It's all good . . .

The Last Bits of Summer

Although I had started back at work the first week of August, it was technically still summer for another couple weeks.  Even in all the craziness, Kevin and I still managed to get in our weekly date night.  Last Saturday, we went to Chris Madrids for their amazing and giant burgers.  Yum! 

After dinner, we went cowboy boot shopping for me, and after sifting through the hundreds of styles, and Kevin continuously suggesting boots like the bright green one, or some covered in sparkles, I found the perfect pair.  Soft brown leather, a beautiful and subtle design, and very comfortable.  Perfection!  They didn't have my size, and so I did have to order it online, but since it is still too hot out to wear boots, its all good.

Speaking of heat, on Friday, our upstairs AC stopped working.  It was so crazy hot, and although we thought we got it working, it  only lasted about thirty minutes before it stopped.  Enough time so that I had told the AC guy not to come. Ugh.  It was so uncomfortable that I went down and slept on the couch downstairs, where blessedly, the AC was still working.  This continued on and off for almost a week, until the culprit was found - a clogged drain line - and it was fixed.  In the mean time, I had began bunking with Lily, and the boys all slept on the floor of the living room.  It really was miserable, especially when the outside temps were 105 and the inside temps were in the mid 90's.

There was some fun to be had though.  Kevin took the kids on Tuesday to Aquatica for one last day to play.  I was stuck at NEISD curriculum day classes, but they had a blast.  And they showed him all the tricks that we learned when we were there a few weeks before.  They loved getting to have another day at the waterpark, and especially loved getting to have the time with their dad.

After Aquatica, he took them to Culvers, which Lily and Derek especially loved, as it brought back memories of years of Scoopie Nights back at Meridian Ranch.  

And because Kevin is awesome, he brought me a milkshake.  It was the perfect treat, as I was so tired after spending all day in classes, and then a few hours working in my classroom.  It was one last bit of summer before the crazy of school begins next week.

 

 

Finishing Summer: Part 2

Ever since we got back from our trip out west, life has been a flurry of activity, and I feel like I barely have time to sit down, let alone have fun with the kids having summer adventures, and so in an effort to be more intentional about things, I took the kids to play at Aquatica on Wednesday.

We got there before the gates opened, and in only about an hour, we had gone on every single slide that we wanted to, which was awesome.  The boys even got to go on their favorite body slides a second time and race - although Derek totally destroyed Arthur, since he weighs more than twice as much.  Ha ha!

At the end, we even had time for Lily and I to float on the lazy river while the boys got to play in the splash park.  It was definitely a successful adventure, and we were done by noon.
Another thing that I made time for, was a visit to the San Antonio Temple with Kevin.  It is always one of my favorite things to do.  Afterwards, we went over to Dirty Dough, the cookie shop, and got the yummiest milkshakes.  Definitely a win.

On Saturday, we were able to sneak in some more family fun, but this time with Kevin as well.  We all went to see the show, "Percy Jackson: The Musical" at the Majik Theater.  It was so much fun!  The kids absolutely loved it, and the fact that we could sit and eat popcorn during the show made it even better.

We finished off the weekend in a less than fun way - for me, at least.  I had to start preparing for my colonoscopy on Monday morning, so on Sunday, all I could have were clear liquids and jello.  It was not fun, but then it was made even worse when I had to start drinking the incredibly nasty stuff that helps clean out your system.  It was so insanely gross, that I had to hold a paper towel over my mouth after each swallow to keep from puking it up.  Luckily, the actual colonoscopy went well, and I am cleared for the next 15 years before I have to go through this torture again.  Hallelujah.

The next week, I was in all sorts of trainings, but we still managed to have some family fun.  On Thursday night, we went out to dinner as a family and then to Seaworld, so we could catch their Summer Spectacular show before it finished for the season.  We got there a few hours early, so that we could enjoy the park before the show.

We got to see the Beluga Whale and Dolphin show, which is always one of my favorite things.  And even though it was meltingly hot (triple digits), we had so much fun!
We were also able to catch the Orca Adventures show, which is also one of my very favorite things.  Arthur is obsessed with the music from the show, and desperately wants to find it to listen to at home.

Right around 9 pm, as the sun was setting, the Hydro Extreme FX began, and wow, was it fun!  It was an 80's rock concert/water sports stunt show, complete with fire and fireworks.  We all absolutely loved it, and it was worth the late night and melting in the heat.  So much fun!!

On Friday, we finished up the fun with Arthur getting to go to a birthday party for his friend's younger sister.  It was Harry Potter themed, and so it was right up his ally.  He was in heaven, wearing his cloak and casting spells at everyone. Ha ha!

I am so glad we had some great adventures in the midst of my preparations for starting the school year.  It made it actually feel like summer.

Finishing Summer: Part 1

When we got back from our vacation, I only had a couple weeks until I was in full-on teacher mode, and so although I was busy with many teacher prep things (online orientation classes with the district, filling out endless paperwork for onboarding, and organizing all the things for my classroom), we still tried to fit in some summer - even if it was just for the kids.

Speaking of summer, it has been an exceptionally dry and hot summer.  I read an article about how our part of Texas was stuck in a "heat dome" that kept the heat in, and didn't allow in the pressure systems that brought rain. So the extreme triple digit heat for months, as well as no rain, has wreaked havoc on my poor garden and trees.  When we got back from our trip, my Redbud had lost almost all of its leaves, which is heartbreaking.

But enough about that, let's get back to the fun.  Arthur was able to go to the birthday party of his friend, Jack, which he loved!  It was an "Among Us" theme, and they got to play and have a blast.

One night, my Activity Girls got to have a pool party at the Kimball's house, and it was so nice to get in the pool.  Let's just say that it was very hot out, and a pool party was the only way to go.I also got to sneak in a temple trip with my sister, Wendy, which meant that I was able to see all four of my sisters within the span of a couple weeks.  So awesome!! (Now I need to figure out how I will ever get to see my brothers . . .) The temple was wonderful, and I love it any time I can spend time with Wendy.

Arthur is trying to learn how to cook, and I am trying to remember to teach him, so the other night, we made waffles together.  It is so much more fun cooking with a buddy.

On Friday, Kevin and I got to spend a lot of extra time together.  First, I met up with he and his team for a lunch at "Chicken and Pickle," where we ate yummy food, and then played Pickle Ball.  It was my first time playing, and it turns out that I am not that bad.  And as usual, as happens when I play sports or games, my competitive side came out.  Ha ha! And yes, we totally beat the other team.  

That night, we had a group date with a bunch of friends at the pizza place where they serve pizzas as big as the table.  IN fact, you have to have extra long plates so the slices can fit on them. So much fun!  My only complaint was that I never had a chance to talk to my friends at the other end of the table.  Afterward, a couple of us stopped for gelato, and so it meant we had the chance to talk to a few more people, which was great.  And the gelato was to die for.
On Saturday, there was a Stake Pioneer Day celebration, with pulled pork sandwiches, games, and other fun food.  The kids really enjoyed it, but it was so hot that we only stayed for about 30 minutes.  We were seriously melting, and since we weren't sitting by anyone but our own family, we decided we could socialize at home in the AC.

At church on Sunday, my friend, Debbie, who is the music leader, had the kids do a special activity with a fake campfire to celebrate Pioneer Day, and it was so cute, I had to snap a picture.  The kids loved it!

After church, Lily had her monthly Zone Conference, which she loved.  Her mission really has been the most amazing experience for her!  It was the perfect way to finish off one of our last weeks of summer.

Western Adventure: Heading Home and the Grand Canyon

On Saturday afternoon, once the Brown Family party had come to a close, we drove down to Orem to visit the Steeles.  Tony and Katie have been wonderful friends of ours since Lily was a baby, and we were so excited that they moved from Georgia to Utah, so that we could visit them when we come through now.  It had been way too long!!  

We, of course, had our priorities, and as soon as we got pizza and fed everyone, the pinochle playing began.  We did take a few moments to show Lily, Derek, and Arthur their incredible video game collection.  They have one of every Nintendo console, as well as every game you can imagine.  Lily's mind was completely blown, and watching her get to play this Mario Dance Revolution game that she had only ever read about, was amazing.  It definitely made Tony and Katie happy to see the kids get so excited about it all.  Each of the kids chose a game to play, and then they took turns.  It was perfect.  And while they were in the basement having a blast, we were upstairs playing pinochle and talking like no time had passed.

Sunday morning came all too fast, and soon we were on the road and heading back to Texas.  

When we were planning this trip, we realized that it would only add an hour to our trip to stop by and see the Grand Canyon.  None of us had ever been, and so we decided to add in a little adventure, and wow, it was worth it.

We only stayed about twenty minutes as we explored the visitor's station we stopped at, and checked it out.

There really are no words, and the pictures don't even come close to doing it justice.  It really is spectacular and grand.

I am so glad we made the time for this quick, but wonderful, family adventure.

After the canyon, we were back on the road to drive as much as we could before stopping for the night.  Arthur was pretty wiped out from all the fun, and so he crashed in the car long before we arrived.

When we did finally stop for the night, Kevin went out and got us milkshakes to celebrate "National Milkshake Day."  They were delicious!

Monday was another long day in the car, but we finally made it.  And we have the piles of suitcases and duffel bags to prove it.  It was a wonderful summer adventure, but it sure is good to be home.

PS. while we were gone, my fabulous friend, Whitney, and her daughter, Harper, had been taking care of my plants.  I was so grateful for their help with watering, since the weather has been extra hot and excessively dry. 

Western Adventure: The Brown Family Party

A while back, Kevin's mom realized that we would have a small window of time after my nephew Payton got home from his mission, where all the kids and grandkids would be available for a family reunion.  It really was a small window of time, but we managed to find a weekend that would work, and so on Thursday, the Brown boys, along with their families, converged on Salt Lake City.

Most of us were staying at Little America in downtown Salt Lake, and since Randy and his kids, along with us, had already gotten checked in, we decided to go for a swim in their wonderful pool. 

After swimming, we started getting ready for the family portraits.  Those of us who made it into town early enough, all went out to dinner at a yummy pizzeria in SLC.  It was the unofficial kickoff of the reunion. (We were only missing Scott and his family.)

The official beginning to the party was getting family portraits taken.  This was what inspired the get together in the first place, as Parker (aka: George), the youngest grandchild, hadn't even been born the last time we all got together.  The kids had the best time catching up and talking, as it had been years since they had seen each other.  Lily and Derek especially loved getting to talk to Conner and Payton, as they have so many hobbies and interests in common.  But they also hung out with the younger generation as well.

The portraits went smoothly and quickly, and I love how they turned out.  Especially the pictures of Dennis and Valerie.

Then there were pictures with the grandkids and with the Brown boys.  The ones with the original boys are always an adventure.  It would have been great to have a video of their conversation as it went on.

I love how our picture turned out.  I sure do love this family of mine!

The pictures of the rest of the families also turned out wonderfully.

The next morning, I was up super early, as always, and I wanted to get in a workout.  I also needed to find a pharmacy, because I felt a cold sore coming on.  I decided to walk down to Temple Square to see the construction, and wow!  It was crazy!!!  The workout was good, and funnily enough, I totally ran into Anna and Shannon also on a walk.  Good to know I wasn't the only person in the group that was up that early.

That morning we met up for breakfast at the Coffee Shop at Little America, and it was so fun - and so delicious!  (Brian's family wasn't with us, because they were staying at his father-in-law's mountain compound.) I had the eggs Benedict, and they were amazing.

After breakfast, Arthur and I went out on an adventure, just the two of us.  We rode the train over to the Family History Center and Church History Museum.  He loved getting to ride the train, even if it was only for a few blocks.

The Family History Center, Family Search, was just as cool as I remembered it being when Lily and I went there a few years ago.  Arthur had a blast checking out all the different stations, like the "Where are you from?" station, where it shows where your anscestors came from.

There were so many cool stations, like "which relative do I look like?", and Arthur discovered that he looked like Grandpa Roy. He was also a 53% match with the scientist Wernher von Braun.

I liked the one about people who share your name.  There are a lot of people that share both my first and my last name.

After visiting Family Search, we headed next door for a super speedy trip through the Church History Museum before we had to get picked up to go bowling.  Arthur thought it was pretty awesome, especially the life sized angel Moroni, which shows how giant it is on the top of the temple.  His favorite part was the kid section where he could build things.

We finished there just in time for Kevin to get us, as it was time for family bowling. Bowling has always been a Brown family activity, and so we had to fit it into the party.  We had so much fun, and at one point, I had the high score of the whole group - even if Randy swooped in at the end and won. (Or was it Brian . . . I can't remember.)  It helped that Kevin's bowling shoes died, and so he was not at his best ;).

At one point, we had all four of the boys line up and bowl a frame at the exact same time.  Pretty fun!  The whole activity was awesome, and we all had a blast.  (It also got us bowling for the first time all summer.  Crazy that we hadn't been.)

After bowling, we headed to the pool to hang out.  I loved getting to catch up with my sister-in-law and watch the kids play.  My favorite part, however, was catching this conversation with all the boys and their dad.  It made my heart happy to see them all together.

After swimming, it was time for an early dinner at the Coffee Shop.  We ate the hot turkey sandwiches (seriously the best) and their amazing rolls.  We were so full afterward.  

After dinner came the best part - the family meeting, where Dennis shared his thoughts and counsel with all of us, and then they had the boys take turns drawing questions out of a hat and answering questions.  There was so much laughter and love.  It was amazing.  (And the stories about their old dog, Gracie, were absolutely hilarious.)
Later that night, Kevin and I walked through Salt lake in search of yummy dessert.  Wow, there were a LOT of homeless people, high on drugs people, etc.  It was so not worth the dessert to have to walk through all the creepiness.  Oh well.  

On Saturday morning, Kevin went out and picked up donuts for everyone.  They were so yummy!  Later on, after checking out of our hotel, Kevin, the kids and I, headed to Orson Gygi, my favorite kitchen store, so that I could stock up on all the awesomeness.  Then we stopped by Uintah Golf for Kevin.  After that, it was time to head to Randy and Kate's house for the end of the party.  They had lunch catered by Olive Garden, which was delicious and made all of Derek's dreams come true.  And while the adults talked and laughed upstairs, the kids played video games in the basement on the big screen TV.  It was the perfect way to finish off the fun.

Yes, it was a bit of a quick reunion and a whirlwind of a get together, but it had all the important and wonderful parts - the being together and sharing laughter, love and great conversation - oh, and really yummy food ;).

Western Adventure: Utah with the Jones

When we were planning out our time for the trip, we really wanted to get to spend some time with the Jones, especially because a couple hours was not nearly long enough for Marilyn and I to catch up.  So, on Wednesday evening, Arthur and I drove from Twin Falls to Harrisville to the Jones - with a quick stop at Maddox on the way to pick up dinner.  Oh my goodness, their fried chicken, rolls and raspberry butter are the things dreams are made of.  And Arthur was so happy to get to play on the playground in their backyard after being in the car for a few hours.

Kevin, Lily and Derek didn't arrive until after 9pm, but they were very happy to have Maddox waiting for them to eat.  (They had left San Antonio the day before, and had been driving for two days.). The next morning, Kevin, Brent and Stephen went to play golf on Hill Air Force Base, and the rest of us went for a fun hike at the base of the mountain.

The weather was perfect, and the scenery was beautiful.  We really miss going on hikes together since leaving Pennsylvania, and it felt like old times - just with less trees.

There were small trails that branched off the main trail, and we had been trying a bunch of them out, however we may have gotten a bit lost. We had accidentally taken a deer trail - ha ha!!  Luckily, it wasn't too hard to make our way back to the actual trail.  Good times!

And of course, as we were hiking, I had to get pictures of all the pretty flowers and plants.

After we got back and showered, I was on Instagram and realized that my good friend, Jamie, was only about ten minutes away from us! She was one of my first friends in Pennsylvania, and has since moved to South Carolina.  I went over to her mom's to see her, and we had the best time catching up.  What a special blessing!!

Meanwhile, the boys were having a blast playing golf.  In fact, Kevin said that the coolest part of their round was that there were a bunch of F-35's taking off and flying around right over their heads.  He said it was better than an airshow.  So fun!  (And yes, he didn't remember to take a picture until they were having lunch.  So funny!

Lily was especially happy to get to hang out with Marilyn.  After they arrived on Wednesday night, she had to tel her all about her most recent projects.  And then after we went hiking, the two of them played Uno and had a blast.  It is crazy to think that the Jone's have been a part of our lives since Lily was only five years old and Derek was two.  I am so glad we were able to sneak in this amazing, quick visit.

A Fabulous Fourth of July Weekend

There is something really special about the Fourth of July.  Not only is a celebration of the birth of our nation, but it is a time to gather with friends and family, eat yummy food, watch fireworks, and just spend time together in the beauty of summer.  All the other holidays seem to take place in the colder parts of the year, but this one is for being outside and having fun together.

With Independence Day happening on a Tuesday, it felt like our holiday weekend got to stretch extra long.  I took advantage of the chance to spend time with the kids, and even took the boys out for a short little hike at the nearby trail at the park.  I love how in San Antonio, it cools down to the seventies at night, and so if you get out early, you can have all sorts of outdoor adventures before the heat of the day takes over.

Saturday, Arthur got to have a special date with his dad to get lunch at Whataburger.  They both got milkshakes and Arthur had a blast.

And totally not 4th of July related, but I just had to get this down so I would remember it.  Lily missed the beginning of dinner because she had an online mission leadership meeting, and so Kevin made her a plate as we were cleaning up dinner.  As he was doing it, I noticed that he was shaping all the food strangely.  Turns out that he was trying to make it into a smiley face for her - ha ha!

On Sunday evening, one of the local mega churches was doing a huge fireworks display, and so we met up with friends on the top of a parking garage to watch the show.  We were also blessed to see a spectacular sunset while we waited.We started off with the Middleton, Fisher, and Miles families, and later were joined by a few more.  The hardest part of the whole thing was the waiting - and the keeping our kids from running around a parking garage where people were actually parking and driving.  Thankfully, nobody was hurt, even though some of the kids were crazily riding scooters around.

I totally had to laugh when I noticed that all three of my kids were engrossed in reading books by the light of the street lights - even though both of the boys had their best friends there with them.  Pretty funny.  I guess the apples didn't fall very far from my tree ;).  Meanwhile, Kevin was listening to a Mets game with his AirPods in his ear during the whole thing.  Good times.

When the fireworks began, they were beautiful! And we had a fantastic view.  I am glad that we came.

On the morning of the actual fourth, we had a ward pancake breakfast at the Saccoma Recreation Center.  Derek and his friend, Paul, raised the flag, we sang the Star Spangled Banner, said the pledge and had a wonderful patriotic and spiritual thought given.  Then it was time for food and fun.

The pancakes were great, there was plenty of bacon, and good conversation.  They also had a bunch of fun games set up for the kids, which Arthur loved. 

After the breakfast, Kevin and I took the kids to see the new movie, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," the final installment of the series.  We had watched the whole series with the kids over the past year, so they were all primed and ready for it to start.  And we loved it - very fun and quintessentially Indiana Jones.

After the movie, we had a late lunch/early dinner of ribs, fries, Mac and cheese, and corn on the cob before Derek had to head off to work for a few hours.  Then I took a much needed nap, after which, Lily, Arthur and I played Blockus.

Even though it was a holiday, Arthur still had swimming lessons, which he didn't mind at all - especially because he could wear his patriotic swim suit.  And since it was a holiday, he was the only kid in his class there, and so he had a private lesson.  Nice.  It was totally worth still sitting in the lobby with broken air conditioning.

When we got back from swimming, Derek got home from work, and it was time for the activity that Kevin had been planning - an outdoor movie night in the pool.  He had everything set up, and we just had to wait for it to get dark before he could introduce our kids to the movie "PeeWee Herman's Big Adventure." Good times.  It was just as silly as I remembered it, and the kids had a blast.

And for dessert, I made homemade chocolate ice-cream.  It didn't quite have time to set up perfectly, but it was still delicious.  Lily even made some edible cookie dough to use as a topping.  Yum!

When it was finally really dark, not only were we able to watch the movie, but we could also see random fireworks that people were shooting off from their homes.  It was very fun, and the perfect way to finish off a whole weekend of celebrations.

The End of June

June is over - what?!! Seriously, I think it was the longest and the slowest month because I spent the entire month studying like a crazy person, about 8-10 hours a day.  I did get to sneak out for fun on occasion, like the other day when Arthur and I went out on a date to a Mexican restaurant.  I got a breakfast taco and he got chicken nuggets and fries - ha ha!

Speaking of eating, on the 27th, Arthur decided that it needed to be his personal holiday of "Strawberry Day," since he had fresh strawberries, strawberry yogurt, and strawberry jam on toast.  Good times!  He even wrote the date down on a paper on our fridge so he could remember to celebrate it next year.  I love it.

One of Arthur's goals for the summer is to get more confident on his bicycle.  Our neighborhood is not conducive to practicing (our street is a pretty steep hill, and there are so many cars parked on the road), so we went to the back parking lot at the elementary school, and it was the perfect place to practice.  The first day back on the bike was a little rough, because he was so super nervous, but by the second day, he was doing great.  And by the third day, he was so good! Next step is to get him to try riding on a little more hilly location, but that will have to wait until July.

The other day, Arthur had the special treat of having his friend, Wyatt, come over to play.  They played with Mario Legos for an hour, and then spent and hour and a half in the pool.  They had so much fun, and the last thing that Wyatt said was that they should do it again sometime soon.  I am so glad they had so much fun, and I am so grateful that Arthur has such a great group of friends.

Arthur also got to have a special experience with his sister, Lily.  She had been feeding Elder Meadows's (a fellow service missionary) axolotls, and she took Arthur with her so he could see them.  They were cute little guys, and they both thought it was awesome.

Speaking of Lily, she recently had some changes in her service assignments. Instead of working at the Church Distribution Center, she now works on the temple grounds two days a week, which she is really enjoying.  They start really early, about 7:30 am, so she is always done before it gets really hot out.  I think she really loves getting to help make the temple grounds beautiful - and all that yard work I have had her do over the years has come in handy ;).

Lily's other new assignment is at this really cool place called "Threads of Hope" where they make baby blanket and other supplies for premies and other children and babies in hospitals.  Another experience where all of her life experience, more specifically sewing experience, has really come in handy, which is so cool.  She is also really loving this assignment as well.  I love that they can change up their service assignments, but can also keep things the same as well.  She is still doing Catholic Charities and working at the San Antonio Temple one day a week.

And speaking of the temple, Kevin and I were able to attend a sealing session at the temple on Thursday night, and it was so wonderful getting to be in that peaceful and holy place together.  It was also really cool, because the sealer just happened to be a wonderful man in our ward, Brother Hilton.  It was  the perfect way to finish up the month of June.

An Aquatica Day with Friends

When we got our season passes for Seaworld, we were so excited to also have access to their waterpark, Aquatica.  Since the summers seem to fly so quickly, we actually made sure to schedule a time to go as a family and invited our friends, the Middletons to join us.  We got there right when they opened, and so we were able to go on a bunch of the waterslides without waiting in a single line, which was awesome.

Arthur absolutely loved having his best friend, Jack, there to go on all the slides with - especially the racing slides.

The one slide where we had to actually wait in a long line for, was Stingray Falls, the one with an area where at the end you went through a stingray tunnel.  The slide itself was super fun, and probably one of my favorites from the whole day.  I rode with Lily and Derek, and Kevin and Arthur rode with Jack and Steve.  Good times. 

After we rode the stingray water slide, we of course had to go and pet the stingrays, which was really cool.
After going on a few more slides, we headed to the lazy river to hang out and relax.  Kevin even fell sound asleep going through the lazy river, even if the position he was in looked super uncomfortable to all of the rest of us - ha ha!  And somehow when we first got in the river, we got separated from Derek and Mary - luckily Derek stayed with her, and after a couple times through the river, we did eventually find them - ha ha!  It was the perfect way to finish our time at the park.

I am so glad Erica and her family could join us.  We had such a blast! After we packed up for the day and left the park, we grabbed a late lunch at Rudy's on our way home.  It really was a fabulous day.

Miscellaneous May Adventures

May is winding down and we are to the last full week of school. We started off the week with news that Kevin was getting released from his calling as the Primary Music Chorister.  He was super sad, but he felt like it was coming, and his new calling is in the Elder's Quorum Presidency is with a friend of his, so even though it won't be as fun, it will be fine.  Although there were a few primary kids who did not raise their hands to sustain the change - ha ha!  I sure will miss having him in primary with me, but luckily his replacement is my good friend, Debbie, who is amazing.

Lily has been continuing her amazing work as a service missionary.  The other night, she was at a special young adult broadcast and ran into Derek's best friend, Paul, so they sent me a picture.  She also got to wear the beautiful new green dress that her Grandma Lynn gave her for her birthday.

Although we had said our preliminary goodbyes, Megan and I had to have one last lunch together.  We have gotten together for lunch at least once a month for almost two years.  We usually sit at the table talking until our alarms go off to pick up our kids from school.  Oh, how I am going to miss her, even if I am incredibly excited for her that she is moving to Germany. 

Luckily, I had something to help cheer me up a bit the next day, I went to float the river with a group of my friends.  It was so much fun!  Jana Rice put it together, and there was myself, Lana, Candice, Heidi, Shenai, and Erica.  We picked up our tubes and headed onto the bus so they could drop us at the Guadalupe River.

Oh my goodness, we had so much fun!! We were able to stay pretty close together because we had little ropes to hang on to, and most of the time we just floated and talked and laughed.

There were a few shoots that pushed us through like a waterslide, which were so much fun.  It was such a perfect day and so beautiful - and because school was still in session, we were able to practically have the river to ourselves.

It was such a fun day!  Afterward we went out to lunch, and finished just in time to get our kids from school.  I am so grateful for these amazing ladies that I call friends.



On Wednesday night, we had a combined boys and girls primary activity, and because it was the last one before school got out, we had a huge water balloon fight.  We started with some water balloon relays, and ended with the giant fight.  The kids absolutely loved it!

Also on Wednesday, our microwave broke.  So lame, especially because Kevin was leaving town on Friday for over a week.  Well, we spent all Thursday evening searching for a new microwave that was actually in stock.  The Home Depot employee even took his life into his own hands to get it off the very top shelf. And then Kevin got it installed on Friday, right before he left town.  Hallelujah.

On Saturday, I spent some time working out in my garden, and enjoyed getting to eat our first purple tomatoes.

But my big project on Saturday was to stain the side fence.  Oh my goodness, what a job.  I was using an electric sprayer, and with only one section of fence left, it stopped spraying.  Oh my goodness, even after taking it apart and cleaning the pieces, I could not get it to spray again.  That meant I had to use a paint brush and instead of it taking only ten more minutes, it took me an extra two hours.  In the very hot sun.  And somehow I had forgotten to eat breakfast before I started.  Oops.  But hey, it is done and it looks good ;).  

After the adventure with the fence, I was so happy to shower and be inside.  But then I found out about a brand new business opening up around the corner, a cookie shop called Dirty Dough, where they sell stuffed cookies.  They were giving out free cookies and we had to check it out.  Lily, Arthur and I loved them and were sad that Kevin and Derek missed out on them, since they were driving to Utah.  It was the perfect way to finish up the month of May.