Enjoying family

Wednesday, August 12th cont... I forgot to mention the 2 bald eagles we saw while at the pool. I could sit and watch hummingbirds and eagles for hours!

I read Twilight until 1am.

Random Note: The other day I went to grab the butter out of the fridge to put on Noah's toast, but I couldn't find it. I looked everywhere including the pantry, but I didn't find it. I knew the butter didn't just disappear (it was a big tub of butter and I knew it was only about a quarter gone), but where the heck did it go? Awhile later, Zoe looked in the freezer and there it was. Of course. I hadn't thought to look in the freezer.

Thursday, August 13th: Emily, Eleanor, and Zach had swim lessons. The moms at the pool are not anxious for school to start, but I am counting down. Zoe and Emily have been fighting a lot lately.

I was able to resist my book yesterday, but I read it throughout the day today. The kids watched "Thumbelina", we ate lunch, and then we went swimming at the pool with Aly. Kate fell asleep on her towel toward the end of free swim as she was drying off in the sun.

I have gone from giving out no strikes to skipping the strikes and handing out a chore when the fighting begins...usually between Zoe and Emily. Matt finds it funny that I went from one extreme to the other.

We ate dinner, watched an episode of "Dirty Jobs" with the kids, I worked on my Sunday School lesson, and then I read Twilight until I finished it. I got to bed around midnight...a bit earlier than the previous few nights!

Friday, August 14th: Matt, Zach, and Zoe were up around 3am to go fishing with Don on his boat.

Emily and Eleanor went to their swimming lessons. We saw Mrs. Lalonde (Zoe's 3rd and 4th grade teacher) at the pool, so I got to talk with her for a few minutes. It was a bummer that Zoe wasn't there.

After lessons, we went home to clean up and pack up, we made a quick stop at the grocery store, and then we came over to my parent's house to eat lunch. We went to the pool in the afternoon with Aly and Phil. About 45 minutes before the pool closed, one of the lifeguards noticed something suspicious in the deep end and blew the whistle for everyone to get out. Sure enough, there was poop in the pool, so we left. We came back to my parent's house. I had been reading different parts of Twilight throughout the day, so I was officially done with the book when my dad took it to read it. My mom watched the kids in the evening, so Matt and I could eat dinner at Pizzeria Uno and then we went over to Target. We ate at our favorite table, so that was fun. We picked up Kate and Noah and the older 4 stayed at my parents' for the night. When I went to put Noah in his crib, he caught on to what I was doing and he quickly put his head on my shoulder to cuddle. It was so sweet. We cuddled for awhile and then when he picked his head up, I put him in his crib. He tried to put his head down on my shoulder again when I started to lift him up to put him in the crib, but I laid him down anyway. I did enjoy the cuddles I got since he is usually too busy during the day to stop and cuddle.

Saturday, August 15th: I went to the temple and Matt spent the day with the kids. We had a stake Relief Society temple trip. I rode down with Tiffany and Marilyn. Patti also drove her car with Lucvee, Naomi, and Linda. We met in the cafeteria to listen to Sister Hutchins. She gave a great talk about remembering who we are. She referred to D&C 25, which is a revelation to Emma Smith. Tiffany, Marilyn, Linda, and I then ate lunch and then we went to the 12:00 session. Tiffany and I were able to sit and talk for awhile, which was nice. We left the temple around 3pm. We had fun trying to find a gas station on the way home, but we finally found one before running out of gas. We got back around 7:45pm, which was earlier than expected, so I went to McDonald's for dinner. I didn't want to arrive home as Matt was putting the kids to bed because that just causes chaos. I wanted them to be in bed and asleep, which they were, except for Zoe, when I got home around 8:45pm. Zoe read Harry Potter for awhile and then she went to sleep.

My sister ~ Donna, Donna's husband ~ Doug, Donna's daughter ~ Victoria, and Doug's daughter ~ Harley arrived at my parents' house today!

Sunday, August 16th: We all went to church in Ellsworth. It is so nice when Matt keeps Noah through Priesthood/Relief Society. I found out that Patti's car (the car I was planning on riding in to the temple) didn't get back until midnight because they had to go back to the temple after leaving the temple and driving for an hour to look for a wallet. Yikes! After church, we went home to have yummy Terriyaki chicken and to relax. Zoe and Emily each worked on different Faith in God goals. Emily finished her education jar and Zoe is finishing a craft project that she has had for a few years now.

Monday, August 17th: Emily made up a swim lesson that she missed when she had swimmer's ear. My parents, Donna, Doug, Victoria, Phil, Aly, and Harley met us at the pool to start our adventure to Acadia National Park. Noah warmed up to Doug and Donna very quickly.


We stopped at Thompson's Island first for a picnic. The kids enjoyed feeding the seagulls...even though we repeatedly told them not to. Noah enjoyed chasing the seagulls.


We drove up Cadillac Mountain. Beautiful, beautiful views!


Zach was climbing out of a small hole when he slipped and scraped his cheek. Minor damage, but I put one of the cold water bottles on his cheek until I could give him a piece of ice at the car. The sun was bothering Zach's eyes, so he was pleased when Doug let him wear his sunglasses for a picture.

We went to Sand beach. The water was freezing, but Zoe, Emily, and Eleanor didn't care, they went right in. Kate and Zach were not impressed with the waves, noise, and cold water at first, but they warmed up to it all and enjoyed wading in the water. Noah didn't want anything to do with the water and he was very content playing in the dry sand.








We could have easily stayed at Sand beach all day, but we only stayed for an hour and 15 minutes. It was time for the kids and I to head home for FHE. The rest of my family went on to Thunder Hole. We didn't get home until 6pm and then the kids needed quick baths, then we ate dinner, and started FHE around 7pm...when usually we are getting the kids in bed. So we had a quick FHE and then sent everyone to bed. My new thing is to clean the bathroom when everyone is in bed, so I cleaned the bathroom and did a load of laundry. I need a laundry day soon.

Tuesday, August 18th: Emily and Zach both made up a swim lesson. Zach missed Friday's lesson when he went fishing. We went to Nathan Dauk's birthday party at the Blue Hill park. We went swimming first. It was in the 90's, so the water felt so good! Eleanor got upset when Tiffany told her she would have to ask me if she could jump off the big rock with the bigger kids. Eleanor came around the rock crying and yelling, "I can swim!". I had Zoe keep an eye on Noah and Kate and I went with Eleanor and Zach to check out the spot she wanted to jump from. I got into the water and let her jump into the water beside me and then Zach jumped. I'm glad it worked out that Eleanor could jump because she would have cried about it for a long time. When Eleanor was walking along the rock to the beach, she screamed and was freaked out about a live crab she saw. That prompted a crab search along a different part of the beach. Then we ate lunch and sang Happy Birthday to Nathan and then he opened his presents. Noah loved the chips I let him eat. He is always trying to get his hands on chips, so he was in heaven when I gave him some. Most of the kids went to play on the playground after the party, but I took Noah and Kate down to the water for a dip. Noah was covered in jelly. We left after the kids played on the playground for awhile. We came over to my parents' house to visit with everyone. We sat outside for awhile and Noah and Kate enjoyed playing ball with us. It cracked us up when Doug gently bopped Noah on the head with the ball and then Noah bopped himself on the head with the ball. We also laughed when Noah begged for water by opening his mouth, waiting for a drink. Kate was funny when mom kept asking her questions and Kate kept shaking her head yes. Kate agreed to get Matt's checkbook and car and enjoy a night out on the town...and other things. She was so cute! The only time she shook her head no and said no was when mom asked if she wanted Zach to go to preschool. Eleanor told me yesterday that she wants to go to daycare. If she asks me on a bad day, she just may get her wish! Not really. Zach's new thing is to hit Noah on the back with his fist. Fun! We got home late last night again, so the kids made it to bed around 9pm.