The Adventures of the Johnson Clan: Rain or Shine... We'll Be Outside!

This week was just so refreshing! In two senses of the word: 1) It started out rainy, yet again, and with the rain comes that refreshing smell of clean air; I love the smell of wet pavement. And 2) It finally STOPPED raining, and the sun finally came out... and THAT was extremely refreshing!

On Labor Day we continued the tradition of gathering with a bunch of friends at a local field and playing hours of Ultimate Frisbee; the Lord really threw us a bone in that it basically rained every minute before and after, but we were able to fit in some fun in between! Another blessing, Addie played in her port-a-crib/ watched our game nicely for about 2 hrs so that both Travis and I got to play to our hearts content! Thanks baby girl!

Another rainy day we were able to make it work so I could take Aaron on a date to the movie theater to see Christopher Robin. He requested not only a bag of popcorn, but also a bag of m&m's to mix into the popcorn... he's SO my son! He found the movie a little scary once the snacks were gone and climbed up onto my lap where he watched the remainder of the movie; I loved every minute of it!

Maddix had the F.H.E Activity choice this week and chose to go fishing. So on the first sunny day (Thursday), we seized the opportunity to go fishing a few minutes from our house; Addie wasn't in the mood to stay stationary so she, Aaron, and I wandered around the nature paths and came back to find out Maddix had a caught a pretty yellow fish; he was so proud. Oh, and then my favorite earring slipped out of my hear and fell into the deep, nasty water and was chased to the bottom by a group of fish... goodbye forever favorite earring!
Maddix also happened to have our Friday Family Movie Night choice and chose the 1st installment of Harry Potter 7. By the end I was buried under two boys who were snuggled VERY close to me! And both Maddix and I shared some tears when that sweet little Doby died.

Because of the constant rain I wasn't able to finish mowing my lawn in-between the storms and ended up with a long mohawk down my side yard for a few days... classy. But as soon as the sun came out I gave it a could buzz cut and then Travis set out to get the yard seeded; he even strapped the baby to his chest since I had to leave to the dentist! (Daddy award to that man this week!)

Friday was another beautiful day and we went up to Lime Creek to their butterfly gardens in search for a monarch caterpillar for Maddix's class project. THANKFULLY, there was a park ranger there who helped us right to where we needed to go and we ended up finding TWO little fella's to bring back to Maddix's classroom habitat; however, it's the weekend so it's up to us to keep them alive until Monday, and this has proved more challenging than I thought: not enough air holes, too big of air holes (escape), not enough sunshine, too much noise, too small of a jar, the milkweed leaves aren't fresh enough, etc. I'm so stressed that they aren't going to make it until tomorrow and we will be responsible for killing two very important little creatures that are already struggling to survive! Pray they make it to class and then whatever happens, it's off my shoulders!!!!

This weekend Travis's residency program has been having a retreat and Saturday night families were invited out to the State Park, in Clear Lake for dinner and games. The kids had a ball running around through the wilderness, eating endless junk, and having ample attention from all the adults. We enjoyed some trivia rounds and good company before gathering as a group down on the sand for a beautiful sunset photo of the group; it was honestly one of the prettiest sunsets I've seen here in Mason city. Travis showed Maddix how to skip rocks on the water and just as we were leaving, Maddix saw Aaron struggling to figure it out and took it upon himself to go teach his brother. My heart soared as I watched him break down the steps your arm takes, positioned his brother's body in the proper stance, and analyzed his technique in order to give him pointers. It is one of those moments that will be burned into my mind forever.
Oh and as a cute bonus, Addie was dressed as Mini Mouse, down to the black Mini-eared jacket :)
The sun finally set and as we made our way to the cars in the dark, we stumbled upon two frogs; the boys had fun chasing them down with their flashlights.

It was such a nice week. It felt so nice to be alive and outside! I am not a person that was made to be indoors; I look so forward to the day I live in a climate that is more friendly to outdoor living! This week is just what I would like ALL my weeks to be like!