Last Day of School 2013

Today is the last day that all three of my chicks are safe and sound at their elementary school together. Next year Ashlynn will be entering the No-Man's-Land that is Middle School.

As you can see from the pictures, it was a little bit of a rough morning. Ash was moody. She was barking at everyone. As we were taking these pictures she said, "I don't feel like smiling." Lovely.

Briggs couldn't find his toothbrush, which is really odd ( I can't comprehend how one loses a toothbrush) and gross at the same time, because this is the conversation that followed.

"Did you or anyone take it out of the bathroom?"
"No".
 "Did you have it yesterday?"
"No" ...
"You haven't brushed your teeth in a long time, have you?"

And then he just hung his head in shame... oh boy.

So as I'm sitting in my quiet house for the last time for a few months, these are the thoughts that are running through my mind:

• I always want to majorly purge my house of junk this time of year. I want to throw it all away!!!
• I've got bleach soaking in the bathroom because it smells like a public urinal in there...
• I won a little family competition we have going on with license plates. I found triple 8 on a plate, so I get to request something from the kids. My request was that they learn how to strip and wash their own bedding this summer. Should they have learned this by now, I don't know. Whatever...
• I've got the kids end of the year surprises all ready and waiting for the kids today. I made scrapbooks out of all of the notes I put in their lunches this year. I even included some instagram pictures of each of them through out the year in the books. I also made another summer playlist, just like last year. And I have a pile of new books to give them that will be our summer out-loud reading.  I kind of like these traditions we've started.
• I'm grateful that I don't have to make school lunches anymore for a while. I hate that job.
• I'm thinking about how much time I'm taking on this post, and that the number of minutes to myself is dwindling, so I better make them count. 
• I love summer! (But I also like a little peace and quiet...)

What We Did This Summer While Waiting for 3:00

 This summer, I made a deal with the kids. If they had their rooms and the loft clean by 3:00, they could play video games until Brian came home. Needless to say, their rooms and the loft were REALLY clean this summer. But until 3:00, if we weren't out exploring or doing other chores I had assigned them, they had to figure out how to entertain themselves, just like kids from the "Olden Days". So here's a little selection of some chosen activities.

 The first picture is a fort they made in the kitchen. They came running to get me and shouted, "Mom! we caught a bear!" When I peeked inside the mass of chairs, blankets and table cloths (table cloths? really?) I found little man in his laundry hamper...excuse me, his cage. Please note the blue striped pajamas. Ty's PJ's were his summer uniform. Despite the heat here in Sacramento, when we would come home from the pool, Ty would run upstairs to get comfy, and come down in his PJ's. Or just stay in them all day, never actually getting dressed for the day.

 Aunty Lisa got us "Ticket to Ride" which quickly became a favorite.

 Briggs helped me make cookies for the Missionaries one day.

 Brightly colored washi tape from Target entertained them all one afternoon.

 When I found these "ingredients" on my bed, I asked Ty, "What are these things?!" Ty's response, accompanied by a devious giggle was, "I'm making something!" Basically he dangled the underwear from the end of the light saber over Ashlynn's head to make her squeal.

 Another fort, this time equipped with the air mattress in the loft.

 They used a light saber to prop up the blanket like a tent (that light saber came in handy this summer!) I let them sleep in this one that night (all except Briggs, that is. He couldn't hack it, so he slept next to the fort. Which is still pretty cool...) Oh... and I let them eat ginormous lollipops and watch movies on my ipad, cause I'm a cool mom like that.

 We tried to learn our states and capitals this summer by listening to some catchy songs (Sacramento, California! Sacramento California! Phoenix, Arizoooh-na! Phoenix, Arizoooh-na!) So one morning drawing all of the states kept them busy. Then, of course, they put on a play for me where they lip synced the song while alternately holding up the corresponding states . Nerds...

 This would be Ty in my nightstand. We were reading a book, where a six year old boy rode in a dumbwaiter. After explaining what a dumbwaiter was (Cool!) and that it was about the size of my nightstand, the PJ clad six year old had to see if he could fit. He did. Sort of.

 I say this drawing gets 5 stars, just like my Goodreads app!

 Ty's compulsion to craft got the better of him on this day and I had to make some modge podge for him.

This is a board game the boys made, then made me play. Actually, they didn't do a bad job. You blindly pulled a colored scrap out of the aforementioned modge podged tub. Then you found the message card of the corresponding color, which gave you instructions.  Basically lose a turn, move forward so many spaces or move back so many spaces, but with more creativity. The black one read "Payed your tithing. Move ahead 3 spaces" Funny boys.This of course, is only a smattering of the things that kept us busy (and made messes) this summer!

The Best Library

I guess the Folsom area had some Mormon Settlers

 The best Library around is the Folsom Library. Whenever the kids and I are looking for a specific book online, it's never at our local Franklin branch, but it's ALWAYS at the Folsom library. So the kids and I thought we'd go check it out.

 Not only was the library in a really cute part of town, it was well stocked and well set up. The kids and I, all bibliophiles, just walked in with our eyes aglow, like a child entering a candy shop. Then it was go time. The kids were all, "Mom. Help me find this. Mom, where's that?". I seriously need to teach them how to find things in a library! It was like a frantic free-for-all! I couldn't catch my breath, the requests were coming so fast!

 Eventually we got everything we wanted (for the moment), checked out our books and headed outside. Because there was a mini train! I know the kids are growing out of these kinds of things, but who doesn't like miniature things? They all really wanted to ride, so we did!

 Then we found a rescue zoo on the grounds, as well. It had just closed, so we vowed to come back some other time. Next we found a really cool playground with a pioneer theme (think covered wagon play structure. My camera/phone pooped out on me, so, alas, no picture).

General consensus: The Folsom Library is Awesome!

Black Chasm Cavern

 Grandpa came for a visit so we went for a little drive up to the foothills to check out some caves.

 Once of the perks of living in Northern California is we are in a central location to take in a lot of different terrain and sights. Even though I grew up in Northern CA. I never went to any of these caves. So we packed a picnic and headed out for the hour drive!

 I thought the kids might be bored by what they saw, but they do pretty well with stuff like this. They love listening to the guides and trying to answer questions and learn new facts. This cave is one of the best places in the world to see these calcite deposit formations.

 They look like crazy little worms that have been squished out of a mold, or fancy blown glass sculptures.

 This formation is called bacon.

 And here's a picture where I look like a bat. I thought it was appropriate, being in a cave and all.

 Waaaay down there, the little speck of blue is an underwater lake.

 I just like this truck.

 In the gift shop, the boys wanted to buy geodes. Before she helped them crack them open, she explained how they are formed. I honestly don't remember what she said. Something about heating up and cooling down.

 Ty's had cool little wormlike formations inside.

 Ashlynn chose to buy a back of "rare gems" in sand.We used the sluice they had outside to separate the rare stuff from the sand.

 Then we drove into Jackson to check out the cute little old mountain town. My Great Grandma use to teach school around here somewhere.

 We found the best shop in town. Grandpa said Grandma would have loved this shop!

 When we asked Grandpa what she would have bought he pointed to the white fudge and said, "Divinity". The kids said, "What's Divinity?" The little old man behind the counter quietly gave them each a sample and said, "I can't have kids leave my store who haven't tried Divinity!" The kids liked that!

Ashlynn and I vowed to come back and hit every single one of the antique shops someday, when the men fold aren't hovering over our shoulders!

On the Last Day of Summer...

...this is what we did.

Searching for bubble gum in whipped cream! I wanted to see how the kids would react when I handed them an entire package of Bubblelicious and a can of whipped cream.



They were skeptical at first, then excited, then five minutes later complained of stomach aches.

"Honestly, Mom! Why would you let us do something like that?"

I really don't know. Even as i sit typing this post, my mind is drawing a blank...