DON'T LET IT STOP!!!

Mattina Ann went to youth conference from the 22nd to the 25th. It was weird not having any youth in church. She had a great time. She enjoyed the dance too. I'm so glad she got to enjoy this experience. They went to Salt Lake and kind of continued their experience from the trek 2 years ago. Even though she didn't go 2 years ago this was still a great first experience of Youth Conference for her.
Aaron had to work from the 25th of July until 28th. It was crazy being back "on schedule".
On Sunday July 31st we thought we'd have hawaiian haystacks for dinner. We had bought a coconut and thought we'd have that with dinner. Aaron was able to open it up but how do you get the coconut off the shell? We tried a few things and then I took a knife and tried to cut pieces out to shred. That was still hard and one time my knife slipped and cut my thumb. Aaron asked AJ first aid questions but AJ really didn't want to touch it. He at least knew the answers. Anyway, Aaron and I decided it was bad enough to take to the instacare. After 3 needle sticks (Mega ouch) he cut some "beef" off and then gave me 2 stiches. When we left Aaron said that he noticed when I'm nervous I get giggly and talkitive. It could be worse. The children were happy to have me back home and know I was going to be okay. It was nice to see their concern.
We decided we didn't want to stop playing and we haven't taken the kids to the beach before (at least that the kids really remember) so on August 1st we got up and left at 4 am to go to the beach in California. We got some boogie boards from some neighbors and Diane and stayed at Newport Beach all day. (My thumb hurt in the water but I endured) We saw dolphins and the children saw a sea lion from the pier. The water was cold but once you became numb it was a lot of fun. All the children learned how to boogie board and have fun in the water. Tanner and Geremy weren't too thrilled with the water when we first got there so I made them come and play with me. We would race from the water and see if we could stay away from it. Then we'd jump over the waves. After that they started enjoying the water a lot more. When we got to the hotel that first night Tanner and Geremy crashed as soon as we walked in the room. They even missed dinner.
Tuesday we played at the beach again. I had let everybody put their own sunscreen on on Monday and found that was a big mistake. Everyone but me were patchy with their burns. I put the sunscreen on after that. Mattina Ann had a rash on her legs from the boogie board so she didn't get in. Tanner, Geremy, Mattina Ann and I walked up to the pier. That took a long time. It was fun and nice to be with the kids though. While we were gone Aaron boogie boarded with Rustin and Rachel. They loved it and it was great for Aaron to spend some time with them.
Mattina Ann wanted to see the sun set into the ocean and Aaron wanted to watch it from Santa Monica Pier. We drove all the way up their and watched the sun set from the car because we were about 15 min. late. We couldn't find any parking so we just drove back to the hotel. What a long and frustrating evening. The last thing I wanted to do was ride in the car for 2.5 hours. Plus Mattina didn't get to see her sunset. We hadn't realized how far away it was or we wouldn't have gone. Oh well.
Wednesday we went back to the beach and enjoyed one last day in the water. Aaron and I boogie boarded for about 1.5 hours before the lifeguards told us to get out because of a rip current. (We had a water proof bandage now and no water got to my thumb. That was nice.) Mattina Ann and Tanner made a turtle and a dolphin out of sand. It was great to watch them working together. They were very proud of their work. AJ tried digging a pit. He made it about half as deep as he is tall. Geremy loved playing with the sand crabs, (Aaron taught him one day how to catch them. They found some big ones too)birds, sea shells, and just being there. Again we saw dolphins and a sea lion. We didn't want to leave.
Finally we left on time to get home at midnight. We changed our clothes at Diane's and then found out she was there. She is a neat lady but a talker so we talked for another 45 min. Then we got into traffic and that put us behind another 45 min. We didn't make it home until 2 am. What a long night.
I got my stitches out on Monday and all is well. I don't have all my feeling in the top part of my thumb. Hopefully it'll come back. I really bruised that part.
We still didn't want to be home yet so August 9th we went camping up at Pine Valley. We had a wonderful time. We usually are warm at night so we only took blankets to put on us. It was quite a bit cooler than we expected but it turned out okay. We had a great time. When we got home we went swimming. We love to play together.
Wednesday AJ had his back to school night. He's a bit nervous about going to the intermediate school but I think he'll do fine. He's looking forward to PE and art. Thursday we had Tanner and Geremy's back to school. We found that Geremy was put into PM kindergarten. I'm glad I found out because we were able to change it to AM. Both Aaron and I couldn't handle the schedule if he were in PM. That evening Mattina Ann had her back to school night. It made me realize I'm glad not to be in 8th grade again. She'll do great and has some neat teachers. I think she finally found her way around the school by the end of the night.
Aaron and I went on a really fun date last night. He took me to the fair. My idea of the fair is looking at the sewing, food, art, animals, etc. (We saw a rabbit being judged) Aaron's idea of the fair is riding the rides. We went on the zipper and starship 2000 and one other ride. (Those are Aaron's favorite). We did all of that and had a great time together. Wow!
So school starts on Monday. I'm excited and sad at the same time. I have really enjoyed playing this summer and I don't want it to stop. The children will have a great year and now that they are all in school, I'll find plenty to do I'm sure.