One of Many Browns: July Shenanigans

We got home from my parent's house, just in time to celebrate the 4th of July with John. We started the day off at the beach. Luckily, we got their early enough to beat the crowds, but we didn't have the energy to stay all day till the fireworks.

We went to the beach just as a family, but we ended up running into people we know. It's a small town and you basically see someone you know everywhere you go. This time we ran into the Fors family and they happen to have a paddle board that they let EZ have a go on. This was his second paddle board adventure this summer and he is definitely hooked.

It stays light way late here in the summer, so the fireworks weren't set to start till after 10:30. We were way to tired for that so we EZ and Netta amused us with some fireworks made on Minecraft.

John had a 4 day weekend for the holiday, so we used one day to go to South Bend and explore the South Bend Chocolate Factory. It is a short tour, but that was good for the kids and we all had a great time except for King who almost missed the tour because he refused to put on the hair net.

The hair nets are not the coolest thing, but I think Netta and EZ rocked them. The kids loved the free samples and I loved the discount chocolate they were selling.

We decided it was time to start potty training Conrad. I thought it would be a breeze, since he is so articulate and he has 3 older siblings to follow. Well that was not the case. Here is a picture of one failed attempt. I was getting really desperate and doing whatever I could to get him to sit on the potty. We tried for a day or 2 and then quit for a week and then tried again and then quit again. I was really ready to be done, but he is going to preschool in the fall, so I couldn't really avoid it much longer. For some reason he just refused to pee on the potty, like he was scared to. So finally, when I knew he had to go I held him down on the potty for 10 minutes. He was crying and I was thinking I might be crossing the line and scarring him, but then all of a sudden he couldn't hold it anymore and so he peed and he just started laughing when he realized how easy it was and that he wasn't going to die and then that was it. It was pretty easy from there on out.

We went to visit our friends JJ and Bridget one day. They have an awesome pool in their backyard and some awesome pool toys. My kids were in heaven and I found myself really jealous of their pool. I know pool season isn't long here, but our town has no public pools, so they only real place for us to swim outside is the beach, but that lake is so shallow that it just isn't the same.

One of the highlights of summer here is the berry picking. We picked blueberries for the first time and while they were absolutely delicious, they were a pain to pick and King in particular did not last very long. Then I realized that you can basically get the already picked ones from local growers for the same price, if you buy in bulk and that was the end of picking for me. Maybe next year we will try again.

Every July, Chick Fil A has a day where you can eat for free if you dress up like a cow. Well I am all over that, but I was sad to think that we might miss it now, since we don't live close to one. Luckily, we had a new trampoline we needed to pick up that was only in stock in South Bend, so I had my excuse to head to Chick fil A for free food. It's my happy place.

I decided that this year I wanted to try out a sprint triathlon, so I signed up for one in Sister Lakes. When I told my dad about it, he said he wanted to do it to and so did Meghan and Jared, so they came up for the weekend it was a big fun family affair. When we got their and checked in, I found out that my race number was 666. Not the best sign for your first triathlon. Haha

They also wrote your age on your leg, which I didn't know was a thing and I could have done without it, since it wasn't all that fun to watch way way older people flying past me on their bikes. I made the mistake of racing on a mountain bike and I will never make that mistake again.

Despite getting killed on the bike portion, I really enjoyed the race. I was afraid I would be in trouble for the open water swim, because my ear infection and then the pink eye I got basically kept me from training for the swim at all, but I survived and actually found a good rhythm about half way through. Then on the bike portion, my saint of a father had passed me and then felt bad for my lame self and he turned around and rode with me. He said when he saw me he just flashed back to when I was maybe 11 years old and he took me on my first long bike ride and it was way too long and it kind of killed my desire to ride much more. He said he has always regretted that and when he saw me struggling this time he couldn't leave me there alone. He is one awesome dad.

Since Meghan and Jared were there, we had little cousins to play with. Sammy may not look super excited, but King sure was.

Towards the end of the month, EZ, Netta and King all went to a week of summer camp at the Y. EZ and Netta were really excited, but King was a harder sell. He had a lot of fun once he got there, but like always he is not a big fan of new things. They were outside playing all day everyday and they even got to go to the beach. Conrad and I were able to make the most of some time alone. I felt a little guilty for enjoying it so much. I gotta admit I am excited to have 3 in school in the fall. I don't know what this thing is that Conrad is standing next to in this first pic, but I love his cheesy smile.

At the end of the month EZ got to go to cub scout camp. I have a love-hate relationship with scouts. I love how much fun EZ has and all the things he learns, but I hate how expensive it can get and all the bureaucracy. The first day of camp I got to go with him.

The second day of camp I stayed home and Netta, King and I had fun downtown. We went to the Discovery Center and Netta made this beautiful sculpture that she wanted me to immediately post on Facebook.