RyRy's in Korea: Summer: Part 1

Wow - didn't know people were still reading this thing, but according to my profile thing (technical term), you are.

I fully intended to keep updating, but, well, I didn't. This summer has flown by. It feels like I have been home for 3 weeks, not 4 months. I'll do another post (well, I intend to do another post, but knowing my track record, don't hold your breath) about my current status and feelings etc. but for now, here's what I've been doing:

I posed about my first few days home, then I spent the next 2ish weeks with my mom. We cleaned out a room in the basement, I organized some pictures (but far from all and what she wanted to me to do), donated 2+ bags of clothes to Goodwill and trashed another, met up with some friends, did water aerobics with another friend and saw my dog.

Layla post-haircut

Then we drove to NC for my second brother's wedding. It was a great wedding and my mom, sister and I teared up quite a few times. My brother is deployed and was supposed to be a groomsman, but was unable to be there but they put him in their program as an honorary one. They had the reception in the perfect place for them - a mix of nice and laid back, complete with baggo.

Lil brother's wedding present - customized bowling pin with the date they met (at a bowling alley) and their wedding date.

Being introduced at the reception.

Me, Big B and Roll

Cake smash!

After the wedding, I moved into my aunt and uncle's house. I took over their guest room and have been watching their daughters for the summer. Here's some of what I/we've done (others to follow in Summer 2).

My first weekend there I went to Delaware and visited some cousins. My cousin Kool-Aid and I went to NY for the day and saw Newsies (awesome dancing and songs) and ate at Shake Shack (featured in "Something Borrowed"). We also played some Catan, ate breakfast at Waffle House, had a Friendly's sundae and did some other cousin bonding (with extra cousins included!). One night we went to her parents and another aunt and uncle showed up and I got to test some beers they thought I'd like. One (Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy) has become my go-to summer beer.

Wearing my cousin's newsboy style hat to make it more authentic

We split lunch and a cement

The following weekend was Memorial Day weekend. So I drove back up to MD/DE with my uncle on Friday mid-morning. My aunt and the girls were supposed to fly in Friday night, but they had bad weather and ended up coming in Saturday morning. We got to MD, had a few beers, then went out on my uncle's boat and drove up to a little bar/restaurant for some appetizers/beer.

Chesapeake Inn beer tower

I got quite tipsy that evening. The next day I went to a movie with one cousin, then came back over and had a cook-out with a chunk of family and friends. I stayed at my cousin's house that night then came back Sunday evening after bowling and Mexican with her and her husband.

JoJo got a turkey and I made him follow the Korean tradition (well at least my Korean tradition) of having your picture taken with each turkey.

Monday, 2 sets of aunts and uncles were in a charity golf tournament, so I watched the kids and we decided to go bowling again - the kids' first time. We had lots of fun. The kids and my aunt had a return flight that evening b/c the girls were still in school. So a different cousin and I ordered pizza and watched Anastasia. My uncle and I drove home the next morning.

Me and the girls

Doing Beyonce over the hand dryer

The weekend after Memorial day was my cousin's high school graduation. He started Virgina tech this fall and we are all super proud of him. A big chunk (but not all) of the family was able to make it to their house for a cook-out/pool party. We adopted one of my other cousin's friends into the family by calling him "High Dollar" which turned into "money" by the end of the weekend.

Golfers

Non-golfers. I had a kid on me (1 of 3) for most of the weekend

The following weekend I flew right back to MD for my uncle's 70th birthday at my aunt's house. She lives right on the Chesapeake Bay and it was a beautiful day. It was also nice getting to see the other side of my family, even though my siblings weren't there.

Backyard

Cake

Chillin' barefoot on the breakfront

The girls joined their neighborhood swim team this year. We went 4 morning a week and I often swam laps while they did. It was a good way to have a schedule, although it meant waking up early-ish. They were supposed to have swim meets, but they were very boring and their scores didn't really count so we only went to a couple of them. Here are pictures from the "mock meet" where they got timed.

Deuces

My brother's birthday is at the end of June and we wanted to send him some birthday gifts and treats. We made cookies and sent them mid-June so they'd be sure to get there in time. We had fun making cookies although most of them didn't look like the cutters.