Jeff's Last Days in Dubai

As part of Jeff's departure from his company, Shelf Drilling, he had to travel back to Dubai on 2 occasions in the summer to wrap things up and transition the role to his replacement. Ever since we had to spend 5 months apart when Jeff started this job, it has become quite traumatic for the kids to be separated from Jeff on these trips. We were thankful this time that his visits were relatively short (3 weeks and then 1 week), but it was still tough for us to say goodbye.

 

 

While Jeff was in Dubai on these final trips, he took the opportunity to enjoy meals and visits with co-workers and friends. His team at Shelf Drilling was sad to see Jeff leave, but they showed him incredible hospitality with goodbye lunches, dinners, and celebrations. They all had nothing but wonderful things to say about Jeff's time at the company. What a beautiful sendoff for Jeff -- almost enough to make him regret leaving. ALMOST! :-)

On Jeff's final flight home from Dubai, he discovered that he was able to FaceTime us mid-flight. He was quite literally on top of the world when I saw his number show up on my phone. Crazy!

Kaitlynn at Great Adventure Camp

Not long after Connor returned from his summer camp, it was Kaitlynn's turn. She tried a new camp this year called Great Adventure Camp (GAC) and was able to attend with 3 friends from her former school in Katy. She was so excited for the week away with her friends.

We carpooled with part of their group to the camp, located in Cat Springs, TX. The girls were full of anticipation and before long they were getting settled into their cabin. We took some photos of the girls and it was around this time that I could tell Kaitlynn was feeling anxious and nervous. As much as she loved her group of friends, she had been away and "outside" of the group for a couple of years. She was feeling unsure as she watched me prepare to leave, but she didn't want her nerves to show on the outside.

It was tough for me to leave, knowing she was anxious, but I knew she would soon settle in and have a wonderful week. The camp photos posted throughout the week showed just that!

When the end of the week finally arrived, I was SO ready to see my girl and give her a long hug. I walked up and was so relieved to see her enjoying the time with her new friends and camp counselors. We snapped some final camp photos and then we were on our way back home. My favorite part of summer camp is always hearing all of the stories from the week, and Kaitlynn had some good ones to share. She REALLY missed being away from home and wasn't sure about going away to camp again, but I'm sure it won't be long before she changes her tune on that.

 

Resuming Play Dates (Hang Outs)

We hadn't been back in Texas long before the kids were texting their best friends in the Katy area, begging for play dates. Or in Connor's case, I guess they are now called hang outs? After all, he's 13 now! They were both so excited to see these friends that they had been missing so much, and they soaked in all the fun with trips to friends' houses, movie theaters, swimming pools, water parks, the beach, and so much more.

And it also wasn't long before both kids had made new friends in our new neighborhood. Both Connor and Kaitlynn have a new friend within 1-2 houses of ours, not to mention the additional 100s of kids in the neighborhood.

Girls Trip to San Antonio

While Connor was at camp, I left Kaitlynn with Jeff so that I could head out on a long overdue and much anticipated Girls Trip with Julie and Michelle. We stayed at a private villa in the La Cantera Resort and Spa in north San Antonio, and it turned out to be such a beautiful spot for us. It was spacious and secluded, and it even came with its own private golf cart for us to use on the resort property. So fun!

The resort grounds were absolutely beautiful, and the sunset was a nice addition to the view.

As usual, we spent our 3 days together doing all kinds of fun girl stuff -- shopping, eating, spa services, and pool time. There were fireworks each night right outside of our villa, too. But don't ask me about them because I'm not big on fireworks. (That's an inside joke. HA!) Our trip to San Antonio was just what we needed to recharge and catch up after a long absence.