The Saturday 7

Another week of cramming in all the things before school starts!

1. Wednesday was our last day of Aunt Sadie's Summer Camp. We crammed the day full of fun as one final hurrah (and because they're all a little sick of each other, and fight nonstop if they're not constantly entertained). We started the day with a DIY Escape Room. I spent allll day Tuesday coming up with ideas, then put it all together for the kids . . . and they escaped in 20 minutes. Lol. But it was a lot of fun for all of us. I wrote an entire entry with the details. Check it out here.

Their prize for escaping the room was McDonald's for lunch. Then we went to the park, followed by bowling!

He dresses himself 🤷

2. I had a very uncomfortable experience at the bowling alley. When we got there, there was only one other person in the whole place. He was sitting at a table with a pitcher of beer . . . not bowling. And which lane did we get assigned to? The one right next to him. 🤦 At first he just said hi and did the usual, "You kids have fun" thing. By the time we got our shoes on, I realized he was asleep in the chair . . . and obviously quite drunk. He kept waking up, though, and got chattier and chattier. Eventually, he said, "Hey, I paid for my lane for an hour. I'm waiting for my girlfriend and her kids, but you can use it until they get here." I tried to demur nicely, assuring him we were fine with our lane. But he would not let it go. So finally, I let Levi and Nash bowl on his lane while he sat in the chair and dozed on and off. Then he said, "Do you think it's ok if I bowl with them? I'm just really lonely." Again, I tried to be noncommital, hoping he'd fall asleep, but again, he pushed and pushed. I had serious doubts that he'd be able to throw a bowling ball in his condition, but I finally said he could play against Levi (and made Nash go back to playing with the girls). Levi went first, then drunk guy got up, stumbled to the lane, and dropped the ball straight into the gutter. He stumbled back and said, "Actually, I'm not going to be able to bowl" and fell back into his chair. A few minutes later he got up and paid for another hour, being sure to tell me, "You can keep on using my lane. I paid for another hour." We clearly had our own lane, so I'm not sure why he felt like we needed his, but he obviously wasn't thinking very clearly. He proceeded to ask me multiple times if these were all my kids and tell me I must have my hands full, even though I told him they weren't all mine. Lol. Then he started to say, "Hey do you want me to buy you some sodas? Or we could get a pizza?" This time, I didn't let him push me. I said no every time . . . and hurried the kids along to finish their game so we could leave.

It was such an awkward experience. I truly don't think he meant us any harm. (But you better believe I did not leave my chair or let any of the kids out of my sight.) I'm sure he was actually very lonely and troubled - seeing as it was 3:00 on a Wednesday afternoon and he was wasted, alone, in a bowling alley. But I wanted to say to the bowling alley attendant, "What on earth were you thinking, putting a woman alone with six kids right next to this guy??" Oy.

3. On Thursday, Lena, Levi, and I joined some friends at Craig's Cruisers to take advantage of their $20 wristband deal. I always underestimate how much my kids love that place. We stayed for six hours! All three of us braved the soaring eagle for the first time. The kids loved it so much, they did it four times.

4. Yesterday, Ruby and Casper came over for a sleepover. We let them stay up hours past their bedtime, filled them with sugar, and let them watch TV and get out every piece of Lego in our house. Best day ever! They also got to come with us to watch Justin play in the alumni scrimmage at school this morning. Casper loves sports, so he was pretty excited to watch Justin play.

Old guy's still got it!

5. This summer I discovered Jen Wilkin has a podcast with J.T. English and Kyle Worley (who wrote one of my favorite books). Jen spoke at the Gospel Coalition, and I've read a bunch of her books. I'm just liking her more and more lately, so I've been devouring the podcast. On an episode I listened to this week, they went on a tangent about how all three of them love The West Wing so much. I'm always looking for a good series to binge watch, and I tend to like White House inspired shows (Madam Secretary, Designated Survivor [only the first two seasons!], etc.) so I decided to check it out. Of course, I immediately started down a google rabbit trail. When did "The West Wing" premier? 1999. Pre 9/11. Wow. I'm only a few episodes in, but I'm curious to see how they'll address that. Who plays the vice president on "The West Wing"? The same guy who plays the doctor on Hart of Dixie and Virgin River (I don't wholeheartedly endorse either of those shows.) Rob Lowe is so young, and I know The West Wing was pivotal to his acting career, but he'll always be Chris Traeger to me. Lol. Again, I'm only a few episodes in, but it's been amazing to watch something that was made before streaming services allowed all dramas to be filled with nudity and profanity. There's been very little swearing, and very little boobage so far! It's also been interesting to watch something that came out over 25 years ago. In the episode I just watched, a man was trying to prove to his daughter that the hotel he was staying at was expensive by telling her that a cup of coffee cost $6.50. She was astonished. And I just chuckled.

6. Ok, that's enough. I was long-winded today. Reward yourself with these pics and memes: