Day By Day, Part III (Final)

Day 9 - Saturday - We got up and had breakfast and the kids played more and more! My friend, Paula, drove back with me so she could spend a few days in Texas. I so appreciate her friendship and willingness to sacrifice time and money to spend some time down here. Her husband is wonderful to allow her the time and she has some great family who is willing to help out as well. We left around 9:45 from Topeka, Kansas and made it to Longview by 6:45. We only stopped 3 different times for about 15 minutes each time.

All 7 goofy kids:
One last romp in the woods before we left:
Doug, Paula, and Evan - Evan wasn't too keen on Mommy leaving!



Day 10-14 (Sunday-Thursday) - We had a great time with Paula (hopefully she'll want to come back as she didn't really get much of a vacation!!). She helped mow the lawn, played with the kids (as in made a 'city' for them from sidewalk chalk, baked cookies with them, played catch with them, told them stories every night, etc.) and tolerated the dogs (she even took both the dogs and all the kids for a walk). She sat and watched Jessica play softball while I took Eric to his baseball game. She tolerated (although secretly, I think she thought they were kind of cute) bringing in 3 baby birds that fell from their nest while I attempted to nurse them back to health. We went blackberry picking (I made some jam) and swimming. She met several of my Texas friends. She ate lunch at Sam's Club just so she could say she did it! She is a great friend to have. She flew back to Topeka on Thursday morning. I already miss her!! Thanks, Paula, for sharing your time with me and the kids! And yesterday, David came home from Denver! He's been there since Sunday morning. It is good to have him home!



That's my last couple of weeks in a nutshell (a big nutshell!). If you made it this far through all the pictures, you are a trooper!

Comments

Life with the Akin Clan said…
I am so thankful we got to meet Paula. It's great to see your "before" life. Know what I mean? She seems to be very nice and a great friend to/for you.

I may be the nutcase but I am almost certain we picked blackberries. ;-)
June 5, 2009 at 11:36 PM
The Clevelands said…
Aimee - I am very proud that you actually made it through the post and read the slideshow comments!!

Your comment is duly noted and the appropriate changes have been made. It's all part of the berry family and I don't do berries so I guess that's the reason (or maybe I've been hanging around you too much and now I'm the nutcase!!)
June 6, 2009 at 8:13 AM
Five Moms & A Blog said…
Hey, looks like y'all were having some great outdoorsy time! I love summer!

And thanks for stopping by Five Moms and a Blog! My husband is also a Yankee and he used to call it POP but after being here in TX for 16 years now, he's finally starting to say "coke". =0)

Have a great Monday!

~Erica
June 8, 2009 at 11:17 AM
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