Hello Summer

According to my calendar today is the first day of summer. And I've got a pretty sweet sunburn from my day spent at Cherry Hill yesterday to show for it. (I was planning on staying three hours...Lilian had different ideas and I dragged her out after about six. Sunblock...why do I never remember to reapply?)

But if you go by the school schedule, we're fully into our third week of summer. A summer that promises to be fairly even keel and simple. We haven't had one of those for awhile, and I'm kind giddy with ideas, and not quite sure what to do with myself all at the same time.

Past summers have been full of emotions where my tear ducts get lots of workout. (At least the tear ducts are getting some exercise seeing as my body has not...being a hot mess leads to not only no working out but also emotional eating. Hmm.) Past summers, or at least the last four, have either been spent proudly crying through a high school graduation ceremony and then trying to put on a brave face as I move my daughter out of the house and into her own apartment on a college campus in an entirely different city over an hour away. (And yes, I realize that I'm lucky she's only an hour rather than multiple states away. Baby steps for what comes next). Or dealing with preparations with said daughter as she moves home from college the next summer only to turn around a few weeks later and move an entire country away to serve a mission for the LDS church. Which brings on even more of a workout for the tear ducts than the college move did. #miserablejoy. And this has been what my summers have revolved around.
Worth mentioning (maybe) is that two of those summers were also a combo deal with "the summer of the hysterectomy/surgery recovery," and "the summer of the puppy." Oi vey.

But this summer? We have a little respite. At one point I thought this summer would be all about THE WEDDING, which would be a whole new round of emotional summer experiences. Except Rebekah and Tanner moved their big day up to spring break in March. So a workout for my tear ducts and lots more emotional eating, it was indeed. But not in summer. (Next summer will be another graduation and moving on for Brandon. Sigh. Lets not talk about that right now, shall we?)

Julianne has 6 more months before she returns home from her mission. (Yes, I am meticulously counting down the days.) Rebekah no longer calls our house her home and while always welcome, is officially a visitor when she and Tanner come around. There are only 4 of us who live here full time. So it's a different sort of a summer just in and of itself. But I've been kind of enjoying it. I told Bryan this morning that tomorrow we should go to the SLC Arts Festival. And Saturday morning I'd love to hit the air show at Hill Air Force Base. Sunday has a forecast of cooler temperatures...maybe we should go for a hike after church? Cause besides having the time, I'm actually more or less emotionally stable. Will miracles never cease?

Summer thoughts:
* bike more...oh who am I kidding. I should say biking, period. I think I went out last year a total of once. Remember when I used to bike 3 times a week? Ah, those were the days. I miss that.
* dinner on the patio
* outdoor movies/concerts
* festivals
* continue binge watching Downton Abbey...because I only got through the first 3 seasons originally.
* read A LOT
* hike weekly
* road trip to Mount Rushmore
* and Lava Hot Springs...although I'm considering saving this for fall cause I really kind of love the idea of sitting in those hot springs when it's chilly outside.
* Shakespeare Festival...for some bizarre reason I have never, ever been there before. What???
* Swim! After 3 or so years off, we renewed out summer tradition of season splash passes at Cherry Hill. Felt so good to be back yesterday. I kind of really love that place.
* work out more. The body, rather than the tear ducts. Especially if I'm going to continue to be in a swimsuit regularly.
* Lagoon...although after our trip to Cedar Point a couple weeks ago I'm sure Lagoon will feel a little lackluster. Still, Lagoon has its charms. And after her experiences with the record breaking rides in Ohio, Lilian won't blink at riding anything at Lagoon. Perfect ride partner.
* Blog more. Oh hey, here I am doing just that. Wish me luck that I can keep this up because I have so much to catch up on!

Soprano Scream Queens

"Okay, hear me out," Georgia said. "Let's go to Lagoon and have fun riding rides and seeing shows and laughing our guts out!! Please?"

I think she was a little surprised when we all agreed so readily. A girls day at Lagoon...no kids, just a bunch of friends spending the day together. Not unusual at all...you know, if you are a bunch of teenagers rather than a group of (very young looking) middle aged mothers and grandmothers.

It took us awhile to find a date that would work, what with grandbabies being born, family vacations, work and my surgery that put me out of commission for quite a few weeks. We had a date set for the last week of August that started falling apart the closer we got to it. We finally grabbed the final Saturday in September and dug in our heels. We were going to make this work! And though Sally had to pull out at the last minute due to a family emergency, we decided we better go regardless or it just wasn't going to happen.

Doped up on ibuprofen and Dramamine, we hit the park. (Because did I mention we are not spring chickens anymore? And that the excessive spinning of certain rides tends to make us nauseous, and headaches come on more quickly during those brain rattling roller coasters? So there is a chance that spinning on the scrambler may now make us hurl afterwards which didn't used to happen when we were younger? But I digress...)

Lagoon always looks so awesome when it is decked out in its autumn and Halloween finery....even if I was a little nervous about the enthusiasm Georgia and Linda displayed about hitting some of the haunted houses later in the evening. (I hate haunted houses.)

But we laughed and laughed and laughed! I have not laughed that hard in ages. We went on all the roller coasters...some I hadn't been on in years (as the designated chaperone of a little Lilian who hasn't been tall enough in recent visits) and some that were newer that I'd never tried. A word about the Cannibal roller coaster that opened just this summer....Best. Ride. Ever. And okay, that's more than one word, but whatever. I've watched the progress on that coaster for the past two years through trips to the park and daily drives past it on the freeway. I was giddy to finally get a chance to try it out. It did not disappoint. And was one of the few rides we made sure to do a second time.

Comments you may have overheard had you been near us marking us as vocalists, "Does anyone have to sing a solo in church tomorrow?" "Just make sure you scream in your vocal register...we're all sopranos after all." "I'm going to hashtag this picture #notinblack. Except apparently #sarahdidntgetthememo."

We decided to get our pictures taken in Pioneer Village decked out in old fashioned formal attire. We dubbed ourselves The Ladies Choral Society due to the fact that we've been singing together for a good 17 years now. Hats and parasols and fans....we giggled through the whole thing. I'd never done the Pioneer Village pictures before so I was particularly pleased about the whole experience. And of course we had to stop at the ice cream parlor when we were finished.

I tell you what, it was a ridiculously fun day. As much as we enjoy singing together weekly, as wonderful as those big performance days are during concert season....it sure was a fun change to see each other and hang out in a whole different sort of activity...one where we don't have to wear concert black. (Even if I did anyway. What? It's a comfortable dress with pockets!) Katie, Melissa, Linda, Georgia and Sally...let's do it again soon. Maybe bowling next time?

A toasty 4th of July

The 4th of July was a bit different year, owing mostly to the fact that the air conditioning in our house went out that week....one of the hottest weeks of the summer, mind you. And you all remember how I feel about heat, yes? That we don't get along well? Yeah. And what with the heat wave making a lot of AC units go out along the Wasatch Front, combined with the holiday weekend....the soonest we could get a repair guy in to look at it was a full week after it went out. So when my house was sitting at a toasty 89 degrees, the last thing I wanted to do was go outside and then not be able to get cooled off again. (I spent most of my days hanging out under the ceiling fan in the living room. If I stayed fairly still, I could endure the heat. Lots of reading and laptop time ensued.) So no 4th of July parade or carnival or fireworks show. I just wasn't sure I could handle it.

We did decide to attend a BBQ we had been invited to at the home of some friends with five or so other families in the neighborhood. They had a pool in the backyard. And a lovely air conditioned house. And both of those things felt very refreshing...as well as enjoying the company of friends. And though we skipped the city fireworks show, we found that there were enough fireworks going on closer by that we could sit on our back porch and get quite and amazing show without even going anywhere.

The next day after three hours of air conditioned church, we headed to my parents house (also air conditioned, hooray!) for a family get together.

It felt a little bit funny to be celebrating a holiday meant to honor America's freedom and independence from England...with a Union Jack flag hanging proudly in my living room. An American living in England is probably the slightest bit awkward when it comes to Independence Day. Rebekah and her fellow American sister and senior missionaries serving at the Hyde Park Chapel Visitor's Center went to Five Guys for lunch to celebrate figuring that a hamburger and fries felt like a little bit like a piece of American tradition.

Slide the City

Say what? A 1000 foot waterslide running down Main Street in Salt Lake City? Really?
It warranted further research and a viewing of their promotional video.
But yes, a padded slip and slide running down Main Street from the Capitol Building down past the Conference Center and dead-ending at the stop light on North Temple leading to the Main Street Plaza.
Yep, yes and and a big ol' heck yeah! Count me in!

Bryan and Lilian opted out. (Lilian solely based on the fact that there was a height restriction and she fell a few inches beneath it. Story of her life.) Rebekah had a date for the slide and therefore went earlier in the day. But Brandon, Julianne and I headed downtown together...in our swimsuits with inflatable tubes and squirt guns in tow to slide the city.

It was hot, hot, hot. And the lines were long. Apparently going earlier in the day would've been wise. So I found myself waiting the line in a crouch when I would get lightheaded, so as to not pass out. Summer heat. Sigh...it does a number on me. But hey, once on that slide, I cooled right off. And oh, what fun! I giggled all the way down.

A little bizarre to be standing around in a swimsuit, in the middle of Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City...with the temple as a backdrop, but hey...what an adventure, yes?

I got a kick out of watching all the well-dressed hordes of people heading to the Conference Center for the Tabernacle Choir concert. The surprised looks on their faces as they got closer, heard the blaring music and gazed up at that crazy water slide...and then when they all pulled out their cell phones to get pictures of the crazy, summer water party. It made me laugh.

Summer Bucket List

My summer is shaping up to be a lot less complicated and busy than the past few. Partial reasons for that have to do with purposely pulling out of or saying no to specific things....for example, pulling out of Ragnar because of an injured hip may have been somewhat sad, but it meant time opening up where training would've been taking place. Or somewhat reluctantly turning down the opportunity to be in "Footloose" this summer in SLC. As much as I'm itching to be in a show again, I am immensely relieved to think of all those nights I'll be home relaxing with my family rather than driving back and forth to rehearsals.

So...my summer bucket list:

* Yoga or biking most mornings while my kids are still snoozing.
* Actually plant a garden and flowers and try to re-claim the backyard. (Done! Well, garden and flowers planted....let's see if we can keep them alive and make some progress in the backyard.)
* Watch all 3 seasons of Downton Abbey. (Got the first season done in a flurry of late night watching last week....)
* Watch the 2nd season of Once Upon a Time.
* Drink lots of green smoothies.
* Drink lots of water....with lemon and mint. Yum.
* Paint the laundry room.
* Build a gallery wall at the base of the stairs.
* Get a pedicure with my daughters.
* Date night with Bryan each week.
* Family Movie Night on Sundays.
* Lagoon! (We've only been as a family once in the past 13 years we've lived here. Can you believe it?? And we live practically within spitting distance of the place. Rebekah has employee discount passes....)
* READ. Really a lot.
* Go camping a couple of times. (Cause we now actually own a tent. I know, shocker!)
* Buy a BBQ. (We've been BBQ-less for the past 3 summers. So, so very sad and wrong.)
* Eat dinner on the patio as much as possible.
* Star watching nights with Brandon's telescope.
* See if it's possible to actually clean the house and then maintain throughout the summer. (Because I'm guessing my relaxing summer will be much more so if I'm not having eye-twitching anxiety about how disastrous the house is.)

Documented summer craziness

This is what you'd call summer-activities-as-evidenced-from-the-pictures-my-children-were-tagged-in-on-Facebook.  And thankfully they were....because my girls are not quite the obsessive picture taker that I am so I have no pictures of any events that I didn't actually attend with them.  Things like EFY, Girls Camp, Theatre Disneyland trip, Cousin Camp, etc.
So this is more for me and posterity, family history...what have you.  But here they are.

Brandon:
Cousin camp to St. George with his grandparents in June.

Julianne:
Odds and end cute pics with friends....

 EFY....she attended at the University of Utah.  Roomed with friend Nicole from the 'hood.  They had a glorious time.  Julianne pushed her friends to do Retreat for Girls again like they did last year.  But now that they are 14 and old enough to attend EFY, the friends all opted to go where the boys are.  Julianne was rather exasperated with them.  So I laughed really hard when she called home the first day.  "Mom!  The boys are AWESOME!"

The first week of summer Julianne headed to Disneyland for a performing tour as part of the local theatre group that she is involved in.  Besides performing in both Disney and California Adventure, they also got a backstage tour/workshop where they were run through a mock Disneyland performing audition.  Apparently it was great amounts of fun.  Lots of playtime in the parks.  And when you are a teenager, even the long bus rides are fun.  Especially if you are sitting next to a cute boy with really soft hair...  (wink, wink)  

And there was Girls Camp.  Both Julianne and Rebekah attended this one.  This year it was held at Camp Hunt, a boy scout camp primarily devoted to swimming and other such water sports.  So right at arrival, the girls had to pass a swim check!  Sounds like a very unique but fun girls camp.  

Apparently both girls completely zonked out on the church lawn while waiting for the trailer to be unloaded after arriving back in town.


Rebekah:
Like Brandon, Rebekah and Julianne both went to St. George for cousin camp...but a different week specifically designed for the girl cousins.

Rebekah had a second girls camp to attend this summer....this one just for the Laurels, the young women 16-18.  (Rebekah is the 2nd from the left in grey.)  Rebekah raved about this trip.  I think it was a serious faith builder.  

(And in this pic...the 2nd from the right in turquoise.)

 Rebekah, our water baby, also went boating every chance she got with friends.  And learned to do all sorts of water sports that I can only dream about.

 (She apparently also really likes to jump....)

Season passes to Lagoon.  Not the family.  Just her.  Isn't it nice that she has friends that can drive?  They went weekly and I only had to drop her off a couple of times.

Rock climbing with the youth from the neighborhood....