Falling into Fall

I'm not really sure how I can be busier now that the kids are in school all day, but I am.  It seems like there is always something to do and somewhere to go.  But busy means not boring so I'll take it.

The first weekend after school started we went to Lagoon.  Lagoon is an amusement park just north of Salt Lake City.  We've never actually taken our kids but the Wrights of Brno were visiting from the Czech Republic and they wanted to go so we went.  It ended up being a fun day.  Henry and William loved the roller coasters and Tessa won two stuffed animals playing games.

The next weekend I took Tessa to see a local theater group production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  It was really good and we had a lot of fun.   Tessa has been really interested in musical theater lately so it was fun to share that with her.  She is taking a Musical Theater class at a local dance studio this year and is excited to perform.

Tessa also signed up for orchestra.  I wasn't sure that I wanted her to commit to another after school activity but she was really excited about it so we will try it for a year and see how it goes.  She is playing the viola.  Orchestra sign ups were across town one evening so I took all the kids with me.  After we got her all squared away we went to Yogurtland, which for some reason I call Yogurt town.  Oh well.  It's a fun place to go, especially now that our favorite shaved ice place is closed for the season.

Fun with Friends

We enjoyed spending time with our friends the Nells for a bit this summer.  They moved to Massachusetts last summer and Tessa and William have sure missed their friends.  So it was fun to see them and hang out.

We got together at Lion's Park for a big play date.  All these kids are alumni of the Hyde Park 1st Ward at some point or another:

 Here are some of the moms that chatted while the kiddos played.  Some were missing but you get the jist.  You can see William poking his head out behind me in the back:

 Tessa, Kambree and Carly at the Aquatic Center:

 We had Kyron and Kambree over to play for the afternoon and went to Pinks:

It was fun to see our friends again!

School Daze

Today was the first day of school.  Here are the obligatory pictures:

William - 6th grade:

 Henry - 9th grade:

 Tessa - 4th grade

This year we have three kids at three different schools.  I'm the PTA president at Tessa's school so I will stay busy.  William is in middle school and has to get up a lot earlier (school starts at 7:30).  Henry is a freshman!

Today everyone got up and out the door with ease.  We will see how long it lasts!

The Real MVP

A few weeks ago I turned 47.  This is what my birthday cake looked like:

Henry was in charge.

I specifically asked Jay not to get me anything because we are spending some money to go to Lagoon in a few weeks and I really didn't need or want anything.  He and the kids got me some yummy chocolate - always appreciated.

My friends Melissa and Nicole took me to lunch.  Nicole gave me a gift card to Amazon - it's already been redeemed on Kindle books.  This is what Melissa left on my doorstep:

It's nice to have friends who know you well.

Boy do I feel old.

14

So Henry is 14 now.  To celebrate he invited a couple of friends to go to the Aquatic Center and hang out for the day.  We (my friend Nicole and I) provided pizza and drinks and snacks.  Kids played and swam.  I was tired at the end of the day.  Henry, however, came home, had a quick dinner and a piece of cake, went to a friends house to help on his Eagle project, then played night games at another friends house until 11 pm.

Must be nice to have all that energy!

14 year old boys don't generally enjoy having their moms take pictures -  this one is from the top of the Space Needle when Henry recorded our families visit on their electronic guest book.

Henry is a great kid!  We love him and are happy to see what his high school years bring.