The Cunningham Family: Around Here: Week 25 2022

{June 19-25th}

Not dramatic at all, laying on the ground claiming they're starving. Hah!

Celebrating... Father's Day with my kids, feeling extra grateful they get to have Josh for their dad. I am also grateful for my dad. How blessed we are to have these men (plus my grandpa & my father-in-law) in our lives. Raising my boys alongside these amazing examples is incredible. I'm so lucky.

Chatting... with my best girlfriends, Kari & Kori, and feeling so thankful for them. They are my lifelines. Talking through life's challenges with them, lifting each other up when we need it, laughing together... it is just so good for my soul.

Doing... yardwork as a family, which the kids hated, but I am always blown away by how much we can get done when we work together. We weeded the backyard and cleaned up behind the pool and shed. Then Josh and I got my dahlias transplanted from their starter pots into the back flowerbed. We picked up fencing from Lowe's, as well as bark dust, and we worked our tails off getting the flowers in, the bark dust down and the fence up so that Piper wouldn't be able to eat my plants. I'm so happy that I decided to plant my dahlia tubers (I considered not doing it because the job felt overwhelming) because the flowers bring me so much joy all summer.

Heading... to Wenatchee with Carly & Wyatt on Tuesday, spending the night and heading to the Seattle Zoo (Woodland Park Zoo) with my sister and three of her four kids on Wednesday. We had a great time, laughing and singing in the car, although it was disheartening to see the homeless camps all along the freeway. I wish I knew what the answer to homelessness was.
Once at the zoo, we had so much fun exploring. I loved the trees the most, but the kids all loved the animals. The big cats, the bugs, the giraffes... everything. Carly especially loved the park and the building that's like a children's museum. Inside the kids could build with toys, run around and go on slides, play on a big stage... it was super cool. The petting zoo was also really fun. They had full size goats and sheep, and they were so sweet. The kids really enjoyed it, and I love any time I get to spend with my sister.

Singing... along with Never Gonna Let You Down by Rick Astley despite myself. I really don't like the song, but Wyatt loves it, knows all the words, and spent a majority of our zoo trip Rick rolling people (playing the song on his phone as he walked past). He is so funny. Him and Milo have the most distinct and unusual personalities of ten and eleven year olds I have ever seen. They're their own people and it makes me laugh and feel proud of them at the same time.

Watching... Carly freak out over a set of beetles the zoo had that had white dots on them. She full-body shuddered when she saw them and it made me wonder if she has that thing where you don't like looking at/are afraid of collections of holes. So I tested out some photos (see the compilation below) and sure enough, she has trypophobia. Poor girl!!

Breathless... after laughing so hard at my sister when Carly put her collection of random leaves in the bottom of my sister's stroller. One was a fern, which has what looks like larva on the back, but which is not larva. (I looked and it turns out they're foliage spores for fern reproducing.)
She was like, "Carly are you leaving larva in my stroller?" half joking, half not (she's not a huge fan of bugs) and Carly instantly freaked out thinking there were bug eggs on the leaves she'd been carrying around and I was like, "Nope! There were no bugs!" because I was imagining the nightmares Carly would wake with the following week.
A few minutes later my sister was like, "I think you were lying about there being no larva on the ferns." (Remember at this point, I thought they were something else, but wasn't sure) So I responded, "No shit sherlock. Ninety percent of parenting is lying right to the kids' faces! Do you know nothing?!?"
Oh gosh we laughed and laughed.

Getting... quite the mix up of orders at the McDonald's drive through when all we wanted was some frappe's for the grown ups and some icees for the kids. Somehow the car in front of us ended up getting ALL our drinks as well as their own order, and they didn't want them so they brought them over to us, and we ended up with so many coffees and slushees. Haha!

Enjoying... Carly and Romy's growing friendship. In the beginning, Carly didn't like Romy because she couldn't talk (umm- she was a baby. Kids are so funny!), but now they are the sweetest little friends. In addition to watching them play in the pool at my mom's, I got to follow Lulu around the yard, and I gotta tell you, I just have the cutest nieces ever. When they're all together (Carly and my nieces) I think they look like a Mary Engelbreit poster.

Laughing... at mom's garden gnome. It says "Game of Gnomes" and he's sitting on a throne. I love it.

Getting... pedicures and manicures with Carly and my mom while we were in Wenatchee. It was Carly's first time, and we had so much fun. Carly's reaction was adorable. She was tickled by every detail.
She got rainbow finger and toenails and is just so fun. I don't know if I'll ever get over having a daughter.

Reading... East of Eden (which is so good!) and 28 Summers which might be a top three Elin Hilderbrand read for me. I am really enjoying it. Highly recommend.

Sharing... more on bookstagram which makes me happy. I love reading, books and talking about books! If you don't follow my IG book page, you should. shellyreadsbooks (click the link and it'll take you to my page!)

Loving... mornings at my mom's house. Coffee, raisin toast, and a good book? Doesn't get much better than that. I also love her cats; Carly's daily couch snuggles with my mom and the dogs; and just the slower pace I take since I'm not at home.

Devastated... at the overturning of Roe v. Wade. I think a woman's body is her own and she should be able to make her own choices. What really burns though is that if this was a male issue, it wouldn't even be a discussion.

Hosting... a family BBQ for Josh's sister's birthday, and laughing at the girls (Carly and her cousin Liesel) doing a chicken fight on their brothers' shoulders. Those girls are STRONG and would stay up for so long!

Grateful... that the kids are at an age where they can help with chores on the regular. Keeping this big house clean would be a herculean task on my own, but with the kids' help, we get it done in a few hours on Sunday morning. It's so amazing.

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