Week 3 (part 2) & 4- Connecticut

We left Massachusetts and headed back to the Leadbetter's in Connecticut, which always feels a little like being at home...

The day after we arrived would be Chris' birthday and instead of a cake, he requested ice cream sandwiches, which Sara asked me to give her a hand with. Having never made them, I was game! And boy did they turn out amazing.I can never get enough of these two-

Shane even gave Macy his bed the entire 2 weeks we were there, and he slept next to her on the floor. They used to share the bed, I guess those days are over. 

A typical summer day in the Leadbetter-McCullough house:

Yup, that's right- home school! I was thrilled to be able to monitor the kids doing some school work for an hour each day-

They seriously loved learning Geography using the "stack the states" app and we learned about Alexander Hamilton a few days too!

Tate finally got some SUSHI- and it was delicious, even if we were in small town Connecticut!
Nick had recently swam out to an old bridge pillar in a neighboring town with buddies to jump into the river, and he really wanted to do it with Tate while we visited. And of course Macy and Shane wanted in on this also. So off the swam, up they climbed and out they jumped while Sara, Drew and I cheered them on from the river bank! While that's not actually them, above, that is the pillar they jumped off. And honestly, that could have been Nick doing flips!

Something else I didn't take pictures of was an afternoon at Sara's friend's lake house. The kids all had a blast jumping off the trampoline, onto the runway and they loved going out on the boat tubing in the sombrero that looked like this- 

For Father's Day weekend, Sara and Chris planned a new adventure for us all- RV camping!
The kids slept in a tent the first night, and in the RV with us the second night because it was HOT

Camping food is always a challenge for me (where's Brian??) so I was thankful to be able to hit up Costco for some easy stuff! And Tracey had recently served us similar veggie packets like these, so I made them to go on the fire one night-

When there is a need, these two will figure out a way to fix it! They carried this heavy cement block quite far together- We'd recently been introduced to competitive marble racing by Kristen, so the kids decided to give it a try for themselves and they spent hours and hours at it!

We camped in Clinton, CT just minutes away from the Long Island Sound and we made it to the beach both days. Day 1, not so crowded. Day 2- crazy crowded!We got home from camping and Macy crashed out-Sara planned to make grilled pizzas for Father' Day dinner, and i was her sous chef making plates like this for each pizza we would make- And boy did they come out fantastic!One afternoon we all went out and floated the Farmington River- The river was crazy slow at the end, and Macy & Shane pulled us all along!

Strawberry picking we go-

Macy pretty much only wore Shane's clothes when we were there, and this particular day they almost all dressed alike-Lots of fun in Goomba and Oma Sue's pools-

We even had a kid & adult volleyball game, and I was on the winning team!

Because Sara and Chris still needed to work each day, I tried to be the best sister wife I could be- from homeschooling to childcare- one afternoon I was able to take the kids swimming for a few hours, and somehow I managed moments like this with 5 kids too!

 

My kids have driven by The Matterhorn Mini-Golf Course for the last 6 years and we've never been. So I vowed that this would be the summer-

Another summer that Sara got to cut Tate's hair-

Macy really wanted to go to the BMX track that Tate went to a few years ago, so off we went one morning-

We had the place to ourselves, minus one legit BMX-er, who was great to watch. I think our kids could have stayed all day!

One morning one of the boys spotted a bear in the backyard of a neighbor, outside the fence line. Well, within about an hour, that GIANT guy was in our yard and tried to tear off the door which secures the trash cans. A neighbor took this picture of Sara's house while the bear was working on that door-

See his body on the left hand side of the house? Chris estimated that he was about 400lbs! Glad the kids weren't sleeping on the trampoline (yup, they did that one night...) when he was around. 

On our last day, we went to say good-bye to Stormy- 

This time it wasn't nearly as hard as it was last time. While I am almost certain that we will never see her again, knowing she is in good hands and happy, and having this bonus visit, made it all good. 

The last it rained- and the kids were psyched to be able to have LOTS of screen time! 7 hours I believe... and for 2 weeks, Sara had been asking me to teach her how to knit, but we never made it a priority. So the last day, we did it! We sat outside, while the rain fell, relaxed with seaweed on our face, and knit together!
That evening her parents came over and we had our traditional lobster dinner. It was a lovely send off and ending to another fun summer vacation in Connecticut together. 

And while I absolutely loved getting this bonus time with my bestie and her wonderful family, I was struggling. I was sad and bitter, yet grateful and happy. It was a lot. And I was confused. I saw this a little while after and it sums up my feelings well- 
Thankfully Sara loved me despite my self and was a great listener and honored my feelings and needs. Being with her during these confusing days was exactly where I needed to be... and we didn't want to leave! Especially my kids. 

They knew we had more fun ahead in Virginia with all their friends, and we'd be seeing the Leadbetter's again in West Virginia in less than a week. But, they still didn't want to go. It was Sunday morning and I was about done asking them repeatedly to go pack up when the phone rang- and it was Brian. I answered in a snarky voice, and said perfect time- you parent them now, and tossed the phone to the kids. He asked me to stay around, and the kids whined about not wanting to leave for Virginia... he then said "would it be easier to go back to Virginia today, if you knew I'd be there tomorrow night?" WHAT?!?!? HECK YES we all yelled! 

Turns out he was getting to come home for a quick work event, and we'd get to spend the next 12 days with him- in VA, WV & TN- before we returned to California. I'll never forget Macy's face when he said he was coming back- the silent tears and her trying not to sob joyfully. She doesn't cry much, so I knew she was feeling the same happiness and relief about this news that I was feeling too. 

We drove back to Virginia all feeling a little lighter, knowing in just over 30 hours we would be a family of 4 again!