Summer Is...

Kansas City Fun

Grammy Camp

Moving Day for Family! 

Birthday Celebration 

Birthday Kids: Look Who Turned SEVEN!

Welcome To My House (sing it)

We are deep in the heart of summer break here at the Bramell house. In a nutshell, it looks like this: school is out, bedtime is late and the house is a wreck. And with the exception of my birthday beach trip, it sure beats the heck out of last summer (battle of the head lice).

As an adult, "summer" has always just meant hot weather to me. I've always been envious of my children, work from home folks and those professionals who get an extended summer break from work. However, this marks the second summer that I've been home with my kids and now I see the light. Sure, it's mostly great, but there is a lot of not-so-great that comes with it. You might be wondering:

• The constant slamming of doors as the kids run in and out ALL DAY LONG. It's like Saturday, but every day.

• The never-ending demands for food! With so many kids, someone is always hungry. I did not sign up to be a short order cook for three meals a day. Nuh-uh.

• Hearing the cries of boredom. Why?! Why?! With a house (and yard) full of trinkets and toys, why is there never anything to do? I would LOVE to be that bored. Cry me a river, kiddo. 

• The noise level in my home. In addition to the TV and other electronics, there are usually one or two extra neighborhood kids over throughout the day. While I appreciate the kids who keep my kids entertained, the noise level just wears me out.

• Because I'm home, I notice the chores that need to be done. When I was working in an office, I didn't see the dirty dishes or pile of laundry all day. Now I just spend too much time doing chores when I should be doing work I'm paid to do.

Family Day at the Bramell house with a visit from some of our favorites! 

All of this bellyaching to come to this conclusion.....it's summer. If you come to our house, know that it will be messy and loud. But the good news is that you will have plenty to eat and lots of kids to play with. And, if you get too bored, you can help me with chores. It may not be the perfect summer around here, but it's pretty darn close.

Helloooooo!

Well, hi there! Look who's come out of the fog>>>>>>>ME! It sure has been a while, and I'm ready to dust off the cobwebs and blog again. Pardon me, but I've been in a bit of a funk lately. Ten months of being unemployed tends to do that to a person, I guess.

If I'm being totally honest here, I've just been down. I don't want to write when I'm down, and there's been nothing worth writing about.

I spent the last 10 months applying for, and being rejected from, more jobs than I can count. I'm not joking. I quit counting after 45. I sat through interviews that I thought I nailed, only to find out they hired "a candidate better qualified for the job." Friends, through my top-notch investigative skills, I can tell you that means someone younger and prettier (and, in several cases, with less experience). Yes, I have hit middle age. Yes, it sucks.

In the meantime, I did a lot of substitute teaching to keep my mind sharp. I fell in love with some Pre-K kids that I colored with, read stories to and helped put together puzzles. I got lots of hugs, high fives and beautiful artwork given to me.

I also got to spend all summer with my own children! When has that ever happened? NEVER. I'd like to say it was glorious, and it mostly was, but the summer of 2016 was not our best. I can sum it up with two words, basically: HEAD LICE. Y'all. It was awful. For 30 days, yes THIRTY, we washed, combed and picked for hours and hours. All three kids and myself were infected. We cancelled a lot of summer plans, sleepovers and play dates. It pretty much sucked.

There were some bright parts of the summer---vacation--that I'll share in another post. But, mostly, our summer was a bummer. Alas, blogging was not to be.

Fast forward to now: I have two jobs through contract work, allowing me to work from home. Kids are doing great in school. Summer is behind us, and I think my creative juices are flowing again. Welcome back, my friends. I hope you keep coming back for more.

Gone Fishin'

 

At the end of the twins' Grammy Camp, Big Sis and I headed east to pick them up. We had a nice, long-weekend visit and got to relax a bit, too.

 

The twins were super excited for me to go swimming with them once I arrived. Grammy had taken them swimming every day of their week at Grammy Camp, and they have both become quite the little fishes. We headed to the pool so they could show off without floaties on! Boy Twin is best at swimming under the water and Girl Twin is best at swimming on top of the water and floating. I couldn't believe their progress in just a week's time! I'm thinking by next summer, the floaties will be gone for good.

 

We got to spend some time at Pop's, too. The kids played with Allee and Kai, and we got to see the newest baby in the family.  But the highlight of the trip, without a doubt, was Boy Twin catching his first fish!

 

Uncle T and TP took Boy Twin down to Pop's pond, where they quickly caught a boat-load of fish....see what I did there? This is one happy and proud dude--and Boy Twin was pretty happy, too.

 

We were just sad that Lee wasn't with us, but he got to hear all about it at home. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Cousin P didn't want to be left out of the fishy fun! She cracked us up when she grabbed hold of the fish and took off. There may have been some tears when her daddy took it away from her.

Big Sister's Travels

It's summertime and that always means a trip to Grammy Camp for each of the kids. Honestly, I don't know who looks forward to it more--the kids, Grammy or Lee and me. HA! I think we all enjoy it for different reasons.

 

Big Sis took her turn at Grammy Camp first this year. She was gone for EIGHTEEN days, y'all! I wasn't sure if she'd ever come home. I think someone was truly enjoying her freedom of being an only child and getting all the attention. That, and sleeping until 10:00am, apparently. Can't say I blame her on that one.

 

This time Big Sis and Grammy kept the road hot during her stay. They took a day trip to Little Rock and an overnight to Mom's family reunion which included staying in a cabin and a side trip to Mammoth Spring. And if that wasn't enough, they went with TP to her favorite swimming hole and then Big Sis spent a couple of days hanging out at Pop's house.

 

Mercy, that's a lot of activity for one eight-year-old!

 

 

These are photos from the family reunion trip. Big Sis and Uncle Bret got tangled up in a pretty hot game of Go Fish. Then, on the way home, Grammy and Nanny made a stop to cool off at Mammoth Spring. I haven't been there in many years, but I remember how pretty it is and how much I liked it. I knew Big Sis would, too.

 

 

These are pictures from the trip to the creek near Blanchard Springs, which is TP's favorite summer swimming hole. She was excited to take Big Sis there again. Aunt Pam, Nanny and Val joined them on this trip, too. And Val's sidekick, Jazzy.

 

It was a fun time for them all and obviously wore out Big Sis and her cousin Piper. 

 

 

 

 

 

I am so very glad that mom takes the kids for Grammy Camp every summer. These are the days that I know they'll never forget. They have made so many sweet, special memories, just like the ones I made with my Nanny when I was Big Sister's age. I can remember playing Slap Jack for hours, Nanny making Cheerios and crispy bacon for breakfast and taking me to work with her at the motel where she worked. I'm thrilled to know that my kids will also have their own sweet things they will remember about Nanny and their Grammy.

 

 

Grammy Camp is good for us all. But it also makes each homecoming a little sweeter when my babies are all back under the same roof.  The twins leave for Grammy Camp later this week, so I can't wait to see what shenanigans Grammy has in store for them.

Our Summer Fun Place {#sponsored}

 

This is a sponsored post. I am currently serving as a blog ambassador for The Jones Center, who has compensated me for such. The photos and opinions are real, and are my own. This is a reflection of my family's personal experience as members of the facility.

 

 

 

This summer my family has spent a lot of time at The Jones Center, in Springdale. It's close to home and offers so many fun things for the whole family to enjoy. While we have gone ice skating and played some basketball in the gym, the awesome indoor pool is hands down our favorite part of the whole facility. In fact, the kiddos beg us to go swimming on a weekly basis! 

 

 

If you aren't familiar with The Jones Center, let me tell you what you are missing. It's a community center that's available to anyone via memberships or a daily use fee, based on the activity you choose. They have a basketball gym, a workout facility, ice rink, indoor pool area with a kiddie pool and huge slide, along with an Olympic lap pool.  They host various community events and meetings throughout the year as well. On top of that, they offer swimming lessons and gymnastics, too. Right now, we are mostly using the pools but I am thinking of putting Big Sis in ice skating lessons this fall, as she really enjoyed getting out on the ice this summer.

 

 

 

Here is the slide that we all love--adults and little ones, too.  

 

 

Girl Twin has turned into quite the little fishy this summer. The Jones Center has implemented a new required swim test before the kids can get into the water. The swim test determines their swimming capability. We take our own floaties for the twins, but the Center does provide life jackets for the kids who aren't independent swimmers yet. 



This little boy is not scared at all. No sir!

Big Sis passed her swim test on the first try and I think she's told everyone she saw this summer about it! She is one proud little swimmer.

 

 



 

 

We have really enjoyed our summer of fun at The Jones Center. We have even taken all of our summer visitors there with us! We were able to go swimming on a rainy day when Grammy and TP visited us, and again when Aunt Dee and Jen visited last month.

 

If you haven't been to The Jones Center yet, or if it's been awhile, go check it out. It's a great place for some family time, with so many activity choices that everyone will be happy for sure.

 

Grand Lake Vacay

As per my current pattern of blogging, this post is long overdue. I suppose there is a silver lining to my tardiness; the fun of the summer will carry on long after it's over as we relive the memories here.

Over the Memorial Day weekend, we made a trip to Oklahoma to use our timeshare condo there for the first time. We were at Grand Lake, which is near the town of Grove. It reminded me a lot of the many trips I took to Heber when I was a kid--mostly a "lake town" with not much else to do.  It was heavenly! We visited the State Park nearby, where we walked a trail, played on the playground and hung out in the nature center. It was nothing fancy and kept us entertained for half a day or so.  Most of the weekend was spent in the swimming pool, because that's really all my kids are interested in. We also took them down to the lake, where they "went fishing" for about five minutes.

At the State Park, where we picked up rocks and introduced the kids to honeysuckle.

Love this sweet daddy-daughter moment!

In his happy place.

Checking out the toad that we found on our balcony.

And finally, to cap off our weekend...we took a little side trip to DISNEY! The kids were obviously less than thrilled when they found out it wasn't that Disney.  Yes, it was a mean trick but it was hilarious and a memory that this family will never forget.  I had no idea that we live only about 1.5 hours from the real Disney! Maybe we can go back next year, too.

It's Twin Tuesday!

Look at these kids!!  They are almost three. years. old.  WHAT? 

 

Saturday night, after our big birthday party, we took the little ones to our first Naturals game of the year.  Big Sis was off playing with Aunt Nanette and the other big girls.  Tracy, Jonathan, Lee and I headed to the ballpark with the twins.

 

We ate junk food and enjoyed our front row seats and the cooler temps.  I know we'll be going back for more games.