Our Last Adventures of Summer Vacation

Well, tomorrow we go back to work and Abigail goes back to daycare.  Since Emma doesn't start kindergarten until next Monday, her Nana decided to take her to Boston to visit Aunt Whitney, Uncle Jason, and little Kennedy.  We gave her one of our old digital cameras and can't wait to see the pictures she took.

I don't have too many photos--just a few from our latest adventures...

Last week, Emma went to a kindergarten boot camp, just to get a little feel for the school, classroom, and to meet some new friends.  It gave me an excuse to get out of denial and get back into my classroom to start getting ready for the new school year.  There is just something exciting about meeting new kiddos (and using NEW pencils--ones that actually still have the erasers on the top).  It also gave Abby a lot of time to play on the playground.

 We haven't been to too many Deer Valley concerts this summer but we managed to make it last week.

We hit a big rain storm on the way to the concert but it ended up being a lovely evening.

On Saturday, we headed over to the cabin for the afternoon.  On our hike to Lake Solitude, we saw this beautiful creature.

Meanwhile, Robin helped to run the "hospital" back at the cabin.

Abby was determined to get her baby into the helicopter.  Needless to say, it didn't work.

When you sleep over at the cabin, you get to make a sign to put on the wall.  I finally got around to using the wood burning tool on the signs Emma and Katharine made at their sleepover.

I got a few projects completed over the summer...nothing too big.  My mom gave Abigail this piece of furniture my grandpa had made years and years ago.  I added a bit of color with knobs from Hobby Lobby.

This is the arrangement on a wall in Abby's room.  It is where I will hang some of her artwork from school.  

I loved doing this project!  I got a bunch of frames from Savers and discarded the glass and cardboard.  Then I spray painted them white before painting them with an acrylic paint.  Finally, I hot glued some jute to the back and added a couple of small clothespins.  I also started making some for my classroom.

It's nothing exciting, but I reorganized the bath toys with a shower curtain, shower hooks, and small baskets.  Thank you for the idea, Kim!

Raspberry Days

Last Wednesday, we went on our annual trip to Bear Lake for Raspberry Days.  We rented a house with 3 other families instead of "roughing it" at the KOA like we did last year.  Even though we had to cut our trip short by a day due to the flu, we still had a wonderful time.

1st stop:  La Beau's for a raspberry shake

breakfast time!

We even had a moose come by one evening.

hangin' at the beach...

Somebody loves her bike helmet...

Lunch With the Sheriff

Last week, Abigail and Emma each received a "Playin' It Safe" Subway gift card from some deputies of Summit County for wearing helmets while they were riding their bikes.

About 30 minutes after receiving the cards, we decided to go to Subway for lunch.  The girls ordered their kids meals and handed the cashier their gift cards.  After the cards got declined, I was told I needed to log on to the Subway website and register the cards.  I informed this person that I shouldn't need to do that because they were gift cards.  Another worker very graciously offered to use his smartphone to help me  register the cards.  Meanwhile, the girls were being extremely patient but were getting hungry.  When the cards still didn't work, I was told they didn't have any money on them.  That was it.  I informed them that I had just received the cards 30 minutes ago from the sheriff 2 blocks away.  Nothing.  We're talking 2 kids meals ($5 each) and they did nothing to look into the problem.   Frustrated, the girls and I left with nothing.

I was pretty upset so when I got home I called the sheriff's department to let them know the cards didn't work.  I wanted to let them know so it didn't happen to other kids and because I didn't know if they had bought the cards.  The sheriff informed me that Subway approached them on the program, which made the situation even worse.

I also emailed Subway, letting them know what happened at one of their stores and how extremely unhappy I was.  By 4:00 that same day, I received a call from a Subway representative, extremely apologetic for what happened.  Come to find out, NONE of the cards that were given to the sheriff's office had been activated on Subway's end.  The sheriff felt so bad about what happened that he wanted to take us out to lunch...anywhere.  Emma chose Five Guys.  Fast forward to today.

We met the sheriff and the deputy chief at Five Guys for lunch today.  They really strive to make an appearance in the public and want to be approachable.

Emma made the sheriff a "thank you" card.

The girls each got a patch and some stickers.  

In total, I received 3 phone calls from 3 different Subway representatives.  I think they realized they made a mistake...

    

Squeezing It All In...

We have 2 weeks left before we head back to work so we are trying to squeeze in as much as we can, and have a little rest and relaxation, as well.

These guys, and gal, have been visiting about every night.  

Emma earned a family ice skating trip so off we went.  This was Abigail's first time on ice skates and she loved it!  I hope that is a good indication of how she will like skiing this year.

 She was very dependent so Andy and I got quite the workout!

 making a BBQ chicken pizza for dinner one night

We went up to the cabin last weekend and hiked up to Lake Mary.

On the hike down, Abigail saw the chair lifts and said she wanted to go on them.  Soon, Abby, very soon!  

This is what potty training at the cabin looked like...lots of accidents.

Emma is a rock star on her bike now.  It's amazing how comfortable she is getting.

We had some friends up for a BBQ and then one of Emma's friends, Katharine, spent the night.

Anna (Abigail's friend), Abigail, and Matthew (Katharine's brother)

We had some visitors that evening...

If you spend the night at the cabin, you get to make a sign to hang on the wall.  The girls decorated their piece of wood so now we just need to cut it and use the wood burner/carver on them.  

 scones and bacon for breakfast