Sisters update - welcome Mom!!

MOM (woohoo!)

Last week:

• We bought a new house! We're happy this will give us more room to have friends and family over. It's 521 W Riverwood Circle, Provo. That's just north of 3700 N (Will's Pit Stop St) and about as far west of University Ave as we are now. Closing is in a week, Monday Aug 15.
• I signed up as a temp cashier at the BYU Bookstore. I'll be helping during the Book Rush at the start of the semesters only. I'm pretty excited about doing this. I think it will be fun and invigorating.
• Climbed to the "Y" four times in the morning. The idea is to improve my health.

This week:

• See if any of my tomatoes start to ripen.
• Enjoy some days with the Wiley kids while Sarah and Scott get away. Win-win.
• Climb to the "Y" a few more times.
• Organize for a move. Thankfully we aren't giving up the townhouse immediately so we can take the time we need.
• Get cash register training. I'm also excited about having a discount on books and things, including framing.
• Continue my reading and studying of Mosiah. The timeline takes focus.

CHRISTINE

Last week:

- Spent a few relaxing days in Morgantown to start off the week.
- Ran twice. I'm becoming familiar with the nearby high school track. I really don't like running on tracks, it gets too boring pretty quickly, but I am liking the convenience of it and since I prefer running at night I think it's probably safer running there than on the streets.
- Worked at Anthropologie on Friday and Saturday. I was lucky enough to be visited by Rachel on both days, it's always fun to have family around. It's interesting getting to know this new store and noticing the differences between it and Salt Lake. I literally just showed up on Friday and without any introduction or tour around the store was just thrown in.
- Looked at a few apartments. I'm slowly narrowing down and hopefully will pick a place by the end of this week.
- Didn't study, not good.

This week:
- Jon's finally actually getting a small summer break before school starts back up so he's in town for a few days. We are exploring DC and finding some fun activities.
- Look at more apartments and hopefully pick a place!
- Work Wednesday and Saturday.
- Go to Uncle John's lake house? I'm still a little unsure if this is for sure, but we've all been talking about going for a few days to enjoy some lake time.

ANNEE
[insert imaginary picture of Annee]

Last Week:

• We went to the beach for a day! It was so wonderful to see that it's an option. I want to go back once a week from here on out. But Darin says we can't go this week. In the end, it's still a lot of driving for one single day. But in my opinion it's totally worth it!! We found a public beach parking lot that had showers and bathrooms. We brought a cooler full of drinks so that we'd stay cool and hydrated. The kids swam in the water for nearly three hours straight. Bliss.
• Poor week of running. I don't know what happened. Except to say, even getting up by 6:30 or 7 means it's still hot and muggy. This sucks the running life right out of me. I was confined to the treadmill for most of the week, and just generally uninspired to run.
• Re-connected with the sewing machine, and it was totally worth it. The quilt is seriously within view of the finish line. I'm more excited than I can express.
• Was in charge of primary sharing time on Sunday. Had to help George and Ruby write talks.

This Week:

• Start thinking about what the kids actually need before they go back to school. I know the girls at least need shoes. It will still be unbearably hot when they start school, so new clothes seem superfluous. But maybe a single new outfit? We found red TOMS in Jane's size at Nordstrom yesterday. I couldn't resist. They will be her back to school shoes. She loves them as much as I do. I shouldn't be so excited about it, but I am! Discovered that Ruby's foot is a half-size smaller than Jane's. Jane said this is because she is eight minutes older!
• Let the girls have their dance-show here at the house with the neighbor down the street. Invite their whole family to come and watch.
• We're going to Atlanta! Leaving Thursday. Coming back Sunday. I'm excited about seeing a couple of different friends while we're out there. Darin's mostly excited about the Braves game. The kids think the Coke Museum will be amazing. The motivation to go was a wedding reception. We shouldn't forget about that!
• It's looking like another poor week of running. I might be missing another long run this weekend! This is not turning out exactly how I had planned. Need to figure out how to get it done on Thursday morning before we leave?!
• The usual pre-trip prep, laundry, cleaning, eating at home more than not, etc. etc.
• Long live summer!!

RACHEL

Last Week

• Met Ken for lunch at Maggiano's on Monday which was a special treat.
• Visited CZ working at the Tyson's Anthro. It's really fun to see her there. Considered buying a cute skirt but it's just way too long. The search continues for a soft pleated skirt...
  
• Saw Crazy Stupid Love on Saturday
• Painted my nails with OPI's You Don't Know Jacques. Highly recommend.
• Decided I still do want china and scoped out different patterns at the department stores. Haven't decided what yet but the current favorites are Lenox Iced Pirouette and Wedgwood Gold Vera Lace.
• Successfully skipped treats every day. And movie popcorn. And all things delicious. The scale is responding thank heavens.
  
• Bought a new external monitor so I can set up a complete work station at home. I'm going to try to come home earlier each night this busy season.
• Played games with the fam + WV Jon at Steve & Ie Li's house.
• Did everyone see the article about Sarah in City Weekly this week?
  

This Week:

• So excited to see The Help!! Comes out Wednesday. I can't decide which day to go.
• Costco run for water bottles. We're on our last flat.
• Get my rings cleaned and inspected.
• Schedule a haircut
  
• More resume changing and help submitting job applications.
• Our paychecks arrive Friday which means I get to update our budgets and envelopes! Have I expressed my deep and undying love for Mvelopes? I love that program!! Let me know if you're interested and I'll try to convince you fully.
• I guess we're going to Uncle John's Lake House in PA this weekend?? Flex at work on Friday. Come back Saturday.
• Try to find someone with Harry Potter 5 & 6 audiobooks to borrow/download.
• PSA: The price of oil per barrel is dropping like a rock so avoid buying gas until the end of the week.

IE LI

Last week:

• Swam
• Took the kids to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum on Wednesday
• Had a piano delivered to our house on Friday
• Summer school
  
• Played in puddles.
• Played in the sprinklers.
• Had dessert and played a game with Christine, John, Rachel, and Ken.
• Mei Li had princess ballet camp, which afforded me a few hours in the week to take two children to stores instead of three. It makes a big difference. I think Stephen enjoyed being the big boy.
• Got up at least a half hour before the kids woke up everyday. I am hoping to make this a permanent habit.
• Made whole wheat bread with my new mixer. The results were less than stellar. I need to practice some more.
• Made pretzels as a family on Saturday.
• Attended the Redskins fan appreciation day on Saturday.

Next week:

• Go to Cafe Rio. As much as I love Cafe Rio, I haven't been to either of the DC area ones that recently opened up. I think I'll do that tomorrow.
• Search for a mirror and artwork.
• Another trip to the Air and Space Museum?
  
• Summer school
• Swim
• Get up early and go to bed early
• Pack and go to the lake house in Pennsylvania with Rachel, Ken, and Christine (maybe John?)

SARAH

Last Week:

• Updated my blog
• Put on another great Rooftop Concert - 2000+ people attended, the weather was perfect, and music was great. So fun.
• Let each kid choose a new toy to open when we left town, which ultimately made them so excited for us to leave they were literally pushing us out the door.
• Drove to Capo Beach with 3 other couples. Spent the weekend doing NOTHING which was sublime. I really love my kids but man oh man is it ever nice to get away once in a while.

This Week:

• Oliver goes to chinese camp - it's our first step back to the regular scheduled life of the school year.
  
• I really need to clean and move the postal box cabinet into the house this week. It's really in the way in the garage. I think I've figured out where to put it, but it's going to require moving 2 other big pieces of furniture too.
• Settle finances from last rooftop show - send out checks
  
• Better get back to work this week - I've slacked quite a bit
• Yardwork
• Exercise

I took 4 kids by myself to California

Scott had to work, and that's ok. Dads do that and I think it's a good example for the kids to see. We've gone on 2 fun vacations all together already this summer, in addition to endless fun times in between, so it's not like the kids were being deprived or anything. Of course it's always more fun when Dad's around, but I was unapologetic that it just wasn't an option this time. So our choices were either to stay home in the boring dead heat of the Utah desert, or go to the beach without him. Being that Zackrison women can do anything, it didn't really occur to me that I couldn't or shouldn't try to do that drive and trip on my own. Of course it would be hard, but I was being careful not to call it a "vacation" and rather think of it as a "change or scenery". Besides, there are almost no circumstances where the beach isn't better than the desert. So, that being said...

I spent Friday doing laundry, packing, and cleaning. We loaded the bikes on the back of the van and set off bright and early Saturday morning. The kids slept for a long time, and we didn't stop until St. George! We got breakfast at Jack in the Box and got back on the road and didn't stop again until Barstow. We had one other mini-bathroom-stop and made it to the beach while it was still light outside.

The kids immediately got to work playing together in the sand while Stephanie BBQ-ed hotdogs for us. It was so nice to be out of the car.

The next morning we woke up and Huck and June and I set off on our bikes to get donuts. Bike riding at the beach is pretty much heaven on earth to me, and it's fun to have June such a willing and able companion. Huck loves riding along too.

Huck was blown away by the train that goes by about every 20 minutes right in front of the house. He set up shop to watch it up close, and when not in his position here would run out as soon as he'd hear it to try to catch a glimpse.

The ocean was rough at that particular beach spot - rockier than I've ever seen it. Brenden and June had such fond memories of swimming in the waves at the beach in North Carolina, so they were anxious to try it out here. I went out with them the first day and they were both quite disappointed. So we did a lot of hole digging and playing around the house and bike riding instead.

Not having Scott there probably made it more boring for the kids and certainly more work for me. Huck and June were having trouble taking turns playing baseball, so came up with an obvious solution when they found 2 bats and 2 balls - I could just throw to them at the same time.










Riding to the end of the street is an easy excursion - we did that a couple times each day. We also rode to the harbor to get ice cream and around the parking lot to jump over the speed bumps.





One day I took the kids down to San Clemente beach to try to find some more swim-friendly spots. It was much less rocky, so the older boys spent a while out in the water, but the current was strong and waves were kind of scary, so pretty soon they were all on the shore riding in the white-water as the waves crashed.

We got fresh chips and salsa from Island Style Tacos every day. I did a little shopping and the kids played some video games. Laurel was there a few days, Brett was there a couple days, Webb and Truman came for one day and a night. We celebrated Laurel's birthday with an ice cream cake.























On Tuesday we went on an excursion to get out of the house and ended up at the petting zoo in downtown San Juan Capistrano - right by their cute old train station. We called it Huck's Birthday Party to justify going in and doing something he'd enjoy even if the rest of the kids weren't that excited. In the end I think everyone had a good time. This was a funny place with few regulations and lots of hands-on opportunities with the animals. They sold bowls of carrots and lettuce at the front gate and you could go in the bunny or goat pens and feed and pet them or feed the llamas and ostrich and horses and cows through the fence. They had a mineral mining activity the older kids enjoyed and a playground for the younger ones.

The kids took a train ride around the circle, and they even all went on pony rides too. We got frozen yogurt afterward - it ended up being a great outing and I'd say a great way to celebrate Huck's birthday.

We slept at the beach house 4 nights and then packed up and headed up to La Canada. I had to go on a one-day business trip to northern California, so Laurel graciously accepted the challenge of watching all the kids for the day. She was still smiling when I got back that night, and the kids were all still alive, so I think it all went ok.

Brett invited the boys to go to the X Games with him on Friday. They were so excited when he called, having just been watching it on tv and dreaming of going in person, running around the house singing "we're going to the xgames, we're going to the xgames". Sounds like they had a great time watching everything up close with the great all-access passes he had. Having such a cool Uncle Brett comes with a lot of perks for young boys who love extreme sports.

While the boys were gone, I took Huck & June to spend the day in South Pasadena (after the requisite stop at Green Street to restock our Dianne Salad Dressing supply). We went on a train ride, got cupcakes, went to garfield park, and did a little antiques shopping. We drove through our old neighborhood and past our old house 3 times, and went to Trader Joe's. I sure love that town. I had a great time hanging out there all day (plus came away with the cutest little side table and a stack of old books and hobnail pots - that's about all that would fit in my car).

Unfortunately I don't really have any more pictures. I was doing pretty well remembering to pull my phone out at first. But I'm sad to not have documented the next part of the trip.

Friday night we headed down to San Diego to visit Zack & Ana & Jack in their new home. I was excited to have family back out west with us so didn't want to miss the chance to get together with them. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of our day with them. We got there late Friday night and slept at their house, then woke up Saturday morning to cooking bacon & sausage, chocolate croissants and chocolate chip pancakes. After breakfast we headed out to the beach. After seeing the cruel beach in Capistrano I told Zack we needed to get a taste of a nice gentle California Beach. They took us to La Jolla Shores and it was indeed the perfect swimming beach. Unfortunately the sun never decided to come out, so it was a little chilly, but the kids played out in the water for a long time, and when they got tired of that we went over to the beach playground and played there for a while.

While Zack & Ana had the boys at the beach, I took June & Huck to the nearby Aquarium. For some reason June had gotten it in her head that while we were in San Diego she really wanted to go to Sea World. I wasn't about to tackle that one on my own so we found a different aquarium to visit. It was fine and seemed to satisfy her need on a much more manageable scale for me.

After the beach and aquarium and playground, we headed back to Zack & Ana's for delicious take out chinese and the kids played outside in the cul de sac with some neighbor kids. June and Jack saw some wild bunnies hopping around and spent the next hour or so building bunny traps. Ana promised them that if they caught a bunny they could keep it as a pet, which really motivated them to work hard. They build 3 traps for their soon-to-be-pets Butterscotch,
Buster, and Love, they found some carrots to use as bait, and spent about 10 minutes out watching and waiting. They came in to report that catching bunnies is really hard and then we went to bed with the promise that Jack would send us a bunny if he was able to catch one after we left.

We packed up the car and headed home bright and early Sunday morning. The drive home was pretty much as uneventful as the drive there - we made one long stop in Vegas to find a roller coaster - ended up at Circus Circus at the world's only indoor double loop double corkscrew coaster, after having been turned away at New York New York's roller coaster since Oliver was 1/2 inch too short. Huck and June and I rode the merry go round while we waited. We got home while it was still light out and everyone was so excited to see Scott - and discovered that he'd installed a projector and screen in the basement while we were away.

3 more weeks until school starts.

Summer 2011 - is it really almost over?!

[Insert lame excuses about not blogging forever being so far behind and how time flies and we're so busy blah blah blah]

Here are a few fun highlights from our summer so far (and by "highlight" I mostly just mean "something we have a picture of")

June

When we got back from our big East Coast trip, we got the kids signed up for swimming lessons at the country club - I was excited about this since this is where I'd like them to eventually do swim team, so it was a step in getting them acquainted and familiar there. After lessons they got to spend some time going off the diving boards, which was a highlight. All the kids have made great progress, and really it's just a matter of practicing the strokes more at this point. June needs to be willing to practice with no goggles in order to progress to the next level - her goggles have become a real security blanket for her so I'm not sure if/when/how that will happen.

On June 20 we sent Brenden off to Camp Big Springs - week-long sleep-away camp for all 5th graders in Provo. We missed him a lot and his absence left Oliver more freed up to pick on June, but are glad he had a good time. He came back very dirty but excited to have made some new friends and had some fun experiences.

Looking back at the calendar reminds me that Oliver had a day of cub scout day camp in June, we celebrated Father's day for both Scott and Grandpa Z and Grandpa Z's birthday, Brenden & Oliver both had some dental work done, and we listened to the Beatles Abbey Road album a lot.

July

by Justin Hackworth

July started off with a bang when on July 1st we had our next Rooftop Concert which featured The Abbey Road Show - a group of local allstar musicians who got together to play the Abbey Road album from start to finish. Scott played guitar with a group of about 15 other musicians and singers and the whole thing was truly magical. The music was great, the camaraderie visible on stage was fun to watch, and the fireworks during the encore were epic. The crowd was amazed and the whole evening went over very well. So fun.

by Justin Hackworth

We hired a security crew this time so I got to wear this nifty walkie-talkie headset which felt pretty silly but very official.

by Justin Hackworth

It's kind of crazy to see how big this whole concert series has become. But Provo is a gentle place so the crowds have been manageable and so far it's still been really fun to work on.

After the show on Friday, we spent the rest of the weekend celebrating the 4th of July. We watched the Stadium of Fire fireworks on Saturday night, did our own fireworks with friends on Monday night, watched the hot air balloons (not) launch on Monday (it was too windy but that was kind of dramatic too), and watched the parade. It was fun to have Brett in town for the festivities.

The boys have spent a lot of time this summer riding their bikes and looking for good spots to jump and do tricks. We discovered a bike park in Eagle Mountain, have gone to several different skate parks, and the boys go out "street riding" sometimes (i.e. riding around town looking for different curbs and cracks in the sidewalk to launch jumps over).

In fact, we took advantage of the fact that Brett was in town and put him to work operating heavy machinery.
We rented a mini-excavator and built a little bike jump park up in the vacant land above our house. The boys worked on that in the dead heat of summer every day coming back dirty and hot and sweaty, but the outcome has been great.

We've ended up with a ton of these types of movies from Brenden's Go Pro camera - this is him riding the jumps we built by our house. I think he was out there by himself this day.

IDAHO

On July 7 we packed up and headed to Lake Pond Oreille in Sandpoint, Idaho with the Wileys. We stayed at this amazing house right on the lake with it's own doc and rolling hills and glass doors and windows from floor to ceiling. It was breathtakingly beautiful and peaceful.

We watched bald eagles swoop for fish and played checkers and ping pong and went boating one day. We ate good food and everyone made a little progress in their respective books/work/knitting projects.















The kids spent PLENTY of time in the jacuzzi, and we took advantage of the grassy hill and built a super slip-n-slide.

We went exploring a few times into the cute town of Sandpoint wherein we discovered this beautiful bank of old postal boxes that I just couldn't live without.

Most importantly the kids got along well together and made memories together and we enjoyed each others company. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Wiley for making it all possible!


What else?
We've been to Seven Peaks a few times - a couple times with Scott

and once even with June's best friends who used to live next door (Raeanna is 2 years older than June - they get along very well in spite of their huge height difference).

The boys went to rock climbing camp again this year for a week. Their leader took me aside afterward to tell me he thinks they're great climbers and suggested they join their competition team. I'm of course proud of them and happy for them to find a physical activity they enjoy and are good at, but the idea of them getting really good at rock climbing frankly scares me a little too much. That might sound funny since I don't really ever worry about them bike riding or motorcycle riding or jumping off the high dive, but somehow rock climbing seems different. Maybe I've just seen too many movies. In any case I'm sure we'll continue with it a bit and see where it goes.

The Lower Lights had a show up in Logan - beautiful area, great show, funny crowd.

Huck had his 2-year well baby checkup and passed with flying colors (65% weight, 98% height, 94% head). His speech has really exploded the past couple of weeks which has been fun to watch. I think he is further along at this age than my others were, which makes me hopeful maybe he'll pass through the "terrible twos" a bit faster too. He still has a ton of energy and screams more than I'd like and can be rather intense, but he is very funny and cute. He has started to express interest in potty training, and even been successful a couple of times, so maybe I'll take a stab at it early with him.

In a desperate attempt to facilitate some at-home outdoor entertainment, I bought this "super fun" backyard slide/pool. It took a long time and a lot of pumping to get it all setup and the whole time I was sure the fun it would enable would last all of 5 minutes. But to my surprise it lasted for a couple hours that day and a couple hours the next. For the next 3 days it sat out there unused and killed the grass underneath it, and now it's all deflated and crumpled on the side of the house pretty much forgotten. So that's about $10/hour for fun, which I guess is about the same as any other activity we could have thought of, so I shouldn't feel bad about that.

So long for now, partner.

P.S. For anyone who's following our "weekly" sister updates, you can find them here:
June 28 at Annee's
July 7 at Ana's
July 14 at Ie Li's
July 24 at Rachel's
August 1 at Christine's