July 3, 2023 - Monday

I should have spent the day packing and prepping for camping, but I did not. Instead, I worked, played Zelda, did French, cooked, and hung out with the kids. Plus, a liberal dash of reading thrown in. We headed to the HC cookout in the afternoon. I'm glad we made it, despite the girls' coughs, but as much as I like seeing everyone, it's crazy to me how I can still feel like conversation is awkward with these people I've been in group with for years. You'd think that convo would flow comfortably, but instead I'm grasping for things to talk about because I have no idea what's going on in some of the girls' lives! I need to do a better job of asking questions and really paying attention to answers. It doesn't help that I haven't been at cell for almost 2 months. I just need to remember to stay intentional with these girls, because it's so easy for us to grow apart. 

Although we really didn't feel like it, Ben and I took the girls to watch the fireworks from Ben's office. And oh, my gosh, I'm so glad we did! It was really incredible. I had no idea how awed I would be, but besides the show, the wonder on my kid's faces and just the gratitude I felt blew me away. How lucky/blessed are we to be able to head to the tallest building in the city, on the highest floor, and sit in the privacy of my husband's office, in the AC, to watch the fireworks that are set off directly across from where we are?? Never in a million years would I have thought that I'd experience something like that. It was cool, to say the least.