Maloney Adventures: 2011 Summer home leave Part 2

More fun in the USA - July & August 2011

Phillip came back to Cincinnati on July 1 for 6 days. Our dear friends, The Mays, came to visit us from Clemson. We had such a great time. The highlight of that visit was a night at Kings Island. We got to stay until midnight! They left on Tuesday, and then Grandma arrived on Wednesday for a week. Grandma's visits are always special. We also got to spend an evening with Jeff, Annie, Bradley, Brian, and Kevin Lewis.

Matthew and Jessica both made swim champs in all 3 of their individual events. Matthew – 25 Free, 25 Fly, 100 IM; Jessica – 25 free, 25 breast, and 25 back. They got to swim in both team relays as well. These were 2 very long days, but very exciting. Grandma was with us to enjoy and be proud! During the swim meet, Jacob pitched a complete game to beat Deer Park in the baseball playoffs. Huge victory! I had a friend texting me the entire game. It is tough not to be in 2 places at once.

We finished the swim season with the annual swim awards banquet. This one was sad as Coach Soozie officially announced her retirement. Soozie taught all 3 of my kids to swim, but more importantly, she taught them to always give their best effort. Rather than to concentrate on winning, she encouraged them to concentrate on getting better as an individuals. The coaches awarded Matthew the 10 & under "coaches award" for always working hard, offering to help in any way, and always be so positive and smiling. Coach Soozie surprised us as well by presenting me with a basket of Cincinnati goodies. She thanked us for coming home to swim this summer. Finally, a 10 year old girl, Kennedy, gave Matthew the "Tony the Tiger Shark" award. This is handed down each year by the previous year's recipient. Kennedy said, "I thought about it, and asked all my friends. We all agreed to give this award to Matthew because he is always cheering all of us on." I had big tears once again. It was a very emotional night. I was very proud, sad, and happy.

On Friday, we moved out of Martha’s place and watched Jacob's team win the semi-final game. His friend Alex pitched a great game, but when his elbow hurt, Jacob came in to close out the final inning. We stayed with our friends, the Powers, for one night (summer stop #8). Val and I stayed up talking until 2am. The hours went by quickly. Then, we had one more night at the rental house. The AC did not work, so we pulled the mattresses together in the family room and borrowed some fans. It was a little bit like camping – just the four of us. Friends offered us their homes, but with Jacob leaving on Sunday for a service trip, I wanted to have some time just the kids and me.

On Sunday, July 17, we moved over to the Bortz’s beautiful home for our final week in Cincinnati. (Summer stop #9). Jacob’s baseball team lost in the regional championship on Sunday. While disappointing, I think this was an amazing accomplishment given the number of players out for vacation, as well as a pitcher injuries.

Jacob left that night for the Son Rise Mission trip to New Orleans. His bus broke down on the way home, so he arrived about 20 hours later than expected the following Saturday. However, he had an amazing week of devotion, prayer, friendship, and service. We are thankful for this opportunity. While he was gone, Matthew, Jessica, and I had a fun week of visiting with friends, playing, and shopping.

June and July were a whirlwind of activity – swim meets, sleepovers, baseball games, sleepovers, gymnastics, sleepovers, doctor visits, sleepovers! I did not actually sleep for a few weeks. I think it was a combination of jet lag and adrenaline.

On Tuesday, July 26, the time had come to say goodbye once more. There were definitely some tears, but this summer, it was a little easier. We know that time goes quickly and that our friends will still be here next summer. We also now know what to expect in Japan – our friends, our apartment, our school. The tough question, though, was … would all of our luggage fit in the rental Traverse??? Our bags doubled while shopping in the US! We were able to squeeze the bags in and drove to St. Louis to stay with Joe, Linda, Patrick, Daniel, and Grandma for one evening. (Summer stop #10). It was nice to get to celebrate Patricks’ 21st birthday!

We left early on Wednesday morning to fly from St. Louis to Minneapolis to Seattle where we met Dad. He rented a truck so that our luggage would fit! We were very excited to finally get to visit our good friends the Montgomerys. (Summer stop #11). They moved from Cincinnati to Seattle 5 years ago. We joked that our family had to move to Japan to get to visit in Seattle. What a beautiful city! We saw several lakes and mountains, including Mount Ranier, and lovely water falls. We went up in the Space Needle, had fish and chips, took a ferry ride, and walked around Pike’s Place. We were also happy to be at Safeco Field to cheer the Mariners to victory. More importantly, we got to spend time with friends. Paul and Tricia are wonderful friends and wonderful hosts. Our children got along great and had a fun visit. We spent 7 weeks and 5 days in the US, and this was the perfect way to complete our summer adventures.