All Sorts

Okay, let's see, let's see...I feel like it's so hard to find a chunk of time to blog, but the problem with waiting a long time is things get all stacked up...I write posts in my head all the time, but I'm not going to be able to do all of them justice. Because they were brilliant. And hilarious. For sure.

Visitation
Evan, Holly, Kyle, and Aiden came to visit us at the end of May, and we stayed up WAY too late talking every night. I'm sure they were exhausted by the end of the trip, but we had a great time, especially because Chris and Teresa were in town at the same time. Also, I have zero pictures from their visit. None! Holly, you will have to send me some. Oh wait, I think there's some on facebook:

That's the best I could do, and it doesn't even have Holly or the boys. And I look like I'm sniffing Dane. I was actually trying to make a mustache for myself out of his hair.

Then, a couple of weeks later, George and Melanee came to visit, bringing Sam, Kevin, and baby Mack!

Dane and June at the OKC Bombing Memorial

We ate the best fried chicken in the world in Okarche, OK. It's been feature on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, and it did not disappoint. We ate a lot, and George and Melanee got to try fried okra for the first time.

That, and tons of other delicious, Oklahoma-specific food. There's a reason we're the 2nd fattest state in the country. A delicious, deep-fried reason.

The kids had a blast, and they were sad to have to part and be separated by several states. We were sad, too. 

June, roughly 10 months
I can't figure out how to group pictures on this new blogger, so sorry to make you scroll. But June is getting all grown up, and I can't stand it. It also makes me laugh. She can't walk or talk, but she just doesn't seem like a little baby anymore. She screeches pretty frequently, she has quite an arm, and is a great little model for the random sewing projects I manage to try:

 

Independence Day

We went to the Edmond Kite Festival, where our kite was the highest in the sky.

Blackberry Festival

 Okay, so maybe you remember the Blackberry Festival from last year.  Dane sure did. He'd randomly talk about it all the time, wishing and hoping he could ride the little roller coaster. We were amazed at his memory of it. So I was looking forward to making all his dreams come true at the roller coaster again. Check out his utter glee:

His face never changed during the entire ride. He explained that he was a little scared to be on it all by himself, plus he'd wanted to ride in the back and the carny made him ride in the front. It was kind of hilarious how irritated he looked. So the complete lack of roller coaster excitement was disappointing. But the real reason we went was for the amazing blackberry soda and fresh berries. 

They were sold out of berries by the time we got there. And no one had ever heard of the homemade blackberry soda we bought last year. I was starting to get a little creeped out that the best part of the blackberry festival, the event which--let's face it--is probably the most exciting weekend in McLoud, OK, was absent from the collective memory of McLoud. How could something so delicious be forgotten, unacknowledged? I decided the blackberry festival was a total bust and resolved never to return. But then we found blackberry funnel cake:

I figured it would be your typical funnel cake with blackberry jam on it or something, but they actually put the berries in the batter. And then drizzle it with a blackberry glaze. 

It was so good. It might just be enough to take us back next year.

Moderate Makeover: Chair Edition

We bought chairs for our dining table back when we got married, and I liked them specifically because I could reupholster them. But I never did it. And over the course of the last eight years, they have become progressively more stained and yucky. After the fourth of July, we had a major raspberry juice disaster on the chair, and I decided it was finally time for a change.

Before: 

After:

Mika helped me pick out this fun, Asiany Poppy print, and I really like it. And it was on clearance! Seven bucks! She even provided me with the staple gun. So our dining room got a bright little upgrade. Heehee!

There's some more random stuff I need to post on here, but that's good for now.
Oh, and my random tidbit that I've been forgetting to do:

Sometimes, after we've watched a movie or something and I'm feeling really tired, I make Joel carry me to the bedroom so I don't actually have to walk. I thought this was a perfectly reasonable, normal thing to do, but when I mentioned it to my friends at church, they were incredulous and couldn't stop laughing at my laziness and being amazed that Joel would actually do it. I learned to be extra grateful for my husband who is willing to carry his lazy wife around occasionally. I'm not as lightweight as I used to be, and Joel's not as fit, and I sometimes get a pretty good bonked head in the doorway, but I don't think we're stopping anytime soon.