Does bed head make him look older?
Category Archives: Owen
Too Many Zooz
We took the kids to their first concert! Anna and David and the kids also went—and we took one of Owen’s friends (Lucas).
The planning and prepping was exhausting (trying to figure out what we need to pack and take to eat since we’d never been there) because apparently the thing to do at Ravinia is arrive early and picnic and hang out)! Plus we had an early access pass (but only for four people!) from a neighbor…so Tom and David went first with Owen and Lucas to get everything set up and our spots staked out!
The boys started with their fancy drinks. (Yes, David brought glass glasses!)
As Anna and I were on our way with the other three kids, we got this pic via text:
Owen was in heaven!! He got to meet Leo P of TOO MANY ZOOZ before the concert! He’s been listening to their music for years and playing their songs on his bari sax for months! Tom had seen him walking around and told Owen to go meet him! We were all so excited for him!
The kids went up to sit right in front of the stage. We ate our charcuterie and drank our drinks. The boys made more drinks.
I thought I took one more with everyone looking…but apparently I didn’t.
Our view from our seats. The kids were right in the front row!
Overall everyone had a great time and Anna and I decided we would maybe do it again.
Here’s a video of the band:
She still loves his ear!
A friend’s pool party housewarming
The waterslide has arrived!
Owen invited some friends over to use the waterslide—and we looked out and saw this. This is apparently how teens use a waterslide. If they don’t use it more tomorrow this might be the last year!
First day of 8th and 5th!
Katie lost her “Class of 2030” shirt…and her desire for a cute first day outfit! And I’m so glad I got her a nice haircut yesterday so she could put it in a ponytail.
Meet the teachers!
Owen ran into a few friends in his math classroom!
Katie has the same teacher for fifth grade that Owen did (Mrs. McCowen).
Ice cream treat before school starts
We took Olive with us!
And she got a pup cone!
Owen & Olive
Lunch with the kids
I surprised the kids and took them out for lunch today!
Don’t let all the smiling faces fool you—leaving Agate sucks.
Until next year…
Saturday
The kids wanted to go mini golfing and us ladies wanted to go shopping so we piled in the car and off we went—Katie actually sat in the waaaay back without a seat and she thought it was great fun!
It was hard, but we did it.
It was a loooong and emotional day to be sure…but it was good. It was healthy. We grieved. We celebrated. We were extremely proud of Owen as he read one of my dad’s poems at the service. We visited with family. We heard some good stories. We got hugs. We ate cookies (y’all know my dad was a cookie fiend!). And we laughed.
And then my stepmom and I had a Thimbleberry margarita after everyone left.
And then the kids went kayaking and I took photos and just enjoyed the perfect weather sitting on the dock with my feet in the water.
It was hard, but we did it.
All the feelings tonight.
It’s really strange being here at my dad and Lin’s house…and he’s not here. I keep expecting to see him shuffling in to say good morning, coming to the table for lunch, grabbing a Coke from the fridge, sitting in his rocker, sneaking some cookies, or giving him a kiss goodnight.
But at the same time — and of course something I feel immensely guilty about — is that it’s almost… easier? less stressful? a sense of relief? because there was so much involved in his daily care and dealing with his anxiety.
I’ve pretty much been avoiding any serious grieving before now because we only really saw him 2-3x a year so it was mostly “out of sight out of mind” (as crass as that may sound). But being here…and the memorial service is later this morning…well, I predict I will be a hot freaking mess. Just writing this is hard.
I don’t want to adult today.
An evening at Agate
Esrey Park
The kids love this park—and it’s right down the road from the house—so we took them there tonight!
And the best of the bunch.
Grandparent Camp 2022
All photos and captions are from Gramma Jean!
Grandparent Camp moves to the UP!
I didn’t even get out of my PJs!
The weather was perfect again so I spent the day in the chaise—in my PJs—and finished my second and third books!
Tom kept me from being parched with my new tumbler full of margaritas.
Got this photo update from Anna:
And then it was campfire and s’mores time!
A damn fine day.
We started the day at the craft show…where Katie decided to spend some of her money on a henna tattoo!
Then the kids took grandma and grandpa’s bikes out for a spin. Can you see them?
Right in the center of the picture!
It’s not the pool and it’s not my egg chair but it’s still a damn fine day.
My view!
I made the kids stay outside because it was just perfect weather. They’re making up their own rules to Candyland—which involved running around the house and naming fruits and vegetables. It’s crazy what creativity happens when they don’t have their devices!
Then Tom worked at getting the swing up!
And Owen enjoyed riding around the yard on grandma’s bike!
Once the swing was up, that was Katie’s favorite place to be! Sometimes she even let Owen push her!
Tom kept me from being parched with my new tumbler.
Got this photo update from Anna:
And then it was campfire and s’mores time!
We’ve wanted to stop here for years!
It’s always too late or too early when we drive by…but today it was perfect! It was tooo much ice cream for sure!!
Wow, that was a doozy of a storm last night!
And Tom slept through it all thanks to two Tylenol PMs!
Katie was having a sleepover so her and her friend came bursting into our room at 1:45am just when the power went out (the first time). Katie was REALLY freaked out but her friend was so sweet trying to comfort her. Owen had been sleeping out in the gazebo but came inside at some point. (He later said he was getting rained on—but it was just rain coming in through the open vent of the gazebo.)
Both of our computer battery backups were beeping and I couldn’t turn them off (I could barely manage to reach one and unplugging it did nothing). So then I was wide awake…so read for an hour—and the power came back on about 3 and then it started storming again…and the power went out again and is still out. I’m exhausted.
Milwaukee v Colorado
Tom and Dave took Owen and Evan to Milwaukee for a major league baseball game!
Post-swim lesson playtime
Making cotton candy!
Katie decided to get a cotton candy machine with some of her birthday money. I might have showed it to her.
Unfortunately it got taken away for a bit since she left everything out after me telling her about four times to take care of it.
He looks sooooo much older with a fresh cut!
2022 dual birthday pool party!
For as much as I take pictures of everything we do, I seemingly always let it slip on pool party day. At least I got one of both kids.
This one was from a friend.
And this was as we were packing up—Anna found a little grasshopper and put it on Katie.
The party was a big success again! All the kids love it! And it’s easy since we don’t have to clean the house.
It took me a second to find him.
They’ve been sleeping in the gazebo quite a bit…and today I had to go wake Owen up. At first I wasn’t sure he was even in there. And then I saw it.
Dave and Buster’s!
We finally took the kids to Dave and Buster’s for the first time today! They had gotten a gift certificate from Anna for their birthdays last year that we’d forgotten about. I honestly wasn’t looking forward to it because I knew from other people’s stories that it’s usually crazy busy and loud and I assumed the food would be blah. Thankfully I was wrong!
I’m sure it’s due to the state of the world, but it was practically empty! And the menu looked pretty good (especially the drink menu)! My margarita was yummy!
Anna did warn us that we’d spend more money than we’d want to and we just needed to let it go and let the kids have fun (LOL). We didn’t go crazy with the games—and we did make them pay for a tiny part of it—but yeah, that was an expensive lunch. Hopefully they have lasting memories of it!
And also, now Dave and Buster’s gift cards are a great gift to give!!
P.S. This drink was DELICIOUS and we need to try and recreate it at home:
CARIBBEAN LUXE LONG ISLAND TEA
Don Julio Reposado Tequila, Grey Goose Vodka, Bacardi Superior Rum, Grand Marnier, mango puree, scratch sour mix and cranberry juice.
Back at swim lessons!
Our two fishes are back to swim lessons at British Swim School! We are so happy we discovered BSS back in Virginia when they were just babes!
