Blessfully semi-boring August

If last month's edition tired you out, you are in good company.  There is no way we could keep up that pace, so thankfully School started Aug 1st.  School starting means that we have to stick closer to home for a bit - whew!
Lilly is off to 7th grade!!  I can hardly believe it.  Her first taste of middle school. She couldn't be more excited! So grown-up!!  

Thankfully she has several friends from her Elementary School who will join her at Crane so we are hopeful that she is starting off on the right foot.  

One thing that will take some getting used to is the early start time.  The first bell is at 7:19 or something horrific like that.  So Lilly gets up every morning at 5:45am and is out the door at 6:35am.  There goes my early morning run until she consistently gets up on her own!  I am not exactly sure why she has to leave so early since we only live a mile from the school and right now she is riding in with a friend's parent until the temperature gets below 100F (whiners).  

They are a tad excited

An hour and 1/2 later these two got their turn for school!  6th and 4th graders. Time just needs to stop!  We even made the bus!  That my friends, rarely happened last year...  Maybe, just maybe, we are turning over a new leaf (fingers crossed).

Oscar says "This book bag is mine!"

Ben's friend Liam has a fancy remote control car that Ben wants ... really really badly.  So badly that he has started a full force onslaught against me and Jim to own one.  In the meantime he is trying to log as much time as possible with his friend Liam's car.  Lucky for him there is a remote control track at a park near our house. Even though it is over 100 degrees they enjoy going as much as we will take them.  

Oh and look!  Wesley is posing for a picture!! He is notorious for taking bad pictures.  I guess he was humoring me on his second birthday.  Either that or he knows I will post the horrible pictures regardless.  Toss up!  It is true though, he is now two!  He and Oscar are still trying to figure each other out.  Or rather Wesley is and Oscar is still in denial.

Again, since this is August and I have already told you we are taking it easy, there have been several days in a row when we have done NOTHING!  This is one of those days.  Although Lucy is wearing my old Doc Martens from college (and a stocking cap in Yuma in August!) and so deserves a picture and a mention in the blog.

It is still unbelievably hot here in Yuma.  Most days it is over 100 F.  I still find time to go for runs but they are incredible short runs and early in the morning. Sometimes life gets in the way and I don't actually get out the door fast enough and I have to run when it is really too hot to do so.  On these occasions I usually cool off in the pool without even bothering to change.  The kids rarely see me in the pool since I usually do this while they are in school.  Lucy wanted proof that I do actually get in though so she snapped me relaxing.

One major big thing that happened this month is President Trump paid our town a visit!  Yuma wasn't his true destination, more of a side trip really, but that didn't stop everyone from coming out to watch Air Force One land at our airport. President Trump stayed on board the base for his entire visit, where he met with some border patrol officers before heading to Phoenix to attend a rally ... but it was still pretty cool to see they way the Yumans respond to his being here!

Parking lot across from the airport filling up

Air Force One landing

Getting out of the car

Waving bye to the crowd

Air Force One flying over our neighborhood

So that was pretty exciting for our little town.  It isn't every day you get to see the President of the United States!  

WTI starts on Labor Day.  That means Jim has to work over the Labor Day Weekend so we have an annual tradition we like to call "Fake Labor Day" which occurs the weekend before actual Labor Day.  Jim had several days off but unfortunately the kids still had school so we decided to go camping up in Flagstaff.  Fairly close by, cooler temps and a few activities we need to check off the bucket list before we move.

  

When we got in the car to start our drive it was 110 F.  The temp when we got out of the car was 65 F!!  It was INCREDIBLE!! Of course by the time we got to Flagstaff it was pretty dark, but we were able to set up the tent pretty quickly and hurried off to one of our favorite places, Fat Olives, for dinner. 

The next morning Jim signed us up for a ropes course nearby.  We were concerned that the kids might not be up for it.  We shouldn't have worried, they were chomping at the bit to get on it!  Everyone did a fantastic job!!  I am not sure I want to do it again necessarily, but I am glad we were able to do the complete course.  It was fun until you looked down (we were 60 feet in the air!).  YIKES!!

After the ropes course we decided to head down to Slide Rock State Park. Lots of people tried to dissuade us from doing this because of the crowds.  Lucky for us a rain shower hit the park about 15 minutes before we arrived so not only were we able to get a parking space inside the park, the park was also not as crowded as it had been earlier in the day.  It was a win!!  The kids had a blast!!! I am not sure how many times they jumped off that ledge but it was A LOT.

Even Jim got in on the action

The water is COLD I mean suck the breath from your lungs cold.  Lilly bet me I wouldn't get in so that meant I had to do it!! I did not, however, jump from the ledge.  I did do a few of the slides.  More then I wanted to do because I couldn't get out!!  The banks of the creek are super slippery!!  

After we returned from that excursion, Jim, Ben and Lucy rented some bikes and cruised around the camp ground and onto a bike course.  They also stumbled upon a live performance by Garrison Keillor, the "Prairie Home Companion" guy, who was doing a concert in an amphitheater next to our campground.  Jim really thought that was cool ... everyone else, not so much. Lilly and I decided to rest and read.  Two activities is enough for one day thank you very much! 

This is what happens when  you pitch a tent on a slope.  

                                 Our tent site had an unobstructed view of Humphrey's Peak!

All in all it was a great weekend and it may be the last until WTI is over (end of Oct)  we get to spend it all together!  Thanks Jim for once again finding us plenty to do!!