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I Can Do Better

The kids have been reading my old blog posts in the form of books I printed covering 2008-2017. They love the snapshots of everyday life. Many of the captured moments would be forgotten if I hadn't recorded them on our family blog.

I have been in survival mode for the last few years. My updates are lame because they're not frequent enough to capture the daily adventures. Even though the kids are past the silly toddler years, we still have plenty of everyday life to share. I want to make it a priority. First, though, I feel I should fill in the last months.

So, here's another lame picture dump lacking in details, just to catch up. And I will do better. I will. I will.

The last picture dump went through July. Our summer continued with more swim team, visits to the library, and playing board games in pajamas. 

At the beginning of August, Makayla started a new phase of life. She wasn't sure if she would live in Utah or California, but she knew she was finished living in her parents' basement in Pennsylvania. She bought a car, and I helped her drive it across the country with her few life possessions in the back.

First stop Iowa City. 
The three-day drive to Utah was not as unpleasant as I thought. (I'm not a superfan of long road trips)
We made it to Utah in time to celebrate Emily's 24th birthday with her. We went to the aquarium, and her friend gave us a cool tour of Holdman Studios.



We also planned a wedding shower for her. Lots of laughs and funny/awkward memories from that. Too bad I didn't write about it sooner. Logan was a good sport, and he knew Emily better than us. 

Makayla decided Utah wasn't the right place right then, so we continued the long drive to California instead of moving her into an apartment there. I stayed a few days to settle Makayla in Karitza's "clubhouse" for a 3-week trial. 
I returned home by airplane in time to celebrate Gavin's 8th birthday.
Rick took the kids to Hershey Park that weekend to celebrate and experienced the unfortunate event of running out of charge in the car about 15 minutes from home. It was an awful long night and a difficult lesson, which inspired Karitza to purchase a T-shirt for Rick.
She likes to send him t-shirts when he experiences something that qualifies for The Misadventures of Rick Mergenthaler. The possum t-shirt is another shirt.
The same family he's cooking for in the above picture was here last summer when he earned the Smokey Bear t-shirt.
And then, school started. Gavin is in 3rd grade, Brooklyn in 5th, Sean in 8th, and Andrew is working toward completing both his junior and senior years at home through online classes.

The kids only went to a few days of school before leaving town for Emily and Logan's wedding, which deserves its own post.

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