The Saturday 7

1. Another week of summer fun! I can't believe it's almost the end of June already. Why is summer going so fast?? I've seen a bunch of deals on school supplies in my facebook deal groups, and I should probably be stocking up for the fall, but I can't even think about it yet. Let me enjoy summer first! 

2. We had our first "cousin fun day" of the summer this week. My sisters and I block out a few days to spend together at the beginning of each summer. Of course, we see each other a lot outside of those days, but we like to make sure we have some on the calendar before we all get busy with other things. This week's activity was Lewis Farms: the hidden gem of West Michigan. I feel like I should get a commission for all the people I've introduced to this place, but it's seriously one of our favorites. In May, they run a deal on cheap summer tickets, so we pre-bought them at a discount. It is a bit pricey without the discount, but it's worth it for all there is to do! I was dumb, and pre-bought 4 tickets: one for myself, and one for each of my kids. But of course Lucy was not interested in going with us, so I had an extra ticket. I offered it to my cousin Esther, so she came with her kids too and we had such a blast. The worst part about Lewis in the summer is that it can be so scorchingly hot. And when we choose our dates ahead of time, we can't predict the weather. This Tuesday ended up being 90 degrees, but they just opened a brand new splash pad that was the perfect solution. We got there at 9 when they opened, before it was too hot. The splash pad opened at 11, just as we were getting sweaty and uncomfortable, so we cooled off for a while, explored some more, then went back to the splash pad when we got hot again. We didn't even leave until 3:00! I got a bunch of great pictures, so get ready for photo spam:

I can't wait to make a side by side collage of all these pics in a few years. This was one of our best years yet. No criers! 

Carousel with Elsie

The pedal cars are Levi's favorite.

"Alan! Alan!"

The giant bubbles were new this year too. They were so cool!

Thea was not a fan of being swarmed by the birds. 😂

This was our 4th trip to Lewis, and every time Lena so desperately wants to try this huge slide, but every time she chickens out and regrets it the whole way home. She finally did it this year and loved it as much as I knew she would!!

3. Levi's been really into watching Bluey lately. I have kind of a love/hate relationship with Bluey. I love that it's wholesome and promotes healthy family dynamics and imaginative play. It's also hilarious, even for me as an adult. (He just watched an episode where the Dad tells a story from his childhood and the kids keep interjecting "you weren't wearing a helmet?!" or "you walked down the street by yourself?" to which he responds "It was the 80s." Or when they say, "your mom was mean," he says, "Moms were allowed to be mean in the 80s." Lol. I'm parenting in the wrong era.) I hate it though because the parents are so nice and involved in their kids' lives and Levi always makes me feel guilty by saying, "I wish you played with me like that." Psh. Unrealistic cartoons.

4. When he's not watching Bluey or playing outside, Levi can usually be found on the couch listening to an audiobook. I took this picture because he had just come in from outside and was so hot that he had to have the fan pointing directly at him. 5 minutes later, though, he was snuggled under the blanket. Haha. 

(He was awake. I just caught him mid-blink.)

This week he listened to The Boxcar Children: The Robot Ransom and Adventures with Waffles by Maria Parr. He's also enjoyed a podcast/audio drama called On The Night Train. (We listen to it on Spotify.) Lucy read four Robin Jones Gunn books this week (the Katie Wheldon series). Lena read a couple more Judy Moodys, and I read the sequel to the book I wrote about last week: In This Moment by Gabrielle Meyer. I didn't love it as much as the first one, but it was still enjoyable.

5. Work has been going a little better. I finally figured out what I was doing wrong on the register, so that gives me a little more confidence. But I still feel like I'm fumbling around blindly most of the time. I can do the absolute basics on the register, but I'm clueless when it comes to doing a return (even though I've been shown how twice), or voiding an item when a customer changes their mind about something after I've already scanned it, or anything else out of the ordinary. Maybe I'm not as smart as I think I am . . . I do think my back is toughening up a little bit, though. It still hurts, but it wasn't quite as unbearable this week! #smallmercies

6. Tonight, Justin and I went on a date since we never see each other now that we're working opposite shifts. We dropped the kids off at his parents' and went to Logan's. I was starving and ate my meal with gusto . . . until my stomach started its telltale churning. This time I got steak and mashed potatoes, salad, and rolls. Nothing extremely greasy. And my stomach episode was very mild compared to some I've been having recently, but it was still an episode. I do think it's partially tied to anxiety. Because restaurant food has caused me problems in the past, I start to worry that it will again and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Justin's mom (a licensed therapist) taught me some breathing techniques that are supposed to help rewire my brain and lessen my anxiety long term, so I've been trying those. But I really need to make an appointment with the doctor about my stomach issues. I'm going to do it this week. Harass me about it if I don't report back on the matter in next week's Saturday 7. 

7. Just a couple pics and shamefully few memes this week. I don't know what the deal is. I've spent plenty of time scrolling through social media. I guess nothing really jumped out at me!

When waiting at Wing World is taking too long . . .

My snuggle buddy

Niki took Levi to the circus yesterday. I had to work (but I wouldn't have gone anyway - I hate circuses. Wild animals. *shudder*).

Umm . . .

I took this pic because they were all working so nicely on the puzzle together, which is unheard of for them. But I definitely started that puzzle myself . . . on the dining room table . . .

I've been trying so hard to be talkative and friendly at work. There are a few other girls who got hired the same time I did and they're so mousy and morose-acting the whole time. I don't want to be like that, but I'm also half deaf, and the girl who tends to work the same shift as me most often mumbles so badly that I'm pretty sure I look at her like that ^ most of the time. 🤦