Summer Cramming

Whoever said that summers are a time for freedom and relaxation obviously didn't have kids playing baseball. The countdown for the beginning of the school year has officially started and now I feel as if I need to "cram" in all of the things I wanted to do with my kids this summer in 3 weeks. On one hand I am excited that the clock is ticking away towards the first day of school; on the other, I feel like we didn't spend a lot of time enjoying our typical summer activities. Luckily I can blame 5 weeks of it on the "boot".

During the "boot period" we also spent a lot, and I mean A LOT of time at the ball park. The boys enjoyed some camps, swim lessons and cub scout activities. We did make it to Living History Farms, but have yet made it to the zoo or the science center. The boys also constantly remind me that we haven't been to the pool yet. For the record, I did have a boot on which made it impossible and also July was the coldest on record for Iowa. Who wants to go to the pool when it is 70 degrees outside? Kids, that's who. Well, maybe we'll get in a couple of visits before school starts. It is supposed to be pretty nice this week. They haven't been completely deprived of water activities though. Here are a few pics from our Primary water activity a few weeks ago.

The boys had a tennis clinic a few weeks ago and enjoyed learning some basics of tennis. And of course, it wouldn't be an enjoyable outing without some degree of, shall I say, entertainment. (For me at least!) Can you believe parents actually send their kids out the door like this? Erica, this is one for your book!

The also just finished golf lessons, which they both love. I always sign them up for the last session of the season because it really messes with Taylor's baseball swing. Now they want to golf every day. Too bad I don't have more patience for golf or I would take them.

McKay loves, loves, LOVES peaches. The local farmers market has had a booth with Missouri peaches the last few weeks and I can't help but buy a big bag of them. They are so good...not quite as good as Utah peaches, but they will do until I can convince many of my BYU returning families to bring me back a few boxes. She climbs on the counter to get into the fruit basket and often I find her walking around the house, juice dripping from her hands and down her face, with a peach in her mouth. Luckily this day I managed to get her in the high chair before she got too far. Loving the peaches, hating the peach juice all over the wood floor. Great desserts have been enjoyed too...my favorite? Grilled brandy marinated peaches with vanilla mascarpone. (Spirt of the law, not letter of the law people!) So delicious.

We also enjoyed an afternoon at the new "kid hotspot" in Des Moines, Incredible Pizza. It's clean and fun...the kids loved the go karts. McKay and I took first place in our race. What can I say, I have always had a lead foot!

Finally, you can take the girl out of Wyoming but you can't take Wyoming out of the girl. We got invited to go spend an afternoon fishing with some friends. The kids did well learning how to bait a hook and cast a line but despite their best efforts they didn't enjoy the end result. Kyle managed to catch a "biggie", but then Mom had to step up and show them how it is done. First cast, biggest fish of the day. Of course, THAT picture is on our friends camera, but believe me, I do plan on getting a copy to prove it! For that I can thank my Grandfather, he was the best fisherman I think there was. Boy do I miss him. He would loved to have seen his Great Grand children following in his footsteps.

My garden over runneth. It sure has been enjoyable to have fresh vegetables with each meal. I have more sugar snap peas, tomatoes, cucumber and jalapeno that I know what to do with. Now that we are finally getting warmer weather my bell peppers and zucchini will be more than I can handle. Despite the excess it has been fun and can't wait for my strawberry patch to bare next year! I think my neighbors are enjoying my harvests too!

Speaking of running...I am finally getting back into running. My physical therapist has me running 1 1/2 miles, walking 3 minutes, run 1 1/2 miles. After tomorrow I should be able to start running 2 and 3 miles every other day and then in a couple weeks get back to my training schedule. My running friend and I are going to do a 5K this weekend (yea!) so that should be fun. It has been hard...even my running today was a little challenging, not painful to my foot, but cardio wise it was! Go figure. I guess that is what happens when you go from 6-9 miles almost every day to absolutely nothing. On sad note, he only thinks I should run a half in October, but on a happy note that puts me to about January for a full marathon...coincidentally that is when the Walt Disney World marathon is too! Maybe that will be my new target!

We finally hit August and Kyle got to enjoy "his" Christmas gift. Well, at least I have been enjoying it!


I hope you all enjoy that last few weeks of summer break. See you when school starts!