First Day of School

It happens every fall, or at least every near the end of the summer.  In my mind, summer seems to end when the kids go back to school.  But it is hard to think that summer is over when the temperature is just ramping up.

I think that September is the hottest month of the year.  Luckily for me, the temperature has obliged me, at least for the time being.  The kids went back to school, and the longest heat wave of the summer broke on the same day, bringing the temperatures down to a cool 93.  I know it won't last, but it was a refreshing way to start the summer.

This year is the same as last year, I sent two children off to highschool, and two children off to the elementary school.  Jayd was quite pleased with his schedule, Maddie had a class that she didn't request and didn't want, but quickly went to the counselor and was able to get it changed to a more satisfactory subject. 

Allie was put in the class with the teacher that she wanted, although it didn't matter much because the two teachers team teach and she will spend nearly as much time in the other class.  Gabe has the teacher that I wanted him to have.  He is a little worried, she has a reputation of being a tough disciplinarian.  I am not worried, Gabe generally isn't a behavior problem and I think that he will do just fine.  Here are their pictures on the first day of school.

The campy, cozy beach trip

For our last hurrah of the summer, we went beach camping!  It is quite a popular thing to do in Southern California.  We made reservations 6 months ago, before our summer came together and we discovered we were going to be camping more than ever.  We were a little weary of camping, but much more practiced at it, and after all, it was at the beach.  Upon arrival, the kids were quite disappointed that we weren't actually sleeping on sand on the beach.  The campsite was about 100 yards from the beach on plain old dirt.  They were quickly pacified when they discovered the tree behind the tent that was very easy to climb.

We spent a lovely two days at the beach.  It was so convenient to be camping so near to the beach.  We went down to the beach, swam in the ocean, played a little volleyball, then went back to the campsite for lunch.  We returned later that day after the crowds had gone.  We walked along the beach, made footprints in the sand and watched the sunset.

The next day, we had a sand castle building contest.  Here is Maddie with her sand rendition of Helm's Deep from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  It was very well done.  Allie, Gabe and I finished the day on the boogie boards.  It was low tide, but the waves were quite big and we caught a lot of good waves and rode them until we reached the shore. The ocean was very strange that day.  If you look closely at the picture of Gabe on the boogie board, you might notice that the water directly behind Gabe had a glassy effect to it, similar to a calm and still lake.  The ocean was like that all morning.  The waves would roll until and look perfectly smooth and glassy until it crested and foamed.  It was very unusual.

  

We had a great time with our last hurrah at the beach.  We have been busy, but feel refreshed and ready to start settling into the routine of school.

On the Horizon: the Vertical Horizon

  Jeff discovered that one of his favorite rock groups, Vertical Horizon was scheduled to play in Roosevelt Utah (population 6,000).  Upon further investigation, he also discovered that it was put on by the park and rec district and was free.  Since we happened to be in Utah that day, he made arrangements to go.We were hesitant right up until the end, it just seemed so bizarre that we weren't really sure if it was going to happen.  But it did!  We walked right up and sat on the second row.  Once they started playing, we walked up and stood right near the stage!  It was fantastic.  We love their music and it was so fun to hear them play it live.

  

The lead singer and songwriter, Matt Scannell, was very personable and told us stories about when he wrote the songs and sometimes about his inspiration.  It felt really close and personal.  We had a great time listening to the music and being there.  After the concert, we stayed to get autographs from the band.  What an experience for a first concert!

Californian Snowbirds

 One day while we were in Utah, my mother-in-law suggested we go to Snowbird, a Utah ski resort.  She said that they had many summertime activities for all ages.  So off we went.  It was so much fun!  First, we went on the alpine slide which snaked down the bunny hill through purple wildflowers. 

Then we tried the ropes course.  That was our favorite activity.  We wore a harness, then climbed up into a tall steel structure.  With the harness attached to a rail above our heads, we walked on across narrow planks and ropes fifteen feet above the ground, like a tightrope walker.  They had a mechanical bull, climbing wall, bungee trampoline, and monkey arms. 

After those activities, we rode the ski lift up the mountain to do some hiking.  Unfortunately, we were a little confused and when we arrived at the top, we discovered that we needed to hike up another 500 feet to arrive at our destination!  After that climb, we were done hiking for the day, but spent the day playing on all the other activities.  We came home exhausted and filled with memories.