Summer 2021

I can't believe that it is already July! It just seems like the boys just finished school, yet we are about half way through summer break! We have been having lots of fun together so I figured I would write a little update, before we head into the crazy fun adventures of City Meet and our trip to Key West.

The summer started off with lots of fun outside with friends and lots of cicadas. They were incredibly loud and you could not go anywhere without seeing them or having them land on you! I really enjoyed the beautiful sounds they made. The boys enjoyed seeing them, holding them, and trying to count them!

We do most things outside, but it is also fun to do things inside. Defy is always a favorite on a super hot or rainy day. 

Evan has spent a TON of time fishing this summer! He fishes all day on Monday at the golf course. He then spends other days at the creek or nearby ponds. He likes catching bass the most, but is also happy with other fish too. He has caught some over three pounds!

Evan has also enjoyed catching fireflies this summer. I truly think he enjoys all things that involve being outdoors!

Preston has had lots of fun too! He recently earned a new belt in karate!

Preston enjoys going out to dinner. He worked hard and learned how to use chopsticks. He also likes getting dessert!

Preston and I had an adventure in the woods. We tried searching for treasures with his metal detector. That didn't work out so well, but we had fun and saw some cool creatures. 

Preston LOVES the Purrfect Day Cat Cafe. We visited this summer and he had a ball. The kittens were playful and sweet. 

Preston has enjoyed making things out of wood, using kid kits. He has built a bird house, bird feeder, a foosball type game, and an airplane. 

We celebrated Father's Day with Carl, Granddaddy, and Grandpa. Due to all sorts of busy schedules, we did each celebration on a different day. That actually worked out really well, since each dad got his own celebration and we were not rushed. We had fun celebrating everyone, but we especially enjoyed celebrating Carl. He is an amazing father!

We had a great time on Independence Day weekend. We had lots of time together with friends and family. We spent a lot of time at the neighborhood pool. Evan and his friends also had a backyard sleepover. We enjoyed decorating our cart for the parade and got second place! The fireworks in our neighborhood were fun  and we also had a few fireworks here at the house. 

We also had fun floating in our backyard pool on the holiday weekend. We did decide that it was time to send it to a new family though, so it was our final float. It served us well, especially last summer, when we were stuck on our property due to being infected with covid-19. We hope Ms. Tracy loves the pool as much as us!

We have spent a lot of time at swim and dive practice, as well as meets. So far, HCCC has had three meets and we have won two of those. We lost to Big Spring, but only by 9 points. They are a HUGE club and last time they beat us by over 250 points. Losing by 9 points definitely felt like a victory. Evan has excelled in dive and both boys are swimming well and helping their team. We face Owl Creek this weekend an plan to come out with a win. Next up is City Meet, where we plan to show off our team's hard work and dedication. 

Carl and I have gone on a few date nights, as well as met up with friends. We have recently seen friends that we haven't seen in person in over a year! It is so nice to be able to get together again. 

I wanted to note that we currently have most of our restrictions for the spread of covid-19 lifted in both Kentucky and The United States. Vaccines have helped tremendously and our infection rates are very low. Unfortunately, our country has over 600, 000 deaths and the world has over 4million deaths due to covid-19. Many countries, like India, have recently had terrible outbreaks, which is very sad. We are hopeful that as we move forward, that there will continue to be more vaccines available, as well as equipment needed to save the lives of those that are sick.

May 2021 - End of School and Springtime Fun

The boys are officially on summer break! Evan completed 7th grade at Kammerer Middle School and Preston completed 2nd grade at Chancey Elementary School. It was a challenging year with most of the year spent doing online school at home and then ending the year on a hybrid schedule with school at home and school in the building. We are very proud of how well the boys persevered throughout the year. Evan ended the year with straight As and Preston ended the year with straight Os. 

We spent a lot of time outside as the weather has continued to get warmer. I have enjoyed walking on the trails, as well as in our neighborhood. I love how beautiful Kentucky is this time of year!

Evan has enjoyed lots of fishing this spring. He enjoys fishing at the creek, our golf course pond, and the pond at Norton Commons. He especially likes to fish with Lucas, but also enjoys when Granddaddy or Grandpa take him fishing. 

The 17 year cicadas arrived! They are all over the place and are quite loud. We actually enjoy hearing them and the boys like finding them and their shells. Preston even went on a special trip to search for cicadas with Bonnie Mom and Grandpa.

We were especially excited that the Congleton family came to see us. It has been almost a year since we have been able to see each other and were all thrilled to be able to be together again. 

We also celebrated Mother's Day. All of our celebrations were simple this year, but no less wonderful. We are grateful for Bonnie Mom and Grammy. I am also extremely grateful to be a mom to Evan and Preston. Some days are challenging, but I am incredibly blessed. I love them more than they will ever know. 

Finally, the most exciting news in May is that Carl and I became fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and Evan had his first round of the vaccine. Hopefully Preston will be eligible to be vaccinated later this year. We are grateful that the use of the vaccine is helping us return to normal. Mask mandates and other restrictions are being lifted and we are looking forward to a fun summer with family and friends. 

Spring in Louisville and Derby 2021

I love springtime in Louisville. The warm weather is exciting, but I absolutely love seeing the trees grow leaves and all of the beautiful flowers blooming. Spring also means The Kentucky Derby, which is such a fun time of year. Last year, The Kentucky Derby Festival was cancelled and The Kentucky Derby was run in September without any spectators. This year, the race ran as it usually does, on the first Saturday in May. Although, it was at a greatly reduced capacity, there were also spectators at the race. Most of the usual festival events were canceled, or didn't allow spectators. For instance, we had Thunder Over Louisville broadcast on TV and the fireworks were set off from various locations that could prevent people from crowding to watch. The Great Steamboat Race also happened, but with a very limited capacity. 

We celebrated Oaks Day here at home and Grammy and Granddaddy joined us to watch the race. On Saturday, we had a few friends over, as well as Bonnie Mom, Grandpa, The Amshoffs, and The Dalys. The kids played outside and the adults supervised while watching the races on the garage TV. It was nice to be a bit back to normal. I am hoping next year we will be able to be fully back to normal. That would be amazing!

Here are some pictures that I have taken while hiking around Louisville. 

We could see some of the planes from the air show from our house. We saw the rest on TV. We could not see any fireworks from out house, so we watched those on TV as well. I really like how they used drones to make cool shapes that morphed into other shapes!

Derby Day!