I've been able to go on a couple of hikes this summer...not as much as I'd like, but I'll take what I can get. Kim and I drove up Guardsmans Pass and did the Blood Lake and Lackawaxen Lake hike, which was about 5 miles roundtrip. It was beautiful! And the weather was nice. I love that it's cooler up in the mountains. We saw several moose along the way.
Monday night, June 29th, Scott and I took Annabelle to the airport and helped her get her bag checked and then she took off for her HXP trip. All the kids who go on this trip have the same backpack and the same shirt, so it was easy for her to spot fellow HXP goers in the airport and she had several from her group going to Ghana that were on her same flight which was nice.
Once she got to JFK airport, they wait for their next flight which goes to Kenya. JFK is where everyone from her group meets before they take off. And it's where they turn in their phones for the next couple of weeks. Annabelle said she's never slept so well on a plane as she did this time when she didn't have her phone distracting and entertaining her.
From Kenya they flew to Accra. Unfortunately, Annabelle's checked bag, as well as several others from her HXP groups' bags, didn't make it to Accra that day. And since they were taking another plane early in the morning to go on a fun expedition in Mole national park, they didn't get their checked bags until about 4 days later, once they flew back to Accra. That flight was also delayed due to the rain. But her group was fantastic and they just rolled with the punches and were happy to be together and it didn't matter the circumstances! Needless to say, she had a great trip!
Once back in Accra, they did some humanitarian work. They were building the walls of a school, they made and planted a garden, and they dug and cemented a large hole in the ground where trash will go and be burned.
They had early mornings and went to bed around 1030ish. They always met for daily devotional.
While she was on the trip, we got a phone call from HXP saying we didn't fill out the Kenya visa and needed to do that. I had no idea what they were talking about. Apparently a few months ago they decided to go see giraffes during their long layover in Kenya on their way home, but they each needed a Kenya visa for that. That freaked me out a little at first because I knew how long and hard it was to get the Ghana visa. Luckily, Kenya's visa is nothing like that. We filled out all the information online in a matter of minutes, and we received it in a matter of minutes which we could then email to HXP. I'm grateful that ll worked out.
This is where I've spent many hours of my summer. I'm working on a book and I spend some time on it most days. It's been fun for me and I hope to continue to consistently do creative writing.
Fourth of July weekend, Scott, Nora and I decided to drive out to Pocatello and hang with Elisabeth and Tayson and their family. We got to stay the night at their basement apartment for the first time. We got to go boating with them Friday and Saturday which was fun, and I actually got up on my own this time!!! Both days! I was very, very excited. We drove back home Saturday night.
Nora's team has been trying to do track workouts on Monday mornings. I ran one of them when Stef was gone. The girls did well and we had popsicles after.
Wednesday July 8th, Scott, Nora, Jane and I flew to North Carolina. We stayed at Krissy's house Wednesday night, then we stayed two nights at Topsail beach in a condo (Scott just stayed one night with us and went back with his family early); that Saturday Andre and his family met me and the girls at the beach, and then we stayed Saturday through Monday night with Krissy again and headed back home Tuesday morning.
We enjoy stopping in the beach stores and looking at the t-shirts and jewelry etc, and of course, we always grab an ornament as a souvenir.
Baby Emma still won't come to me, or let me get close without yelling, 'no!'. I'm going to have to up my game. Maybe next time I see her I'll bring candy and try to bribe her to come to me. Ava on the other hand loved when I'd take her out to boogie board. She could spend her whole day in the water.
I, unfortunately, didn't have the common sense to bring any sunscreen for day 2 at the beach(we used Kellys the day before) and neither did Andre so I got very burned all over. Thankfully, Krissy had aloe at home, and I used it a lot over the next few days. Nora, too, as she got burned on her back as well.
We got to spend a lot of time with Kelly and Krissy and their families which was fun, and we were able to visit with Scott's mom a couple of times, and his dad for a little bit too.
We stayed in baby Bailey's bedroom, and she stayed in her crib in the closet of that room. She's currently potty training and won't go poop in the toilet, so she waits to go poop until they put a diaper on her at night (we know those tricks! our kids did it too) and then she goes! So a couple of nights after we'd waited for Bailey to fall asleep, when we walked into the bedroom it was so stinky! Wade would change her and she'd go back to bed, and then we'd need to keep the door open for a bit to air it out, but then the cats would try to run in, and with me being allergic, we couldn't have that, so I sat guard at the door and stretched on the floor while reading as we aired the room out before crawling into bed at night :).
We went swimming, made and ate meals together, watched some World Cup and had dinner at Kellys one night.
We got to see Grandma's new place which is so stylish and cute, and then we enjoyed a beautiful walk with her and grabbed some lunch after.
Before we left, we stopped by one of Grandpa's jobs to say goodbye. Until next time!
