The Last Dregs of Summer

(8/6) Work day for Dad and me today. The boys were home video-gaming, and seemed to have a good day.


(8/7) Day off for me and I kicked it off with a walk with Sarah. Nanan called and suggested we go out to lunch. We haven't seen her since before our Wyoming trip. It was good to catch up. D had an appointment this afternoon, and the boys had swim lessons right after. It was a busy day!


(8/8) Work day for me, and the boys were home. Dad took them clothes shopping and for haircuts. It's amazing how much a haircut can make them look so much older!


(8/9) Work day for me, and the boys were home. Dad took us mini golfing tonight.  C got two hole-in-ones! J refused to take any direction, and then got mad when we did give it and the ball didn't go where he planned. He ended up just pocketing his ball for half the course. Some of us had fun, at least!


(8/10) It was pouring down rain this morning, so my normal walk to Zumba was shortened to a quick drive. The weather cleared by the time Dad woke for the day, so we piled the kiddos in the car and went to the lake. Dad barbecued tonight for dinner, and the boys marathoned The Simpsons this evening.


(8/11) Lazy Sunday for me and the boys. I read most of a book and didn't go anywhere or do anything. I kicked the boys out after dinner, but they returned fairly quickly since it had started to rain. They requested a movie tonight and watched Detective Pikachu.


(8/12) Work from home day for me today. Dad took the twins to swim lessons this afternoon. One more week of lessons, and we're almost into school time again. I feel like summer flew!


(8/13) Work day for me. The boys got to hang at home while I was working and their dad was sleeping. We played some Uno Spin after dinner tonight, and caught up on Ninja Warrior.


(8/14) The boys had dentist appointments today and we went for lunch and to a movie after. They have been wanting to see Angry Birds 2, and we all loved it. We were home briefly until we jetted off for swim lessons.


(8/15) Work day for me today. We all piled on the couch to watch The Simpsons this evening.  Dad and I got some time to catch up on our own TV too after all the kiddos went to bed.

(8/16) I took today off so we could run over to the Tri-Cities and celebrate Oma & Opa's 50th anniversary. Sarah and I took a long walk this morning around the lake. When I got back, I got everybody packed and into the car. Our goal was to leave by 11, and we weren't far off at 11:30. We made it over to the hotel and checked in before hopping back in the car to go to Opa's. We had dinner with Opa's brother and wife (which was so fun--love seeing them!), and then we headed back to the hotel for some swimming. The boys swam well past their bedtime, and were pretty ready to settle in and go to sleep.

(8/17) We went for breakfast fairly early this morning. While the boys' food was settling, I went for a walk and read my book. When I returned, it was time to go swimming. The boys were in the pool for a good two hours. We got out, went for lunch, and then came back to hang out until it was time to go to Opa's. I stayed with Oma and the twins while the guys ran some errands to get ready for the celebration they're having at the church tomorrow. We had dinner and Oma's sister came by to join us. We had a lovely evening, and you can bet we were all back in the pool when we got back to the hotel.

(8/18) Home again, home again, jiggety-jig. We packed up and were homeward bound shortly after breakfast. We took the scenic route and took the twins to the Gingko Petrified Forest, in which they had little interest. J stomped around the interpretive center, and headed back to the car. D at least looked out the binoculars and let me take his picture. We sat in lots of oh-so-scenic traffic on the way home, and stopped for "linner" at Scuttlebutt. The concept of linner was very confusing for the boys, and D was mad that we had missed lunch and J wanted official dinner. So we snacked our way through the evening.


(8/19) Work day from home for me today. The boys video gamed while I was occupied until it was time for swim lessons this evening. Dad took them to those so I could finish up work and get dinner started. We watched BattleBots this evening, a deviation from our normal marathon of The Simpsons.

(8/20) Work day in the office for me. The boys stayed home and video gamed. Tuesdays are pizza nights, and we had pizza for dinner. D loves leftover cheese pizza for breakfast!


(8/21) Today we had ALL THE APPOINTMENTS. The boys had things scheduled at 9a, 11a, 4p, 4:20p, and 4:55p. All in different places, of course. The twins finished their session of lessons, so that's one thing off our plates. They concluded their lessons by jumping off the diving board. Brave boys!


(8/22) I worked today, so didn't see much of the kiddos until late. We watched some BattleBots and the twins had fun playing Mouse Trap. D loves that game!

(8/23) Sarah and I caught a walk before work this morning. The sunrise was amazing! The season is definitely changing which makes me simultaneously sad and energized for the new school year. Work was quiet and otherwise unremarkable. We played Dungeon tonight for family game night and Dad made us raspberry shakes. Yum!

(8/24) I went to Zumba this morning, and then came home to read my book. Dad went to help the guys change a clutch when he woke up and was home in time to grill up some surf 'n turf. I needed food on a stick for my photo prompt.

(8/25) Lazy Sunday for the boys and me. I read most of a book and got the boys' backpacks out from the recesses of the closet and finally cleaned them out for this coming year.  Dad has done all the supply shopping and they go back in a little over a week. C seems to be ready, but the twins are dreading it.

(8/26) Work day from home for me today. We went and picked up C's schedule for 7TH GRADE. How the heck did that happen? He chose not to smile in his picture, so we'll replace the unsmiling face from last year with this year's. Dad made an awesome dinner of lemon parmesan linguini with scallops. We're getting fancy up in here!

(8/27) Work day for Dad and me. My office hosted a game night in our training room. We had a lot of fun, and I got home in time to say "hi/bye" to the hubby and put the twinsies to bed.

(8/28) Sarah and I went walking this morning to coffee, and when we returned, C & D wanted to go. D ordered a raspberry truffle hot chocolate and could not stop talking about how amazing it was. C is trying to stay off screens in the mornings so he can use his time in the evening, so advocated hard for going to the early swim session. I took the boys, and C had a great time. The twins fought the.entire.time. I thought I'd take my book and read, but ended up monitoring that whole situation. C ran into a couple of kids from school, so the boys asked to stay for the later session too. After four hours of swimming, the kids were starving so we headed on home for snacks followed closely by dinner.


(8/29) Work day for me, but I left early so we could take the kids to the fair. We were not prepared to be rained on, so took an elephant ear break and waited out one of the squalls. We did the petting zoo  and got head-butted by an obnoxious sheep, C tried archery and came to pet the Clydesdales with me, and the kiddos went on lots of rides. We think we'll take the entire day to go next year because there was so much we didn't even get around to doing.

(8/30) Work day for me, and Dad and the boys spent the day hangin' at home. I was let off work early in advance of the holiday. The teenager is appearing this weekend so we can celebrate her birthday. It will be so good to see her!