Summer Vacation Recap--Week 12

It's my last week before going back to work.  We've had a really great summer and I feel we have made the most of it.  There are a lot of new things in store for this fall that we sure are excited for!


Sunday, August 12-- Despite dancing and being up past bedtime, the girls did not sleep in this morning.  We laid around the hotel room before going to Perkins for lunch.  All three girls napped on the drive home and played around the house once we got back.  It was pretty cool outside so I did laundry and unpacked.  Our granite countertops are going to get done this week so we had to clear the counters and get ready for that.  Though it was chilly out, it was a great afternoon for playing with bubbles and the water table.....all of the kids needed baths anyway!

  After getting the kids bathed and to bed early, I got to enjoy a night evening walk with Dellisa.

Monday, August 13-- I finished up the laundry from being gone and did the grocery shopping before heading to the park for a playdate with Myah and Maysen's friend, Hayden, from Formative Years.

We were hoping to go to the pool and/or to a family fun night up in the Northern Lights area of Ames, but we didn't get to do either because of having to wait for the granite guy.  We are getting a new countertop in our kitchen (I think I mentioned this a week or so ago), and we're really excited about it.   Here's what our old countertops look like:

However, the time of the guy's arrival kept changing and when he did eventually call me, he said he'd be here at 5:30 but still didn't show up until 6:10.  Needless to say, the girls were frustrated that we didn't get to do either of those things, but it's exciting that we will have a new countertop by the end of the week.  All of the girls needed another bath after having gone to the park, and Brandon and I went to bed early.....man we're getting old!

Tuesday, August 14--I got up and went for a 3 mile run.....it was a beautiful morning!  Around 10:15, we headed to Des Moines to the Blank Park Zoo!

Sea Lion Demonstration

In the Prairie Dog crawl space

sleeping Black Swan

MMM with the wallabys up by the tree

Free roaming peacock

Camel Ride

The girls had gotten free passes at the magician at the library last week and Mylie was already free so we couldn't pass that up!  It was a great day, though hotter and  much busier on a Tuesday than we had anticipated.  The girls got to go on a Camel ride, which they thought was really fun.  Brandon worked out once we got home and the girls and I made chicken salad--it's one of our favorite things to make and eat in the summer!  Our after-school care gal (Kaci) watched the girls for about an hour and a half while I went to the chiropractor and Brandon made a quick run to Marshalltown with a load of basketball cards that he sold.  It was a good time to have her with the girls for a short time and for them to get to know her before the first time she has to get them at the bus stop.  Another fun day, but Brandon heads back for teacher work days tomorrow.  We've really made the most of our summer.  It's emotional for it to come to an end, but we do know how very lucky we are to have this amount of time at home with our kids so we try not to complain about it ;)

Wednesday, August 15-- Daddy went back to work today so of course the girls slept in until 8!!  It was sweet (Brandon didn't think so).  Mylie went to Sue's house so the other girls and I could get our hair done.  Our appointment was at 11:30 and we didn't leave until 2!!  Three haircuts, my highlights and eyebrow waxing later (me, of course), we look fresh and ready to start the school year.  Afterwards, we headed to the pool for a little bit since it's supposed to be cool the next few days.  After supper, I had a meeting at the church for Sunday School.  I'm going to be a shepherd for the 4th grade class.  It's a lot of the same kids I worked with for VBS so it should go pretty good.  A shepherd basically leads the kids around to their stations.  I won't be teaching the lessons.....more on the discipline end :)

Thursday, August 16--So much for the sleeping-in thing, Mylie was up at 5:15 but did fall back asleep when I laid down with her.  Around 9, we headed up to Sawyer Elementary because today was the day we'd been waiting for for a while now.  The class lists were posted.  I had written a letter to the principal back in January requesting that the girls be put in the same class and all requesting a specific teacher.  Since then, both the former principal and the requested teacher have left Sawyer.  However, both requests were still granted.  They are in the same class and they have Mrs. Kenyon. 

Mrs. Kenyon was Mrs. Isebrand's (the first teacher I requested) student teacher and will be a great fit for my girls.  We spent 2 hours at the middle school finishing up getting my room ready for me to have students starting next week.  After supper, M&M and I went back to Sawyer for New Parent Orientation.  We got to tour the building, but didn't get to meet the teacher yet.  We will get to do that next week, though.  The girls are excited that Tiffany, a girl from Formative Years, will be in their class so they will have that familiar face as well as each other.  This mom is finding out quickly that it's going to be an emotional couple of weeks as this "school" stuff gets underway.

Friday, August 17--Mylie went to Sue's again today and will start there full time on Monday.  She's been a little (sometimes a lot) fussy in the evenings.  I don't know if that bottom tooth is finally going to be all the way through, or if she's trying to adjust to our new schedule.  She's used to being with me pretty much 24 hours a day this summer so now in the evenings she's really clingy to me.  I'm going to have to get back to having supper ready right at 5 because that usually helps the evening go better.  Myah and Maysen and I went to the chiropractor and ran a few errands before I had to go to a meeting at 11:30.  I'm a mentor for one of the new 8th grade math teachers.  It's always an honor being asked to be a mentor.  It's a paid position, though it does required some time outside of the school day.  At 4:30, I came home to new countertops!

  I LOVE them.  The process is only half done because my dad is going to hook up the plumbing on Sunday and we are also going to get a new tile back splash so that will complete the project, but the countertops are so wonderful and make the kitchen look so much nicer than the ones we had.  I made stirfry for supper.....it was a bit difficult to not have water in the kitchen, but we made the bathroom sink do!

Saturday, August 18--Mylie woke up early (5:11) today, which has been going along with her fussy evenings.  It's been cooler in our house in the mornings lately, too, so hopefully we get all of this figured out soon!  I got out and ran 5 miles on this beautiful morning and quickly showered so we could go to Staples for their Teacher Appreciation Day.  The first 100 teachers through the door got a 'goodie bag.'  Needless to say, we were early enough.  One of the items in the bag was $10 off of a $50 purchase.  We had already done most of our school shopping, but we did pick up a few things including a small fire-proof safe.  This was something we'd been thinking about getting for a while now so with the coupon it was a good time to get it.  Brandon's mom had given him some money for us to use on back-to-school items.  In addition, we went to Target and also got Myah and Maysen each two pairs of jeans for school, Brandon a small coffee maker to have at school, and some shinguards for the girls since they will need them for soccer this fall.  My cell phone had been on the fritz for some time now....most of the summer actually.  I had taken it in about 6 weeks ago and they told me that the speaker in my phone was going out.  It was to the point that I couldn't really understand people when they called me on it, and I was nervous to give out the number because I feared that they might actually call me on it and I wouldn't be able to hear them.  That can't be the case when I go back to work in case Sue or M&M's school needs to reach me so we also went to US Cellular to get me a new phone.  It took FOREVER, but it got done.  We went to Noodles and Co. for lunch and them home for a nap.  Nap time wasn't even nearly as long as I had anticipated it to be, which was a bummer.  Brandon went to Humboldt to watch his brother race and the girls and I hung out at home.  After baths, everyone went to bed a little early.....it's time to start getting on a school routine anyway, which requires M&M to get to bed about 1/2 an hour earlier than they have been for the last 3 years!

This is the final summer vacation recap.  I go back to work on Monday and Kindergarten starts the following Monday.  However, stay tuned for meeting the teacher, kitchen remodel continuation, our first soccer and ice skating lessons, etc.