Thankful Thursday

1. On Friday afternoon Paul rented scaffolding for finishing painting in our foyer. This was nerve wracking for both of us to put it mildly, but thankfully he wasn't injured while he painted on Saturday and Sunday. There was a very tiny section near the top of the steps that he couldn't reach even when we had the scaffolding on the stairs, but he should be able to reach that part with just a ladder. He was also able to clean the chandelier and one side of the window while he was up there. If we ever move to another home, I don't want to live in another house that has this high of a ceiling. I love the new paint color. The part Paul painted hadn't been painted in 26 years. We had originally planned to hire a painter due to the difficulty, but we saved a lot of money by doing it ourselves. Paul returned the scaffolding on Monday morning. 

2. Last Friday I decided not to walk for 3 hours during the boys' Stronghold camp as I had the previous four days. Instead, I bought some clothing for myself and Nadia at Salvation Army (2 skirts and 2 pairs of shorts for less than $11 total) and had my first pedicure in more than a year. The boys enjoyed the camp last week. The last day (Friday) they stayed an extra hour. Afterwards, I treated them to a trip to Rita's. Yum! 

3. The boys enjoyed swimming at a pool party hosted by our church on Saturday night.

4. Last Friday evening the tickets to tour Ford Island (at Pearl Harbor) on August 8 became available at 9:00 pm. I logged in a little before 9:00 pm and tried to buy five reservations (only $1 each) right when they became available. I wasn't the first person to click "purchase" as some were already gone, but thankfully I was able to get 5 of the 40 reservations available for that day. They were gone in minutes. Paul would have been devastated if I hadn't been able to get them. Thank you, Lord! I am going to attempt a similar feat on Monday at 1:00pm when I will attempt to get reservations for Hanauma Bay. If I'm unsuccessful it won't be as devastating as there are many places to snorkel but only one USS Oklahoma and USS Utah. 

5. Shopping for bathing suits isn't exactly my favorite activity. Although I was never one to spend a lot of time in shopping malls, I definitely prefer trying shoes/clothes on before buying them. I know in some places shopping malls still exist, but they have become a thing of the past in our area. I had planned to try to buy a bathing suit at Kohl's prior to our merengue lesson last Friday night, but Paul was so exhausted from setting up the scaffolding, he just wanted to stay home last Friday night. On Sunday I decided to order a bathing suit on Amazon. I was thrilled to discover I had chosen the right size and liked it, especially since it only cost a little over $20. I'll be wearing a bathing suit more than usual while we're in Hawaii, so I'm thankful I have one I like and isn't one I inherited from my mom after she passed in 2016. 

All the counselors for girls' camp

6. I *think* our first vacation in 2026 will be to Europe in May. I can't plan that trip yet because I'm waiting to find a good airfare deal. We think our other trip in 2026 will be to the northeast part of Canada in August 2026. I can start planning that trip because we will be driving our own vehicle to get there. I am not going to be making any reservations for lodging or activities anytime soon, but I have begun to flesh out an itinerary. I like to do it well in advance and then revise and tweak it. I sometimes feel like it's a massive jigsaw puzzle as certain places are only open certain days of the week. I have us visiting some National Park sites in New York on the way up to Canada and some others in Massachusetts on the way back home that I hadn't been able to include in previous trips to that area due to the dates they were closed (or in the case of JFK the whole site was closed for renovations the last time we were in MA). I have a tentative initial itinerary (places to eat and places to spend the night are generally TBD) that is for 11 nights/ 12 days. Two days are in the US, one day each in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and 4 days each in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. When I was growing up, we went on several vacations in Canada. I had expected to like Prince Edward Island the best due to my strong affection for Anne of Green Gables, but my favorite province was actually Nova Scotia. I've never been to Newfoundland. It was tempting to exclude Newfoundland again due to the time and expense involved in taking a ferry to get there from Nova Scotia, but it looks like there are some amazing sights to see in Newfoundland, and we doubt we'll be in that area again in the future, so Paul and I decided to include Newfoundland. So far, the kids have only been in Ontario, but I'm hoping over the next few years that we can visit all the other provinces. I doubt Nadia will visit all of them, but I do think she can join us to visit these four provinces. I enjoy learning more about different places through all the research I do prior to planning a vacation. Did you know that the only place on earth where you can walk on the earth's mantle is in Gros Morne Park in Newfoundland? The Bay of Fundy has the highest tidal range in the world. We're planning to visit Hopewell Rocks, and Oliver is hoping it will work out for us to go on a tidal bore rafting trip in Nova Scotia at high tide. If this trip does happen, I'm planning to buy a photo map of the provinces of Canada that I can hang on the wall and fill like I have done for the states of the US over the last several years. Since there are only ten provinces in Canada, the kids will have been in half of them after this trip since they've already been to Ontario. 

7. It's been very hot over the last week. I'm thankful for air conditioning, and I'm thankful it's not as hot today as Paul and I have only been walking Milo once a day lately due to the heat.

8. Even though the warehouse isn't air conditioned (it was 90 degrees inside while we were there), we didn't let that stop the three of us from volunteering at Experience Missions yesterday morning. We were packing kits for Voice of the Martyrs. Thankful for an opportunity to serve. 

9. Our separation from Nadia is *almost* done! I will be picking her up on Saturday evening. I'm looking forward to talking to her later today. I haven't talked to her in eight days. I'm thankful she's been able to work at a Christian camp this summer. 

10. The mirror cover is going to be replaced on our van at 1:00 today. Thankful!

11. On Monday night Oliver asked to go on a date with Paul to Bonanza. We hadn't eaten there since December 2022. Monday is family night, which means the adult and children's prices are reduced a little, and Oliver will only qualify for the kids' rate for a few more days as he turns 13 next week. They enjoyed their meal. Oliver is the most proactive of our three kids when it comes to requesting to have a date with one of us.