Memorial Day Weekend

Last weekend was so good.

Friday I spent all morning crying at Sophia's school graduation/closing, which made me so sad and gave me such a migraine that I literally went to bed around noon and didn't get back up. I love Davis for letting me do that, because I was mess and just couldn't face the rest of the day. But

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23

Saturday morning the sun rose.

I got up super early and quickly packed our bags and the kids, and we headed down to Louisiana to visit my dad. We got Sophia a swing set for her birthday, so we left town while Davis assembled it (so that Sophia wouldn't see and be surprised... also I didn't want to be around that kind of language LOL!) We also just needed to get away and be distracted. The drive was great, although as we went south the temperature rose dramatically. We stopped in Lewisville, Arkansas and has some yummy Burge's

there is a playground a couple of blocks away (the only one in town), so we took our food there and I let the kids run around a little. Sophia looked at the playground and said "this place is OLD!" She was right - I looked at the equipment and just hoped that it could handle two more 40 lbs kids before rusting to pieces!

Look at my little toddler toddling around

Um, so then my camera died and I have no pictures from our visit. But I know my stepmom has some, and there were some great ones from when we went swimming at a lake, so I will get them from her and post them later. We had lots of fun, and the kids were completely exhausted at night from playing in the heat and swimming! They are Southern kids for sure, especially the girls, the 100 degree heat doesn't seem to bother them at all.

We left Monday morning, so that we could celebrate Memorial Day with Davis and let the kids play on the swing set. This was Sophia's face the minute she saw it

She said "this is the best day of my life!!!" It has already been a huge lifesaver with the girls home all day - yesterday they were just swinging and talking to each other while I cleaned the kitchen and looked out at them. That moment was one of the happiest of MY life.

Monday afternoon, we invited Davis's brother and his wife and their three kids over

and we grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and corn and just sat around - us adults in the shade, the kids running around like maniacs.

They cooled off with the Slip N Slide

and we put the kiddie pool at the bottom of the slide - that was a big hit!

I told Davis, "this is just a huge dose of HAPPY - exactly what we needed!" And it was. No one fought, no one cried, no one worried about the future or the past, everyone was just happy and at peace and enjoying the moment. I am so thankful for that.

I went to put Henry to bed at one point, and came back out to this

The girls were COVERED in mud! After everyone left, we hosed them off outside with the hose, then I rinsed them and washed them with the shower in the tub, then they took a bath, then I rinsed them with the shower again. There was mud everywhere that night - in the tub, the kitchen floor, probably still behind their ears. It made me so happy.

The next morning, we celebrated the first real official day of Summer Vacation with cinnamon rolls... except when the girls requested them, I didn't have time to make them. So we spread some butter on crescent rolls and sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar before rolling them up, baked them as usual, and served them with milk/vanilla/powdered sugar icing for dipping. Yummy!

I have TEN half gallons of milk in my fridge, because this weekend we are expecting some company - more happy, muddy, in-the-moment, chaotic fun to come!!