The Cunningham Family: Around Here: Week 30 2022

{July 24-30th}

The Original
circa 2013

Updated
circa 2022
*just missing my nephew Isaiah

My grandma & grandpa on the left
Grandma's sister Joyce (in light blue), husband Harvey and Harvey's mom
I love how Grandpa's arm is around Grandma's shoulder.

A girl I follow on IG found a vintage Cabbage Patch doll for her daughter at an Antique store this summer and it prompted me to pull "Mary Rose" out to send her a pic. She's seen better days, but oh the memories we share!

Noticing... my kids extending a little extra kindness to each other after I added "Do a random kindness" to their daily To Do list. Carly woke up one morning and wandered sleepily down the stairs and when she saw Logan's waffle, toasted and awaiting syrup she said, "Is that for me?!?" She was SO excited. I prepared to let her down gently when Logan cut in and said, "It was for me, but you can have it Carly." Total mom-heart-melt.
Wyatt was outside in the afternoon after garbage and recycling pick up and decided to bring the bins up for Josh so he wouldn't have to. Love that thoughtfulness!
And Carly is constantly carrying things up or down the stairs to help me, and is always willing to feed the dogs or put her brothers' shoes in the garage (where they belong) so Piper doesn't eat them. Grateful for her willing little heart.
And all of them have been fabulous about letting me enjoy sleeping in this summer. The brothers will feed Carly and remind her to let me rest. I am so thankful. Sleeping in after years of waking early with kids is such a luxury.

Playing... in the pool every afternoon. Our daily schedule is pretty relaxed with lots of screen time, but the kids know when the clock strikes 3:00 we are going to slip on our swimsuits, slather ourselves in sunscreen and go splash around in the pool. It has been so hot that we don't even sit around on the patio. We go immediately from the door to the ladder of the pool and into that refreshing water. The routine of it is currently saving my life. It gives a little order to (chaotic) summer days and gets the kids worn out in time for dinner and bed.
While we are outside, though, I have gotten in the habit of lighting a Bath and Body Works Candle in my walmart lantern and turning on our outdoor fan. This helps displace the smell of dog poop, which is a risk you take when you have dogs the size of horses. I'm always surprised by how quickly the good smell permeates the patio area and overpowers any negative scents.

Speaking of dog poop... I have a gross question. Do any of you have advice about what to do when your dog likes eating it??? Piper has three meals a day, but she is VERY motivated by food and therefore if we leave her out any longer than it takes for her to do her business, she eats her and Grady's poop. It's absolutely disgusting, makes her breath smell and honestly makes me want to throw her away. I ordered some sprinkles to put on their food in hopes that will make the poop less appealing, but does anyone have any other advice? I'm feeling desperate here as I don't want it to become a habit! (thank you!)

Chatting... with Logan's neurologist via Zoom about his migraines. Currently he has about two per month, and she said until we hit four per month, we don't need to do anything preventatively. So right now it's about curing the migraine once it's begun. So we will be giving him Zofran for the nausea that comes with his migraines and LOTS of ibuprofen when they begin. We will also be recording his sleep, water intake and food intake at the time of the migraines, because if we can locate a trigger, it will be a lot easier to prevent/avoid the migraines. I feel absolutely awful when he has them and would do anything to take them away. Hopefully this new plan helps stop them quicker.

Suffering... a really bad fibromyalgia flare this week. My body hurts, I am so tired no matter how much sleep I get, and my anxiety is off the charts with worry about every single body ache. I am worrying, crying and obsessing, and it's exhausting. I will be talking to the doctor when I see him about my Cymbalta and whether it makes sense to increase my dose or not. Meanwhile, trying (and mostly failing) to have grace for myself amidst these hard days.

Hosting... a double cousin sleepover for Wyatt with my sister's boys, Ferris & Milo. They had so much fun, and then got to spend the entire next day together too!

Driving... with a car FULL of kids, plus a dog, pulling kayaks behind us, to Lincoln Rock State Park in Wenatchee. I had never been, but my mom and brother went and it looked amazing! So we decided to celebrate my dad's birthday there. My brother Dalton, my parents, my sister and her kids, plus Josh, me and our kids all gathered to celebrate. It was seriously the most fun day!! There is a roped off swimming area (two actually, one more shallow, a nd one more deep) and then lots of area beyond the buoys to kayak. The day was hot and beautiful and it felt so good to be in the water.

Watching... the twins kayak at the same time, I was delighted to notice they were even mirror kayaking. (They are mirror twins which means while Logan is left handed, has a dominant left dimple and a swirl on the back of his head that swirls left; Jack is right handed, has a dominant right dimple and a swirl on the back of his head that swirls right.) It was like magic to watch.

Paying... only $10 to park, unless you had a yearly pass, in which case it's included. And my mom spoiled us thoroughly by bringing all the food and drinks. We literally just had to bring life jackets & towels and show up. So so lucky!

Jumping... off rocks and docks and loving every minute! The boys found a dock off a little trail and jumped into the water one after the other after the other over and over all day long. Then we also kayaked out a bit (it's technically the Columbia River, but it's a bit of an off shoot and much slower and less scary) among the canyon walls and the twins, (Well, Logan, of course) wanted to know if he could climb out and jump off. Josh said sure and thus began the great adventure. My sister jumped, Josh jumped, Carly even jumped! That girl is so brave! They all came back talking about how amazing it was, and I felt sad, and a little left out that I hadn't joined them. I told Josh and he said, grab a kayak, I'll go back out with you! Logan joined us as well and then my mom and Dalton were a bit behind us, and I got to climb out, scrabble among the rocks and jump in. I was so proud of myself, and so grateful Josh was willing to take me back out. The hardest part was probably a toss up between scrabbling up the unsteady rocks and getting back in my kayak. But Josh held it steady and I was so thankful.

Wanting... to experience life whatever my size. I discovered after climbing up and jumping off the cliff just like everyone else, that I can do pretty much anything I put my mind to, regardless of my size. And it's important to me to say yes to opportunities, maybe especially ones that scare me, because that's what life is all about.

Feeling... warm & glowy inside after a stranger on the beach at the state park stopped me and said, "I just wanted to tell you I think you are so cute. I love your swimsuit and your hat and your smile." I mean, seriously? Just the sweetest thing ever. She didn't have to stop and tell me that. But she did. And it made my day. Let that be a little reminder to us to always share the kind word. You never know how much the person needs to hear it.

Doing... a shot of Hennessey with my brother when he asked. I've never tasted Hennessey and OH MY LORD it burned going down! Haha!
But he said the sweetest cheers as we toasted: “I ain’t above you, I ain’t below you. I’m just here beside you.” Yes.

Saying... yes (!!!) when Carly asked to use my phone for a photoshoot. She took pictures of Romy posed by a birch tree (my favorite) and then Romy took pictures of her. They were both telling each other how to pose, and I could barely stand it. So cute!!!

Spontaneously... saying yes to Red Robin with the boys and my mom after our day swimming. It was so fun to eat out with our crazy crew. It was my three boys, my sister's two boys, plus Carly and my mom, and the food was great, the company hilarious and the night memorable.

Doing... a deep dive (pardon the pun) on Chelan Lake after my sister told me she struggled eating fish from there because of the dead body count in the lake. Apparently it is the third deepest lake in Washington State and the 25th deepest in the world. The lake's deepest point is 388 feet below sea level.
Back in 1945 a school bus, during a freak snow storm, careened off the road and into the lake. 16 people (15 children and a bus drivers) died and 6 survived (5 children and another bus driver). Nine of the bodies were never recovered. (To read more, click here)
Many more bodies have settled to the depths of the lake never to be recovered. So chilling.

Crossing... appointments off my list this week with a dentist visit (no cavities!) and taking Logan and Jack to the doctor for their annual check up and to check out Logan's wrist injury (no break!).

Reading... Crying in H Mart, which was not at all what I imagined based on the title. It was a beautiful tribute to love, family and culture, and I highly recommend it. If you've been on the fence, let this be your sign that you should read it.
I am also doing lots of my reading with my reading glasses on. I have really upped my reading lately and found my eyes were getting fatigued. So I am trying to remember to slide those readers on before turning pages.

Enjoying... watching Alone after dinner each night with the kids. We love discussing the strategy of the people trying to survive in the wilderness and talking about what we'd do differently. We joke that if I didn't have a chapstick addiction (you're not allowed to bring any with you) I would absolutely go on Alone and win our family $500,000. What's your excuse?! haha

Buying... a lottery ticket when the pot was like in the billions. Josh, his brother Samuel and I had a fun time talking about what we would do with all that money if we won. The guys would open a shop for cars and buy houses for all their family and friends. I would buy all the books I ever wanted, and buy some land to live on so we could raise geriatric German shepherds.

Opening... the mail and being pleasantly surprised at how quickly Carly's new swimsuits came. Her old ones were really getting worn down from the chlorine, sun drying and wear & tear, so I threw out the ones that were falling apart and my mom sent us new ones. Two from Hanna Andersson (the green tankini and the fruit one) and one from Old Navy (the red gingham bikini). They are so cute and Carly is absolutely darling in them. {swoon}

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