....across the ocean they go...

I do live through my children, I admit it. They go do fun and interesting things, and it truly brings me joy to see them happy. Jon and his two friends made it safely to Amsterdam. Those boys took a bus to NYC and flew out of JFK. I ought to qualify that they aren't all exactly boys, young men more like. Jon is the youngest. The other two are like 18 and 20. Anyway, he messaged me once that he suddenly didn't feel well, oh dear. My arms don't extend to a New York City bound bus, but my prayers reach God. After a nap and a few Tylenol, Jon messaged me, he felt better. They made it to Amsterdam, next stop, Torpe, Norway!

The girls left yesterday too...

Emily, Charlotte Claire (first time traveling to Europe!), Sonja K., and Evelyn Joy.

They drove to Boston first...

They have an 8 hour layover in Zurich, so of course they took a train into the city!

The drinking age in Switzerland is 16, so Miss Sonja got to have some beer!


And she sent me this:

I'll take one of those!

After dropping them off at the airport to pick up their rental car, Camille and I went to Kmart. There aren't too many of those left, and oh boy nostalgia for old mom here! My mother worked at Kmart for years (the very one we went to), in the snackbar. Way back then, there was a proper snack bar area in the back of the store, with balloons hanging there, you could pick one, pop it, and a paper inside would have the price of your ice cream sundae, which I never had, we just didn't waste money on stuff like that. We were allowed, however, to get a fountain drink sometimes when we went there to pick up my mom from work. 17 cents for a small. I cringe when I remember the mixtures of orange, rooter, and cola that Casey (my little brother) and I created. (There was a tiny little deli in that Kmart too, where you could get sliced ham, in the front of the store). (And there truly were Blue Light specials. That little cart with the twirling blue light, and the man coming on the announcements, "Attention Kmart shoppers! We'd like to draw your attention to the flashing blue light, as we are discounting....")

Anyway, my kids do the whole eye-rolling groan thing when I take them to Kmart.

Cam was a good sport though. I think she likes having me all to herself. We tried on shoes that we didn't buy, we looked at the toys, and only ended up with an outfit for little Elise, and a bra for Cam, for a total of $8.30.

Then, we met Abigail at the park for lunch!!!



When Ab had to get back to work, we left the park and headed...to Target. Camille found a bathing suit, a dress, a pair of jeans, a nice jean skirt, and two shirts, plus a package of underwear and some socks. She is going to Real school this year, and we are heading to Norway next week, so...yeah, I spoiled her. But to clarify, it was all on sale or clearance. And Camille is so un-greedy. She won't get something unless she knows she'll really like it and wear it, and would never ask for something unreasonable or expensive, aka full-price, ha.

And here are a few pictures of Mr. Wulf...isn't he just cute?


So next week we'll be joining the girls and Jonathan in Norway. They went earlier to go to youth camp,(Em and Evelyn are mentors) which is a variety of different activities they choose, like water sports (tubing, water skiing, jet skiing, exploring islands in the fjords), or paint ball or yoga and wellness, or gymnastics.

And...unless my scale is broken, it's going down! It MUST be broken! Seriously, the girls had it out here to weigh their suitcases, which was a whole 'nother funny story, take things out, put other things in, weigh it again...but I brought it back into my bathroom last night, and sometimes when a scale gets moved around, it might get unreliable. I don't know. When Cam gets up, I'm going to ask her to weigh herself and see if she's a few pounds less than yesterday. If not, then yay! If she is, then oh well. The thrill of seeing a lower number is null and void.

Last night I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Camille loves spaghetti. Remember when she was little, and she said, "I used to say "pisgetti, but now I say scabetti!", as if she had it mastered? Oh cuteness. I had canned French cut green beans with a little bit of sauce, and some meatballs.

Our garden looks promising, small, just tomatoes, peppers, and a few different squashes.

Summer: I love it.