back to school (aka, mom's worst day of the year)

Oh man we had a rough back to school this year. Tanner going from very part time preschool to FULL DAY kindergarten and riding the bus home was probably the hardest adjustment of the week. He has to be out the door at 7 a.m.

But let me back up. Emma and Tyler's bus comes around 6:35. They are both at the middle school about 1.5 miles away, so that's a definite plus. Tyler LOVES school and thinks his teachers are the greatest ever. Emma likes it too, and likes not being the new kid anymore. She also gets to start viola this year.

Spencer was traveling all week so I had to wake up Sadie and drive Tanner to school with a grumpy, sleepy kid in the back (well, two of them actually). The traffic was a nightmare (!!) and we were late. No parking anywhere. Sadie had no shoes and a full diaper from the night before. It was crazy. Luckily, Tanner was being brave and smiled as I had to leave.

Oh how I missed him all day!! I couldn't wait for his bus at 3. The big kids got home first and we waited...and waited...and waited. He finally got home at 4! He was exhausted and sweaty and was pretty sure that was the longest day of his life and he never again wanted to go to school. Lots and lots of tears have followed since then.

In a nutshell, the big kids are happy, and the little kids aren't so much. He feels like he is missing out and the adjustment is so hard. Sadie misses him. Here's to only 175 more days in the school year!

summer wrap-up

Tomorrow is our last day of summer, and then we are officially back to school. This year Tanner goes, which is devastating to me on so many levels. I'm also losing Emma and Tyler back to the bus and public school schedule. So, Sadie and I will have to live it up all by ourselves.

 Emma is starting viola in 6th grade so we went and bought a (nice) used one.

 One more time at the splash park... in a couple months it will be an ice skating rink.

 A friend playdate with the sprinkler on the trampoline.

 ^^Trying to teach Tyler how to ski (not successful yet).

 ^^My most graceful (ha!) fall yet. At least I'm smiling!

 Wrapping up boating season. Boo! At least the kids have had lots of time on the lake this year.

 Tyler turned 10 and we celebrated by going to see "Minions" (because it was raining).

 Sadie sat still and watched almost the whole movie!

The cake sorta fell apart but it still tasted amazing. Love this big 10 year old 5th grader!

On to the school year! :(

utah/aspen grove

The drive from Las Vegas to Salt Lake was surprisingly easy. We stopped for Swig cookies (meh) in St. George, then stopped in Beaver for cheese and some food. Emma was a great helper while I drove. I even bragged to Spencer that I kept the cruise control on SOLID from Beaver to Provo.

We got to Nana and Grandpa's house and the kids were SO EXCITED to see all of their cousins; it had been 3 years since we had seen some of them. The big kids immediately got to work on their Studio C skit for Aspen Grove's talent show. They had a blast playing. That night we stayed up late talking, and I was eagerly awaiting Spencer's return from England the next day.

Friday we were getting ready for the reunion but we also rented some inflatable water toys for the backyard and the kids got to play and play. I went to Costco (yay for Costco!) and picked up Spencer (yay for him being back in the U.S.!) and we had a big family BBQ that night.

The next day was a little crazy - we got up early and packed and loaded the van. We were all doing a temple session at 10 in Salt Lake, and then we were driving to see friends before heading to Aspen Grove before 5:00.  We snapped a quick picture on our way in...

And after, we got our kids and rushed to Thanksgiving Point to see RaeDene and Danielle. Oh it was so great to see some of my very dearest friends. We served in the Young Women's Presidency together for about two years and had the BEST time. Danielle was in town for a wedding and this one hour was all the time we could muster to be together. It was wonderful. And Danielle had a fun announcement as we were parting ways - that they are having another baby! Seeing these two was so SO good for my soul.

Next we went to see the Eyre's. We only had about 30 minutes because of having to get up the canyon but our kids picked up right where they had left off. It was fun to reminisce about our wonderful 5 years living across the street from each other in Fremont. 

And then we were off to our reunion in Aspen Grove! We checked in and had dinner, and then the kids got to meet their groups for the week.

The week was full of a lot of fun, some sickness (mostly me), not enough sleep, a lot of nature, some crying (Sadie never wanted to go to her class), and some great memories.

Oh man, what a good time we had in Utah. Too bad it's a 20 hour drive or we would do it more often. :)

las vegas

I fully realize how lucky I am to be (almost) 33 years old and still have 4 living grandparents. When this big road trip started to materialize I knew we needed to spend some time with these grandparents of mine. We decided to stay one night in Las Vegas so my kids could get to know their incredible great-grandparents, who happen to live around the corner from each other.

We first stopped Kami's to swim for a bit before heading to the other side of town. The kids loved it, and Tanner got brave and went off the slide and jumped off the waterfall. Michelle came and brought her kids.

We stopped by the Hales' and Grandpa showed the boys all his awards from when he was a fighter pilot - that was so cool.

 We had to use the selfie stick so we could all be in the picture. I know I will treasure this forever.

Then we headed over to see the Winders and to have dinner and sleep there. Grandma was instantly friends with all my kids and they even pulled out the games and she joined right in. Some of my best memories are playing games with her all the time. She was a good sport, but really, she enjoys it.

While they played games, Sadie and grandpa Winder bonded over Sadie's baby.

What a great time we had. And then we were off to Utah!

california

Driving into LA was one of the scariest experiences of my life! Lots of cars - everywhere! I was missing Bentonville for those 90 minutes...
Anyway, we got in around 1:00 and it rained most of that day. We went shopping and then swimming (rain finally stopped!) for a few hours. The next day was Sunday and I skipped out on sunday school to talk to some friends in the hallway (he he). I love being back in the ward where I grew up.

On Monday and Tuesday we went to the beach. My big kids wanted to boogie board THE ENTIRE TIME, and that is just what they did. I'm glad my dad was there Monday and both parents on Tuesday so I could stay by the little kids and also hang out with Aarika and her kids (on Tuesday).

Here are a bunch of pictures of my kids who were so happy to be in the ocean. (By the way, they were fried.)

Papa took them sand dollar hunting early one morning.