LABOR DAY FUN

We went to Ty's parents property for the long weekend. Our friends joined us for the day the first day. The kids played in the kayaks, we pulled out the peddle boat, and we discovered we didn't have the key to unlock the row boat so the fishing wasn't as good as we had hoped. Haha. There were only 1 or 2 leech incidents after playing in the water. No worries. Haha. We had lunch and roasted marshmallows, played cards, caught lots of frogs, and had a lot of fun together! 

I realized I left the cheese at home for our well planned out after-fast dinner the next day, so when friends headed home, we headed into Ashton to grab cheese ... and of course a rootbeer float. Jay's eye was still hurting, so every once in a while he was pretty whiny and unbearable. Naturally I'd pull the camera out to document it. Haha. We also went to check out the lily pads on the way back. The kids when hunting cat tails and had fun trying to pop them. More than one of the kids was sniffling and sneezing when they were done but they still had fun. 

We learned this weekend that fasting while camping is hard. It was Fast Sunday, and we had something extremely important to fast for, and we didn't feel like it could wait until next week. Turns out half the fun of camping is eating junk food all day while wandering in nature. Haha. We took it easy all morning just hanging out at camp, then we decided to go for a Sunday drive (partly to get away from food temptations in the camp trailer). Our Sunday drive landed us at Mesa Falls for the second time this summer. This time it wasn't cold and rainy like it was when we went in May. We checked out all the view points, and we were going to go down the nature trail for a bit to see if we could see any wildlife, but it was closed due to bear sitings nearby. We got back to camp just in time to start dinner preparations. Ty is such an awesome fire builder that the resulting coals were so hot our tin foil dinners burned. Some worse than others. It was still delicious. Ty made yummy cobbler for dessert. The sunset was stunning. 

We also discovered a hummingbird nest in the tree above the firepit. We think it must have had eggs in the nest because it didn't leave the nest for 2 days. It didn't like when we started a fire Sunday night and it flew to a higher branch but it still never left the tree.

Monday morning the kids just wanted to go home. They were all super whiny. I was cleaning up the trailer to pull out and Ty had gone down to the lake to try fishing off the shore again. He came back about 30 minutes later to show us the fish he had caught!!! That got the kids' attention and we all fished off the shore for the rest of the morning. About 3 minutes after Lily cast her line, she loudly says "I'm boooorrreeeddd!!!" Ty turns to look at her line and sees her bobber go under the water and replies, "Then maybe you should catch that fish and reel it in!" It took her a second to figure out what he was talking about but she pulled the line and reeled in a fish! She's gotta have the best luck out of all of us. Everyone caught a fish but me. Sad I know. Haha. I even had 2 poles at one point but still couldn't manage it. 

When we got home, we made the kids clean out the inside of the truck and then Ty and I had our mini date night at the local carwash. The truck got cleaned inside and out. It was long overdue! We treated ourselves to ice cream after that. YUM!

 

AUGUST: FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL

BEFORE SCHOOL - LAST HOORAHS

Before we had to start routine again, we went to Rigby Lake with cousins, Grandma, and Aunts! We went 2 times. Once with Aunt Maddie and Aunt Nicole and kids, and then again right before school started with just Aunt Maddie and girls. Grandma came both times too! The last day we went someone stole our kayak and left there's in it's place. I like to think it was an accident but our kayak hadn't even gone in the water so it was sitting right next to our canopy with the paddle sitting on top of it. They pulled the paddle off of it to take it right out from under us. So we ended up with a more well used red kayak and an extra paddle. Almost a fair trade I guess. I don't know. I'd rather just have my stuff back. 

 

6TH GRADE ORIENTATION AND BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT

Monday was a busy day for us. Dad had gone out of town for work so I had to adult alone for the first week of school! Haha. 

Lily had 6th grade orientation Monday morning. They started in the gym and then went through their classes and learned how the cafeteria worked. Lily insisted on doing it alone, but she was nervous about where to go in the beginning so she let me walk her into the gym and snap a quick picture. My little girls is growing up and becoming so independent! 

Later that evening all 3 kids had back to school night. I didn't even get a picture of Crystal next to her locker or Jay in his classroom. I did get a picture of Jay at least but I told Crystal to take a picture of herself in front of her locker on the first day of school for me. Haha. I still need to ask her for the picture. We were in a bit of a rush because the girls had soccer practice to get to and Jay had his belt promotion!

BELT PROMOTION

Once we got the girls off to soccer practice, Jay suited up for his belt promotion! He did such a good job! His instructor had accidentally gotten a more gold colored belt when she ordered them. She was going to return it for the right color but when she mentioned it to Jay he insisted he wanted a gold high yellow belt. Haha. He was very proud of his new high yellow belt. It's just a little bit unique from everyone else's. Perfect for Jay. Haha. 

  

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Tuesday was the first day of school! The girls had a good time. Crystal loved getting back to her morning soccer friends, band, and friends in general. Lily, my social butterfly, did fantastic. It took her about a week to master opening her locker, but I think she's gotten it down now. 

Jay was excited for the first day of school, but he came home the first day a bit overwhelmed. He said his Spanish teacher was talking to fast and he couldn't understand her. While the girls were gone to soccer and church activities, I took Jay to the DQ in Broulim's for an ice cream. We talked about his concerns. He was sure he was the only one who struggled understanding the teacher. I asked if he had said anything to anyone about his struggle. He said no. I asked him if it was possible that other kids felt the same way but didn't say anything either. After thinking about it for a moment he agreed that it was possible. I assured him that all the other kids have gone all summer without having to speak in Spanish half the day and they were a little rusty too. To help him feel better about going to school Wednesday, we bought Broulim's yummy sushi for him to take for lunch. Wednesday he came home from school and told me he had a GREAT DAY. I was so glad! He said the Spanish teacher had slowed way down and he could understand her.

FIRST SOCCER GAME

Lily had her first soccer game Wednesday! Her team won and she played great defense! 

JAY AND THE BUS

Ty came home Thursday night. Which was just in time. Because Friday morning Ty received a call from the school (my phone wasn't working) telling him that Jay had been punched in the face on the bus on the way to school that morning. He was trying to pull a kid off one of his friends who was getting punched over and over again and the kid punched Jay too. Ty went into the school and spoke with the principal. And of course Jay used it as an excuse to go home. Haha. His eye was a little puffy Friday and his eye itself was sensitive for a few days, but overall he was fine. I told him Crystal was punched in the face while protecting a friend at recess one time, but she went back to class afterwards. Haha. I guess I'm glad my kids are not picking the fights they seem to get into! Hopefully no more fights!