Guess Who Is Back?!

This weekend marked the end of a month-long whirlwind of moving Grandma Rosie to Topeka!

A month ago, a house came up for sale on my old street in Topeka. We had been keeping an eye out for a little "Grandma cottage," and how awesome would it be if it was near the neighbors we had when Mom lived with me and the boys? Our Realtor, Diane Elliott, is the best! She got us in to see it and helped us secure the house just a day after we found it.

Fast forward to this weekend, when we hustled to Lakin to pack a U-Haul, then turned right around and hustled back to Topeka to unload it. It was hot, sweaty work, but we had to move quickly because it's County Fair week! It was either this weekend or wait until August, so we decided to just get it done.

Mom did such a great job boxing everything up that it ended up being one of the easiest moves I've ever been a part of. We couldn't have done it without the teenagers in Lakin who helped, Asa for helping in Topeka, and the Bergman kids, who pitched in on both ends!

We love having Mom close again, and she's loving having her own space once more.

Love you, Mom!

So glad Canyon has a shady yard for the load up on Saturday morning! 

A little welcome gift. I told mom the last person that lived here was named Rosie, she believed me for a whole minute! LOL

Going into her house for the first time!

Had to prove Asa can come to Topeka without a federal holiday being involved. LOL 

The table fits and Joseph is a fan, mostly that it felt better inside than it did outside! 

Dusting off the Sewing Machine!

It was really hot this weekend! I still got in a few super-slow runs (sorry, Aron!), but they were done by 9:00 a.m.

On Saturday, Jeff and I had a date night and went to Tap That Topeka. It was a lot of fun, and since we were already in the neighborhood, we finished the evening with dinner at Celtic Fox. I love events that get us out and about. It's so easy to stay home, but I'm always happy when we push ourselves to get out!

On Sunday afternoon, I went looking for a quick project. I had a dress set aside to take to the seamstress for hemming. I had thrifted it because I loved the colors, but it was way too long. I took a hard look at the fabric and construction of the dress. I don't usually alter clothes, but I decided I'd give it a try!

Two hours later (there was a lining that needed to be hemmed too!), I had fixed my dress. It was a win because I get to wear it sooner, and I probably saved about $25! I did have to knock the dust off my sewing machine, but it still works. I need to spend more time in my sewing room, sewing days are just hard to come by!

Before! Too much dress, not enough Candis. 

During 

What was not needed 

After! 

June Goal Post

Back in the swing of things after vacation, and that means Daryl is swinging bats again!

He had two games this week, and I was able to make it to his Wednesday game. I really wish they didn't start at 8:30 p.m., but his team is so fun to watch. They all play together during the high school season, so the vibes are always positive, and they're very supportive of one another.

I got to see a win on Wednesday, and I look forward to watching more games next week.

P.S. Between innings is a great chance to read my Kindle book! 

Read 30 Books: 15/30

I read three books this month, and while they were all very different, I enjoyed them all. The majority of my month (20 days) was spent with A Court of Wings & Fury by Sarah J Maass. It wasn't that I was slowly reading it, it had 700 pages and the book size did not make it easy to travel with it. The momentum of the first two books peaked in the third book of the series and it was a page turner. The big battle for the humans finally happened and it had some great surprises! It did leave at a more settled place than book one and two so I'm going to give the series a rest for a bit. 

My second book of the month The First Ladies by authors Benedict and Murray was my travel book and I read a quarter of it the same time I was reading my book that didn't travel well. It was a great historical fiction about the real friendship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Mcleod Bethune. It made me want to find a book about both women because they were a powerhouse and together what they accomplished for Black Americans is outstanding. Just them eating together was front page news and advanced the cause for Black Americans getting better treatment on the road to equal. I would recommend and this one is going on the shelf! 

My last book of the month was on my Kindle and I read in about three days on vacation because it was that good. Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller was a fiction that centered on small southern town drama and the bigger issue of book bans. It has very serious moments and laugh out loud moments. Everyone in town gets in on the drama and I couldn't get enough of it. It was a quick read and also made me want to start reading some of the banned books featured in the town. Sooo good, it it wasn't on my Kindle it would definitely go on the shelf. 

Run 620 Miles: 327/620

I ran 47 miles in June. I was not ready for the Kansas heat, my mileage went down pretty quickly once we reached the 90s! While this month's total was on the low side for halfway for the year I'm pretty much on track. So I'll take it! 

Grow My Savings by 60%

Had a good month for June savings and I'm crossing my fingers my yearly savings goal will be complete in September! 

UFOs (Unfinished Objects) to Be Completed, in No Particular Order

While on vacation I did start a photo book for Alex's 6th grade year. LOL 

• Alpaca Quilt
• T-Shirt Quilt
• 2 photo books for Daryl and Alex
• 1 knit project from stash
• 1 stitched project from stash

Joseph and I out hunting Japanese beetles eating up the plants! We catch them then throw them in soapy water. 

He loves finding them and I love letting him! 

2026 Family Vacation

The crew is back from our summer vacation! This year we explored the Northeast beaches of Connecticut and Rhode Island. I'm getting very close to my goal of visiting all 50 states, and with these two checked off the list, I only have four left!

My last post was about the Connecticut portion of our trip. After that, we spent the rest of our vacation exploring Rhode Island. My favorite part of the state was probably kayaking at Lincoln Woods State Park and enjoying the swim beach. It was so hot that spending time on the water was the perfect way to cool off. We also spent a day in Providence, where we visited the zoo and the botanical gardens. By the end of the gardens, the kids were so hot that we headed to a trampoline park instead of doing more outside stuff. No regrets!

I think one of the most memorable parts of the trip was something that definitely wasn't planned. Our flight out of LaGuardia was scheduled for 9:00 p.m. on Friday, which would have gotten us home in plenty of time to celebrate the Fourth of July with our friends the next day.

Stormy weather kept delaying our departure, but around 11:30 p.m. our plane finally arrived. Yay! By midnight, everyone was boarded, our seat belts were buckled, and we were ready to go. Then people around us started getting upset. We weren't sure what was happening until we found out that, while we were sitting on the plane, some passengers had received alerts saying our flight had been canceled. Boo!

So we all got off the plane and headed back into the airport to figure out how we were going to get home. The first option the airline offered was a flight on Sunday, which would have meant missing the Fourth of July completely. We asked the gate agent if there were any connecting flights that could get us home sooner. She said everything was booked and then asked if we would be willing to fly out of another airport.

At that point, we were seriously considering renting a van and driving the 19 hours back to Kansas, so absolutely we could go to another airport! 😂

Fortunately, there was a flight out of Long Island about 50 minutes away that could get all seven of us on a 6:00 a.m. flight to Baltimore, with a connection to Kansas City. We jumped on it.

We spent our first night sleeping in an airport, but we still made it home by late morning. We missed the Potwin festivities, but after a three-hour nap we had enough energy to buy some fireworks and put on our own little Fourth of July celebration.

All's well that ends well! Even with a few unexpected travel adventures, we're calling this family vacation a success. Two more states visited, plenty of memories made, and now I'm just four states away from reaching my goal of visiting all 50!

Did I drag the whole family to the zoo to see a Red Panda? 

Yes, yes I did!

The Air Bnb we stayed at in Rhode Island had these paddle boards. The boys only used them once but they got the hang of it!

Vacay Part 1 Photo Dump!

I am checking two more states off my list on my quest to visit all 50! This week we're visiting Connecticut and Rhode Island.

We've been staying in East Haven, Connecticut, enjoying a house with its own private beach. It's a seashell beach, which is a first for me! So far, we've done a little sightseeing, but we've mostly been exploring the area, soaking it all in, and eating lots of seafood!

I'll share more photos from Rhode Island later this week!

Daryl is a senior this year so we checked out Yale, just in case he wants to apply. LOL 

Cool exhibits at the Peabody Museum at Yale

They caught so many crabs, I was feeling bad for the little guys. 

At the Connecticut Science Museum

Got to tour the Mark Twain house, Sam Clemens family home in Hartford Ct. It was so cool on the inside but you can't take pictures inside.  

Happy Birthday Mom!

While she won't officially be the big 7-0 until the 29th, we threw Mom a birthday party today in Dodge City! I am writing about it tonight because our crew will be heading out tomorrow, and this occasion deserves its own post!

Sofia planned the party, and it had a floral theme for Grandma Rosie! We had family and friends there, including many people I haven't seen in years. It was a great reason to celebrate, and the birthday girl had a grand time. We had family pictures taken, and I can't wait to see them. In the meantime, you'll notice that I mostly just took pictures of Christopher! I told my oldest nephew, Canyon, that he needed a picture holding Christopher because they are the bookends.

I hope someone got a picture of the cakes. They were really pretty. Last night, our cozy family of seven stayed at an Airbnb in the country between Dodge City and Minneola. It was a fun night of playing wiffle ball outside and checkers inside. P.S. – I beat Daryl at checkers! I hope we can keep the good family times rolling into next week!

We are all so in love with this guy!

I got him to giggle!

Mom with the twins! Happy Birthday mom!

This party was interrupting his sleep! Ugh

Bored!

Alex kept stealing him, just like at Thanksgiving!

Some people were decorating while Alex, Jeff and I were playing with the baby. 😁😁