Missouri and the Earthquake: July 2019

Wow was July busy.

 It started off with a bang, that’s for darn sure.  On the 4th of July Atticus and I were working on a patriotic craft when I started to feel our (granite) counter moving beneath me.  When Atticus said he didn’t feel anything I assumed something was wrong with me and ran upstairs to tell Dane.  In response, Dane said, “Well there’s something wrong with the pool.” I looked out the window and saw the pool water sloshing back and forth.  It was a little creepy but was also reassuring- I wasn’t crazy!  It was an earthquake.

The evening proceeded.  We had a great time with our friends and Atticus even set off some fireworks with Dane.  He wasn't scared at all!  Hinckley did surprisingly well with the fireworks at first but he didn't like it when they got bigger.  It was time to go home.

The next evening Mother Nature favored us with an encore performance (she didn’t want to be outdone by the fireworks!). This time it was bigger and unmistakable.  The water didn’t just slosh, quite a bit of it escaped from the pool.  Luckily, the boys were asleep and none the wiser.

A few days before our Independence Day festivities, Hinckley had some fireworks of his own go off in his tummy.  He got his first stomach bug on June 30 and threw up twice.  As much as I hated seeing him sick, it was also a sweet 24 hours because he finally started calling me "Momma."  (Up until then he was yelling, "Baaaa" or even calling me "Bobba.")

Speaking of words he is slow to say, he still doesn't say, "No."  It's the strangest thing.  I could have sworn "No" was one of Atticus's first words.  Hinckley, on the other hand, is so agreeable, saying, "Ah," for "Yeah" all the time.  He shakes his head, says, "All done," and/or throws a pretty impressive tantrum if he wants to stop something but not the traditional "No."

He has been eating a lot more dairy this month, which is exciting.  He loves pizza and yogurt.  We do have to be careful.  We still find that after a few days he starts to get some diarrhea and has to go without dairy again.  Still, it's a start.

Hinckley's biggest milestone this month dealt with swimming.  He passed his summer clothes test

And his winter clothes test!

We are so grateful.  A couple days before his winter clothes test Hinckley was in the backyard.  I assumed that our "self-latching" gate was latched.  It wasn't.  I ran back outside to find him jumping up and down in the hot tub with a huge grin on his face.  

As terrifying as it was (it will be some time before I'm able to forgive myself), I am so grateful that I had felt such a strong prompting to have Hinckley take swim lessons.  The Holy Ghost is real and His promptings helped to prevent a tragedy.


In case anyone is worried, that gate is now permanently locked.  

With all of the traveling we've done we were able to see how the boys would do sharing a room.  While in Missouri they were wonderful but once we returned home things went sour.  We have them back in their separate rooms for the time being.  Still, it was fun to listen to them once the lights were out when they were sharing a room.  There is a lot of howling, laughter and the following conversation on repeat, "Addiss?"
"Yes?!"

Something I'm especially thrilled about is Atticus's newfound love for soccer.  We watched the final game of the Women's World Cup (I know, the politics and publicity of the players was both ridiculous and disgraceful) and he suddenly wanted to practice with me.  He has been so persistent that we just signed him up for a team this fall... and I’ll be coaching.  Gulp.  We'll be playing at a field near you starting September.

It's finally time to report on the biggest event of the month: our road trip to Missouri.  Man, are we grateful for our van!

We took off on July 10 and, at Dane's insistence, drove all night, picking my brother Danny up in Utah on our way.  Our hope was that the boys would sleep while we drove.  Our hope was misplaced.  Both of them slept VERY little.  Our usually calm Hinckley was just awful.  Fortunately, we made it there in one piece (though Dane got pretty sick halfway there.)

After stopping by Trace's home for dinner and playing we headed to stay with our dear friends, the Whitakers.  Oh, it almost hurt to see how much Atticus and Bowman love each other.  We had so much fun!  After a visit that was waaaaay too short we headed on our way to the condos at the Lake of the Ozarks.  

This family reunion was awesome beyond words.  We missed my little brother terribly but still managed to have a great time.  

There was swimming

fishing

 

caves

paddleboarding, 

boating, home videos, games and so many good talks.  

I was so proud of Atticus- he got up on the kneeboard his first try, thanks to Uncle David's great instruction.  

We had a family photoshoot and are waiting to get our official digital copies.  In the meantime, here are some of our favorites.

Hinckley was treated like a little celebrity (the other grandkids would gather around him to make him laugh) and Atticus was on cloud nine as he played with all of his cousins.

We can't wait to see everyone again!

After another miserable drive through the night we stayed with Bob and Marti for two nights.  The boys got some much needed grandparent and great-grandparent time.  We even got to hear Bobba give a talk at church.  It was memorable- Hinckley yelled out to him so much that I had to take him out and Atticus was winking at him the whole time to say, "I love you."

Hinckley Speaks:

• "Momma"
• "Bobbas, Nanas, Dadas"
• "Adee" (Hinckley)
• "Fox say!" (while "What does the fox say?" plays)
• He'll repeat just about any monosyllable

Atticusisms:

• "What are firehands?" (I'm not sure...) "I think they're guns."  (Yes!  Firearms!  They are guns!) "No, they're firehands!"
• "I'm going to steal people's mail!" (While pretending to be a bad guy with a friend)
• "I'm good at this." (while playing soccer)
• "I'm the best baseball player in the world."
• "I'm never going to stop trying."
• "I'm going to play with my cousins."
• "She's the meanest girl ever."
• "I need my life preserver." (life jacket).
• "This is quite different."
• "Why do you want your friend to kick your butt?"
• (Said glumly after dressing up as Batman and asking for three eggs but only having room to eat one) "I guess Batman only eats one egg."