Squeezing in the Last of Summer

The week before school started, Emma informed me that we didn't do much over the summer. Au contraire! But instead of arguing with her and coming up with documentation, we decided that we could fit in a couple more fun things here and there.

One afternoon, we went to lunch with Brad and had tasty Thai food and then spent a few hours at the zoo. To be honest, I was a little bit worried that Rachel and Emma wouldn't like the zoo and they would think that it was boring (you know how girls can be at that age). They really enjoyed it. Rachel was a bit bored near the end of it but she was a good sport. Emma and Caleb really had a good time. There were a few baby animals that had been recently born and they really liked the baby giraffe. I took a picture of them in the giraffe house. Did I check to make sure the baby giraffe (or any giraffe for that matter) was included in the picture? Dork.
I let the girls take control of my camera so I found dozens of pictures of animals but very few of the people (us) visiting them. Rachel liked the Madagascar exhibit and was fascinated/grossed out by the hissing cockroaches.
Emma liked the big cats. I think she appreciates an animal that enoys lounging around as much as she does.
I like the monkeys. They remind me of my own Monkies.

All in all, the zoo was a fun place to spend the day with the kids.

Two days before school started, Brad got off work early and we headed to Lagoon, the amusement park in Utah. I hadn't been in over twenty years and for Brad it was even longer. I remember Lagoon as being hot with not that much to do. Rachel has been a few times with friends and she informed us that it is a lot of fun. So off we went. Lagoon has changed in the past twenty years and the weather was perfect. Rachel, Emma and Brad loved the big rides. Caleb and I had our reservations. I always feel a little nervous getting in line for the rides but I enjoy it when I go. I guess Caleb picked up that same trait. As the day wore on, he would get increasingly more anxious anticipating the ride but after the ride was over, he would exclaim, "That was my favorite ride of the day!" Such a funny boy. I think Brad might be talked in to going more often than once every 25 years...and a good time was had by all.

Here's Rachel and Emma enjoying The Rocket

Waiting in line. Brad wasn't there because he was trying to get the four dollars back he fed into a pop machine. (He really, really wanted some pop.)

Rachel and Emma on the Centennial Screamer. I feel a little sick just looking at the photo.

We found a nice quiet spot away from the crowds in a spot where there were historic houses. Do you notice something about Brad and Caleb from these pictures?

I'll give you a hint. Brad and Caleb both have bandages on their faces; Caleb has one (and as you can see sometimes two) across his nose and Brad has one on his chin. There are no wounds under those bandages, they just felt like wearing them. I don't understand them sometimes...

We stayed there until 10:00. We got back home and everyone was in bed at around midnight. Not a very good way to prepare for going to bed and waking up earlier for school but I think it was worth it.

First Day of School

Look at my Emma on her first day of seventh grade. Isn't she cute? I can't believe that I have TWO girls in junior high! How did this happen? I feel like I'm still 30 years old and my kids should be coming home from preschool and watching Blue's Clues. How am I supposed to feel young when my children are getting older? All kidding aside though, Emma and Rachel are really excited to be in the same school together.

Look at my Caleb riding his bike with his friend on the first day of school. He likes to go to and from school with his posse. He's a little concerned that third grade will be a lot harder than second grade but I am absolutely positive that he will do just fine.

Look at my Rachel. What? You can't see her? That's because she's a ninth grader now and she can't be bothered with having her picture taken on the first day of school. Trust me on this one though, she looked cute.

So here we go back into the school routine.

A Welcome Visit from Relatives

Last week, we received a visit from my aunt and uncle from Texas and my cousin and her family from Los Angeles came for a visit. It was wonderful to see them. I hadn't seen Lisa in about ten years and I had never met her two adorable girls. We were able to take them to some fun places the few days they were here. On Friday, we took them to Silver Lake up Big Cottonwood Canyon:

My aunt Ying Yee with Caleb. It was an unseasonably chilly day.

Caleb, Hayden and Emma

My uncle Hawk with my mom and dad (Caleb is under the towel. Did I mention that it was unseasonably chilly?)

Mom, Emma, Andrew, Hunter, Aunt Ying Yee, and Rachel

Lisa, Hunter, Hayden, Ed, Andrew and Rachel.

We had a yummy dinner made by my aunt and my mom while the kids had a good time together.
One of the benefits of having older girls around is they can teach the younger ones the finer art of dress-ups.

On Saturday, we took everyone to the Little Sahara Sand Dunes. A good time was had by all (even if we were all encrusted with sand and our teeth were crunchy afterward)

We tried to slide down the dunes on big sheets of cardboard. Um, yeah, it didn't work.

The kids found a really deep hole (about 5 feet deep) that someone had dug. By the time we done, the hole was about 2 feet deep.


Sisters.

Sisters wandering the desert and no where near a shopping mall.
I had about a pound of sand in each cuff of my pants.

Here is a picture of Caleb being dramatic. He told me he was pretending he had been wandering the desert for weeks and he had run out of water. Then he fell over and rolled down the hill to his "death". What a ham!

It was a really nice visit from the Jows and the Lees. Please come again soon and let's not wait another ten years.

On to the Next Thing...

Last week, I mentioned that I was released from Primary. This week, I was called to the Young Women's presidency. Time elapsed between last primary meeting to first Young Women's meeting--5 days. I was a looking to attending Relief Society once but I guess it's not to be.

I will be the counselor that will be the Beehives (12-13 year olds). Emma is THRILLED (in order to get the full effect, eyes must be rolled firmly into the back of the head when the last word of the previous sentence is said). Her response to me when I told her was, "Mom, promise me you won't be weird." My response to her was, "I'm not making any promises." I think Rachel, Emma and I will have a great time together. I think Caleb and Brad will have a great time together when we are gone on Tuesday nights.

Although I miss the little children in Primary already, I'm really looking forward to this new calling (well, I'm not that excited about camp next year. I've never been to camp.)

Hmm, I wonder how this will effect the frequency of my posting?

What!?! August Already?

It's already August. Many things happened in the month of July.

Yesterday, I was released from the primary after three crazy but fulfilling years. The day before, I finally finished painting. I think I will now have time to slip in a post here and there.

Here are some pictures of my paint project (that I thought would last four days but somehow ended up taking almost two weeks. Just for a matter of reference, Emma took many of the pictures without me knowing. So thanks Em, for documenting the process.

Here's the sad, tired before.





Here we are in the process I orginally just wanted to paint the big wall gold, but I didn't quite like the way it looked so I opted for this:


and here (finally) is the after:

That was quite a project. One of Emma's first responses when I was done was, "Looks good. When are you going to paint my room?" Not quite yet.