In a nutshell, August can be summed up in 2 words: travel and school.
Trip numero uno:
After lots of deliberation, Andrew and I decided it would be best if I stayed home with Penelope instead of attending the Ditto reunion. Andrew took James and Isabelle camping with his family at Lake Roosevelt. This lake is about 2 hours from Spokane which makes for a great deal of driving for us. Andrew and the kids left on Saturday, August 10 and drove the 11 hours to Brent and Deena's house. After church on Sunday, they drove another 2 hours to the campsite. That much driving with sweet petite (Penny's affectionate nickname thanks to Andrew), would have been torturous. Andrew and the older kids drove back to Utah on Thursday, August 15 and got home late. Andrew deserves a round of applause for navigating driving and dealing with the hooligans. He's my favorite.
It was a small group this year! So many Dittos couldn't come.
The kids had oodles of fun. They couldn't tell me fast enough about everything they got to do! "Mom, we stayed up late every night!" "Mom, Lincoln and Emmett's families had electric fly swatters to kill the bees!" "Mom, can we sleep in our sleeping bags tonight? We like those better than our beds." I heard about glow in the dark balls and the kids keep singing a song they learned there. James tried the zipline! He also went cliff jumping. That boy has no fear. They went tubing, Andrew got to waterski, and James attempted wakeboarding. Izzy excitedly asked me, "mom, have you tried trail mix? It's so good! Aunt Julia gave me some at the lake." I missed out!
While at home, I stayed busy. I read/listened to 4 books, did some decluttering/organizing, painted our kitchen island, went on lengthy early morning walks, and ate superb food.
School
School began on Wednesday, August 21. James started 2nd grade and is continuing the Chinese immersion program. Isabelle started all day kindergarten! Eek. The house is extra quiet. So far, both kids are loving school. In fact, they were disappointed to hear that they didn't have school on Labor Day. Izzy was giddy to finally get homework! I haven't seen her smile as big as she did when she come home with her "Lexia" login. Lexia is an educational computer program. Getting to experience PE for the first time was the best day ever.
The youngsters both prefer to buy lunch at the school. Isabelle can't stop talking about the scrumptious chicken wings. James is in the same class as one of our good friends in the ward, Emmie. Isabelle also has a friend in her class too, Ari. Isabelle didn't get the teacher I hoped for, but it seems to be going fine. She is learning that you can't talk in class and her card on the behavior chart has been pulled a few times...
We did our annual dessert and father's blessings night. This year, we changed it up and went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream since we had buy 1 get one free coupons. We rode our bikes there! Penny did great in the bike trailer. Izzy rode the whole way on her new big bike without any problems. You go girl! We had to go on some major roads to get there. The journey was 1.5 miles each way. Izzy had bubblegum ice cream and James changed it up and had mint chocolate chip.
Penny was a fan
Trip numero dos
ABH (The All Brothers Hike) happened in August this year which is rare! It's usually in September. In fact, the last 2 years, it has been over stake conference weekend for us. It will be nice to have Andrew as my date this year. Andrew flew to Seattle the evening of Wednesday, August 28 and returned home the morning of Sunday, September 1. This year, the brothers hiked 20 miles on the WA coast from Rialto beach to Ozette lake. I guess it got pretty rocky at times. They drove through Forks, WA and didn't even stop! Twilight fans, be outraged. Vaughn didn't come, so there were 6 of them.
While Andrew was away, we went on a hike of our own. Lower Bells Canyon Reservoir is a hike we've come back to again and again. It's not too far away and gorgeous. We learned from our friends that this hike has 2 entrances and we did the steep/stair one like usual. Next time I want to try the other entrance. (There wasn't any parking left.) Despite a few injuries, I'm glad we did it.
Bye Bye August. Welcome September! I've anxiously awaited your arrival. Our air conditioning bill was insane and I'm welcoming these cooler temperatures with open arms. We're entering a season where we can crack the windows! I contemplated restarting my gym membership but it's too glorious to be indoors. Since the weather relaxed a bit, we finally got our long-awaited privacy trees! We got 5 arborvitae trees and decided to pay extra for professionals to install them. (And get a warranty.) I've wanted these babies since the instant we moved in which was over 3 years ago. Now hopefully the sun won't burn them to the ground. Though the employee I talked to about the trees in July told me that "I seemed very responsible" after our 10 minute conversation and that I could keep them alive in the heat. We waited. Looking forward to the day when I can't see into our neighbors home. We're one step closer.
