untitled-216
Jason is gone for the week and I should be doing lots of other things (like dealing with the dirty dishes threatening to take over my kitchen) but for now….. Images & ramblings of summer so far.

I love these crazy days of not really much we HAVE to do but filling our days with adventures and time with friends. I just have this sense these are the best days with these crazy kids.  The days they wake up late (ok, except for Mr. A) and cannot wait to see what adventure we can do together! Although, can I just say these children insist on eating everyday 3 meals everyday… not to mention the tyranny of snacking. I cannot keep up! There was a sandwich making bootcamp over here this week and my sanity is (somewhat) restored. But I am so grateful for this time to have all my babes home with me….. the possibilities are endless.

The splash pad near us is open and 4 out of 5 children love it. Abishai being the one who grips my legs and screams “wa-wa!” in a horrified voice.
untitled-229
untitled-225
At least he loves the “choo-choo” and sand in the playground
untitled-240
wait, first let me take a selfie.” Evy told our neighbor and babysitter Gianna “you have to take a selfie with me” This girl.
untitled-207
Abishai & Vinnu’s first movie in a theater and luckily it was only $1 because he watched about 30 minutes spent the rest of the time throwing popcorn at me in the lobby. Toddler issues.
untitled-132
We headed to Graue Mill to explore last week too- a place I had visited as a child but not since then! The kids learned about life in the 1850’s and even got to try a loom.
untitled-189
untitled-140
Evy loves Swapna (or Pinni or “auntie” as we call her)
untitled-153
untitled-10
Cruisin’ Nights have begun! every Thursday you can find us dancing in the streets, begging for treats (or is that just my kids?), and looking at all the old school cars.
untitled-54
untitled-51
and occasionally going IN the cars!
untitled-693
untitled-4
Anni’s photos coming soon on her blog. Proud of our little photog.
untitled-683
And Annikah’s jewelry shop is open for business! She is raising money to send girls to school through Girl Rising this year Go Anni!! She is selling at Cruisin’- stop on by!
untitled-123
Annikah cooked us all dinner and desert! She prepped and cooked everything using cookbooks she got from the library. I love having this extra time with her and her West African rice dish was pretty awesome!
untitled-755
We had the “Shoe” fam kids here for 24 hours and the girls loved the time with their cousins. We hit the YMCA for girl power at the climbing wall and some swimming.
untitled-791
untitled-805
And Tasty Treat afterwards in our jammies. Obviously!
untitled-810
untitled-720
And these two? They are so sweet and Abishai and his man boobs are absolutely killing me.
untitled-835
After the Shoe kids left we headed into the city for Saturday and Sunday! Gotta love city parks!
untitled-10
untitled-828
Abishai agrees! We got to spend the night with friends and catch up while we attempted to not wake the 3 babies  sleeping beneath the super creaky wooden floors (guess you had to be there but it was comical) Thanks Brittany & Micheal! Bright and early Sunday we shared on Family Vision and meetings with a small group of parents and then crashed First Free for church. We then realized it was Midsommarfest weekend in Andersonville!! Tradition (and our girls) dictated we stay and enjoy the crazy crowded street fest. We need our city fix!
 photo
Evy with her crazy faces. No idea where she gets this.
untitled-81
untitled-28
friends reunited!! The girls have missed them so much!
untitled-39
Free giant slide & rock walls make for an awesome afternoon with friends
untitled-58

untitled-78
untitled-22
This boy. He climbed and fell off yet another piece of deck furniture. Shocking, I know. 
papa nd evy's feet at sears
On the drive home we decided it was time for Papa & Evy’s date to the Sears Tower so we dropped them off! It is an Engstrom family rite of passage and this was Evy’s big day!! Anni & I eagerly awaited these photos sent from J.
evy and pap at sears
Evy was so excited!! A view of the city from the 103rd floor ain’t bad!

And then right in the middle of our summer awesome-ness we had something that was definitely NOT on the #summerbucketlist
lice
Lice. Yep, so that was fun. You just itched your head didn’t you?!
Laundromat selfies during our 12 loads in one day!! We are NOT playing with these nasty things. We only ever saw one bug on Anni but I asked the pharmacist for the strongest stuff “even if it makes my kids blind.” I forget not everyone understands my humor. Luckily, after a blank stare she laughed and directed us to the harsh chemicals. Harsh chemicals and bug bombs were our jam!  That is how I feel about bugs in our house so we showed no mercy and treated everyone even though no one else has it.
untitled-7
Abishai was not thrilled with this plan.

But as of now there are no pillows in our home, everything & everyone have been treated. We have gotten rid of the dreaded creatures and are planning another round just in case in a few days. I’m so grateful it happened BEFORE J went out of town for a week because I honestly might have gone loco. So that is what we have been up to and let it never be said of me that I don’t overshare consistently!
But this is all the stuff of family: the fun, the not so fun, the exciting, the excruciating, and the mundane. These are the moments we are figuring out just who we are and I’m glad we get to do it together.
Praying summer brings more adventures but no more creepy crawlies,
RoxanneSignature

  1. Anonymous says:

    Thanks for sharing and wishing you a good week of only one-parent-around. I am almost done with my week alone – tomo Hans will be back!!! And there are times when I really wish we had more fun-thing-stuff going on around here, but the opportunitys are limited on this little island, as you know :-)Pole sana for the lice – nothing to envy… We had our hard time with this last summer – and I tell you, it was enough for a live time! But with many kids in school, you never know when it might hit you the next time 🙁