A Battle...

The College Baseball World Series is going on right now, and Ryan's beloved Vanderbilt is in the running.  They played NC State earlier this week and there was a rivalry going on in the house.

Sullivan has been supporting the NC State Wolfpack since Ryan bought her the shirt on one of his visits to NC earlier this year.  Apparently this new found support runs deep, because she would not even cheer for Ryan's Commodores and very proudly rooted against them. The game was a close one, but in the end Vanderbilt came out victorious.

There was supposed to be a repeat showing of NC State and Vandy playing the following night for the right to advance to the championship.  Due to Covid positive cases, NC State had to forfeit the game.  This left Vandy to automatically advance.  

Sullivan appears to be a bit bitter.  She won't even root for Vandy in the Championship game.  She isn't even sure what Mississippi State's mascot is, but she is all in and hoping they win!

A Camping Quinn Will Go...

Quinn thoroughly enjoyed her time at Camp Elvin last week.  She was able to meet some really great people she now calls friends while growing in her faith.  

Before camp began on Monday, she spent some quality time with Sam and his family.  What better way than with ice cream?!

Day one of camp - Ava showed Quinn all around.

Some of the great people she met...

Some of the fun she made...

There was a lot of fun to be had, along with time to worship and gather...

Quinn had an amazing time at camp, and is already trying to work out the logistics of getting there from NC next summer!  I am so excited for her that she had the very best time!

Lately....

I'm not sure if we are coming or going these days and I feel like we are a little bit in limbo (or perhaps a lot bit in limbo).  Here are a few things that we've been up to lately...

We made one last haul over to Lebanon to visit our Indiana Taco John's.  While the drive is a good 45 minutes away, it is a heck of a lot closer than any Taco John's near North Carolina.  

We celebrated this incredible man for Father's Day...

We are incredibly blessed to have Ryan in our lives and to be able to celebrate him for all that he is: quick -witted, funny, handy, outdoorsy, the logical minded one in this emotionally driven house.  He is outnumbered by us ladies, but he takes it all in stride and loves us for us (flaws and all).  

We've been soaking up time with our friends that mean so much to us... 

Sullivan and Maddy spent the afternoon at the arcade...

Lots and lots of randomness, but randomness worth remembering.  I conclude with a cute picture of Quinn and the fur pup...

An Only Child...

Quinn was at Bible camp in Michigan this past week, which meant that Sullivan was an only child for the week.  She basked in the glory of being the only child, but she delegated the title of "entertainment director" to me while Quinn was gone.

Sullivan and Maddy made it to the pool for a late night swim...

They had the whole pool to themselves!

Sullivan and I painted pottery one afternoon...

We had a blast painting pottery together and the final products turned out pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.

We went to a movie on my birthday...

Sullivan and Maddy watched a late night movie under the stars...

Those were just a few of the highlights, but we also did some shopping, played games, did a bit more shopping, and played more games!  We missed Quinn terribly while she was gone, but we enjoyed every minute of this week with Sulla Grace.  

Birthday Love...

 This girl felt loved on her 29th birthday yesterday.  She woke up to breakfast in bed by Sulla Grace...

Then Ryan and Sullivan took me out to a favorite lunch spot of mine - (sadly no pictures).  Quinn is at camp this week, so she wasn't around to help us celebrate.  Ryan had to head back to work after lunch, so Sulla and I headed to the movies.  

We saw Cruella (again).  Yes, the movie is THAT good that we both wanted to see it again.  It didn't disappoint the second time around either.  In fact, I might have liked it more.  

The evening was capped off with dinner with our neighborhood gang.  We laughed until we cried, ate an amazing meal, was spoiled with delicious desserts (thanks to Ryan) and had the very best time.  Sadly, again no pictures were taken, but the lack of pictures doesn't insinuate that no fun was had.  We were just too busy to capture it in pictures.  

I felt wrapped in love by not only those around me, but by all the friends and family that reached out to me with birthday blessings.  Can't wait to see what my 29th birthday looks like next year!

A Weird Obsession...

Ryan has developed quite the obsessions lately. An obsession that is loud, creepy, and altogether weird. What is the obsession, you ask?!

Cicadas. More specifically the 17 year cicadas (also known as Brood X) that are invading Indiana right now. 

It is a common occurrence for Ryan to drive with his windows down listening for their chirps. Inevitably he says, “Did you hear that?! That’s an awesome sound.”

Driving to dinner the other night, we had a very close encounter with them. They were EVERYWHERE! 

Ryan even picked them up and was cradling them when we got out of the car. Ewww!!!

I get the idea of why he finds them fascinating. The fact that they burrow in the ground and only emerge every 17 years is crazy. The actual bug itself though….is gross. 

Shots...

Pat Benatar sang "Hit Me with Your Best Shot"  back in 1980.  🎶  She may have been singing about love and not actually shots, but today the girls were hit with their best shot (in the literal sense)!

Quinn and Sullivan both got their second dose of the Covid vaccine.  All went well and (so far) no side effects.  Yay! That means we are ALL fully vaccinated in this house.  Bring on the normalcy, bring on the pre-Covid routines and to quote Pat Benatar one more time, "Fire Away!"  We are ready for normal again.

Maddy and Sulla...

These girls are as thick as thieves and the best of friends.  

The last week of school Maddy's mom was sweet enough to take them out for breakfast every day before school.  They had Chick-fil-A, smoothies, Starbucks and more....!

They started the summer off with a bang too.  We went to get their nails done...

Twinsies....

What better to do after getting your nails done than to partake in some ice cream?! 

Man alive, are these two going to miss each other like crazy!  We are busy soaking up every last minute of the time remaining this summer!

Friendly Gunfire...

We spent last weekend soaking in some friend time with the neighbors.  We grilled out, enjoyed the beautiful weather and then things went sideways.

The darn bunnies were eating up the plants, so the BB guns came out (JOKINGLY) to scare them off.  Disclaimer:  no bunnies were hurt, injured, or even hit amidst the fun.  

Some people engaged in target practice...

Cheryl chose to be in the color guard...

(Disclaimer #2 - no BBs were in the gun while the color guard festivities took place)

Quite the shenanigans with this group.... always! 

Any way you spin it, they are some good peeps!