unplanned

I have to admit ... I like predictability. There's a peace that comes from knowing what to expect and seeing things in order. I'm that person who likes to organize the clothes in her closet by color and who as a girl would tiptoe around the edges of her room and jump to her bed just to avoid stepping on the freshly vacuumed carpet. Please tell me I'm not alone in that! 🙂

But life isn't always predictable. And sometimes that can be a good thing, thank goodness. This past summer was one of those times. When school got out in June, I just had two things on my to-do list: take lots of naps and clean out the garage. I was able to get some napping in, but the garage unfortunately looks as crowded and packed to the brim as it has for the last few years.

And that’s perfectly okay. Because in it’s place I have a summer full of happily unplanned memories with my mom, sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and fur niece.

To be honest, we didn’t really do anything grand or go on any big trips. We didn’t even plan or know that we would be spending so much time with one another.

My sister and her family were in the middle of packing/selling their home in Vancouver, WA and choosing/buying a home in Pocatello, ID. What started out as a few days staying at our house while the painters finished working in theirs soon turned into weeks and then most of summer. It became an extended “sleepover” as Deacon (my nephew) called it and secretly my mom and I hoped it wouldn’t end.

Together we played countless games of Uno and Skip Bo while waiting for dinner, over s’mores and before bed. We watched the ENTIRE Jurassic Park series! We also watched Jumanji so much that Deacon assigned each of us a character - he of course was Dr. Bravestone (played by Dwayne Johnson) and I was Ruby Roundhouse! 😆

MommaBear and I learned to stand-up paddle board, but she unfortunately needed rescuing when Deacon reached for some seaweed and tipped the board over. We then went for pizza while we waited for our clothes to dry because when my sister invited us to join them it didn’t cross my mind that we should wear swimsuits (oy vey!) 🙈

We drove to Pocatello to look at houses - passing by miles of wind turbines and passing the time away by listening to show tunes (especially from The Greatest Showman and The Phantom of the Opera) and a little Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Ed Sheeran with Andrea Bocelli (this version gives me goosebumps and makes me want to cry … anyone else ??).

We tried to go fishing and tried to go camping. Instead we caught seaweed and got locked out of our cabin in the middle of the night. Luckily for us, my sister has some mad MacGyver skills and was able to open the door with a spatula!

We ran from water snakes and rattlesnakes; blew bubbles with hula hoops; went for pedis (including the boys); ate WAY too much food; and laughed through absolutely all of it … especially the whole running from snakes part :)

Now that they are in Idaho settling into their new home, we find ourselves missing moments like these. Just the other day, before ending our FaceTime call, Deacon held out his pinky and asked us to make a promise - a very simple one. He asked us to look at flights so that we could visit them all. We held out our pinkies too … and … promised and planned to do exactly that.