Category: Jonas

The boys ran their Fun Run today…they always have such a blast! There’s something about watching a race that gets my heart every time…I always find myself getting choked up…especially when it’s my three little guys running their hearts out. Roman was the only one I was able to get a good action shot of…he loves to pose for the camera which makes it easy. But I was still able to grab some good post-race shots of Jonas and Xander. Thanks to everyone who sponsored them and helped them raise money for NES!!!

We spent our Friday night at the NVFD Open House. We’re so grateful for our firefighters and for all that they do to keep us safe and sound.

We went out on the lake this afternoon for one last hurrah before school starts. I drove the boat while Tom wake surfed (both super exciting in and of themselves). And Jonas and Xander both officially became…wake boarders…they got up on top of the water on the wake board and stayed up…what a beautiful and thrilling thing to see!!! I’m so proud of all of my guys. We also thoroughly enjoyed a little trio of ducks who hung out with us while we chilled on the boat, swam, and cliff jumped. What a great way to end the summer with fun times on the lake!

We headed out to Percy Priest Lake this afternoon for a family camping adventure! We unloaded the van, loaded up the boat, boated around until we found a good camping spot, unloaded the boat, set up camp, went tubing, relaxed and ate dinner, went on a sunset cruise, ate s’mores, and pretty much tucked into bed not long after that. Tom slept on the boat, I slept in the big tent with Xander and Roman, and Jonas slept in the little tent by himself (but ended up moving his tent right next to ours before nightfall). It was decently warm out, so it was a little tough for everyone to get to sleep. Xander woke up at least twice in the middle of the night, if not more. And Roman woke up bright and early at 5:45 am, saying (really loudly) that he was hungry. Around 6:00 am, a whole banana boat tube full of screaming girls from Camp Widgiwagan made continual donuts right beside our campsite on the lake for a good 30 minutes. All of that to say, we had eaten breakfast, broken camp, and were packed up and headed back to the dock by 7:45 am, ready to get home and recover for the rest of the day. It was fun…just exhausting.

I had the best birthday ever!!! I woke up to hugs all around. Then, Jonas made me a delicious breakfast (oatmeal and strawberries with cinnamon and sugar). Afterwards, the boys showered me with presents wrapped in snowman paper…Tom gave me a beautiful dress and fun earrings, Xander and Roman gave me a comfy pair of pajamas, and Jonas gave me a really unique cactus. All things I love from the people I love. Not long after, we loaded up and headed to Tims Ford Lake. We had never been out there before, and it was beautiful. The weather was perfect, and there was hardly anyone out on the lake. We took turns riding on the tube, hung out on the lily pad, and swam in the lake. I even tried wake boarding!!! (I wasn’t successful, but it was still fun trying…I probably never would’ve taken the plunge without Tom highly encouraging me to.) We picked up steak, potatoes, salad, and cherry cheesecake for dinner. Yummy!!! It was a beautiful day, and I’m thankful for my life and to be 43.

We went to Radnor Lake for a hike after blueberry picking this morning. I didn’t think it was going to be too much for the boys, but I guess it was. Oh well.

I gave Jonas a trail map and appointed him as the navigator (which was great until he would announce, “Guys, we still have a mile left until we get back to the car!”). Xander was not into being there, so he basically…ran ahead and tried to run off the trail whenever he could, grumbled the whole time, and hit anything and everything with a stick. Roman really dug the nature scavenger hunt I printed out for them and found all sorts of things. He also insisted on carrying (or on me carrying) a gargantuan stick most of the way because it doubled as “his antlers”.

We saw all sorts of wildlife…a buck, four does, a fawn, a heron and her babies, beautiful blue and yellow butterflies, and a log full of turtles. AND we hiked two miles! So there.