Summer Vacation (or the lack thereof)

It seems it hasn't even been a month since the kids got out of school... Oh, wait... probably because it really hasn't been a month. What kind of summer vacation is only 3 weeks long?? The summer vacation of a kid in year round school, I guess. In any case, I thought I'd quickly document what little we did manage to do during this little window of summer freedom.

First up... D'Ann gets married!!
My sister and Antone decided it was high time they made things official - and they did it in style! Party style, that is. What a fantastic way to do a wedding. D'Ann and Antone said their "I do's" in the shade of a clump of trees at a family park. It was a beautiful ceremony that literally brought tears to my eyes (and Gracee's eyes. She chose this, of all moments, to have her very first inconsolable crying spell... of course). After being pronounced husband & wife by a military chaplain who has performed many a wedding in our family, D & Antone were showered with a million cliche bubbles - and then it was barbecue time! What a spread we had! I'm starting to sound like a broken record by saying this, but my family seriously rocks the house when it comes to party/food planning. My Mom, my aunts, and my super-woman-of-a-sister-in-law, Vicki, had an incredibly impressive mass of food for the countless family and friends who came out to celebrate.

My Dad and my brother, Lynn, manned the barbecues, dishing out hundreds of hot dogs and tiny hamburgers (which were washed down with homemade root beer). It was all delicious, and I enjoyed the excess food in comfort while wearing shorts and a t-shirt. That's my kind of wedding! Thanks to those of you who came out. It was so fun to see so many family and friends. I told D'Ann she needs to get married every year... but to the same guy, of course. You could see how that statement might be taken the wrong way.

For the two weeks after D'Ann's wedding, I'm afraid we did a whole lot of nothing at all. You see, in the summer, it's hot. It just is. And I'm not a huge fan of being outside in the heat. I'm just not. I wish I could say we went swimming to cool down, but I'm not squeezing this stretched out, postpartum body into a swimsuit this summer. Sorry. I think I'll stick to cooling down, fully-clothed, in the cool breeze of my central air. We did manage one exciting camping trip... in the backyard. And I think we even went to a movie! And we played some intensely competitive games of Mario Kart. And then we... crap... I got nothing.

The weekend before school started back up (Pioneer Day, to be exact) we did venture out of the nicely air-conditioned house, and made our way up Millcreek Canyon for a fun little cookout and overall day of getting dirty. Mmm... tinfoil dinners and s'mores. (I think it's a little disturbing how much my enjoyment of life revolves around food right now. No wonder I haven't been losing any of this baby weight!)

Pictures of my adorably dirty children and their cousins...





It's amazing to me the level of filthy these kids can reach in such a short amount of time. After we were all stuffed to the point of illness, and our limit of patience with our wild children was met; we went home for showers before meeting back up at Lynn & Vicki's for a spectacular fireworks show. Well, as spectacular as any show can be when the fireworks were purchased at a local grocery store.

The following Monday, it was back to school. McKenna started 3rd grade...



And on Tuesday, Mathew started 1st grade...



McKenna thinks her new teacher is the nicest, funniest teacher around. She also thinks 3rd grade is super easy so far. Oh, and she has officially chosen her 3rd grade crush... I'm keeping my lips sealed, now that's she's old enough to get embarrassed about it.
Mathew merely nodded his head when I asked if he liked his teacher (he's not my most vocal child). He did give me an earful about how much he likes eating lunch at school though. Way cooler than eating at home, apparently.

Even though I got a little pang of sadness in my heart watching them take off on their bikes for school, I have to admit that it is quite nice spending the day at home with just Nater and Gracee. Especially at nap time, when I get a full 2 hours of uninterrupted "me" time (which usually includes a nap of my own).

So, that's pretty much our summer for ya! Better luck next year, right?