Summer is Here...??

Well school is out and summer vacation is here. Summer weather, however, seems to have taken a leave of absence this year! Most days are still very fall-like...cool and rainy. Memorial Day was beautiful, however, hitting 80 degrees with a light breeze. I organized a family picnic event at Tuscora Park, for Memorial Day, this year. It has become a tradition to spend the day with Matt's family. But this year I wanted to include my family as well. So instead of making someone clean and organize their home to have guests, I came up with the plan to go to Tuscora Park. I haven't been there in years...since my early teens. Matt and his family have never been there, so it was a great opportunity to introduce them to what will hopefully become a new family tradition. (To see what the Park looks like, please visit http://www.tuscora.park.net/)

So I decided it would be easiest and most convenient if each family brought their own meat, but then everyone pitch-in with a side and/or dessert for everyone to share. So Matt's parents brought the makings for BLT's, which was a terrific idea! They shared that with whomever wanted some. Matt & I brought hot dogs & shared with Stephanie & her girls, my parents brought bbq chicken that was absolutely scrumptious! It was juicy & tender and it just melted in your mouth! (Go Dad!) As sides and desserts, we had macaroni salad, italian pasta salad, chips, ambrosia, pineapple upside-down cake, a marble cake with vanilla icing that had blueberries & strawberries forming the flag, and I think I'm forgetting some things! Regardless, it was all amazingly delicious! We definitely have great cooks in our families!!!

Unfortunately, there was a call for sporadic rain showers throughout the day. We almost made it through our picnic...but not quite! My little niece, Destiny, tried shielding herself from the rain with a paper plate, of all things, lol. Keep in mind, she's only 2½ yrs. old. But it was a quick rain, we were under the cover of trees, so that helped, as well. Once we cleaned up the picnic area, we loaded the cars back up, so that we could let the kids go on some rides and play.

Benjamin & Destiny are at the perfect age for the Park. They have an old wooden Carousel...Ben absolutely hated it. He rode on a horse with me and cried the entire time. Destiny held on for dear life, but seemed to enjoy it! Baby Lilyana even got her first ride on the Carousel. Stephanie held Lily on her lap, on one of the benches on the ride. From there, we let the little ones ride the cars, airplanes and spaceships that go around in circles...much like the ones you see every year at your local Fairgrounds. They enjoyed each of those, emmensely!

We then headed to the batting cages, to let Nathaniel have a shot at the balls. He did wonderfully!! Out of 100 balls, he hit about 90% of them! Matt's entire family was amazed!! (My parents had left before the rides, due to exhaustion and pain in various body parts.) I've seen Nathaniel in action, which is why I signed him up at our local YMCA for the Coach-Pitch Baseball League this summer. Well then Stephy got gutsy and decided she was gonna try her hand at batting. I think it was only the 2nd or 3rd ball, and Stephy was injured. I saw her hand shaking, but didn't understand why. I thought she got hit with the ball on her hand. Then I saw it...her thumb nail was bent and broken, half way down her thumb. It started to bleed almost immediately. But do you think she let that stop her? Heck no!! She continued hitting balls...in fact, she hit about 5 balls after that! Go Stephy! Afterwards though, she was in some pretty good pain. She exited the cage and showed us what her thumb looked like. I knew she needed to get it cleaned out right away, and get it bandaged. And of course, I had switched bags and had forgotten to put my purse-sized first aid kit in the new bag! So I jumped into action, and took her to find the first aid stand. We found it and a teenage girl was manning the office. She looked a bit queasy when she saw Stephy's nail, haha. She asked what we items we'd need to patch her up. I requested antibiotic ointment, bandages, paper towels, and guaze.

So Steph and I headed to the bathroom to clean out her wound, as gently as possible. We ended up going back to ask for medical tape. I had to actually point out what and where the medical tape was because the girl had no clue, lol. Once we got Steph all taped up, we headed back to the rest of the family, where Nathaniel was still hitting balls. Steph's Mom made the comment that she didn't get to tend to her daughter. It never dawned on me to step aside and let my mother-in-law take charge...after all, it WAS her daughter who was injured. So I felt bad, after that. I didn't mean to take over. I just wanted to help Stephanie. Mom wasn't upset at all. But I felt like I kind of stepped into her territory. If there should be a next time, I will make sure to step aside and let her handle things.

So once all of that was over with, we rode on the little train with the kids. Then Matt, Stephanie, and Nathaniel rode the miniature roller-coaster. After all the riding was over, we all got ice cream cones and cotton candy (courtesy of Stephanie). By the time we loaded the kids and strollers up, and got everyone situated, and drove home, it was 8:30pm!!! We had gotten there just before noon!!! So we had an exhausting, fun-filled, relaxing day. I'd like for all of us to go down there again, this summer...and every summer, if we can. It's only a 35 minute drive, or so. So it's not that far. It doesn't cost a lot of money. The rides are 75 cents each! The ice cream cones were only $1.25! So it's very affordable, especially if you take your own picnic. But next time...I vote we all just take ham sammiches!! It'd be MUCH easier than trying to grill!! lol

I know this is a long entry & I thank you if you made it this far. I know I said I'd update on what Ben's appointment revealed, but I will try to do that in a day or so.