The End of Summer

We are the type that don't usually take advantage of long weekends.  We typically stay home, lounging around, maybe getting out for a low-key outing.  This year, thanks to adventurous friends, we had a wonderful Labor Day weekend.  Perfect to close the summer with!

We rented a house with two other families in a picture perfect private lake community just outside of the Catskills.  We definitely had a full house with 6 adults, 2 six-year-olds, 1 five-year-old, 3 four-year-olds and 2 one-year-olds!  But it was a house full of fun!

When we first arrived, we headed directly to the community pool.  It was super chilly but the kids could have cared less!

The next morning, we decided to give the lake a try.  It was pristine and beautiful and a perfect temperature.

The Flemings, soaking up some sun!

The best part?  The fun dock out in the middle just perfect for jumping!

Here are the Bishops showing us how it's done.

We had a good swim, but we didn't stay long.  Because we had a county fair to get to!

Lucky for us, the fair was holding a tractor pull that day that was free with admission.  We had no idea what to expect but Spencer and I both very quickly became big fans!

Waiting for the show to start!

One of the "little guys"

As everyone else slowly left to go see other fair sights, Spencer and I kept saying to each other, "One more", "One more", "One more"!  We did finally leave and had a great time seeing lots of animals, playing a few games and riding rides.  We happened to be in line with the same daddy/daughter on two rides and after the second, he literally begged us to take his remaining tickets.  We were very happy to oblige!  And thanks to those extra tickets, Anna and I had a super fun ride on the Scrambler!

While we were finishing up our rides, we could hear the tractors continuing their competition.  It was clear that these were tractors in a far different category then what we saw!  We just couldn't pass up a glimpse so on our way out, we squeezed our way into the packed grandstands to check it out.  Those suckers were incredibly LOUD!  There is no way any of us would be able to stand more than a few.

On Sunday morning, we attended church in a teeny tiny little branch.  We literally doubled their numbers!  But the spirit there was incredibly strong.

Later on in the day, we all caravanned on a scenic drive through the Catskills.  It was beautiful but after so much entertainment, this is how our tired girls ended up!

Returning to the house, we decided to take a little detour, exploring some more of the community.  We happened upon a short trail that went out along a little jetty of the lake.  So gorgeous!

  

Monday was apple picking day!  We did some research and found a nearby orchard with ripe apples, a petting zoo and of course, cider donuts.

Cute boys munching on apples!

Cute girls posing in the orchard!

We once again took a detour returning to the house.  We saw a sign for u-pick apples and Spencer wanted to see if they had any of his beloved Macs.  We were SO glad we did!  We happened upon an adorable little self-serve orchard with every variety of apple imaginable!  It consisted of a box of bags, a large scale and a padlocked mailbox with a hole cut in the top.  You were supposed to pick what you wanted, weigh it, figure how much you owe according to their posted prices and leave the money in the mailbox.  It reminded me so much of Amish country!

Once back, we made another quick trip to the pool.  The rest of the afternoon was spent packing up, preparing to return to our own beds and the start of school.

Leaving for home was definitely bittersweet, as the Bishops are moving at the end of the month.  I literally began crying as Spencer pulled out of the driveway!  But I'm glad we all had this weekend together, full of great memories.

They will last a lifetime!

The Adventures of a 5 Year Old!

Anna's had some pretty cool goings on lately!

First, two weeks ago, she lost her first tooth!

It had been wiggly for awhile and working it's way more and more loose.  It finally got to the point where it hurt when she ate.  I was also nervous that she would accidentally swallow it while eating.  So, we gave it a little (painless) help!

I know a lot of you will think I'm a wretched, horrible parent, but she knows that the tooth fairy is just pretend.  Which means absolutely no pressure if I forget to put a quarter under her pillow!  She was super happy all the same!

Next up...Kindergarten!

Anna has been looking forward to starting Kindergarten ever since her assessment day way back in March.  And finally, the magical day of September 4th arrived!

Tuesday was just a one hour orientation so she and I got to go together.

Finding her name on the bulletin board outside her room.

This little girl is anything but shy!  She jumped right in and had a grand time exploring her new classroom.

Wednesday was her first official day!

The drop-off procedure is to take her to the auditorium where she lines up with her teacher and the rest of the class.  On this first day, it was a literal hot mess in there!  Kids and adults EVERYWHERE!  Her teacher had already began leading her little line of ducklings to their classroom so we headed down the hall to find them.  There were so many people, I had to leave Clara in the stroller a little ways away and scurry Anna down the hall to catch up!  I gave her a hug and a kiss, told her to follow the girl in front of her and watched her walk away.  Yes, I cried.  And I almost followed them to their class to make sure my "ooh, look at that, let me stop to check it out" little girl made it!  But, she did and she had a great day!

The next day, drop-off ran much, much smoother and we talked about how it was all going to work from now on:  Go up the first set of stairs, then the second set of stairs, straight into the big room, find Mrs. Levin and sit down.

This morning, as we neared school, we once again talked about the procedure.  When we arrived, she skipped up the two outside stairs, turned around and said, "I can do it on my own", waived goodbye and headed in!  Don't get me wrong, I'm very glad she's confident and independent but you better believe I followed her!  I let her get all the way to the top of the second set of stairs before I did.  But I just had to see that cute little french-braided head sitting in the appropriate line with my very own eyes!

She's such a smart, charming and adorable little girl!  We are all excited for her new adventures this year!

Utah Highlight Reel

I'm so behind!  I need to get through our Utah trip so I can tell you all about the other miscellany.  So hold tight.  Here we go!

We landed in Salt Lake and went directly to pick up my race packet at the whatever-it's-called-now-arena.  Afterwards, we headed to City Creek mall to walk around and find some lunch.  Lucky for Anna, they had a fun fountain to run through!

The fact that she was fully clothed couldn't have mattered any less!

Clara had fun sharing a drink with grandpa.

The 24th was a big day for us.  It all started at 5:30 am with my first ever 10k.  An unfortunate, very poorly timed case of the stomach flu left me weak and unable to perform my best.  But I finished!

Post run...and two trips to the port-a-potty!

After my run, I met up Spencer and the girls to watch the parade.  We gave Anna the camera so we ended up with literally hundreds of pictures!  All from a child's perspective.  Here is a very small sampling.

 

This is how the girls ended up at the end of this very eventful day!

Up next was a trip to This Is The Place.  We had lots of fun but unfortunately our camera battery died soon after we arrived.

Anna and I learning how to make a cute little rag doll.

One hot day, we went to a fun splash pad and park.  Clara wasn't all that in to running through the various sprinklers but you can imagine how much Anna loved it.

A trip to temple square provided a tour of the conference center...

the obligatory temple photo op...

and a stop at my favorite, the church history museum.

The absolute best part of the trip for me was Cascade Springs.  A fun, kid-friendly hike with absolutely stunning scenery.  Such a treasure!

Next up, was a visit to the new Natural History Museum.

Spencer likes to call this one "Boo Boo Contemplates the Origins of Man"!

Thanks to Spencer's generous boss, we were able to take his mom and dad out for a nice dinner at The Roof.  So fun and delicious, too!

We all really enjoyed our tour of Welfare Square.  So interesting and inspiring.

Obviously, the girls didn't find it as interesting as us adults.  But who can argue with free samples of church-produced bread, peanut butter, cheese and chocolate milk!?!

 
Thanks to my aunt and uncle celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, we were also able to see my parents.  On our last full day, we were able to drive down to Utah county and walk around BYU with them.

 
Whew!  Did you get all that?  What we didn't get any pictures of were our two get-togethers with good friends, super tasty meals at several Utah Diners, Drive-ins and Dives locations, and an all-too-short visit with my aunt, uncle and cousins.

Fun times.  Fun times.