HAGS

Remember when yearbook signing day was the best? And when many wrote the abbreviation--HAGS-- also known as "Have a good summer!" We have definitely "Had a Good Summer." It's our last summer as a family of 4 and that has hit me hard as fall is rapidly approaching. I'm worried about transitioning from 2 to 3 kids. I certainly made the most of our time together and hope that our family fun continues after a brief hiatus. Read on to hear more about 3 adventures that happened this month: a museum, a baseball game, and a race.

The race scenery was beautiful!

• Natural Museum at the University of Utah--Saturday, August 5

This museum has excellent ratings and reviews and has been high on my list. The biggest holdup for me has been the price. Adult admission is $22.95 per person and children ages 3+ cost $17.95 each. Getting our family into this museum would cost over $82 (with taxes). Don't worry, my DNA did not change. I did not splurge and fork out that kind of dough. Instead, we used the free admission passes we got by completing our summer reading at the library.

Our free passes were only valid for 2 days, but we made going a priority. We happened to be watching Daisy that weekend, so she accompanied us. (She isn't 3 yet and was free.) The museum has 5 floors and is packed full of all sorts of animals-- mostly dinosaurs. Something unique I noticed throughout is that there are buttons that you can push to get a whiff of forest, flowers, and underbrush scents. The kids enjoyed this and thought some smells were stinky. There were some huge and amazing dinosaurs, minerals, butterflies, fossils, etc. There was a seismometer that the kids could jump on and see earthquake lines. They were intrigued.

We went to a live animal show with a gecko and snake. The youngsters did not have any interest in waiting in line to touch the snake afterword. They got that from their mama. James and Izzy sat through the 30 minute fact-filled presentation easily. Both kids even raised their hands to answer/ask questions. Andrew surprised the presenter when he knew the answer to this question: "Does anyone know what van-der-waals forces are?" Alex, the presenter said nobody in the audience has ever known the answer. Feel free to ask Andrew about this subject matter. It will lead to a riveting conversation. I married a genius.

We stayed at the museum for 2 and a half hours and wore the kids out. I would say we got our moneys worth, but we didn't have to pay a dime, so boom. What an awesome deal and museum! We even managed to complete the scavenger hunt that the library passed out which had multiple questions to answer on each floor.

• Bees Baseball Game--Friday, August 19

At the South Jordan parade earlier this summer, we got vouchers for free tickets to a Bees Baseball game. After our fun baseball experience in Cape Cod, we wanted more. Tickets for the bees game cost $17 a piece, and we didn't have to pay a cent! We saved $68! The game was in Salt Lake City, but a new Bees stadium is being built in South Jordan, which means we could become regulars. We figured out that the last time we went to watch a Bees game was almost exactly 4 years ago to the day. Andrew had a work party in 2019 at the stadium and we brought teeny tiny Izzy who was only a few weeks old (James was home with a babysitter).

August 17, 2019

August 19, 2023

Unfortunately, the game we picked wasn't high quality. The bees (or apparently the Stingers now?) failed to show up. The final score was 6-1. That didn't stop us from having a delightful evening though. McCall and I got to chat for hours, as did Trevor and Andrew. There were free train rides in the stadium for children which were great. Some candy helped the kids make it through, but honestly they were well behaved. One of the hitters, broke part of the bat and James thought that was pretty neat. The atmosphere at sporting events is unique and lively. The weather was perfect. It rained briefly on our drive to the game which helped keep the temperature cool. Even after a late night out, a child burst in our door the following morning at 7am on the dot.

• ICCH-- Friday, August 25

Andrew signed up to do the ICCH (International Canyoneering Championship) race again. This was his third time. He also did this race in 2019 and 2017. The race takes place near Goblin Valley in Southern Utah in the Ding and Dang slot canyons. The athletes do 2 loops of the course. If the runners don't finish the first lap in under a certain time (1 hour 15 minutes this year), they have to run the second lap in their undies. The race totals around 13 miles. There are different heats and you run with a partner. Andrew and his brother Logan were partners. Another brother, Birch also did the race as well as our nephews George, Cooper, and Tyler. 

I approve of the new ICCH t-shirts. Look at that color! 

Full disclosure here-- Andrew had to run lap 2 in his undies. He only needed to trim 4 minutes off his time. I guess they changed the time requirement for lap 1 and made it even more intense than previous years. Andrew enjoyed the course and is already talking about doing the race again in two years. (It's not an annual race and is headed by a relative of Birch's.) Andrew dealt with some leg cramping, but was happy that he was still able to go adventuring after doing such a grueling course. The boys hiked/rappelled Cassidy Arch and went to Lower Calf Creek Falls. 

We kept busy back at home and went to Blackridge Reservoir in Herriman one afternoon which is one of our favorite summer finds. Although, I have since learned there has been leech problem... Yikes.

I could hardly believe it when Andrew got cell service again and told me that his ETA for home was midnight. Last time, he rolled in at 3am. Andrew has been dedicated to training for this race and I'm proud of him. His foot has been a struggle and has taken a beating with so much running. In fact, earlier this month, Andrew went to Urgent Care thinking he might have a stress fracture. Thankfully, he did not. The doctor was surprised to spot a BB gun pellet in Andrew's foot x-ray. This has been there since childhood, but doesn't bother him. Andrew's foot held up just fine during the race which was a huge relief and a big worry of mine.

I am relishing in the mundane life routines-- school, teaching piano, and being home for now. As much fun as we had this summer, it was intense and exhausting at times. Cheers to cooler temperatures and... a baby!

Ditto Reunion

When the idea of staying in a Lakehouse was suggested for the Ditto reunion, we were in. Driving 12 hours to camp brings out all sorts of crankiness in me. Driving 12 hours to have a place to pee, somewhere to cook, and something soft to sleep on makes a world of difference. This year, we went to a new city- Priest River which is along the Pend Orielle river in Northern Idaho. We checked into the Lakehouse on Wednesday afternoon, and checked out Saturday afternoon. We drove to Spokane Tuesday and came home Sunday (well, technically Monday since we pulled in at 12:20am).

There were 44 people at the reunion and we were missing several! Nathan who is serving a mission in Madrid, Grannie who is serving in Chicago, Tyler and Hailee who just got married, Alysee and Dallin, and Tavia and Calvin (who stayed home for a football camp). We were in charge of making one of the lunches for everyone and Andrew grilled hot dogs from Costco. We got some of the huge 1/4 pound dogs too. We served pineapple, chips, and Oreos with the hot dogs. It is challenging to gauge how much food to get. 7 of the biggest pineapples I could find seemed like the right amount.  We were also in charge of a breakfast with another couple. We slept in the bunkbed room. We got to share the downstairs bathroom with some teenage and tween boys who left their mark. But hey, I'll take it. Anything but camping.

 Here are some snippets that I want to remember:

• An emergency stop on the side of the freeway near Dillon, Idaho so Izzy could pee on the side of the road. She could not wait the 15 minutes to the next gas station.
• Andrew handling incessant talking from our 6 year old. "James, you don't have to say everything that comes to your mind out loud. Sometimes you can just think about things without telling us." This made me belly laugh. Andrew handled our chatty child well! This advice was given after James spoke about cloud shapes, how small the mountain was we were driving by, that he could run up it in 1 second, as well as how good of a sledding hill it would make and can we drive back to it during the winter... etc.
• Staying at Logan and Julia's house. The 4 wheeler was thrilling as were the endless nerf guns. The kids started playing a chasing game with their cousins and would scream "ding-dong" and sprint throughout the house. Even 18 year old George joined in on the fun. Julia gave us adults some "ding-dong" therapy-- aka Reeses which we certainly needed.

• Our kids going tubing! We spent so much time outdoors basking in the sun by the river. It couldn't have been prettier.

Saydee and Isabelle

• James jumping off the tower on the dock! What a brave boy. This was extra scary/significant since Lincoln had taken a hard fall from there.

• Endless games. I loved getting my Hand and Foot fix in. It helped that Andrew and I dominated. Before I get too cocky, luck had a lot to do with it. We also finally had the chance to open "Cross Net" which is a crowd pleaser. The background was stunning.

• Izzy getting sick. She threw up twice and took a 3 hour nap. We think it was due to dehydration. 

• Our kids ate up all the attention and had handfuls of playmates. They played on the outdoor playground and dug in the sand. We hardly saw them. Izzy has many admirers and hung out with the big girls. She spent a good chunk of time in the hot tub. She also relished in the audience and had everyone captivated by dancing to Frozen and singing the books in the New Testament.

James and Rhett

Claire, Avery, Lucy, Malia, Olivia, Chloe, and Izzy

Lincoln and James

• Andrew got to water-ski lots, especially since there were 2 boats. His body took a beating and I guess he has some bruises from the pull of the rope. He also rocked surfing! I decided I didn't want to risk starting pre-term labor and steered clear of any potential wipe-outs. 

• 2 of our nephews gave their homecoming talks on Sunday. Welcome home Addison and Jacob! Both of them will be moving to Provo shortly. Their talks happened to be at the same time. We went to Jacob's talk since it was on our way home. We were able to listen to Addison's recorded talk too.  The people in CA and Argentina were lucky to have these missionaries.

Jacob

• Andrew and James kayaking!

• I read 2 books on the trip. It should have been more. I struggled to get into a book at the lake. I finished "This Time It's Real" (cheesy, cute, predictable, fun, and bingeworthy) and listened to "Three Keys" (Front Desk #2--quick YA about illegal immigrants) on the drive. 

We are home and boy does it feel good. I have made more cookies, rolls, and carbs than I should admit. It has been a hectic summer. Our kids will talk about our family reunion for the foreseeable future. Both children have already had dreams about going to the Lakehouse again. In James' dream, he wore his new back-to-school sweater into the lake. Oops. These are the moments.