Day 251--Back to School

This dark and dreary day started early with Glen getting Spencer off to his first day of high school. Since it was the only day before seminary started, Glen just drove him all the way in.

Shortly after that I took a rainy walk with Cami and Megan to the bus stop and dropped her off for her first day of middle school!


Almost an hour and a half later it was finally time to get Adam and Emma off to school!

If it weren't for the fact that Ellie was beside herself with boredom with all her favorite play mates suddenly off to school all day, it would have been a happy day for everyone all around!

Day 250--Labor Day

After all my sarcasm and silliness in my Labor Day post on my main blog, this one will be boring by comparison.

Basically after a lot of fun and silliness at Butler's Orchards (in Germantown, MD)...

we ended up with 5-1/2 lbs. of freshly picked raspberries in the bucket and another few pounds in our bellies.


Then we swung by our home on the way back from the farm, donned our BYU clothes, and then went and got our free sammies at Chick-fil-A!


I was going totally insane trying to get everything with the ward preschool groups up and running, so AnnaLisa came home and made us a batch of jam.
Yay for AnnaLisa!

Day 249--Alfredo Sauce and a Self-Portrait

(As you can see, I'm a little behind on posting my 365 pictures. I'm taking advantage today while my house is totally empty (besides me of course) and hoping to finally get caught up. )

After taking a boat load of pictures yesterday at Hershey Park, today ended up being a slow day with the camera.

I found this picture of a cashew chicken alfredo dish that Glen made for our Fast Sunday dinner. Believe me when I say it was DELICIOUS! Not only was it good tasting, healthy, but since I didn't actually cook it myself it was way better than our average meal!


The only other picture from that day is this random self-portrait that Cami took of herself!

Spontaneous Trip: Part 2

I'm sure you've all been waiting on pins and needles to find out what we ended up doing yesterday in Hershey with a sick child. I thought about making you wait a few weeks like I have for the "Refrigerator Challenge" which I've long since finished, but still never blogged about, but I'm feeling kind of generous today and do not want to make you needlessly suffer in suspense, so here goes.

After starting off Saturday morning with Emma pathetically lying in bed with her fever still hovering at 101°, we were not hopeful about what the day would bring. We went back and forth about what to do, but in a fit of hopelessness we decided to just drive home.
We spent the day mowing the lawn, wiping Emma's fevered brow, and occasionally engaged in rousing thumb wars where I was accused of having freakishly long thumbs. It was a long horrible day (until BYU miraculously won the game), but Emma got the rest she needed and is doing much better now.

hehehehe....keep reading!

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PSYCHE!!!!

If you believed that baloney filled post, then you are seriously deprived of Lara-esque humor and need to read my blog more often.

However, if you were one of the knowledgeable few that knew something was up as soon as I said "fevered brow", then congratulations to you on being a Golden Seven connoisseur (DAD!).

While Emma actually did wake up with the 101° fever, we weren't about to let a beautiful day in Hershey, PA go to waste. We gave Emma the grape flavored ibuprofen and bee-lined it straight for the park. We figured she could always just take over the stroller from Ellie if she needed to rest.

It was a little slow moving at first getting past the crunch of people at the front of the park, but once we got moving we soon discovered the joys of visiting another amusement park besides Busch Gardens where we've had season passes the last two years.


Spencer and Cami discovered a "ride" they'd never seen before that they loved. It's the wave runner. They dive down this hill of rushing water and attempt to "surf" against a powerful wave of water that threw grown men up the hill like rag dolls and ripped poor girls' bikinis down to their knees (the workers had a blanket they threw over people whenever that happened, but it didn't stop us from getting an eyeful a couple of times while we waited to watch S & C take their turns).

The lines were really long for the Wave Runner, but Spence and Cam totally loved the thrill of fighting against the water and riding the wave and thankfully were able to maintain all of their clothing!

Soon the grape flavored ibuprofen worked its wonders and Emma spent most of the day looking like this....

It actually ended up kind of ironic, that although Emma was the sick one, Ellie was the one who spent the day whining for food and crying for us to carry her. Of course the whining may have had something to do with the dime sized blisters she got on each foot from breaking in a brand new pair of shoes which we had just purchased the night before when we realized that she'd made it into the car barefoot!


All in all, we liked that Hershey allowed us to bring in our own food and drink PLUS had several affordable restaurants to choose from (like Subway and Nathan's). We also liked the fun water rides, although we hadn't brought in the younger kids' swimsuits and wouldn't have let Emma swim anyway (we do draw the line sometimes).

I definitely did not like all the smoking stops that seemed to be around every corner. Busch Gardens is smoke free and I did not realize how much I appreciated that until we got a hefty dose of second hand smoke yesterday. Thankfully the smoking was contained in little gazebos though, so at least most of the park was smoke free.

I also liked that there were plenty of rides for the little kids, like this Frog Hopper ride. Emma, Cami, Adam, and Ellie all could ride it and all of them loved it (actually Ellie didn't love it until she got off, but she might have loved it another day when she wasn't quite so hungry and blistered).

We're glad we went and glad that ibuprofen proved to be the miracle drug that kept Emma from having to sit in the stroller even once. It was a fun day for all and even better that we came home just in time to see BYU win against OU!!

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Day 248--Hershey Park

We spent a beautiful day at Hershey Park. The ibuprofen worked wonders for Emma and we had a fun day!

Go Cougs!

I don't even hesitate in saying that my Dad is probably one of the most avid BYU football fans there ever was and if you had ever watched a game with him you wouldn't even try to dispute this fact.

It is an understatement to say that game days were big at our house.

Not only were schedules tweaked to accommodate the games and all other activities ceased, but the decibel level in our house went to uproarious levels during game time. It was loud no matter how the game was going, but it was the tone at which those decibels were expressed that meant that we knew exactly how the game was going in any corner of the house. Loud cheers and happy yelling meant all was well in Cougarland (and in our house), while loud guffaws and shouts for people's heads meant that we were doomed to extra chores for the next few days.

While all BYU games are exciting to my Dad (a native Oklahoman), tonight's game held a special significance to him....he was once a Sooner too.

Unlike my Dad's brother (a Sooner married to a Cougar) who was so conflicted about who to cheer for that he just decorated his house like this....
my Dad had no question who he was rooting for...

he had flown to Dallas hoping for a miracle.

Tonight across 1300 miles I heard my Dad's jubilant cheering (joined with the happy but slightly more subdued cheering at our house) that could only mean one thing...

No extra chores tonight!

WAY TO GO BYU!!!!!

To Be Continued...

A few months ago, right after school finished up for the year, we decided to take a spontaneous trip to Hershey, PA and to Amish Country. We had a great time staying in the Cocoa Suite, touring the chocolate factory, eating Amish baked goods, and visiting authentic Amish sites that lay within 5 feet of a Target. Unfortunately, contrary to our plans, we never did get to go to Hershey Park due to the torrential downpours that day.

We had envisioned returning again soon, to finish what we started there, but unfortunately between Scout Camp, Youth Conference, Girls' Camp, and High Adventure we never really found a big enough hole in our schedule to make the trip. Then by the time Glen and Spencer returned from their trip to Maine with High Adventure, Spencer's football practices had started en force.

I, personally, didn't think it would be that big of a deal to miss a couple of summer practices, after all it is still summer, but I am not a teen-age boy playing high school football for the first time. Spencer has remained adamantly opposed to missing a single practice, even with the promise of a fun beach trip or return trip to Hershey in its place.

Last night Spencer had his first scrimmage of the season. It did not go as well as he'd hoped, but afterwards we got a big surprise. No practices over the Labor Day weekend.

Hmmmm, it was 8:30pm on Thursday night when we first heard this. Could we pull a quick trip out of town with that short of notice? We'd have to wait and see if Glen would be able to get off work in time to do anything about it, but we were tantalized by the suddenly open spot in our schedule on our last weekend of the summer!

After a morning filled with orientations (middle school and high school) and other excitements, Glen finally popped in right about 3:30.

We still had no idea what we were going to do, but we were determined to do something to take advantage!

We checked the weather report for tomorrow (81 degrees and sunny), did some last minute finagling, and some quick packing, and then jumped in the car...

We sat in traffic for a while and have now safely arrived into the exact same room (Cocoa Suite) that we stayed in two and a half months ago. The kids are so excited about a day at Hershey Park tomorrow (even though both Spencer and Cami are missing birthday parties to be here).

It all came together so nicely, despite the last minute planning. Too bad Emma didn't let us know before we left though, that she was going to suddenly lose her appetite and develop a fever of 101 degrees between home and here.

We assume it's the same nasty bug that brought Ellie down a few days ago, with a fever, vomiting, and headache....not fun even if you're at home in your own comfortable bed, but downright miserable stuck in a car for hours and on your feet all day at an amusement park. Ack! This is not quite what we envisioned our trip to Hershey Park to be...

So what do we do? Drag a sick, miserable eight-year-old around an amusement park with us all day? Have one of us stay back here at the hotel with her and let her rest until we have to check out? Give her alternating doses of Motrin and Tylenol and hope for the best? Or just jump back in the car and take another tour of Amish country, get lots of whoopie pies, and drive through Gettysburg on the way home?

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Day 247--Anti-Spontaneity

Last night we learned that Spencer wouldn't have any football practice again until Tuesday, so we started hatching this idea that we would take a spontaneous trip out of town today just because we could. We hadn't been anywhere together as a family since our rainy trip to Hershey/Amish country in early summer and didn't think we would be able to because of Spencer's football that he's had since early August.

Today was the official middle school and high school orientation day. Spence and Cami took the bus to their schools, rotated around to their respective classes, and got to reconnect with old friends. The bus dropped them both off at the elementary school, where I had walked the mile or so and let the kids run and play on the playground before taking them all home.

While there at the playground Cami started getting wind of the idea that we would go on a last minute trip out of town today. Rather than being ecstatic as we thought she would be...

she was SO ANNOYED with us. Her, Megan, and Mikhaela had been hatching out all these fun ideas that they were going to do tonight at Marissa's party and she was so completely irritated that we were going to take her away from all that.

Glen was able to get off early enough so we jumped in the car to go finish what we started in Hershey in June. We never did get to go to HersheyPark since the weather was too horrible and we thought it would be a fun way to end the summer. Cami still was NOT happy with us in the slightest when we left, but I think she's coming around now with the anticipation.

We checked the weather before leaving and it's supposed to be 81 degrees and sunny tomorrow!

Too bad we didn't get the memo that Emma was going to come down with a fever before we even hit Frederick. We assume it's the same bug that took down Ellie earlier this week, but we're hoping to keep the vomiting far away....knock on wood.

Ack! Toting around a sick eight-year-old does NOT sound like a fun day. Sure hope she fits in the stroller....

Day 246--Busy Day

The day started off with a bang...

or more like a buzz and some pounding. With the neighbor getting some serious tree trimming done and Karl laboring away with a nail gun on our built-in book shelves in our living room, the decibel level in our house was LOUD with a capital L !!! I tried to take a phone call and couldn't seem to find a single place in the house where it was quiet enough to have more than a short conversation.

This afternoon we headed to the elementary school for the open house. We were in a big rush to get Spencer off to football, but Emma was eager to take some time to reconnect with old friends she hasn't seen since last school year!

Then we dropped Spencer off at the high school, took a quick jaunt to the pool for an hour (finally it got over 80 again), then we headed home, ate a quick dinner (sloppy joes with pepperoni), and then ran to Spencer's first scrimmage of the year against South Lakes.

We thought the kids would enjoy their time watching Spencer play, but it totally ended up being play time for Emma, Adam, Ellie, and Emma's good friend Elena. They played freeze tag for a good hour, then took to running laps around the school track. I thought they'd be all worn out after a lap, but they were like the Energizer bunnies tonight...they kept going and going and going...six whole times around! After that mile and a half jog, plus their freeze tag time, plus Spencer's glaring disappointment about how the scrimmage went, we decided some good old fashioned ice cream from DQ was in order!

They are sleeping well now!

Ready or Not....

...the high school football season has begun!

If you happen to be a quarterback or running back I'd be watching my back right about now, because my big burly boy (all 115 lbs. of him) is going to bring you down!

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The Ramblings of Middle Aged Babies...

With Spencer in high school, Cami in middle school, Emma and Adam in elementary school, and Ellie in preschool this year I knew that this year would be a little crazy and may even give me a few gray hairs, but today I got a little preview at just how crazy!

This afternoon I dropped Spencer off at his high school football practice, then went directly to the middle school open house to fill out boat loads of paperwork and write out 6 separate checks (no exaggeration) for lunches, PTA membership, gym clothes, etc.

While there, Cami got her locker assignment and got to practice her secret combination skills. :)


She was really happy when she got to her locker to discover that she had one of the "big" lockers. Most of the lockers in the school were several inches shorter and only the width of her hand, but hers is so tall she can hardly reach the top shelf and is apparently big enough to fit a little "sevvie" (what they call seventh graders) inside of as well. Of course that's something we really hope never happens in the course of a school day. :)

Then we went straight to the elementary school where the kids got to see which teacher they got this year and which of their friends would be in their classes. Emma is ecstatic about her teacher and classmates, while Adam was a little sad that only 3 kids, two of which were girls, from his kindergarten class would be his classmate this year. Of course I'm confident that in a couple of weeks he'll be coming home bubbling over about all his new best friends.

Then we ran home, cooked spaghetti for supper since I'm way too busy for new recipes this week, then ran back to the high school for Spencer's open house.

Boy oh boy was high school a different ball of yarn than elementary school. It was crowded, a tad disorganized, and filled with gangly, pimpled teens wandering around in little herds. I would have taken a picture of the pervasive giddiness, except that I'm sure that Spencer would have disowned me on the spot if I'd pulled out my camera in front of his future classmates.

Plus I got this weird, slightly disconcerting feeling while I was there.

I have been feeling so old whenever I think that I have a son who is in high school and will be driving in less than 2 years!!! Seriously, if I wasn't middle aged yet, this has to qualify me now.

But then again, after having been to two official high school functions now I've noticed that Glen and I are probably a good 10-15 years younger than most of the other parents. We're probably just getting to the age now where they had just had their first baby and we have a fourteen year old (plus a few others).

I know we felt very wise and mature when I had him after I had just barely turned 22 (Glen was almost 24)... But now I'm beginning to feel like we might be like baby middle-agers.

If I weren't so completely exhausted now I would totally photoshop a picture of us wearing diapers and with binkies in our mouths to show how we're so young/old, but that is way beyond my tech skills this time of night.
This picture of us all ready for bed tonight will just have to do.

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Day 245--Fleeting Summer Days

Today was the first big day in our trek to starting back to school.

First we went to Cami's middle school to fill out paperwork, buy gym clothes, join the PTA, get her locker combination, etc.

Since she'd had a week of locker combination opening (among other useful skills) during her "summer institute" last week, she was already a pro at opening her locker.

Then we were off to the elementary school to find out who their teachers would be. Emma has one of our favorite teachers of all time (Mr. Stephens) and Adam has Mrs. Hodge who we've never had before, but seems like she'll be wonderful. It'll be weird to only have 2 kids in the elementary school again ( just like in the olden days when it was just Spence and Cam).

After that it was off to the high school to fill out forms and write checks there too. Spencer's favorite part was that they were handing out free chick-fil-a sandwiches and freshly baked cookies. I think that moved its coolness factor up ten-fold right there.

Only a couple more days!

Day 244--GreenSpring Gardens

Today was one of those totally spontaneous days for me. The weather's been unseasonably gorgeous for late August, which is great for outdoor activities but a little too cool for the pool. I woke up on this beautiful day on one of the last fleeting days of summer vacation not having a clue what we should do.

Sometime mid-morning Cami mentioned to me that her friend, Mikhaela, and her family were going to GreenSpring Gardens and that she wanted to go along with them. I was intrigued. We had gone there a few months ago with the preschool group, and I had been meaning to take the rest of my family there anyway, so within half an hour we were in the car and on our way there too.

After exploring the gardens for a while, we found a shady place next to a little brook to sit to have a picnic. As per usual, my kids were way more interested in the Mercer's food than they were in what I'd packed.

After eating, they all took some time hanging out .....

...literally and much to the chagrin of some other parents who were there at the same time and whose young boy kept attempting Spencer's daring antics.

The rest of the time was just spent wading, jumping, and just some good old fashioned exploring of the brook and surrounding area.

I fell in love with this cute picture of Mikhaela's little sister, Cassandra. She is a sweet, energetic little girl that seems to never lose that beautiful smile off her face.

I spent the first half of the trip there frustrated with Ellie's grumpiness and lethargy, but after a little while it became very apparent that it was more than just a bad day for her. She had a fever. She spent the rest of the trip curled up in a ball in the stroller with her corner blankie wrapped around her. Then to seal the deal on whether she was really sick or not...she threw up in the car on the way home. Thankfully, due to her vast experience with all things vomiting, she actually gave me enough warning to toss her back an empty cup to throw up into. She didn't spill a drop.