Indiana Vacation Continued

June 8: This day was a big day because Lamb 1 and 2 began basketball camp. They attended every morning from June 8-June 17. I will have a separate post about basketball camp.

In the afternoon we met with an art professor at IPFW. Lamb 1 is interested in majoring in art in college. I meant to just take Lamb 1, but Lamb 2 said he was also interested and he also wanted to attend. Lamb 3 did not want to be the only one to not go so all of us went. It got to be long and boring for Lamb 2 and 3 and I wish I had told them both that they couldn't go.
It was a great chance for Lamb 1 to ask questions and to be encouraged to draw/do art every day. I was very impressed with the art department at IPFW. I attended a Concordia where there were only 3 or 4 art rooms. It was impressive to me all the art displayed in the hallway and all the different kinds of art rooms, especially the metal making room. The professor kept apologizing for the lack of art displayed since it was summer. I think it was the perfect time to visit because no one was in the rooms that we would disturb. I was very glad that we made the appointment and took the time to do this IPFW visit. The professor attends the same church as my parents and it was very kind of him to meet with us.

After we cleaned out the attic I thought we should get a dumpster. My mom was embarrassed that they had so much trash that we needed a dumpster. We found out dumpsters were really expensive $700! After several days of phone calls we found out that the city would take everything on trash day if what would not fit in the trash containers was bagged. This is what the trash men picked up after some trash diggers had taken some of the trash. There was a broken microwave and some stuff sticking out of the barrel that people stopped and took before the trash man arrived. I spent most of this afternoon taking the trash out and cleaning up the garage.

June 9: This day I finally got to meet in person a fellow blogger. I have followed Kristen's blog for awhile and I met her parents a few years ago, but this was the first time I met her in person. After I dropped off Lamb 1 and 2 at basketball camp, Lamb 3 and I went to the Seminary to meet Kristen and her son that happens to have the same first name as Lamb 3. First the boys played on the playground and later on we went in the gym and they played in there. Nathan W. was constantly going, didn't stay in one place long at all! I brought several shoes, books, and a few clothes that the Lambs had outgrown to share with Nathan. It was a fun morning!

Big Nathan Age 7
Little Nathan Age 14 months

As we were leaving there was a turtle on the road so we stopped so Lamb 3 could have some pictures to show his brothers what he saw.

In the afternoon I worked on cleaning up the garage some more. We loaded a bunch of scrap wood for my dad to donate to Habitat for Humanity. They were glad to take what he brought. Later on in our visit when he took a second load of scrap wood they told him they had accepted too many small pieces the first time he went and they weren't allowed to accept that again. He did donate some tools and screws and nails the second time but he brought home most of what he took in that second load. So we asked the neighbors that had taken some of our other stuff if they would be interested in the scrap wood. They were so they came over and loaded all that up in the back of their minivan. While they were there we asked them to help carry a dresser downstairs and they also helped my dad remove an old basketball hoop post. So when they came over that day we accomplished a lot and also helped them out.

My high school job was Dunkin Donuts. While that location no longer exists, I did want to take the Lambs to Dunkin Donuts while we were in Fort Wayne. On more days than I want to admit, I would take the Lambs to run errands and then we would stop by Dunkin Donuts for donuts for them and coffee for me. Dunkin Donuts has happy hour for iced coffee from 2-6pm. That was usually perfect for running errands and then stopping for a treat. I was amazed at all the choices of coffee. When I worked there we had regular or decaf coffee and every once and awhile a weird customer from the East would come in and order iced coffee. The only choice then was cream and sugar or black, no syrups or flavors.

June 10: I dropped the Lambs off at basketball camp and then Lamb 3 and I worked on packing my mom's pencil sharpener collection. We brought it home and it is now in the boy's playroom on display. Here it is at my mom's house before we packed it.

The afternoon was discouraging. We had been going to one liquor store for boxes and they ran out. I tried a second liquor store for boxes and they said they would have some available on Wednesday. When I went they didn't have any ready. I went to the Uhaul store for boxes for large pictures and the first store the line was long to pay and the second store was out of picture boxes. I took the Lambs to Dunkin Donuts and that was all we accomplished that afternoon.

To be continued...