Photo Journal - Josie Boettcher

We thought about going to Atalaya today, but heard that they have a little parade that goes right in front of our condo, so we decided to stay put and watch the parade instead. It was cute! It was really just a train of decorated golf carts, but they threw candy and the kids enjoyed it a lot. We ate some lunch then headed to the beach for a while. Every time I think we’ll spend a few hours at the beach, kids start complaining and we leave for the pool. Today was no different! We ended up at the pool for hours and hours in the afternoon. The kids made friends with a little boy named Dawson and now all they want to do is play with him.    We ran to DQ for dinner and did a couple of errands while we were out. When we came back, everyone wanted to go to the pool again, so we did that. Clem got some bad sunburn on her face, so I took her up to try to soothe it. Then Ben texted and said Dawson and his mom were down there and she wouldn’t stop talking to him, and asked me to take ove...

We all slept great last night, except for Ben who, again, got more than a dozen calls overnight about his dad. His lungs stopped working and they put him on a ventilator. Dennis doesn’t want any life-sustaining treatments, so the whole day was just a mess. Ben is responsible for his living will and his healthcare decisions, so he had a lot of communicating to do and was freaking about needing to leave. Throughout the day, though, we got some updates and they did a procedure to clear his lungs. We’ll see in the days to come if it was successful.  We had a fun day, despite the stress. We just went back and forth from the beach to the pool a lot, really. We went to get burgers for lunch at a place called River City…which seems like a strange name for an ocean-side burger place. But the food was good! We asked to sit inside and were conveniently seated outside   where the wind blew our food, menus, and napkins around for the entire meal. By the time we were done eating, we we...

We made it!! We left the house at 5:40 this morning and had a pretty uneventful drive. We only had a couple of stops, thanks to Ben getting breakfast and lunch ready last night. We arrived at Surfside Beach around 3:30, ran to the grocery store, then got to our condo at exactly 4pm. I, of course wanted to get everything unpacked and settled, but everyone else wanted to go play. And who am I to deny everyone the fun they’ve been waiting for??? So we went to the pool for a little bit and then I went on a pizza hunt. They weren’t answering at our normal place, so I drove over, and they were closed!   I did an online search for another place nearby, went in there and ordered, then came back to the condo, showered, and went back to grab the pizza. It was VERY good pizza. We have a ton of leftovers! Which is a good thing. Lunch for tomorrow! Patrick, Erin, Dawn, Bumper, and Kelly are all in Marietta with Dennis today. Ben is relieved that he’s got company, even if it’s just for a da...

We had our CACH field day today and I got to be photographer! These were a few of my favorites. 

Ruby tried out the pottery wheel she got for her birthday. It was much messier than we anticipated and we, subsequently, spent more time cleaning up from the pottery wheel experimenting than she did actually using the pottery wheel. It was more challenging than she expected and she ended up scrapping the things she worked on. I think she'll get the hang of it though!

Today was the talent show/end of year party for CACH. Clem sang a solo this year and ROCKED IT. She sang Lost Boy by Ruth B. This is a terrible picture, taken from a screen shot of a video someone else took of her singing! Ruby sang A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman with two of her friends and it was quite unbearable to listen to, but very cute to watch. 

Ben got about 100 calls overnight and missed them, so when he finally did wake up to pee, he saw them and rushed out of the house around 5:30 to get to Marietta. Hazel left a VM saying that Dennis was coding and he needed to get there asap. When he got there, he learned that he wasn’t actually coding, but his heart rate had dropped by 40bpm suddenly and they were very concerned. It climbed back up though. Ben had a tough day visiting with him. It’s so hard for him to see his dad like this, completely helpless and miserable. It feels like the life is just fading out of him.  Meanwhile, I stayed home and packed for the beach, not even knowing if we’ll be able to leave tomorrow morning! It was hectic, but I managed to get us packed and to clean the house. By the time Ben got home, I was basically ready. He packed up food for the drive, and I just kind of sat for a while, zoned out and exhausted. Excited and nervous to take this trip!  *Clem and I got to take a quick Starbucks dat...

I’m feeling a lot of pressure to get packed, but it was a pretty busy day, so I couldn’t do much. Jonas needed to be at the Columbus State Dublin testing center at 10 for his placement tests for college courses. I had absolutely no idea how long it would take, so I didn’t feel comfortable leaving. I imagined it would take 45min to an hour, but when an hour had passed, it was way too late to leave and run errands…just in case! Then two hours went by and I was kicking myself for sitting in that damn parking lot all morning. FINALLY, a half hour after that, Jonas was done. He was pretty disappointed in himself, because he thought he would have done better than he did. I tried to reassure him that nobody would expect an 8th grader to get higher scores than that - these tests were designed for people who are 18+. I think he felt better, but he loves to feel like the smartest guy on earth, so it was a little blow to his ego. I took him out for a super quick lunch date at Bibibop and then dro...

Well, the dang AC finally gave up. It’s not like it was unexpected, but I feel like Ben really cannot handle the additional stress right now! I called four companies this morning and three came today to give us quotes. The very lowest was $11.5k. Insane!!! I was sure it would be $8k-ish, but man was I wrong. I’m so sad about it. Of course, we’ll have to get financing just to get it replaced. We’re going to wait until we get our last quote tomorrow to make our decision though.  We went to small group in the evening and it was good. I’m anxious for the day that Ben will actually just let us be somewhere without rushing us out. Will it ever happen? He rushed me home from every CT and HC and it still happens here. It’s just exhausting to always be worried that my husband is displeased because I’m in another conversation when he’s in a rush to get home so he can sit on his ass and stare at his phone. I know that’s an unkind thing to say, but he literally cannot view anything as rel...

It’s my birthday!!! Happy 43 to me! It was a good day. I started things out in my normal way, with a cup of tea and an egg with cottage cheese.   Yum. I decided not to do Wild & Free but instead met my small group friends at the same dang splash pad as yesterday.   We were going to go to the bunny one, but they were closed for repairs. People had presents and flowers for me!!   We hung out for a few hours before heading home for the afternoon. I played video games and got out into the garden for a while. When Ben got off work, we headed to the Dublin North Market for dinner. I got BBQ chicken and we probably spent $80 getting everyone their separate things at different restaurants.   A little more expensive than I was hoping! But it was a really fun time. When we got home, I got some more presents--so many good ones--and had cake. I couldn't have asked for a better day. I feel like my love languages have shifted over the years. While I really ...

Splash pad - very hot Dinner out with friends for my birthday! Very fun!! We went to Old Navy afterwards for some shorts shopping. It was not successful.