Memorial Day and Damon's Birthday 5/24-5/30

Monday
The Shurtliff's invited us to join them at Spring Creek Beach.  We had thought about going anyway, but were deterred because of the weather.  It had rained during the night and the morning still seemed cloudy and cool.  But the idea of being with friends outweighed the dreary weather.  We quickly got our beach stuff together and headed over.  We went to a spot that we had only tried to access once before.  The water had been high the last time, making beach access a bit tricky and due to the rainfall the night before the water was again high.  We chose to make an adventure of it and waded across an inlet that went up to my ribs to make it to the beach area.  The kids of course had fun, even more so having friends.  I am so thankful that the quarantine is letting up just a bit so that we can be with other people.  We are ready to socialize again!

The rest of the day was just about like normal.  Doug and I went to the store together - which actually isn't normal.  I made molasses sugar cookies with Damon and the girls and then I got dinner ready while the kids had screen time.  We had hamburgers with a yummy fruit salad.

Overall a nice day - just so glad that we did something fun and different in the morning.  I was getting depressed with the idea of the holiday being just like any other normal day.

Tuesday
Well it is the last week of school for the kids.  They don't have much to do, and most of it is optional.  Chris did a scavenger hunt and the girls made school memory books.  I went to the dentist and had the worst cleaning ever - the technician was so hard on my gums.  Our end of year treat was getting a Kona Ice slushy.  Our neighbors reserved a truck to come to our neighborhood, so we walked over and got some.  It was a hot day, so they tasted refreshing.  The Shurtiff kids came over to play after that.  The girls played in the sprinklers outside while Drew joined Damon upstairs playing video games.  I made a stir fry while talking to my mom.  She just finished writing my dad's history and I am trying to help by editing it.  Its been fun to read more about my dad and his earlier life stories.  We are working on a large puzzle right now and I find that I like going over there and working on that instead of doing more important things.  sigh, oh well.

One important thing that I did get done today is that I called the Dr. office for Jenna.  We are in the middle of scheduling a surgery for her.  We haven't had to deal with surgeries before, so this is all pretty new to us.  Makes me grateful for our good health and less than risky kids - no jumping off of houses over here.  So I think we got things figured out with the estimate and what our insurance will pay.  The overall cost is over $10,000 but we will only have to pay our deductible plus 20% after that.  We have a high deductible plan right now, but we figured it was still cheaper than having the other play with what we would save on monthly payments.  So Jenna will have her ultra sound on Thursday, and her surgery next week.  Hope it all goes well.

Wednesday-
The girls had their "awards party" on a zoom call.  It was definitely different.  They had a great 2nd year, but I feel bad for all the craziness at the end.

 I had a GNO in the evening - our first get together since the quarantine.  It was so good to visit in person.

 Thursday-
We picked up the girls' school supplies and said good-by to their teachers.  Mrs. Sherrill and Mrs. Hebert.

 In the afternoon Jenna and I went to get her ultra sound.  It was really fast.  The hospital seems so empty since so many optional surgeries have been put on hold.

 The girls have really gotten into crocheting.  They picked it up really fast and Jenna's stitches are really good.  They made bracelets and necklaces for themselves and their stuffed animals.

Saturday
Damon's birthday!  It seems like this year I didn't do very much for the kids.  Since we couldn't invite anyone over or do much of anything it seemed a bit anit-climatic.  But we had presents and Damon asked for banana cream pie and key lime pie.  We still did our Saturday jobs and then opened presents after that.  Damon built his new lego set and he made the science kit.  It was a color blending crystal experiment.

Damon is a great son, he is thoughtful and willing to help most of the time.  Of course he can be a bit bossy and self centered too, but we're all like that.  He really is a great help at home.  I'm so grateful that I can leave the house and know that the kids are looked after.  He has grown so tall.  He is 5' 7" now and he voiced dropped awhile ago.  He is growing into a nice young man.  Crazy to think that he only has three more years of high school.  We need to start working on getting his learners permit.