Busy Summer Already

After Sidney returned from Mo Ranch we had 24 hours to wash all her clothes and re-pack her to go to Blueprint Ministries.  Blueprint Ministries is a non-profit organization in San Antonio that works to keep people in their homes by making repairs.  Without these repairs the houses are at risk for being condemned or deemed to unsafe to live in.  The people served are often the elderly or disabled.

Making Lunch

The middle school kids from Grand Lakes Presbyterian Church in Katy come over for a week each summer to volunteer at Blueprint.  Sidney was old enough this year to participate.  Sometimes the kids are drywalling but usually they are roofing.  There were enough kids from Grand Lakes to have three teams to work on three houses.  Sidney was on a roofing team.  Her team removed the shingles and sheathing from the roof and then replaced both.  The house they were working on belonged to a 91 year old woman.  Sidney is not so great with nails yet (we will need to work on that) but she apparently enjoyed demolition.

Each team member also serves the rest of the team by being part of the "Body of Christ".  Sidney was the stomach and helped make the lunches for each day.  They also do bible studies and chores at the building where they stay for the week.

I am super proud of her.  She worked hard and with a willing heart.  It was hot and difficult work.  And it was new and outside of her box.  She came home very happy and very tired but ready to go again next year.

As most of you know she is also creative.  I sent her to Blueprint with some things she would need.  Hammer, safety glasses, gloves, and dust masks.  She brought most of the dust masks home and for some reason they aren't in the garage....  The other day one came down from upstairs over the railing as a parachute for a Polly Pockets doll.  It was really funny.  And a good idea.

Our tomatoes are growing faster than Sidney and the squirrel can eat them.  The squirrel certainly puts up a good fight on trying to get to the tomatoes first.  He seems to like green ones as much as red ones.  Sidney does not like the squirrel right now.....

Stormy has been back to the vet for more blood work.  Nothing has changed and she still doesn't seem sick.  The vet recommended just watching her and doing routine blood work.  She has been deemed normally abnormal... As if anything in our life is "normal".

I have had two recent mom fails (or at least two that I can remember).  The first was bug camp.  I got her all ready to go to bug camp a few weeks ago, the week after Blueprint.  Took her to work before the crack of dawn, drove over to the park and had her sun blocked and bug sprayed.  For the life of me I could not find the camp.  I went to both sides of the park.  After calling the instructor, I discovered that camp wasn't in June but in July.  To my credit the email the instructor sent me said June.

My other fail is even better.  I am tucking Sidney in to bed and I notice she has a smoke detector in her room.  I am certain I never noticed it before.  Which means I have never changed the batteries.  I am one of the odd must change the batteries annually people so I was horrified.  There are smoke detectors in every bed room, every hall way, the living rooms, the garage.... really I must have 12 smoke detectors.

Sidney had a swim meet between Blueprint and Florida.  It was blissfully close to the house.  At our new home pool.  We could leave 15 minutes before she had to be there.  It was busy and a big meet.  She hasn't been in the water much because of traveling and other activities but she still did OK.

Turtle Tracks

We went to Florida for the 4th of July.  We spent a week in St. Pete Beach with some of Kirk's family.  We stayed at his cousin's house with his cousin and her husband, her daughter and her boyfriend, and Kirk's mom.  A few other family members payed a visit but stayed at a condo near by.  It was really great downtime for me.  I didn't drive or have to worry about food.  I could just unwind and relax.  I think I read three or four books.  I haven't read a book in forever.  I also spent a lot of time sitting outside on the back porch watching the world go by.  It was really great.

Kirk's family don't sleep at the same times that Sidney and I do.  Sidney and I are early birds no matter what we try.  They are night owls.  So Sidney and I would go to the beach or I would go run in the mornings.  Then she would eat cereal or yogurt and I would make a grilled cheese every morning for breakfast.  Yes weird.  They didn't have a toaster so that was the next best thing (actually better).

We chilled out our first day there.  We went out to eat on the beach at one of the many restaurants that has fresh grouper.  Sidney played in the ocean and sand I enjoyed my fish.  We hung out at the house afterwards and saw the friendly iguana.  He came to get some salad.

The next day I had a nice run on the beach in the morning and I had buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese.  It was so yummy.  We went to the beach in the evening and there were lots of little sharks and fish swimming around us.  Nothing over two feet long.  This was also the first of many days where we saw dolphins in the bay.

I convinced Sidney to go with me for a walk the next morning.  We played in the water a bit but mostly walked and talked.  We spotted some people digging on the beach near the grass and they looked official so we were curious.  We went over to talk to them and they were looking for a turtle nest.  They showed us the tracks the female made the night before coming in from the ocean and going back out.  They dug to confirm the location of the nest and then put markings around it to protect it.  They will check on it regularly until the eggs hatch.  They make sure all the little turtles make it at least as far as the water.  The female lays 100 eggs and will lay several times each year near the spot where she hatched.  1 in 1000 baby turtles will reach maturity.

We also went to the Florida state aquarium.  It was a pretty nice aquarium.  We met 6 young nuns there.  That felt a bit odd.  We went back to the beach in the evening with Kirk's niece's boyfriend.  He entertained Sidney for a while and was completely worn out.  We found a super cool fish skull.  Fish skulls are very interesting compared to a mammal skull.  Many more holes and cavities and a much smaller brain cavity.  It stunck to high heaven so it went back into the water.

We went to the Sunken Gardens as well.  It is a botanical garden in an area where a lake sunk.  It isn't terribly deep but it was very nice and a relaxing stroll.

Sidney and I enjoyed watching the pelicans and other birds hunt in the bay as well as watching the dolphins.  We also saw many fish off the dock including a number of pipe fish.  Some were only about 2 inches long.

Floating and swimming off the dock

We went to a pool for part of one afternoon.  Sidney swam in the pool a while but ended up back in the ocean.  She went searching for sea shells off the beach in the water.  She would dive down several feet and look for shells.  She likes to be under water.

Kirk's cousin bought a lot of fireworks.  The guys were lighting them for well over an hour.  They were very impressive (and a little scary).  They had a party with a number of friends and it was fun.  We had only one more day there after that.  Right before the party I got charged with changing the sprayer on the kitchen sink.  We discovered it was leaking water under the sink and I am the smallest adult....

We really had a nice time.  We ate good food, caught up with family and relaxed.  It is nice to be home and it wasn't so bad to come back after relaxing so thoroughly.  I felt like I could actually cope with reality again.

Sidney had another swim meet this weekend.  She swam 7 events and did pretty well in all of them.  She had some good improvements in some strokes and broke even in others.  I am anxious to see how she does once she has been in the water reliably.

This afternoon I found this toad on the back porch in one of the pots.  this may not seem like a big deal but the porch is 15 feet above the ground.  Either a pet brought him up, a bird brought him up or he decided to hop up the stairs.  I just hope he finds his way back to somewhere safe.  I am happy to have him eating bugs but worried about where he has chosen to settle.

Sidney and I are preparing for Peru.  We leave in a few weeks.  I am gathering things to keep us warm and fed and well.  We are excited to go back and see our friends there.

Kirk and his care giver, Mary Anne, moved to Boerne a couple of weeks ago.  They are in a newer house that is a bit smaller and better played out.  They also went to Boerne several times each week so hopefully this will be a good move for all of them.