One long journal entry

We have continued with a super busy schedule (or non schedule is more appropriate) this summer.  Summer is such a fun time of year and we haven't wanted to waste a minute of it.  I have had to put the camera down more lately in the name of busy fun. We were driving the other day and Peter looked over at me and exclaimed "Hey, we haven't been on a vacation this summer!"  I thought about it and started to laugh and replied, "That's because we are on a permanent vacation."  I guess we are making up for lost time being home.  Actually, we haven't really had many Oregon summers since we got married and we are surely loving it.  It has been a little much for me at times, but our style is to push the limits in life. 

Just in the last couple of weeks (despite a couple of bad illnesses)  we went:
roller skating with the kids,
movie night,
attended the temple for Luke's first time,
attended Luke's farewell church talk and sang with the family,
attended Luke's open house and sang a duet with Peter,
taught a 40 minute photography class for RS(twice),
tried and almost accomplished getting up on a slalom water ski, 
24th of July ward party followed by a birthday party for friends from the past,
a large family photo shoot,
a nice girls night out which ended in rushing home to take Dallin in for stitches again,
and an all day raft trip down the Deschutes river
(fill in any gaps of time with Playhouse construction).
Also, Peter and the kids also did a race, and attended a cousins Eagle Scout court of honor.

On a great note, about a month ago, I started walking with my friend Sarah and another friend from church in the mornings.  We walk from about 5:00 to 6:30ish and go 6.5 miles!  I will no longer say that walking is a lazy way to exercise.  Getting up that early is no easy thing in itself. It is a little easier to get out of bed now that I am used to it though.  I have run a lot in the past and I have discovered that you can have that great feeling you get after a good run the whole time during a walk without the pain experienced in pushing yourself during a run.  I am liking the results very much too.  I finally got the scale to budge again after hovering for a few months.  I think that vigorous long walk must really rev the metabolism for the whole day.  My favorite benefit is not having guilt about whether or not I am exercising regularly.  At least I have control over one thing in my life. 

Our family has really enjoyed having our first garden this year.  Dallin especially loves to watch things grow and develop.  One day I looked out the window and he was sitting next to one of the boxes and pretty much laying down on the side studying the growth of his pumpkin plants.  So far we have harvested radishes, which the kids happily tried and rejected.  

The side of our house is pretty overgrown this summer, but we noticed many blackberry bushes and decided to just let it all grow so that we can have berries.  Dallin and Eden go out every day and harvest the ripe ones.  They love it, and it reminds me of how much I loved doing that as a kid.  They always bring in everything they find and continually add them to a ziploc in the freezer so that we can make pie when there is enough. 

When we can, we have been going to the park during the day.  They have a free lunch program there and many other free activities.  There is an art station that actually does good stuff (even tye-dye shirts one day).  Eden loves going for the art, and I love having one less project to come up with for her.  Dallin loves playing the field games.  One day they had a rock climbing wall.  Another day they had a bounce house water slide.  After lunch each day they have "Super Hero" training, which is a 30 minute fitness class.  As they go continually, the kids earn pieces to a complete super hero uniform.  So far the kids have earned shirts, but have kind of lost interest.  It feels like we are going to a day camp each day that we go and we usually use up about 3 hours of the day there.

 Bed time has become later and later as the summer has gone on, which has been kind of crazy.  Many times we all go to bed at the same time since we are just so busy.  Or, like I said before, many times we get home so late that the kids fall asleep in the car on the way home. It is one side effect that is kind of hard for me not having the down time.  The other negative side effect is that housework has been on the back burner big time.  Okay, so it is not good, but I must say it is kind of nice to just let it go and enjoy living.  It is catching up to us though and we really need to spring clean and then some. 

I do love these long summer days.  I was very hot and pregnant last summer and was no fun at all so this is very nice.  The kids are enjoying all the fun and so are we.  We still have quite a long list of summer activities to accomplish yet, so we show no signs of slowing down.  I am sure that by the time fall comes, we will all be ready for it to come. 

All of this has got me thinking lately.  I really need about 5 clones.  One to play with kids ALL THE TIME, one for full time baby care, one to keep the house going full time(I could debate for two if you count all the laundry, yard work and organizing this place needs), one for photography, and one for learning and teaching.  I really need to look into having this done.  I would totally settle for extra sets of arms and some eyes in the back of my head, or even and extra head.