Part of our fun trunk surprises was a backyard camping adventure with daddy. It was hot, ya’ll. Very hot. And mama did not complain one second that I had to stay inside with nursing baby.
We did play outside for a bit before the heat got to us.
S’mores….we love them.
And cool fire effects…in the 100 degree heat. 
We even got a fireworks display through the trees. Bonus.
Playing off of another friend’s idea, we created a fun trunk for the summer. Some days, it was full of fun stuff to do and others it just went along with what we were up to. We had sprinklers and crafts and all sorts of neat things. Here’s a small glimpse at what we did with our trunk.
Sprinklers.
Pom poms, contact paper, sharpie marker and tissue paper…wall art.
This was a lot of fun. I definitely think we will do this again next summer. It helped the kids to build up anticipation. Some things were put on hold because of the hospital trips, so we have a jump start. Some things, I didn’t get a chance to post because we were having too much fun. And some are their own posts of awesomeness.
One of my biggest shockers since Emmie’s diagnosis has been that I have been brave enough to drive through Atlanta without another adult, not once, but three times in the past three months. While I don’t mind traffic, Atlanta traffic is its own little world that I didn’t care to delve in to. Until Emmie required us too.
In the middle of June, we got the call that Emmie’s new brace (the one just before the halo) was ready and Mark quickly rearranged his schedule and took off so that I could take Emmie for the short appointment. We both knew it would be a boring appointment for the kids but hanging out with daddy for a whole day would be totally awesome. It was.
Since this was my first, “Emmie and me” trip, I made sure we had a celebratory pit stop. At Ikea. Oh yes we did. There are some perks to having to drive to Atlanta for all of her awesomeness.
The appointment took a bit over an hour and she did a wonderful job. Despite the fact she was terrified every time she heard a door open or close.
I must say, she works this brace like the princess super hero that she is.
Complete with double pony tails. Oh yeah.
I found an etsy site called Higgy Bears after Emmie got her brace. This wonderful lady creates stuffed animal braces for children to have stuffed animals sporting their same sense of fashion. I knew she had the scoliosis braces but wasn’t sure if she could make something similar to Emmie’s brace. I decided it was worth a shot and sent an email. And she did it! I was totally impressed. I haven’t had time to email to see if she could do a halo brace now. But for now. Her LeighLeigh doggy is a favorite.
She even went back for her halo placement procedure. LeighLeigh, by the way, is after Emmie’s amazing orthotist who came up with this brace that was indestructible (stoppable only by the evil Kyphosis villain).
Another first for Y. The drive-in. We couldn’t resist when we found out that the local (local meaning 45 minutes away) drive-in was showing the newly released Minions movie. We were going to attempt to stay for Inside Out too but our little “minions” were trying to prop their eyes open with toothpicks so we thought it best to head on. We had fun waiting and during the movie though.
We met up with another host family/friends and the boys enjoyed a bit of soccer before the movie started.
Cow Appreciation Day is one of our families most anticipated holidays. We simply love it! This year we introduced Y the Brave to it. And, true to his personality, he went in to it with as much enthusiasm as we had.
Count ’em. Yep. There’s one missing. Want to know where he is?
We always have one little calf who is just not happy until after the food comes.
But this little calf thought the food was splendid.
Y thought that the cow was really cool and he wanted CeiRai and I to get in the picture too.
Because of time crunch this year, we did not drive out to the giant berry farm in a nearby town. We decided to try out the blueberry farm that we had seen several times as we drove to and from home on lots of different occasions. It was a hit and the prices were just as good as the farm far away. We went on two different trips and all total got about four gallons of blueberries. We’re hoping these will get us through at least most of the year. So far, so good.
Our second trip berry picking crew included friends from church.
I think he ate as many as he picked.
Y was the same way. He may have eaten a bit too many because he didn’t really want to eat anymore the rest of the time he was here.
Pick. And pose.
Fireworks on the 4th were a family affair. The rain didn’t want to miss out either.
Getting ready…
The audience
Papa, Mark, and Cousin J worked to put on a fun show.
That was slightly loud.
Not only did we have some fun inside, but outside was a source of a lot of activity.
Yeah, Papa has a zipline in his back yard.
Y ziplined so much that his poor hands got calloused. He loved flying through the air.
Then Papa broke out his lawnmower and trailer. 
Hula Hoop time!
Emmie getting a swing from cousin H. He had lots of questions about Emmie’s brace but he also had to tell me a lot about what has been going on in his neck of the woods. He always keeps us up to speed about what the other bunch is up to.
Eek. I have prettiest nieces and handsomest nephews. Can’t tell me otherwise.
Emmie was none too thrilled about riding on the lawnmower.
Sweet cousin A loved it!
Papa let some others drive.
And the big girls jump roped.
Mark got to try out his new birthday gift. A hammock.
His audience.
He said it was comfy.
Beautiful rainbow after a bit of rain.
A trying out sisters ear phones.
Pretty cousins.
Brothers.
The big kids table.
Hula hooping Zoe.
Releasing the fireflies.
Time for some watermelon eating with good ol’ seed spitting off the deck.
Like I said, we traveled on Mark’s birthday and enjoyed some awesome family time with fourteen of our closest family members. 
Eighteen kids all lined up in a row. In age order no less.
The two littlest cousins got to enjoy some food.
And play time.
The girls caught lightning bugs.
This was our supply of paper products for the weekend.
Uno with Papa’s cousins.
Games are a definite fun part of our family time.
So are books!
Ceili Rain and K were the “baby” sitters during family worship time.
Little A learning to be a kitchen helper.
Y found a love for etch-a-sketch.
Sometimes connect four makes your eyes pop out!
Moving along to July! I’m only three months behind now. There is an end in sight!
We were so worried that our traditional fireworks viewing at a local military fort was going to be canceled since we were heading out of town to visit family. It’s usually held on July 3rd, Mark’s birthday. We always say that everyone on base decided to celebrate Mark’s birthday with a bang. Anyway, this year, for whatever reason, it was held July 2nd. And ya’ll, for summer in the south…it was cold! We were not prepared for the crisp, er, summer, air but we made the most of it and Y got to see professional American fireworks for the very first time. 
Y and Bryant also got to check out some awesome army vehicles. Considering that his home country is currently at war, we were a bit worried about how he would react at seeing soldiers and army vehicles. In all appearances, he seemed to handle it very well and loved hearing the marching soldiers and seeing their equipment. He begged Mark for pictures.
He was definitely impressed with the fireworks.
But towards the end, we had three really, really tired kids.
