Another Day in Paradise: May 2026

Sunday, May 31, 2026

Week 21--The One Where a Bat Gets in the House

Monday, May 18th

I took Renna to meet with her counselor and get her Freshman courses selected.

A beautiful day and a fun, supportive group for Rocco's last home match.

Tuesday, May 19th

His giraffe is his current fave.

Wednesday, May 20th

The tennis match was moved indoors due to high temps outside. We had a nice, cozy corner.

Then Girls' Night Out with my sweet crew. We just never remember to take a picture.

Thursday, May 21st

Filming for Ezra.

I made sooooo many cookies this day.

He's either catching up from the semester, or storing up for summer camps.

Daddy / daughter date night at the new revolving sushi spot.

Oh! And then around 9:00, Renna opened the slider door open about 20" for 3 seconds to let the dog in (like we do 50 times a day!) and a BAT flew in the house! Renna filmed the whole thing if you care to see the hysterical dabacle. This is the abbreviated version. Her cinematography and commentary is hilarious!

I'm just thankful it wasn't a bird. A bird would've flown all over the place, evading us for hours pooping everywhere. Instead, we regained peace after 20 minutes.

Friday, May 22nd

Rocco's toughest match of the season. All eight courts were done in less than 45 minutes! "Bageled" is the tennis term. BUT, midway through, the girls' softball game across the field played the National Anthem and without prompting, all the tennis boys paused, turned and reverenced the moment. So parents followed suit.

No picture, but Colombo and I tried a new date night spot- an incredible Italian restaurant with everything made in house and a huge patio. We will be back!

Saturday, May 23rd

Somewhere in Jordan.

Lisa and I drove out to Rhode Island together to attend Trey and Katie's homeschool graduation ceremony. So proud of their accomplishments and Elizabeth's amazing work as mom/teacher to get them here. Tim's two speeches were so thoughtful, so personal, so edifying, and tear-jerking.

I love the 3 of us sibs on the far right (unplanned).

Then the rest of the gang met up with us at the house for the party.

Sunday, May 24th

Church, then we threw together a last minute lunch at Ninny and Papa's. They are cleaning out the basement. Once we heard Jon and Annie were going over for a bit, I put a lasagna lunch together and we all met up.

Watching the Bat video.

Later, we went over to Jon and Annie's so the kids could do hot tub and hang.

Thursday, May 28, 2026

Week 20--Trevor's Home!

Monday, May 11th

Mother's Day with Mom. We met at "our spot" for breakfast.

Later in the day, Mom and Russ came out to his close-to-them tennis match.

...and Fan, too.

Tuesday, May 12th

Ninny wrote that the "memory" of Maddy's grad popped up from 7 years ago. At that point, Mike Pence and Ben Carson were the 'big-deal speakers, but also.... a rising star, Charlie Kirk spoke as well.

Today, Maddy is the same age as he was then. Just wanting others to know the Truth.

Just like that...6 months! (And Ezra 2.5)

C4 introduced a-new-to-us lawn game.

I have no idea why I'm squinting or why I look twice as big.

Wednesday, May 13th

Sometimes Wednesday mornings work well to FT the girls because Mason teaches English those evenings. We are still working on a rhythm. She was so excited to show us her new shirt with a flamingo on it.

I can't put into words how much I love Rocco on the tennis court. It's his just-for-fun sport, spring is spring-ing, and it highlights his individual grit and determination.

Thursday, May 14th

All I got from the day--stolen from IG.

Friday, May 15th

Fridays with Bo....Before he was born and before we knew his gender, Auntie Renna found the perfect Stitch outfit. Today, he wore it.

Colombo's great Aunt- Sweet ReRe (Marie Savage who went by ReRe ((Karen's Mom's sister)) passed away. (I believe 2 of the 6 Gardner siblings remain). It was a bit too complicated for us all to do the 5.5 hours to Rockland, Maine, so C3 went up and back with his bros in a day.