A Ton of Fun in 2021: Week 32 Recap

When I was in 4-H, my entire summer from mid-July until late August was full of judging, county fair, state fair and the Attica Independent fair.  I loved every minute of it and hoped somedays to pass on that love. Well this is Isaac's second year in 4-H and he took a laundry project that was chosen as Allen County's selection to compete at the state fair. I was thrilled to read his name on the list and called everyone I knew to see who wanted to ride down with me and enjoy the state fair. That was until I talked to a neighbor who asked why I was so excited to go to Columbus for 10 minute judging. After explaining how much I loved the fair and that would be the highlight, she sadly broke the news to me that there was no State Fair this year (stupid COVID) and that judging was on OSU's campus.  Insert my very sad face. At any rate, Olivia chose not to go along, so Isaac and I set off for Columbus for judging on a Tuesday. He said it went fine, but his score sheet had all goods marked (excellent, very good, good, needs improvement). So apparently the State judge wasn't as impressed with Isaac as Allen county.  But Isaac got a ribbon and was thrilled...so I count that as a win.  

I think the part he was most excited for was lunch and Top Golf after the 4-H judging. After putting our name in at Top Golf, we headed over to Benihana for lunch.  It was delicious as normal, but it was also lunchtime so much quieter. Next we went to Top Golf and played for 1.5 hours.  We had a blast. He kicked my butt. No really. He was on fire and just nailing the ball and racking up the points. Mean time, I would get 3 points for hitting it way out to one of the furthest holes.  It was tons of fun and great mother/son bonding. 

Have you ever heard of Erin Condren planners?  Me either until last year. It was love at first sight. Are they pricey? Of course. Are they the best planner you'll ever own? Duh, of course. So after investing in a spiral bound one last year, I went all out with the sophisticated and classy gold leather bound edition for the next 1.5 years.  I'm over the moon excited with the spiral bound version and spend at least 4 hours with my color pens putting appointments throughout. 

A very cool even the town of Elida does is national night out. Planned by our amazing leaders of PTO, it's a community event that lasts 2 hours with booths around the Elida field house parking lot. Isaac had football until 8, so we only got to the last hour. It's such a great event to know more about businesses in the Elida area and all things with the school.  Oliva put her name in the SODC returning student 'free month of tuition' drawing and WON! I'm more excited than she is.  The girls also spent most of their time at the Dj's booth to karaoke. Both kiddos love seeing old teachers and their friends from their classes who they may have lost touch with over the summer. Or just connect with their besties!  

Speaking of besties...Both Isaac and Olivia's besties came over this week to swim. Brayden and Lia came over to play.  I figured if they both had friends to play with, they wouldn't be bugging each other. In typical fashion, they still picked on each other. Brayden also met us at bowling a few days later, so here are some pictures of that as well. The kids bowl free program is pretty sweet. 

We have been waiting for some decent weather all summer to have friends over. We finally had a good day that Zig and his beautiful family could come play. Not to mention that we got to get some baby snuggles in as well.  Maybe that was my favorite part?! But it was sure nice to catch up with Kristi and not worry what the kids were doing because they just disappear and we don't see them until it's time to eat or leave. Jeremy grilled out for me and the kids and then fried fresh perch for the adults. It was a wonderful day full of lots of memories. 

A Ton of Fun in 2021: Week 16 Recap

 

Um, yea, you think I'm kidding. I can assure you I am not. I looked on my phone to see what we did this week.  I have not one photo through the week.  Reflecting on the week, I thought "did I not take any photos?" Then I remembered. I spent most evenings on my computer trying to make deadlines that were literally stacked on top of one another. This week I had a journal review due that I agreed to do for a prestigious journal in the field, had my own revise and resubmit for the Journal of PR Education special issue on COVID issues and my study on PRSSA faculty advisers, had my yearly updates for our textbook due, and another book chapter with Jamie due concerning AI in the health care field. Oh and through in there a couple of track meets in the evenings and my day job of teaching, it was a wild ride. We did get two deadlines pushed back which helped tremendously, but I found myself still up until the wee hours of the evenings all weekend too. 

I did get to host some students from my Sports Marketing and PR class for dinner. They had won the BINGO game assignment that we had played during March Madness fair and squared. I made lasagna and funfetti cupcakes for dessert.  Little did they know they were going to get pulled into a wild game of UNO and a dance show from both kiddos who gave them blankets and told them to get comfy for the show. They were good sports and watched Olivia preform her solo from dance and Isaac's dance from Garfield. 

Saturday was by far my favorite. After my normal morning workout at the Y, I got a text from our long-lost friends who were in town for a AAU tournament for their boys. Anyone familiar with how these weekend tournaments work, you sometimes need somewhere to crash in between.  That's where we got to come into play.  It was a win-win for us all. The boys played basketball with their parents watching while the girls got to hang out together and the sweetest baby ever got to snuggle with her fake auntie all day.  gahhhhhh, it was fabulous.  ❣️

Sunday was another wild day, as the kiddos sold tickets for a chicken/rib dinner for church camp. I worked at the dinner and Jeremy's family all got dinners and then came over to visit and eat them at our house. Olivia had early 💚🖤⚡️dance practice since she is starting to work on her solo that she will preform at the next two competitions. So we rounded out the weekend exhausted and ready to start another fun-filled week!