Julia has this incredible way of creating original games for every celebration. Mother’s Day was the weekend before finals, so they gave me a sweet redo today along with Father’s Day.

This year, we were invited to the lottery (lemonade stand) and given a dime from each kiddo. Somehow, we won every game (even though I’m not exactly sure what Sebastian and Mary Alice had us playing). We received scratch off jackpot cards for winning!

You guys… Julia learned how to create a scratch off paint thingy. How do you do that?! Amazing.

I watched as the little ones gathered around her to get her approval for their next Father’s Day activity.

The day was perfect. It was full of impromptu dances, sweet smiles, and the whole family under one roof. As someone who was pretty sure I only had 18 summers total with my oldest, this has been the biggest blessing in the midst of a pandemic.

For our afternoon entertainment, we watched the Venardos Circus live. We made soft pretzels and little banana pudding cups and set up our afternoon.

We snuggled together and watched the sweetest circus. Sebastian was completely amazed with the balancing acts. His enthusiasm was contagious.

We ate pretzels and told the little ones what being at the circus in person was like. Listening to Nate and Julia describe their memories made every long walk to the car after taking them to an event completely worth it.

We wrapped up the day in the swimming pool and finished with one of Brian’s favorite dinners – chicken cordon blue, deviled eggs, rolls with butter, creamed corn, and banana pudding.

Someday, we will all get haircuts again, but until then…

I really, really did win the jackpot.