Spa Day

 The weather over the past few days has been gorgeous. With a break from the heat and the humidity, we've been able to ride bikes, fly drones and light up the fire pit almost nightly. While we have all enjoyed the outdoor activities, Timmy has truly hit his stride.

He is loving flying his drone. Although he received it over a year ago, I think it was forgotten when Scott had his heart attack. Somehow, mastering flight slipped to the back burner until I rediscovered his drone while cleaning.It did not take much encouragement for Timmy to start flying!

After a few YouTube videos, Timmy has been refining his skills. Unfortunately he did lose control on Saturday evening. While trying to land on my hand, the drone ended up tangled in my hair. Timmy was trying to control it with the remote, but the device was either not responding or I was the victim of a panicked pilot. 

Despite everyone's best efforts, a drone cannot simply be detangled from one's hair. The hair was chopped as it was consumed by the drone. Thankfully only one quadrant made contact with my hair and I 'only' lost about a 1 inch section down to the scalp.  It was definitely not the spa day I was dreaming of!

 

 

 

Fire Pit Party!

 I am delighted that my Mom's injection was successful and provided nearly instant relief. While she is not pain free (and is quick to point out that fact), the debilitating layer has been numbed. While I wish that there was a pill, injection or procedure to remove all of her pain, I am grateful for this degree of reduction. Last night she was already planning what she was going to do in her yard while the shot was active.  (The injection will last approximately 3 months, so these procedures are going to become part of her lifestyle.)

After taking her for her injection I returned home in time for a family bike ride through the neighborhood. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity. We continued the fun into the night with a huge firepit. 

In full disclosure, I meant to construct a small fire that would burn in about an hour. I drastically underestimated the density of the 'apparently not small' log I built the fire around. That sucker burned until nearly midnight! Thankfully it was a beautiful evening and I was happy to sit and relax while the fire dwindled down.  

 

Driving

 This morning I'm heading to PA to take my Mom to a doctor's appointment. My day won't be terribly exciting, but hopefully it will be beneficial for my Mom. She is receiving an injection in her back to help with pain- which is becoming debilitating for her. The last time she received an injection her pain lessened considerably, allowing her to move with more ease. I was delighted when she called and asked me to take her because I remember how profound the improvement was after the previous injection. I would do anything to get my Mom her shot today- including spending the day driving.

Honestly, at this point in my life driving anywhere by myself feels like a vacation getaway. I plan on immersing myself in an audiobook during the drive. It will be wonderful to be able to listen to the book without interruption!

Have a wonderful day! 

Growing Pains

 It has been wonderful having Robby home.  Well, wonderful for Scott and me. Timmy is on the fence about his brother returning home and ruining his summer vibe. Robby, however, takes just about every opportunity to remind us that he would rather be in France than to be at home with his parents.

Guess what?  Me too! But we are stuck in WV, so let's not be so snarky.  (That last part is not said aloud, but its inclusion is understood.) I love him, but my goodness it is deflating to constantly hear how he doesn't want to be home. Of course, I'm trying to remember that he experienced a life-changing adventure. I am sure it is hard to return back to a normal routine after experiencing so many amazing things, experiences and foods.  

Hopefully my European Traveler gets his attitude in check and we can enjoy the rest of our summer. 

Arrival!

 After an amazing two weeks away, Robby's adventure of a lifetime has come to a close. True to form, it ended in a dramatic fashion with flight delays, cancellations and last minute airport changes. To his credit, and despite having been awake for more than 30 hours consecutively, he handled all of the flight changes like a seasoned pro. 

Scott and I spent Friday afternoon watching both the FlightTracker app and the clock, eagerly waiting for the time to pick him up. What was supposed to happen at 4 PM closely got kicked back. Finally, at 10:30 he had boarded the plane and we headed to the airport to pick him up. About 20 minutes into the drive I checked the app and realized that he was still sitting on the runway in Atlanta. 

After a discussion, we decided to head back home and wait for his plane to actually take off. It turns out that we made a prudent decision, because almost as soon as we walked back into the house we received a call from Robby, explaining that his plane now had mechanical issues and that he had to be rebooked.

Robby was eventually booked onto a late night flight into Reagan Airport, which has to be our most despised to travel to and from because we aren't terribly comfortable with the route. When we finally left to pick up our little traveler, it was 1 AM and raining. Talk about a miserable drive!

Thankfully we retrieved him (without his luggage, but it was delivered the next day) and tucked him into his bed around 4:30 AM. He was utterly exhausted- as were Scott and I. It's been a really long time since Scott and I pulled an all-nighter. It's a little harder after 50!

 

Refrigerator

 Robby is continuing to live his best life in France. I know that he will be sad when the trip comes to a close, but I will be happy to give him a hug. I cannot wait to hear about everything, but in the meantime I'm glad that he is continuing to have fun and learn with his new friends. Today they leave Bayeux and head to Paris for a few days. Oh what an experience!

In the meantime, we have been trudging through stateside. When we returned from Hershey Park on Sunday evening we discovered that our refrigerator/freezer had completely died. Everything was rotten and wet. 

We headed out on Monday after I was finished with work and secured an open box appliance at Best Buy. Thankfully they were able to install it yesterday. This morning, we have a brand new (functional) refrigerator. 

While we did not plan on buying a new appliance, I am very grateful to have it. It is probably the nicest refrigerator we have ever owned, and it is both quiet and cold. (Upon reflection, our old appliance was loud and provided unreliable cooling and freezing.) 

Today will be hot (again.)  Stay cool! 

Hershey Park

 With Robby living his dream in Normandy, Scott and I decided to take advantage of the alone time with Timmy. We turned our weekend into a mini getaway vacation and went to Hershey PA for the weekend. Thank you to my Mom for agreeing, as we predicted, to dog sit for us so that we could sneak out to a hotel for the night. I know that Friend has a great time with his puppy cousins, so it was a vacation for him too!

Saturday morning we drove to PA, dropped Friend off at my Mom's and headed to check into our hotel. After checking in we immediately went to the arcade where Timmy played until he won enough tickets for the prized helicopter. Then we went to Red Robin (his favorite) for dinner before returning to lounge and play in the hotel pool until bedtime.

On Sunday morning we had breakfast and then I dropped the pair off at the amusement park. While they were busy riding and whipping around the park, I was able to just hang out with my Mom for the afternoon. Around dinnertime I received the call to come pick them up. 

They were pink, tired and very happy when they crawled into the car for the ride back home. Timmy loves Hershey Park and thoroughly enjoyed his 'bro day'. 

Hershey isn't as grand as Normandy, but I think Timmy had a blast on his centric weekend.