The Myth of Summer Vacation

Remember how it was back in May? The kids were all longing for school to be out - for them to have the whole summer to play.

Didn't quite work out that way, did it? And I'm sure we're not the only ones. Instead of lounging around all summer long, with weeks and weeks of playing and sleeping in, visiting friends, hanging out at the pool:

• We have not been to the pool as a family once.
• When the kids went, Sarah got a 2nd degree sunburn which lasted for months.
• Will got a head injury which sent him to the hospital and gave him a headache for a week.
• Ellen didn't go on her Girl Scout trip.
• We haven't taken a vacation at all as a family.
• Ellen was sick for quite a bit.
• It rained for the first month. Remember that?

And now we've got less than a month left! So here's my list of everything I have to get done before school starts:

• Get Will to the dentist about his lost filling (done)
• Get Will and Sarah to the eye doctor for new glasses (done for Will, not Sarah)
• Get Will his tetanus booster
• Get Ellen's birth certificate so she can -
  
• Get Ellen's driving permit (done)
• Get Ellen and Will in to the dermatologist
• Get Ellen and Sarah to the doctor for a prescription check
  
• Register all kids and pay all fees - 3 kids this year!
  
• Back to school shopping
• Replace kitchen floor
• Get my van tuned up

OK, to be fair, the van and the floor really don't have anything to do with it being summer. I would have had to do it anyway. And the school shopping and registration happen every year. But that's part of my point. Every May, we think we're going to have fun, fun, fun, and it doesn't quite work out that way. Yes, we do have fun, and the kids have certainly been goofing off, sleeping in every day and playing countless games on the Wii. But it doesn't ever last as long as it looks like it will.

Maybe I would be less dissatisfied if I looked at what we did get to do:

• Will went to Aaronic Priesthood Encampment
• Father-Son campout
• Girl's Camp - Sarah is there now! Ellen and I will go up on Friday.
• Ward campout
• Harry Potter movie event!
• Summer reading program
• Driving the 6 wheeler around
• Picnic with Grandma
• Ellen in Stadium of Fire
• Various sleepovers and birthday parties
• Girl trip for Sarah and me - that was so much fun!
• Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house
• Visit to Grant's beehives
• Visit from Vicky
• Will's campout with Mandy and Xander
• Book club
• Ellen's 17th birthday
  

So it's true we didn't have a big family vacation and we didn't spend our time hanging out at the pool, but we managed to have a lot of fun anyway. I think we did enjoy summer, in our own way. We just relaxed, goofed off, did family stuff, ate apricots, visited with the grandparents, watched movies. There are some things I still want to do - eat some corn on the cob and some watermelon, pick more tomatoes, finally get us all to the pool - but I'm pretty happy with where we are.

Pioneer Day Picnic

Mom wanted to take us for a picnic this summer, so this Friday we loaded up our cars and headed for the canyon! Even though it was Pioneer Day, Randy had to work, so it was Mom, Mandy, Xander, Misha the dog, me, Ellen, Sarah and Will. Mom did most of the work, bringing a basket and giant cooler full of food. We brought the Oreos, which were also important! And Will brought his Launchpad to show Xander.

The Launchpad is this cool toy I got him for his birthday. It's like a little air pump idea, where you put a foam rocket on the launcher and then it has an inflated foot pedal that you stomp on, pushing the air up and into the rocket, which sends it up into the air. Will and I have both played with it, and it is a lot of fun. You can even angle the the direction the rockets travel, to send them straight up or to see how far you can make them go. And they go really far. The first time Will used it he immediately got a rocket stuck on the roof. So we only use it at the baseball field now.

But at the park, there was a nice little area to let Xander give it a try. He was so funny! He saw Will do it, and he thought he had it all figured out. First, he got a running start and then jumped hard on the pedal. But since he only weighs about 45 pounds, he didn't jump nearly as hard as Will did. Then once he got a running start and completely missed the pedal! That was pretty funny. And once he launched the rocket only to have it land on his head! I wish I could have videotaped it, because it was fun.

We finally ate most of the food and got too hot to play, so we left, just about the time everyone else seemed to be headed up the canyon. Then we had a mellow night at home. But I did see a pioneer day quote I wanted to share.

"I have been privileged to see the Lord’s hand at work across the world. While we honor those pioneers who walked across the plains to the Salt Lake Valley, there are far more pioneers living today. They don’t push handcarts, but they are exactly the same in so many ways: They have heard the voice of the Lord through the Book of Mormon and through their personal prayers. With faith and repentance they have stepped into the waters of baptism and firmly planted their feet in the rich gospel soil. As disciples of Christ, they have been willing to sacrifice for what is right and true. And with the gift of the Holy Ghost, they are holding steady in their course toward eternal life. ”

Elder Neil L. Andersen

Too Hot

I am so tired of being hot. I swear, all I have to do is turn on the oven for 5 minutes and the kitchen is like 85 degrees! Do we really have to eat dinner?

Movie Madness

My girls talked me into taking them to the midnight showing of "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince." But I waited until yesterday to decide we were going to go. By the time I got online, all the midnight showings were sold out. However, they had one at 3:30 am at the University Mall. So I reserved tickets for that one.

We tried to get to bed early, but didn't. So when my alarm went off at 2:30, I was really sleepy. Then I couldn't find my car keys. It turns out I left them in Shari's car when we went visiting teaching, so I asked Randy for his keys and we wound up taking the truck.

By the time we got there, the line was all the way around the outside of the theater. When we got in, I was sure we wouldn't get to sit together, but we did, up front. Still, the seats were not bad.

Of course, the previews went on too long, but Sarah and I did get SOOOOOO excited for the Percy Jackson movie. It looks really, really good. And I may be lame, but the GI Joe movie looked good too, which I didn't expect.

I won't give away too much of the movie, but I will say that I enjoyed it, just not as much as I hoped I would. They left some things out that I felt really needed to be there, and stuck one scene in that really didn't do anything for the movie except create a little drama. Like there wasn't enough in the book? Whatever. I thought the acting in this one was really good. Tom Felton, who plays Draco Malfoy, had a much bigger role, and I was impressed. Some creepy cool special effects, and I loved the Quidditch part.

Was it worth getting up at 2:30 AND pay $10 a ticket? It depends on if you mean the movie itself or the whole experience of getting to go to the early, early show with my girls. I think they will remember the experience long after they have forgotten the movie.

This is an open letter to all those slow drivers out there. You know who you are. You figure, what's the rush? Just take your time! Why the big hurry?

Guess what? I just might have somewhere I need to be, sometime soon! And you driving down the center lane of the freeway is really annoying the rest of us! Did you see the sign, 'Slow Drivers Keep Right'? That means you. And if you are going the speed limit, that still means you. Yes, maybe the rest of us should slow down, but just because you set us a good example does not mean that I'm going to now drive 5 miles under the speed limit, just in case!

In fact, I'm going to drive 80. Not on purpose, really, just because that's what always seems to happen. Then I'll slow down a little bit, make sure I'm not in anyone's way, because that's what courteous drivers do. And then my speed will probably creep up.

And guess what? There are still people passing me! So you know what? I let them! Crazy, huh? I don't try to slow down just enough that I pin them in and make sure that all three lanes of traffic are going the very same speed, so that they have nowhere to go. And I also don't tailgate and drive RIGHTBEHINDSOMEONE when they are in front of me, going too slow. Again, I'm just courteous like that.

Maybe you could be a little more courteous? Please? I'm not telling you to stay off the freeway. I'm just saying, please, for the rest of us, would you just stay in the slow lane? Please?

Tie Dye Party!

Ellen wanted to have a tie dye birthday party, so she and her friends dyed some shirts.

Here she is with her friends, Connie and Katie Beth.
Notice the lovely hand paint!

If you want our secrets, we bought a kit from at Michael's. Here's a link. http://www.jacquardproducts.com/products/kits/funky_groovy/ The kit says it makes 5 shirts, but we got 8 out of it. It just depends on how much color you put on each shirt.

First, you have to soak the fabric in a bucket with some soda ash. It comes with some, but I didn't know and bought another box. We wound up using it too, and it was only $2 or so, so it's worth getting extra. The shirts have to soak in the water for 20 minutes. It's easier to put the rubber bands on first (they were included in the kit too), but you can wring out the shirt and then use the rubber bands. The kit has a sheet with different techniques included.

After soaking the shirts, then you apply the color. THIS IS MESSY! We did it out on the deck, but you could also do it on the lawn. After you have the shirts all dyed, then you put it in a plastic bag and let it set overnight. The next day, you rinse the shirts under warm running water until the water is almost clear. Then you wash them with LIQUID DETERGENT (that's important - like Liquid Tide or something). After that, the color is set and you can wash it with your regular laundry.

And here are the completed shirts!
The really green one is Sarah's.
The super colorful one in the back in Katie Beth's.

Every other time I've tried tie dye, the color fades out. This time it didn't, and I'm convinced the soda ash is the secret ingredient. It takes longer, but it's so worth it because the shirts look so great! We can't wait to try it again. Even Randy and I did shirts! Now we're thinking it would be fun to do sheets for one of the kids.

Now what do I do?

I had another visit with the doctor yesterday. It was just my yearly physical, but I had a few things I wanted to talk to him about. I had to go to in fasting so we could do some blood tests.

Most of the news was pretty good. My blood pressure was stable, so my meds are working there. My blood sugar was good, which was a relief. Ears, eyes, nose, throat, heart, lungs, reflexes, all were good.

But I had a few surprises. My cholesterol was a little high.My HDL, the good cholesterol, was just fine. That's the one that is from exercise. So I thought that was funny, because I'm not very consistent about exercise at all! But my total cholesterol was 230, which is too high.

I also talked to him about PCOD, polycystic ovary disorder. I told him that I didn't really want to be on birth control, as that seems to have too many side effects with me. But he gave me a prescription for Metformin, which has helped some of my relatives.

So now I'm not sure exactly what to do! I need to eat better and be more faithful with my exercies. But I was expecting my blood sugar to be high, so I would need to cut out the carbs. Instead, I need to reduce my fat intake. I guess really that if I just concentrate on reducing my calorie intake and watch the junk food, it will still work. Rather frustrating!

Oquirrh Temple Open House

We went to the temple open house today. It was such a great experience. We were thinking that we should have gone yesterday, because it was very crowded today. We had to stand in lines for a long time. They did have a little cover put up, so we were in the shade, but it was still tiring.

Then when we got downstairs, we saw Elder L. Tom Perry sitting with a group, presumably his family, next to the baptismal font! He was standing fairly close to us and I urged Will to go up and shake his hand, but he was too shy to do so. Oh, and Elder Perry was smiling. I have never seen him without a smile.

Girl Trip, Day 2

Day 2 of our trip started off with us sleeping in for a bit, then eating breakfast in our room. Once we got everything loaded up back in our van, we headed for Gardner Village.

This is where things started to go slightly wrong. Yahoo Maps works most of the time, but sometimes it gets Utah addresses completely wrong. We got of the freeway at the right exit, but headed in the wrong direction. Once we got that straightened out, we realized that we would hit construction and the road was closed. Fortunately, we found someone go give us directions. We gave it another try and finally made it to where we wanted to be.



The whole place was all decorated for a midnight madness luau thing they were doing. (I'm not sure why; Utah pioneers weren't especially big on luaus. But whatever.)

At right here is the Gathering Place where they were setting up for some reception.





Sarah here is making friends with a palm tree.










Me next to some bell.







We found a furniture store there we both really liked. I forget the name, but it's in a big red barn. Despite the look of the building, it had great modern furniture that was really comfortable. They were having a sale too. If I had any money, I would have bought a new armchair at least. As you can see, Sarah found a couch she liked too.



They had a nice little pond there. They also have a little creek with ducks, but I didn't get any pictures of the ducks.








We checked out Georgell Doll Shop. They had some vintage Barbies there, some Harry Potter and Twilight dolls, a bunch of Raggedy Anns (that was cool! I almost bought a book about the them.), and as you can see, a collection of Kewpies. Sarah had never seen the dolls before and thought they were slightly creepy. Here she is trying to figure out what they are all looking at.




We checked out a lot of the stores. I got all excited because it looked like this one store was a bookstore. But no. It was selling purses. Ugly ones, too.

I did love the sign on the candy shop, Sweet Afton's . In case you can't tell, it reads, "Unattended children will receive a puppy and a free espresso." No espresso, but we did get jellybeans (Sarah) and fudge (me). As well as a few presents for everyone at home.



I wanted to get us some nice keepsakes as a memento of our trip. We found a lot of fun shops, but our favorite this time was Anastasia's Attic. They had so much fun stuff. They had these great maskerade masks, covered with beads and feathers. They had some yummy perfume that I couldn't quite afford, and a great hat just like the ones Dolly Levi would have worn. At last, we found Sarah a choker necklace with matching earrings. It is antique looking metal with red stones. It looks great, doesn't it?

Even though we missed the super sale, we still got some nice things and had a great time. Oh, I got a daisy key chain and a bracelet from Just Us Girls. They had some way fun stuff, including some of the Porn for Women things. If you haven't seen them, they're pictures of hot guys doing, well, housework. My favorite is this really hot Black guy holding a plate. He says, "You've been looking a little thin lately. Have another piece of cake."

But all fun has to end sometime, so we came on home. It was great! We ate a bunch of junk, and shopped and shopped. We even got to listen to a book on tape. I hope I get to take a trip with both of my girls sometime.