Life is a Carnival!

It's the last week before school starts... so we're trying to cram every fun thing we can think of into this week.

On Sunday night, we finished the first Harry Potter! 

On Monday morning, we set off on a long walk. The dog wanted to sniff every tree, and the boy gathered every stick and feather he could find, but we managed to walk a mile without any incidence. We'll try walking to school as often as possible just because, why not? It will be fun!

Monday afternoon, we finally got Antonio's car back and running like new!

On Tuesday morning, we began practicing riding the bike. Daniel's been peddling all over the facility.

Tuesday afternoon, Antonio surprised Daniel by taking him to the pool with his friend Emily. He had a wonderful time... apparently. I wasn't there. I was working.

Wednesday night, we went to visit a financial advisor who gave us some stellar advice! I loved it. He sat with us for over and hour and taught us this fantastic way of organizing our money. I feel so empowered now. It's such a good feeling to know that you're doing your best with your money. (This probably deserves a longer blog post--but it's boring.)

Wednesday night, we cracked open the 2nd Harry Potter! Harry Potter and the Chamber Pot of Secrets! Where Harry battles irritable bowel syndrome and snakes his way to glory! (I think...) 

Thursday Antonio helped me clear out an abandoned unit and Daniel continued to practice riding his bicycle.

 Antonio snapped a couple of pictures of Daniel as he rode.

 I love this picture.

 My brother Nick came to visit for a couple of hours Thursday afternoon, and Antonio snapped his picture a couple of times.

 Nick looks like my Uncle Grey and Jesus.

Antonio picked up Jaxon and took the boys to Wheeler Farm!

This is the most unexciting picture of the boys, but it's the only one I have. Evidence that they were there and that apparently Daniel was drinking Mountain Dew...

Because I wanted to have fun too, I announced that we would head to the pool again Thursday night and we made it for one hour of swimming! I jumped off the diving board and showed Daniel how to do a dive!

The sweetest thing happened. A stranger came up and said that she thought I was incredibly patient with Daniel and she said that she could tell he really trusted me. It made me so happy. We swam all over that pool. He is getting really good at swimming. The kid is a fish! And he did a perfect swan dive!

And then there was Friday....

Friday morning, we discovered that customer had broken the gate by attempting to hot wire it from the inside when it wouldn't open after 10pm, instead of calling our after hours number.

Sigh...

I spent the morning trying to solve the mystery and fix the gate.

The stress just kind of piled up.

 Friday night, we headed off to his new elementary school to meet his teacher, get free pizza, and play at the school carnival! We lasted two rides. We were hot and tired.

After the carnival, we took Daniel over to Grandma DeAnne's house. We hung out in the living room for a couple of hours and just enjoyed gabbing. She really is a splendid woman. We laughed and she showed me videos of old family friends.I won't make a list of all the ways she has blessed us this summer. (swim passes, lagoon passes, aquarium passes, a box of Oreos, a rotisserie chicken, watching Daniel on Saturdays, meatballs, donuts, pies,  helping to get the car fixed, random acts of kindness...) She has been such a kind and generous mother in law. Her help has been instrumental in helping us to grow into a family.

The best part of the day was coming home! Antonio got his new a-pap machine yesterday! He slept peacefully all night long! It was like Christmas yesterday.

We're ready for fall.

Summer has been wonderful. We've filled our days with work and play. We've grown into a functioning and happy family. Every day, we're trying a little harder. Every day, we're finding more joy.

It isn't always easy. Sometimes I'm so tired. Sometimes I'm just achy every where. But I'm happy. And we're moving forward, little by little.