Wait-- How Did That Happen???

And then school started!  😭😭😭

It's weird, because I actually really thrive on schedules and enjoying alone time at home.  But I still really love summer and the freedom of not having much going on (and, if I'm honest, getting to sleep in a bit!)...  So it wasn't just the kids not looking forward to the start of school.  But in spite of all that dread, they sure seemed pretty happy on the first day of school!

We now have a 10th grader, an 8th grader, and a 6th grader!

They're so cute!  And happy!

And then they headed to school and (even though Kendra was still around) it was so quiet.  And anything I cleaned up stayed that way.  And for a few hours at least, random half-filled cups did not litter my kitchen counter!  So it wasn't all bad.

The next day, we headed to the Bowes' in the evening and everyone got haircuts.  Even me!

Cutting off so much hair feels so liberating!!!

Saturday was busy.  We cleaned the church in the morning (and were very grateful for all the other people in our group who showed up and helped) and ran a bunch of errands-- Lowe's, the library, Costco.  Nothing very quick (and we let the kids get hotdogs to reward them for their hard work at the church), so when we got home I had to shower as fast as possible to head out again.  Had lunch with a few friends (and Kendra!) at a new place called "Chicken Salad Chick" which was very good, and then saw the movie of Six: the Musical.  And that was SO fun!!!  And way cheaper than a Broadway show!  So it was a pretty great week, all told!

Allison, Angela, Megan, me, Kendra.  And such an 80s looking movie theater!!!

End of Summer Fun

By the time all the kids' camps were done, summer was just about over.  The boys started marching band the very next week-- practicing from noon until 9pm for the first week, and then from 6pm-9pm the second!  (And yes, for those of you who are really paying close attention, Colton has joined the marching band even though he's still in middle school!  So that's pretty cool!)

The youth also had a temple trip, which Craig tagged along for, since they can always use our van!

Look at this great group of kids!  l-r: Ryder, Truman, Jason, Gideon, Colton, Topher, Lydia, Ember, Madeline, Marianne, Kendra, McKinley

And then the next day, Wendy and I did a special temple trip with just Kendra and McKinley (which was why I was happy to let Craig go the day before, even though it really should have been my turn)!

I should have taken a picture before we did baptisms and all had wet hair!

Afterwards, we got dinner at Wong's Tacos, a very fun Asian-Mexican fusion restaurant, followed by ice cream from Blue Cow.  It doesn't get much better than that!

And then the next day, I finally remembered to take a picture of my three kids all in braces

because right after that, Camille got her braces off!!!!

Look at those straight teeth!

I'd be more excited, but I'm afraid they're just going to want to put them back on in a few years.  Modern orthodontics just feels like a big scam to me...

Anyway, we had a lovely day spent at the beach at Lake Monticello with our friends the Huffs and the Knuths (that's two all-boy families in our ward!).  I didn't take any pictures, but Megan took this very fun video of the kids all racing into the water.  I cannot stop laughing at little Murphy trailing behind everyone-- it's so hard being the youngest!!!

They had a preview night for parents to see what the marching band had been working on.  I took a short video, and here are a couple (admittedly rather terrible) pictures from before they'd started:

Colton on the keyboard!

Ryder all ready with his trombone!

Craig had taken the girls camping that night.  Usually he just takes them on his own, but this time the ward had organized a father-daughter campout.  So that's cool!  Yay, feminism!

Who doesn't love a colorful fire?!

Camille enjoying a "wolf-em"-- this is where you cook pie crust wrapped around a wooden mold, and then fill it with pie filling?  I guess?

Looks like a delicious breakfast!

There's the whole group in the morning-- Smiths, Woolstenhulmes, Hardys, Hughes, Oviatts, and Stoners!  (The Sorensens were there at night-- I'd be willing to bet money that McKinley was responsible for the fire!-- but went home to sleep in their beds)

And then they spent the morning and most of the afternoon climbing around Devil's Marbleyard (a place I STILL haven't been to!)-- they seem to have had a great time!!!

And then Sydney and Beth's grandma (Yaya) took Colton and Camille to walk along Rivervew Park and get popsicles before school started, so that was lovely of her!

The river was too shallow to actually jump into, but they had fun with the rope swing anyway!

The Middle of July-- Birthdays and Camping!

The next week, we were home, but that's when the Canadian forest fires were raging and it was just gross outside.  The week slipped by-- I got to celebrate my birthday (47! and I forgot to take a single picture to mark the occasion!), and I made the day very fun for myself!  I made the kids watch The Sheep Detectives with me!  All my family called to chat, so I spent a huge amount of time on the phone, which I love.  I made Craig help me prepare this amazing dinner, and then he and I got Coldstone and hung out at the pool while the kids were at their Tuesday night activities!  I even got my FULL milkshake, just like they always do at Goody's!    😁

Later in the week, I also managed to go walking with my friend Brittney, and go to the temple (and afterwards get doughnuts) with Megan.  So the whole week was great, in spite of all the smoke!  

And then the next week we had stake YWs and YMs camp!  Kendra was going as an adult this time (once again our ward was short on leadership-- but this begs the question: if Kendra could count as an adult at this camp, why did I need to go to their high adventure???), so she headed out Monday.  I didn't hear from her much, other than this picture (caption hers):

snek

They named him Frederick, and were very concerned for his well-being when it rained!  But they spotted him again after the rain, so I guess he was fine.  (I don't think any snake would manage to grow that big if it didn't know how to survive a rain storm!)

A different leader sent me this picture:

Kendra with her bestie, Madeline, who just got home from her mission in Utah!

Craig and the boys left super early Wednesday morning, but Kendra wasn't coming home until Thursday, so I decided Camille and I should use that day with no one else home to go and visit my friends in Manassas.  We left around ten, and met up at Cafe Rio and had lunch with Emma Johns, Christina Atkinson, Betsy Hayward, and Andrea Kunz (who was flying out to Utah that afternoon, so how she managed to squeeze in a last-minute lunch is a mystery to me!).  We were there for over four hours just gabbing away and having a wonderful time and unfortunately not taking any pictures.  Seriously, what is wrong with me???  But it was great.  And I appreciated Camille for her patience!!!  To reward her, we got ice cream at the Moo-Thru, and then met up with my friend Jacquie at Urban Air, where Camille got to jump and rock climb with Jacquie's son Carl while Jacquie and I caught up.  (I was also supposed to see Vangie, but her daughter got into a car accident the day before and that threw off our plans (but her daughter is fine, don't worry!).)  I didn't take nearly enough pictures, but here are two:

Brave Camille!

Me and Jacquie!

As I was driving from place to place, I would call various family members, and I managed to talk to all four sisters and my parents AGAIN!!!  And I'd just barely talked to all of them the week before!  It feels like hitting a grand slam or something!

We got home around 10pm, so it was a long day!  But I was glad I'd made good use of my time.  Kendra got home the next day, and the boys were back on Saturday.  And everyone seemed very enthused about their camping experiences!

Here are a bunch of pictures from the boys in absolutely no order whatsoever!

Colton and Gideon (and some other kid?) and I believe that's Jason in the background; I think this was part of the camp olympics

Gideon, Colton, Jason

Camp service project: Ryder (wearing the yellow hats that all the YCLs wore!) building a bench with Jesse Cramer!

Thanks to a well-placed hammock, our van now looks EXACTLY like an Amazon delivery van!!!  😂😂😂

Sparklers are a fun idea!

Building rafts

And then testing them in the water!

Can you tell which bench has been re-built?  (I remember sitting here at the of camp my first year and these benches were the WORST-- perpetually wet, mossy, and splintery!!!)

Assembling for closing ceremonies on the last day, there's Ryder front and center!

Colton caving!

Playing D&D in the dining hall; must have been a rainy day...

Fire building for the camp olympics

And this, folks, is how Ryder lost his glasses in the lake!

Craig belaying Colton

Ryder supervising his kids building their raft

Ryder playing gaga ball, his absolute favorite thing in the world

Colton's group after they were done with the cave

Ryder's cave group (he's in the very back grinning so big!)

Ryder's group-- they're all pulling this exhausted face?

Colton in the middle in the yellow shirt!

And finally, my favorite picture:

They did a great job spoiling him on his birthday!!!  (I tried, from a distance, but it's hard, so I was glad others were making it a fun day, too!)