I Don't Know How But They Found Me

It was an incredibly anticipated day.  I think Tanner told me every, single day for a solid month and a half, how many more days until the concert.  In order to go, Tanner and Landon had to have negative Covid tests and Dean had his vaccination card.  So the Saturday before Dean took them to get tested only to have Tanner's rapid test come back positive.  What!?  Dean and I had had colds all week so we were worried maybe it really was Covid (although it would be weird to have it a second time after being vaccinated).  So we all got tested and then hulled up in the house until we knew more.  It made for a late Saturday scramble to get people to cover our responsibilities at Church, and Tanner was on pins and needles whether or not he'd be able to go to the concert the next day.  Well, Heavenly Father cares about Tanner and the desires of his heart, because our tests came back by Sunday night (a day earlier than they were supposed to), and they were all NEGATIVE!  Hallelujah!  So the next day Tanner, Landon, and Dean put in a half day at school and then headed out for the 4 1/2 hour drive to the concert.  They had an absolute blast.  Dean felt a bit out of place in the college crowd of purple haired crazies, but the performance was phenomenal,  and it was a night they won't ever forget.  It was even worth the 1:30am return home on a school night no less!!

All geared up and ready to hit the road.  Their excitement was palpable.  Especially after the false positive Covid scare.

It was a real classy, professional gig.  Hahaha!

Tanner got this awesome shot of Dallon.

They were only a few feet away from the stage!

Meanwhile, while they were gone to the concert, Braddock, Bridger and I managed to have some fun here.  When the boys got home from school we hurried to Braddock's piano lesson and then we were free to spend the night shopping, going out to dinner, and then watching a movie with homemade ice cream making.  It wasn't the concert they wished they were at, but Braddock was consoled when he scored new Heely shoes, a Dog Man book, and a glow in the dark fidget cube all at Marshalls.  I even think the words, "the best day ever," were thrown around.  So all in all it turned out to be a pretty great day for all of us.

They asked me my name to call when our food was ready, definitely never had this spelling before.  Hahaha!  Just call me "Ambria" from now on!

We made ice cream in a bag to test it out before I do it with the Young Women.  Turned out ok.  We'll keep tweaking to make it a little more firm.

And lately this dude wants company at bed time.  Those led lights on his bed ALMOST made us feel like we were at the concert too. ;)

All About Braddock

 

Braddock had a school project where he was supposed to bring three items that described him and a sign for his "Braddock Museum."  He brought a lego airplane he had built to represent his love of legos and engineering.  He also took a soccer ball and a picture of his family.  But he was most proud of his poster.  It was super creative and had an 80's vibe.  We couldn't get rid of it without documenting it with a picture.  Sure love this cute 4th grader. 

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day Weekend we had a good mix of work and fun.  We managed to can a bunch of peaches and tomatoes, did some lawn mowing(ours and Grandma and PapPap's), and house cleaning, but then we squeezed in some family time as well.  Saturday night, after grabbing Landon from a birthday party, we hit up a local arcade that we've never been to before.  It did not disappoint.  They have hundreds of pinball machines and tons of retro arcade games.  There's Skee-Ball, air hockey, and a bowling game if you like more of the hands on variety.  You name it, they had it, and it was our boy's dream come true.  We paid for two hours and then just went for it.  Admittedly I started out feeling a bit out of my element, but after a few minutes I warmed right up and then the time flew by.  We'll definitely be going back.  

Monday we loaded up the trailer with all our bikes and hit up the Montour Trail.  Bridger's still not riding a bike on his own, so Dean was nice enough to pull him in the bike trailer.  We stopped at the little creek and the boys had a blast trying to skip rocks across the surface of the water and then we hit the trail hard.  We put in 8.5miles and man our legs were burning by the end.  Braddock was the only one without gears on his bike, so that poor kid was worn out.  Dean had the genius idea to take the laces off his shoes and tie Braddock's bike to his to help him out a little, and we eventually made it back to the car and felt SO proud of our accomplishments.  It was already past dinner time by time we finished up so we decided to use a giftcard we had to Applebee's and stopped for dinner on the way home.  The biggest bummer of the day was that Tanner accidentally left his retainer wrapped up in a napkin at the restaurant, so that's going to cost us a whopping $175!  Ug!  But it was worth the memories we made that day.

Hookstown Fair

The Hookstown Fair fell the same week as the start of school. We usually try to go on a week night to avoid the crowds of the weekend, and the only day that would work for us was Thursday, which was also the first day of school.  I had dinner ready early so we could eat as soon as everyone was home from school in order to maximize our time at the fair.  Well, the buses were so messed up that day that we didn't get Braddock and Bridger home until 5:35pm.  We told them to grab their food to eat in the car and we scrambled out the door to head to the fair grounds.  Jena hooked Dean and I up with passes to get in so we only had to pay for the boys!  Thanks Cunninghams!  And of course our first order of business was to go see their cows and snag Colby to come hang with us for the night.  The boys had a blast riding all the rides, and Bridger was a good sport when he had to hang back with me on the kiddy rides while all his brothers and Colby went to the bigger rides.  We had a great night and it was fun to reconnect with friends.

It's not a trip to the fair if you don't check out all the cute bunnies!

First Day of School 2021

This is it! The day I’ve been dreading for 13 years. All four of my babies are in school all day and I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself. Oh wait, yes I do, this momma is taking a nap! 🤣 We have a Freshman, 6th grader, 4th grader, and Kindergartener! I hope they have a great first day, and I can’t wait to hear about it this afternoon! #backtoschool🍎📚✏️

Had to document breakfast because it's probably the only warm one they'll get all school year! Haha!

And it looks like someone else is going to miss them too.  I spy a sad dog.

*UPDATE: I did take a nap.....a very LONG nap and it was lovely!