Summer

A typical summer day at our house:






I'm up early - usually around 6 am - sometimes I pop outside and water the flowers, then check email, formulate a plan for my day and wake up the kids by 7 (except Holden who gets up at 4 am is already gone by the time I get up - lifeguards start early)



I am going through gas like crazy and it's costing me more than $75 bucks a pop to fill the tank. Crazy. I try to conserve where I can but it's hard to figure out how to cut back on gas consumption sometimes!
















Don't forget morning essential - Circle K and a Diet Coke































Shannon calls and asks if I am on my way to the pool, I am but the diet coke delayed me by a minute or two











The park where the kids swim - Madison Park












Madison Pool where they practice swim and dive - swim is first













Their coach Jordy jumps up and down on the board while he yells directions. Sometimes in a megaphone. He doesn't let them rest for a minute - the other moms and I watch from the sidelines
















8:30 am - finished with Swim - on to Dive












But Jordan takes a few minutes break to sell some flip flops - she started her own flip flop business called "fabulous flip flops" - this morning she sold 6 more pair at a profit of $10 each - so our 11 year old made an easy $60 in about 5 minutes time (though of course she still has to make them)













Brennan does his best lifeguard-esque pose before heading off to the diving boards











Jordan's flip flop examples on display to entice the mom's while they watch dive












Here are all the moms - we just chat everyday for the two hours we wait













Jordan jumps high to catch the football from her coach - this is to teach the kids to jump without thinking and while trying to jump up.
















Brennan is trying to learn some new dives











Jordan is happy after dive and after collecting some of the flip flop money


We pack up and head home for a little bit - sometimes Brennan has to stay to do volunteer hours for junior lifeguarding but he has a little break today



















We run home where I do an invoice for ebay - make some quick math calculations, grab some gum and head out the door to shop for some new inventory real quick before I have to back to get Brennan to junior lifeguarding at 12:00 pm





















I must drive up and down 12th street a million times a day. I run over to "last chance" and hurry through and find 5 dresses - I'm in the checkout line when Brennan calls worrying I won't make it home in time to get him back to the pool















I'm back in plenty of time and we head back over to Madison pool










Junior lifeguards is over at 1:00 so I have one hour to accomplish something - I drive over to burger king and order lunch for everyone - head back to Brennan's pool and wait about 10 minutes for him to finish up - drive back home to feed everyone



























I finally get to eat something - this is on my diet - a plain burger with mustard, pickle, tomatoe and lettuce. Yum, I am starving (and by the way I am at 55.5 pounds lost as of today)












Jordan gives me last minute instructions as to what she needs at old navy and Michaels to make her flip flops - I head out for more shopping - I also look for some new pants for myself - I make it back by 4:30 pm just in time for Stacie Lythgoe (formerly Stacie Barfus) to drop off two of her kids so I can give them a ride to the dive meet. We forget the camera on our way and I run back - then I stop for diet coke again. Then I call Shannon and tell her to save me a place because now with traffic I will be 5-10 minutes late. Washington pool is only about 10 minutes away from my house though so it doesn't take too long.












The swim meet at Washington pool starts at 6 pm but the kids warm up from 5:30 to 6. Kirk calls and tells me to give him directions and an estimate on time (he wants to come, but he isn't sure he wants to sit in 110 degree heat longer than he has to) - the weather starts to turn cloudyish












I admire my pedicure and my salt water sandals (which I totally, totally adore)












You can't really tell but one of those swimmers across the way is Jordan












Here is Brennan in the middle of a race doing Butterfly - one of his strongest strokes




















Notice the coach JD has a lovely mowhawk - he's a kid in our Stake - very nice kid - very interesting hair, very retro-80s


















Kirk arrives and settles in






















The sky gets darker and it cools off a bit - it starts to feel like summer monsoon season (the monsoons here usually don't start until July, during monsoon season the heat turns to storms in the evening - usually accompanied by the most magnificent lightning storms you've ever seen) You can smell the creosote in the air - I LOVE that















The sky turns all kinds of gorgeous shades of pink and orange










and purples


















It never rains but it threatens it enough to cool everything off










The haul - several third and fourth place finishes (this is a hard year for both Brennan and Jordan - they are both competing against kids older than them due to a quirk in the timing of their birthdays - it happens every other year - and due to their late spring birthdays, they never get the luxury of being one of the oldest - they best they get is not being the youngest)














The meet is over -













We take the kids to dinner at Manuel's in our neighborhood - Holden is a swim judge at a different meet tonight so we have not really seen him all day - then after he is meeting his girlfriend Noelle for dinner

























The kids have lots of chips - all that swimming will make you hungry - I have machaca (beef, onions, tomatoes and peppers) Delish.













Home again - around 9:30 pm and I still have laundry to do - can you imagine how many wet towells we go through with all that swimming?













I fold and sort












I tell Jordan to go to bed but she's busy working on her flip flops - I tell her she has to go to bed anyway












Here she is ready to head off to bed with her work for the day


















I sit down ready to relex around 10 pm - it doesn't last long though - Holden walks in with his girlfriend and asks to watch a movie they rented - so much for relaxing! I'm glad he's home though - we haven't seen him all day. Kirk works on his paintings until around 11 pm - I check some stuff on the computer and call it a typical summer day.