Summer is coming to a close and it is so exciting! We are going to be doing school for realsy-pants this year! Fay will be in kindergarten 5 days a week, and Carter will be in preschool 2 days a week. I have some nervousness about it all, but mostly we’re just excited for this new chapter in our life!

Here’s some randomness from this past week that shows how we’re enjoying our last bits of summer:

On Tuesday the high temp for the day was like 80! So we decided we should take advantage of the habitable temperature and go to the park! There were lots of kids at the park and there was a lot of energy! Often when you go to the park on a super hot summer day, the kids are sort of playing, but mostly everything seems slow and lethargic. It was fun to see so many kids enjoying the lovely park weather!

I had worked a lot on Monday trying desperately to get about 3 weeks worth of laundry washed, folded, and put away. The kids said it was a boring sad day because I was working so much and they demanded a “fun day” on Tuesday. So we started at the park, then we went to the library, then we had lunch at Chic-fil-A. I feel like we did something fun in the evening as well (I voted!), but I can’t remember what it was. Oh well. I feel like it was a pretty fun day. 🙂

On Wednesday, Carter finally consented to having his hair cut. It is only right after I have cut his hair that he’ll allow me to style it. He looked so cute, I had to document it!

But alas, the cool hair didn’t last long because we had another super fun thing to do! We went to a splash pad with some friends! (My apologies to the woman I cut off as I tried desperately to find the place.)

The kids had fun playing in the water, but were pretty cold after. I told them I would help them warm up in the car.

On Friday evening we took a trip to the mall to see if they have a new play-place (they don’t, though they do have new carpet and a new arrangement of the old toys) and play at the mini nickel-cade. After playing as many games as the kids wanted, we had about 30 tickets. But some guy came up and gave Josh about 100 tickets! So the kids got to pick toys! Carter got a baby water-gun and Fay got chattering teeth.

Then we all came home and the kids played in the hose taking turns filling up the water gun and drinking from the hose. It was small and simple, but it was very happy!

Yesterday was really fun for me because I got to take Fay school shopping (she insists that it can’t be “back-to-school” shopping because she has yet to go to school). It was fun to spend time with just her and me! Plus I love new clothes and that’s all she needed besides a backpack!

At every store we went to, Fay was immediately drawn to the necklaces. I didn’t feel like spending $20 for her to get a fancy adult necklace, but we saw some cute little girl ones for cheap at Walmart and I let her get one. She seemed very happy about it. I’m so grateful for my girl! And for all my cuties!

We have had a wonderful summer with lots of fun memories! But I am well ready to move on to the next thing!

 

Last Sunday after church we drove down to join Josh’s family for a family Lake Powell adventure! We had tons of fun swimming, boating, tubing, eating yummy things, chatting, playing games, exploring, getting only a little bit sunburned, and not being at work!

Here’s some of what we did:

The kids had to wear life jackets the whole time they were on the boat (naturally) and Fay and Carter didn’t mind theirs. However, Portia didn’t get along very well with hers. In her defense, hers was about 3 times as bulky as the other kids’ and she is smaller. She sure did look cute in it, though, even though she was grumpy about it.

Fay and I went tubing one time. She was nervous about going as fast as Uncle Richard (who had some seriously crazy tubing skills), so Grandpa assured her that he would watch for her hand signals to tell him if he was going too fast.  Fay definitely made the “go slower” sign before the boat had even started moving. It was really funny! But I’m proud of her for trying out the tube!

Carter liked being in the water when somebody was holding on to him. He had lots of fun getting carted around by all the different adults. But I think perhaps his favorite part of the Lake Powell trip was the Red (the firetruck from the movie Cars) Grandma gave him!  This is a picture of him using Grandpa’s jack to jack up Red and Doc at the same time. You’ve got to have some serious jack skills to jack up two cars at once!

Also on the trip there was a hike up “Frog Canyon.” The kids were way too tired to go all the way, so we stopped at a muddy stream to play! All three cuties had tons of fun in the mud and, thanks to Grandma, they even got to see some frogs up close!

Then we came home and attempted to resume normal life. Yesterday was a delightful Saturday with no plans! The kids and I played in the back yard while Josh took a much needed nap. Fay arranged this picture. She said “We’re all on the same side of the swing! Mom, go get your phone and take a picture!” How could I say “no?”

Today, Josh got to substitute teach Fay’s primary class! He showed me all his plans last night, and I–more than a little bit–wished I was in the class too! Here’s all the kids hard at work drawing things that help them feel Christ’s love!