This morning I had the chance to sleep in a bit for the first time in a few days, and I end up waking up and getting up earlier than any of the other days of late. At least the kids are all still snoozing. They've had a lot going on lately.

We had a so-so weekend in Lake Wilson. The weather didn't cooperate with us doing as much outdoor stuff as we were hoping to do at Lake Wilson's 125th celebration. It was extremely windy and rained for much of Saturday. The kids did get some time down at the park where Cory also ran into a couple high school classmates that he'd been hoping to see. And, even though it rained for most of it, we did watch the parade that traveled down main street. Cory's dad was dressed as a clown for that and, of course, made a point to stop where his grandchildren were and dump a bunch of candy in front of them. The kids had really been looking forward to playing on all of the inflatable toys that were supposed to be set up in the afternoon, but that never happened because it never stopped raining long enough for things to be set up. We were also supposed to watch fireworks that night, but they were cancelled because of the strong winds. We saw very little of Myron, too, because he was running all over the place participating in everything going on around town.

We made it back to Yankton later in the afternoon on Sunday, and Accalia and Cole spent most of the rest of the day playing with the neighbor girls. No one was in especially good or patient moods - the oldest girl never is after spending a few days at her dad's - but for the most part they got along better yesterday. That was good since they played together almost all day yesterday. At one point in the evening, Cole was getting very upset with something going on outside (and he was tired and ready for a break but was having a very hard time being willing to move away from the action), and I suggested that Accalia and Cole go inside and that the neighbors head home so they could see their mom since she was finally home from work and they hadn't seen her all day. It nearly broke my heart when the oldest said, with a hitch in her voice, that her mom had friends over and didn't like the girls to be around when her friends were over. At that point I wanted to go over to their house and tell their mom she might want to actually spend time with them rather than just buying them McDonald's and clearance toys at Wal-Mart, but I didn't. Now that it seems that the girls have a babysitter coming to their house each day rather than going to a babysitter's, I think I need to just accept that I'll have two extra kids on hand most of the time for the rest of the summer. At least they can come someplace where they're actually wanted and interacted with by both the kids and adults in the house.

Yesterday didn't get off to the greatest start. Cory and I both had eye appointments right away in the morning. Cory's was first and he came home to tell me that the doctor said he has a degenerative eye disease affecting the cornea in his left eye. It's called keratoconus and is a thinning of the cornea. If you go to the link, you'll see that blurred picture, which is basically what Cory sees out of his left eye most of the time. The doctor tweaked his prescription for that eye, though, so he should have better vision when his new contacts come in. Cory's vision has been that way for a few years, but we've always thought it was astigmatism, which is often the diagnosis. The good news is that his vision has been stable and hasn't been steadily going downhill. We have no idea if or when it will get worse or how bad it could get. Treatment ranges from trying different contact lens combinations (for example, a soft lens and then a hard lens on top to help keep the shape of the cornea) to a cornea transplant (did you know those are now same day surgery)? Anyway, it definitely wasn't the best news to receive, but thankfully it's not an extremely dire diagnosis either. It could even be decades down the road before anything changes.

We finally were able to drop off the van yesterday for exhaust and door repairs, and it will hopefully be done today. In the meantime, we'll be walking to the library for Accalia's program this afternoon. Even though it's supposed to get pretty warm today, it's not that far that my pregnant 33 week self should be able to handle. Other than a few actual contractions last night and the night before, things continue as normal. My appointment last Friday was fine. All looks good, and amazingly enough, my weight gain over the past month was only 1/2 pound! Wow!

I guess I should get off the computer and start doing a few things before the kids wake up. My plan to shower before they were awake probably won't happen. Happy July to everyone!