weekly 2015.8.16

We went to Lagoon on Thursday thanks to free tickets from WBC.  I can’t even remember the last time we went, but back then we had about half as many kids and we thought it was super gross, so we didn’t go back. But free tickets are free tickets! It was moderately fun for me and super fun for all the kids. When we first got there Stick and the kids went on the Jet Star 2. Bekah who had been talking tough about her rollercoaster abilities was completely terrified and got off crying. So that was a good start to the day. She and I headed for the little kid rides after that and she was much happier. By afternoon it was really hot, so we went on Rattlesnake Rapids twice just to get wet and cool off. After the second run through we were all completely soaked to the bone and I felt like a drowned rat the rest of the day, but it was worth it for the cool down.

Rachel, who had been at work came up and met us around 5, with her friend Bree. I laughed to see the kids ride the bumper cars over and over, about six times in a row. Of all the things at Lagoon, I wouldn’t have guessed that bumper cars would be the biggest hit. The last ride of the day was the white rollercoaster which I refer to as The Bone Rattler. Bekah decided to go on it, despite our warnings and it scared her, surprise, surprise. Today though she was talking about it and telling us that she did it, “Just for the brag!”

Aaron came home last night from Oceanside. He had a great time and we’ve enjoyed his vacation report about all the fun he had. (It’s been good for both our kids to vacation with other families this year to see how others do it.) They did lots of night fishing off the Pier and he caught one stingray, a couple of spotted sea bass and about 30+ mackerel. They also went to the Farmer’s Market/Flea Market, which he loved.

Thomas has Freshman Academy tomorrow and Tuesday mornings at CCHS. I’m not really sure what this means, but it’s some kind of freshman orientation. He’s not that excited for school to start but kind of excited to be in high school, if that makes any sense. We did a quick height measure tonight and it appears that he’s only ¼” shorter than me.

Rachel is still going to Provo every day for work and will work a lot of hours this week too for Education Week. I imagine it will be a zoo down there. She’s been doing a lot of online training that the Bookstore offers. After she’s completed a certain amount of training, she gets a raise and then eventually after more training is completed she will qualify to get her books loaned for free, which is quite awesome and will save her some dough. I’m not sure she can get the training done in time for free books for fall semester but definitely by winter semester. There are definite perks to working at the bookstore.

We’ve been trying to decide all summer what to do about a laptop for Rachel. Buy one, or rent one from BYU? Not knowing if she’s going to serve a mission after this year has played into our indecisiveness. We finally decided to just rent for this year, so tomorrow she goes to pick up a MacBook which will hopefully work for her.

Spencer is about to burst from excitement for his birthday this week. We are trying to figure out how to schedule in a birthday party amid school starting, soccer, and other general busyness. He’s having fun bragging that he was the only boy in the family to ride on “Cannibal” at Lagoon because Aaron wasn’t there and Thomas didn’t go because he was queasy from riding on the “Spider.” Harry wanted to go, but the kids got in line while he was on the Ferris wheel with me, so he missed out. Lucky Spencer, now he too, “Gets the brag”.

All the kids start school on Wednesday except Rachel who starts next Wednesday. Harry and Bekah have back to school night tomorrow and are looking forward to meeting their new teachers. Harry was telling me tonight that he can’t learn at school without talking out loud. I’m not sure why he was telling me that and I hope it wasn’t some kind of a warning about potential school discipline problems on the horizon.

We watched “Saving Mr. Banks” for our date Friday night, even though I was pretty sure Stick would hate it, he humors me. I’ve always loved Mary Poppins, but Stick pretty much has it near the top of the list of his most hated movies.

Then surprise(!) he liked the movie and I loved it (not a surprise). We watched it again on Saturday night with all the kids. I think everyone enjoyed it except for Bekah who talked and asked questions through the entire movie…ugh. The boy’s only complaint was that now they were going to have to go and watch the real Mary Poppins again and they also supposedly hate it. Pshaw, I know they all secretly love it, they just won’t feel manly if they admit it.

We ate our first corn on the cob from our garden today and a cucumber yesterday, so yay, moderate gardening success! I would love to know why all the corn is only 4’ tall, but I suppose I won’t ask questions as long as it is producing actual corn. Also for the first time ever in this yard, for unexplainable reasons we are successfully growing pumpkins. Our beans are straggly as per usual and tomatoes which have usually done great are pretty darn pathetic also for unexplainable reasons. Ahh, gardening…always a mystery. We also have a bumper crop of basil and I’m planning on making mucho pesto and freezing it. Yum.