Jameson was more than happy to have cousins in town to play with at the beginning of August. Aunt Tiffany and Aunt Jen were great about taking the kids out for adventures.
Jameson, Will, June, Abigail and Korinne
Ice cream floats? Yes, please.
AJ cracks me up on his bike. After only 2 months this kid has some serious skills!
August brought the official start of Cross Country at Ridgeline. They always have an Alumni race with themselves before the first race so they can determine who will run Varsity. Here is Jenna with all of the other girls at the starting line. I think they have over 50 girls on the team this year.
The next week they had their first home meet against 2 other school in the valley.
AJ didn't understand the point of the race and when Jenna ran by he would cry and run after her. You could almost hear him thinking, "Why isn't she stopping and holding me??"
We spent a little time at the County Fair. AJ enjoyed climbing on the big equipment. Grandpa P would be proud.
I love living in a cul-de-sac where spontaneous games of 4 square break out. All of the kids ages 3-13 were happily playing together on a lovely summer night.
The neighborhood economy consists of the kids selling their toys and/or drinks to each other. Every day another stand is open for business. Korinne got in on the action a few times.
My running friends from High School, Emily and Christy, came up and we went to dinner. Christy is getting ready to move back to Boston and wanted to see us before she left. I could talk to these girls forever and and still not have enough time.
Speaking of running Jenna and Britton ran in the Highland Invitational on the Thursday before school started. Races were in the heat of the day and it was HOT. So hot that they had to give several kids IV fluids at the end and one Ridgeline runner was taken to the emergency room because in her delirium she kept pulling out the IV they had given her.
Britton and Collin at the end of their race
Britton and teammates
AJ wasn't really sure what was going on, but did pretty well overall.
AJ and Britton
August 20th was a big day for Britton. He hit the big 1-6. Since his birthday was on a Sunday this year he invited his friends over for a party on Friday the 18th to celebrate. On his actual birthday we made him a cake which was so fancy it definitely belonged in the "Campbell birthday cake hall of shame". We have a certain reputation to uphold when it comes to bad cakes. This year we really nailed it.
Britton is more than thrilled to be turning 16 at the beginning of his Sophomore year of high school. He has thanked me multiple times for holding him back because he really loves being one of the oldest in his grade.
What can I say? We go big around here.
The next morning was August 21st--the day of the BIG solar eclipse (and Grandpa's birthday). We had originally planned on going to Rexburg to see the total eclipse, but chickened out when we thought about having to sit in traffic for hours to get home. Jenna had school the next morning so we decided to stay home and see the 96% eclipse instead.
Hanging out in the driveway watching the eclipse progress.
The tree shadows were different during the 2 hour event and showed the eclipse in shadow form.
It was so eerie to have the lighting and temperature change in the middle of the day. It was like dusk, but the sun was in wrong part of the sky. In fact it freaked Jameson out a little bit and he refused to stay outside very long.
Grandma and Grandpa looking at the eclipse. It was a really cool experience all around.
After the eclipse ended Britton and I headed to the DMV so he could get his drivers license. I'll try not to remember his quote as we left, "I can't believe they are actually going to give me my license, I'm not even that good of a driver!" Well, ready or not, Britton is now 100% legal.
That night we went out to dinner to celebrate Britton and Grandpa P's birthdays.
AJ has discovered root beer and the thought of sharing that big drink with someone else never crossed his mind. He freaked out if anyone even tried to touch the cup. Yes, he gets more American every day.
Later that night Britton was invited to a friend's house and was able to drive himself for the first time. We have officially entered a new stage of family life and I couldn't be more excited about it. He can now get himself to all of his many commitments and can also drive Jenna to and from school. It's awesome.
Korinne started 6th grade with Mrs. Faux (pronounced Fox)
Jameson's turn came almost a week later. Here he is all ready for his first day of Kindergarten with Miss Sharp.
We have 6 Kindergartners in our circle and across the street. That's a lot of Kindergartners!
Morning bus stop on Jameson's first day.
On Friday the 25th Adam's company had a family party at Wheeler Farm. Since Britton and Jenna had a race in Saratoga Springs early Saturday morning we decided to go and then stay overnight at my parents house in Murray
Jameson getting his face painted. Batman face + Superman shirt = an identity crisis.
I was amazed at this carving from the trunk of a tree that was cut down. How creative!
All smiles
Wheeler Farm tractor ride
We have officially filled up the mini-van.
Saturday morning we were out the door by 6:30 a.m. for the Grass Relays. The race is only 2 miles (instead of the usual 3) and the kids have to jump over hay bales. They like to shake it up down there at Westlake High School.
On Sunday night, the 27th, my friends Erica, Lacie and I went over to our friend Carrie's house to give her a bit of news. The next day was her 40th birthday and she had absolutely no idea that we had planned a surprise overnight trip to California for her. As a decoy we even planned our typical birthday breakfast that morning just like we would normally do for a birthday. She had been telling herself for weeks that it was ok that she wasn't doing anything special for her big day because she already had everything she wanted and needed. Well, Erica made her a shirt that said, "It's my 40th!" and we gave it to her in front of her Mom and in-laws and sister in law who had gathered for cake and she smiled and laughed and said she would wear it the next day. Then we said, "Wait, it gets worse." and we took off hoodies to reveal that we had matching shirts that said, "It's her 40th" with an arrow pointing to one side. Josh knew what was going on, but everyone else was confused. Then I said, "We need these because we are going to be with you all. day. long in California!! We're going to California!" I felt a little bit like Oprah at this point ("You get a car and you get a car! Everybody gets a car!") Carrie had to ask if we were serious about 3 times before she finally believed us and then she started to cry. Tears of happiness, of course. If you know Carrie at all you know that this was the PERFECT 40th birthday surprise. We had been planning it for months, but she had absolutely no clue. We told her she had 1 hour to pack and we were heading out. Our flight left at 6:30 the next morning so we left around 9 p.m. Sunday night and stayed at a hotel by the airport. Once we arrived in California she could pick anything she wanted to do and then we would fly home on Tuesday night.
Carrie hadn't been to Universal Studios in 20 years so that is what she picked. It didn't open until 10 a.m. so we had time to go to breakfast. Online reviews led us to the Blue Jam Cafe and the food was out of this world. Of course we always ate family style so we could try more things.
It was a good day to go as the longest line we waited in all day was maybe 10 min. In fact we walked onto several rides. At first it was just because the crowds hadn't gotten there yet, but later in the day our shirts got us into the VIP line a few times because apparently it's not common to have matchy matchy 40th birthday shirts. 😀 We even walked onto the Harry Potter ride twice using the single rider line. We were so efficient we were able to leave the park early and go to dinner and hit the beach. It was an absolutely perfect day.
Sitting on the beach we booked our hotel for the night near Manhatten Beach and then sat in the hot tub to end an amazing birthday day. I'm still in awe sometimes at how easy having smart phones makes a spontaneous trip like this. In no time at all we had lists of local restaurants that were awesome, perfect directions to get there and the exact amount of time it would take, a heads up for any traffic problems, and the ability to find a great hotel and book it right away. Earlier in the day we purchased Universal tickets while we were waiting to get in the parking garage. It really is amazing to me. Even just a few years ago none of that would have been possible with just phones, but now it is the norm. It certainly made it so our trip was stress and worry free.
The next day we slept in as long as we could (a treat indeed) and had a relaxing morning. Just being able to hang out and not be in charge of anything is a luxury for 4 Moms with 21 kids between them. We hung out at the hotel until checkout time and then had lunch at a restaurant on a pier.
For our big adventure of the day we rented tandem bikes and road on a bike path along the ocean. It was something we hadn't ever done before and turned out to be so much fun! We rode past hundreds of homes that were worth anywhere from 3-20 million dollars. Yowza.
After our biking adventure we hit a top rated ice cream joint nearby and then went back and sat on the beach until it was time to leave for the airport.
We were so relaxed and refreshed as we headed home. I know I've already said this but it was perfect in every way. Our awesome husbands held down the fort at home and aside from 1 Kindergartner being sent on the bus a day before Kindergarten actually started, it was without incident. (side note: it wasn't Adam 😃)
And that's our August. School is back in session and the schedule is crazy once again, but August was definitely one for the books.
1 comment:
LOL about Britton's comment on getting his license. That's a classic!
So glad you could get away for a quick trip to CA!
Post a Comment