Sunday August 10, was a good day. Church went well. Afton is NOT liking nursery at all and the nursery leaders don’t like to hear her cry and so they brought her to me today. I took her back and stayed in nursery with her for about 40 minutes and then took her with me back to primary. Not sure what I’m going to do with her. She is so cute and sweet it just surprises me how much she hates nursery. Alix gave a talk in primary and did a great job. After church we were taking the kids to the car and Milo got distracted by the other kids playing in the bushes. So he runs off. The bushes are up against the building and there was a window open. I’m assuming he didn’t notice the window and ran right into it leaving his head gushing with blood that ran down his face. It was an awful sight, I’m glad I missed it. I was too busy solving the crying problem going on in the car. Scott took care of it all while I absentmindedly asked people in the parking lot what had happened to my husband and son. Milo now has a V shaped gash on the top of his head. We deemed it unworthy of a trip to the doctor. We are just keeping an eye on it and putting ointment on the wound. After getting home from church and changing everyone and putting little ones to nap, I went visiting teaching. We got a new sister on our route and I went and visited her today. It went well. I am excited to get to know her better and have further conversations. After I got home we spruced up a bit, I warmed up dinner and we had a great evening with the missionaries. They too dedicated 40 minutes of their time to our apple effort. I’d say we have picked ¼ of the apples now!! After they left we cleaned up and then put kids to bed.
Monday was a super fun day! Scott went in to work early with the promise of being home by noon. The kids and I spent the morning cleaning the house and getting our necessary things done for the day. Scott did get home at noon. We then went into getting ready mode. For what? An afternoon/evening on the beach! About a month ago we arranged a family night on the beach with a bunch of our friends. We had planned to get there late afternoon and stay till we got tired. It worked out wonderful. We got to Rio Del Mar beach about three. We unloaded our stuff by the fire pit and then took minimal stuff a little way off to be closer to the ocean. At that time there were the Bennett Sr’s, Bennett Jr.’s and us. A little later Carrie Gilstrap came. It turned out to be a cold and over cast day, but that did not stop this northern California crew. We played in the waves, built sand castles and had a great time. We did that for about an hour and a half. Then we cleaned up the kids as much as possible and put on their warmer clothes (I’m so glad we brought them), built a fire and started cooking. At this point Jake and Jill Barnes came. An hour after that another couple and their baby came (I can’t remember their names….). In the end we had 12 adults and 14 children. We roasted hot dogs and hamburgers and Carrie brought shrimp to roast over the fire! Alix’s birthday was the next day and someone else there was having a birthday that day so we sang happy birthday and Alix blew out a burning marshmallow. She thought that was pretty cool. We played a fun new game that was a cross between bocce ball and horse shoes. The kids played in the sand more and played with the beach balls and ate tons of food. Once it started to get dark we roasted marshmallows and had smores. At this point people started to leave. We were having too much fun and stayed longer. We finally pulled away from the beach at 9:50pm. It was too fun. A funny thing. The park ranger made his rounds about 3 times during our stay there. We were by far the biggest and loudest group on the beach. However, not once did he stop and check up on us. But he stopped at all the other campfires all three times. It was interesting to observe. We figured that with all those kids they probably thought we were the least likely to be getting into trouble! We got home by 11 and put the kids to bed and only brought in the perishable foods. We crashed by midnight and the bed was a welcoming friend.
Today, Tuesday August 12 is Alix’s birthday! She was such a trooper. After going to be so late she got up early and showered and dressed and left with Scott by 7:15 to go to Google to have her birthday breakfast with her daddy. They had a good time together and she ate lots of yummy food. While they were gone we emptied the car and did two loads of laundry. I picked Alix up by 10 am. We had a pretty normal day after that. Lots of playing, cleaning and we even fit a little bit of school in. Our friend Leilani came and hung out with us today. Her friend Shana came too. The kids love playing with those two girls. Leilani just got hired as a nanny in Mississippi and leaves in a week. We will miss her greatly. She could be gone anywhere from a month to a year, depending on how things work out. We hope things go well for her, but we will miss her. Once Scott got home we started the “party”. Alix wanted hot dogs and root beer floats for dinner. So that is what we had. We decorated the dinning room, ate our hot dogs and carrots (I had to throw something healthy in there). The neighbors came over for ice cream, root beer, and chocolate pie. They brought Alix a present. A box full of books, games and activities all about the solar system. She has had so much fun with it already. She got money from her Grandma and Grandpa Thompson. Grandma Ackerman gave her a microscope (she gave it to her while we were there for Keri’s blessing) that Alix has had so much fun with. She has looked at blood, cheek cells and a leaf. She wanted to get ocean water but forgot to bring a vile to bring some home in. We wrapped things up by 7 and started putting kids to bed. Everyone was asleep by 8:45. Even Keri was asleep by 9:30. It’s been so nice because she has been going to sleep in her own bed by 10 at the latest and not getting up till 6:30-7 the next morning. She has been doing this for 3 weeks now. It’s been heaven for all of us. Especially me!!
Happy Birthday Alix! I remembered her bday about a week ago, but forgot again until I just read it. I can’t believe she’s 7…she is 7, right? Sounds like so much fun! You should post a picture of Milo’s owie– is that gross of me? Another of Nina’s friends showed up to church on Sunday with stitches above and below her eye from running into a doorknob. Yikes! I hope Nina’s not next! Yay for Keri sleeping so well.