Looking for an uplifting blog post during these trying times? This might not be the one for you.
Kidding, it’s not that bad. Really. Everything was going great there for a while so we’ll focus on those parts.
Last weekend, in a somewhat premature attempt to break up the time we’re all going to be spending at home together, we packed up the kids and animals and headed to the lake. (2 parents, 3 kids, 1 dog, 1 hamster)
Friday afternoon, Wes played catch with Henry in the front yard. Well, there wasn’t a lot of catching on Henry’s end but it looked like he had fun.
That night after dinner, we played our new favorite game, 25 Outlaws.
No, that’s not Ella’s glass of wine.
Before everyone headed to bed, we busted June out of her cage and let her run around and get some love.
Nana, I promise that dish towel went right into the wash!
June + Baby Carrot = Love
Our mornings looked a lot like this.
Sleepy eyes, shaggy hair, playing HeyDay together—their newest obsession.
And our afternoons looked a lot like this.
Wes and Michael battling it out, playing ping-pong. Henry practicing his soccer ball-handling skills. Ella having a snack and Brisket hopefully sniffing around for any goodies that might drop.
On Saturday night’s sunset cruise, the boys pinky swore they’d both try jumping in the cold lake. I don’t understand boys.
This child just Tik Toks all day, probably in her sleep, too. I don’t understand girls.
Hunka hunka.
Someone had the idea to play hide-and-seek on the boat. We figured this would only last a minute or two.
We were wrong. This kept the kids laughing long after we thought they’d get bored of the game.
Ella won, hands down. While the boys were hiding their eyes, she borrowed her dad’s sunglasses and visor and took his spot in the captain’s chair. Michael walked by her TWICE before noticing her camoflauge.
She was very (very) proud of herself.
Sunday, the fisher-people got some bites after a long string of getting skunked by the smart fishes of Possum Kingdom.
“Bye fishy, back to the lake you go."
That night, we celebrated 17 years of wedded bliss with a cookie cake from the Graham Wal-Mart.
I’ve never skipped make-up on an anniversary and I may never go back to my old ways.
Monday morning, the kids were lounging with their screens when I reminded Ella she needed to clean out June’s cage before we hit the road later that afternoon. Sadly, June never woke up that day.
We found an AC-Del Co oil filter box in the garage, filled it with comfy hamster bedding, and buried her in a short, quiet ceremony on the lake side of the house.
The boys took June’s passing a little harder than we would have thought, but they’ve bounced back just fine and everyone is glad we were able to have such a good time playing with her and taking photos to remember her by, just before she left us.
R.I.P. June, we loved you!