Week 24--Father's Day

 Monday, June 12th

Sweet Baby Amanda at Maddy's recital.

Just a few years later...sweet Amanda with my baby!

The kids had fun at their sleepover.  They attended Aiden's 8th grade promotion and got to work gettin' summer off to a great start.

Avery brought the kids home mid-afternoon (still weird to me!!) and stayed to swim for a while.

Colombo and I took the evening to take just Rocco out for his birthday- Dicks to pick out his gift, and Trattoria Toscana (his choice) for dinner and birthday book.  We had a delightful time with our sweet guy.  

Tuesday, June 13th
Tacos out on the very bright and sunny back deck.

C4 and Kelly stuck around for game 5 of the Stanley Cup.

After many, many goals scored, Rocco's beloved Vegas Golden Knights came out on top!  He's been a fan since the conception of the franchise just six short years ago, setting a record to being the quickest new franchise to win the Cup.

And C3 took home the family win, so C4 created this.

Wednesday, June 14th

Walking with Lisa.  The mountain laurel is abundant this year!

I find hundreds of random Renna selfies in my phone.

My kitchen becomes a flurry of teen movement for a half hour every Wednesday.  Between 5:45 and 6:15, anywhere from 4-8 teens arrive in order to catch a ride with Nathanael up to Midweek.  Recently, I've made sure there's a dish of baked ziti or something simple like that for whoever wants a bowl.  The dogs go nuts for every new arrival, shoes are piled in the laundry room, everyone chats, and then just as quickly, everyone is gone.

Lisa's digging through photos and keeps sending me these treasures.  

Thursday, June 15th

Another example of MANY photos on my phone.

For Father's Day, Nick and Colombo (Jonathan had a previous commitment) bought tickets to take Papa to what they believed to be a Paul McCartney concert.  They found out a week or so before that it wasn't actually a concert but a conversation between Paul and Conan O'Brien reminiscing about the good ole days, the genesis of The Beatles, along with many photos and anecdotes from those years.  They all loved it and their evening together in NYC.

Friday, June 16th

Rocco got invited to the beach with Mason and friends of friends.

Lisa, Tim, and I were out at Pop's bright and early to celebrate Father's Day with him.  We ate Bagel One around the campfire and played croquet.  It was a beautiful morning together and just the right speed for all of us.  I could've sat there all day!

The Main Course with our Rinky.  We enjoy our Fridays with just her.

C4 running games, Kelly in it to win it, and Nathanael watching.

This night, Nathanael preached.

Saturday, June 17th

Final round of the State Cup- Manchester vs. West Hartford.  What a sad, sad ending.  Just one of those games.  West Hartford scored one of those dumb, barely-roll-into-the-goal goals (not even really a shot) in the first two minutes.  For the other 58 minutes, we were on the other side of the field, completely dominating the play, and just could not make one go in.  Some questionable coaching choices too....not making excuses, just sayin'.  It's possible to be the better team and still lose the game, and that's what happened.  Manchester fans came out in droves- 3 rows deep on the sidelines- wearing a lot of red!  We were so grateful for the support.  What a bummer way to finish!

All the brothers came to cheer!

I got a call from Harlem's mom asking if we could grab him for a few days, so I drove out and picked him up, then the D girls came over to hang with the gang while the adults went to see a friend play live music at a local spot. It was a nice evening with friends around a fire pit and Gabby and Gianna were thrilled to be in charge of Harley.

Sunday, June 18th

Father's Day.  

It's too long to tell, but for circumstances beyond our control, I needed to stay home with Harley and watch church online, which worked out because the kid was way off schedule and slept til 1:00!  C3 took the gang, including Juliet, to first service.

We had a nice, low-key lunch on the back deck once everyone was home and then set out for the driving range.  (most of) The kids are all about golf right now, so it seemed like a good Dads Day activity.  We pulled up and I saw a bunch of dads with kids doing the same thing (even strollers!)...but no moms.  LIKE, MOM WAS HOME ALONE!!  I thought, what a rookie!  I played this totally wrong!  It was all good though- a beautiful day just hanging with my people.

Back at the house, I got busy working on dinner while everyone else chilled by the pool and Harlem slept.

Eventually, the big kids joined us.

We sat out on the back deck, took turns telling Dad Jokes, and did cards and gifts.  It was beautiful!

The greatest gift these days is simply all being in the same space.

Then we moved to the fire pit- s'mores for dessert.