rock and back and had more great conversations!
Last Saturday my mom left after breakfast. I was sad to see her go and since then I have been more homesick. I went back to bed and slept from 10-3pm. It was SO nice and I really needed to catch up on all that sleep. Too much fun really does wear you out. WooHoo meeting was fun and hilarious as always.
Last Sunday was great! The new group of kids was so fun. In the afternoon a bunch of us went cliff jumping again. I wasn't sure that I would go again since I had checked that item off my list. But...I did decide to do it after everyone else jumped. I still took a few minutes to finally do it and needed a song to inspire me again. Craig had the perfect one: "Defying Gravity"! I jumped and though I did swallow quite a bit of water and was choking, I was not in pain and received no battle wounds this time. It was so much fun. On the way back, our car decided that blueberry pie sounded amazing so we drove on to Safeway to get the ingredients and Ellen agreed to bake us pie later that week. After session, a few of us hung out in Fireside and listened to Mike’s life story. It has been so great getting to really know people here and build such great friendships.
Monday afternoon became a spontaneous girls' day, which we all agreed was more fun than the planned one the previous week. We drove to Warrenton to go to Fred Meyer and Costco mainly so I could return and buy some things but then they all ended up getting stuff. Jill’s indecisiveness over yoga pants and food was great entertainment! On the way back we rolled the windows down, blasted some awesome music, and sang at the top of our lungs! Such good times and I’m really going to miss these girlies. Sessions went good that day and my Bible Study was wonderful. A bunch of us headed to the beach for a bonfire, complete with tiki torches. J We were all talking in British accents and it was really funny.
Tuesday: sessions were good with our kids! That morning we told them to bring sweatshirts for our time at the beach that night. One girl said “we’re going to have a bonfire?!?! You guys are the BEST!!!” We had Capture the Flag and a bonfire at the beach which went really well. During the afternoon I had my mid-summer evaluation which went well and then practiced for the Talent Show. I now have an extra rec shift on Tuesday nights since one of the Floaters has left. It was a lot of fun and I spent most of the time teaching Jill how to bump and set a volleyball and then peppering with Katie. Afterwards, a bunch of us gathered in Jackie’s house to watch Trenton’s favorite movie, Rocketeer.
Wednesday was such a great day! I slept in which was so nice and then baked cookies with my K2 staff for the Nursery gals. They were the group we were assigned to do something nice for. We had lunch with them in Fireside and gave them cookies and cards. After that Gretta and I watched Hello Dolly, singing along to all the songs while Jordan sat there and pretended not to watch it. J The sun finally came out and so Jill, Gretta and I went to meet Trenton at the beach for some Vitamin D. After session that night we had a little girls movie night at Ellen’s to watch Hairspray. As I write, I realize all I do this summer is hang out with cool people and have fun, yep it’s awesome! J
Thursday was great. Another awesome carnival which I spent part of in the dunk tank. J Mexican food with friends and then the long session and babysitting for two adorable children.
Friday’s sessions were a little more chaotic. All of our kids really bonded with one another this week which was great but it made them want to have conversations and giggle more than listen. The sun came out again and I was able to enjoy the beach for a little bit before going to my Rec shift. I usually don’t enjoy rec shifts because it is slow but I knew I needed to have a better attitude about it so I went in looking for an opportunity to hang out with kids even though I would rather be at the beach in the sunshine. God was good to me though and I had a GREAT rec shift. One of the girls from the Youth came and sat down to chat with me. I found out that she went to Legacy and we had a lot in common which provided great conversation. She then showed me her sketchbook which was amazing and I asked her to draw me something. As she sketched, we talked more and she pointed out how awesome it was that God is such an amazig artist. After she finished she asked for my email so we can keep in touch. It was neat to spend time with someone not in my age group and connect with her. I’m always amazed at what I learn from the kids here even when they don’t mean to be teaching me. After session that night we finally had the blueberry pie! But…because Zach and Ellen are retrievers and felt bad talking about pie at lunch in front of people who hadn’t originally been invited…they invited everyone and decided to make 2 more pies: apple and chocolate peanut butter. We all sat in Ellen’s cozy living room eating pie, playing Apples to Apples, playing Robot Unicorn, and laughing way too much.
And now that brings me to today! Kid breakfast, ear drops that made my hearing WORSE, lunch with Cassie and Brian, drinking a delicious French Kiss Latte on the beach in the rain, WooHoo meeting and volunteering in the nursery to hold an adorable 1year old boy all night! :D So happy!
Phew, that took awhile! My bad for not keeping up on it. I will try to do better the remainder of the summer.
Whew! Feel like I just lived that all out and I am beat! Your busy school life is going to seem so slow after this summer of busy-ness and non stop fun! Maybe then you can catch up on your sleep. Loved being there with you for a few days. :)
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