Validation: Fun Week

Like I said, previously, I love summer. We've had a mix of weather. Some really, hot days, followed by some amazing thunderstorms.

Here's what my kitty does when it's hot. She finds her strategic place where she can get the coolest, and stretches out as long as possible:

Last week, we had a lot of fun going on.

I tracked down a bunch of free, community events for kids and we've begun to take advantage of those. First, I took Ben to a "bug show" at the local library. A guy came with this personal bug collection (dead ones and live ones). He taught a little, and then let the kids explore and observe the bugs. The fun part was when he brought around live bugs for kids to see and touch up close! There were African stick bugs, scorpions and a giant millipede! I even touched the stick bug. As Ben and I were looking at all the butterflies, I commented to him that isn't it cool that God could have created just one kind of butterfly, but He didn't. He made all of these cool colors for us to enjoy! I love sliding in those teachable moments about the coolness of our God.

As the 4th of July neared, my 14-year-old brother came into town and initially stayed with my sister. We picked him up to spend a couple of days at our house, before my mom and her husband came over to celebrate the 4th with us. Joe and I hosted a BBQ with everybody, which was really fun (I made my Strawberry Spinach Salad!). Then, we all hopped in the truck and went down to the Orting fireworks show. It's an impressive show, and we sat especially close to where they light them off, so we had to sit back in our chairs with our heads back to see the fireworks. Some of them were so LOUD, it took our breath away! My mom and her husband spent the night with us that night.

The next morning, the adults went down to an awesome nursery in Sumner, called Windmill Gardens. We spent a couple of hours there, enjoying the display gardens, and picking out some specialty plants. My mom's husband picked out some mini-trees for his model train display. My mom and I also found a tea shop at the nursery, and we bought some Rooibos tea. I have never had Rooibos tea, and it is delicious!

My brother, Joe, spent another night with us after that. On Sunday, I got up before all the kids, and finished reading my Bible when I started thinking about wanting to do something fun. Ben got up and we started talking about what we could do. Then, we heard a knock-knock on our front door. There stood my neighbor with Mariners tickets!! I woke up all the kids, and we all hurried to get ready, and head down to Safeco field for the game. It ended up being the third longest game in Mariners history - 15 innings!!

Ben, Amanda, Joe and Melanie

Ben made this little banner, and whenever the cameras would pan the audience, he would jump up and hold up his sign. Every. time. Sadly, he never made it up on the screen. Dang it!

Yesterday, my kitty got spayed. The minute we got home, though, she started licking fervently on her incision. I had to hurry back to the vet to get her a cone collar to stop the licking.

Poor kitty.