So then summer happened. Last I wrote, it was (almost) Saturday at 7am and the weary band of travelers was headed East to the great state of WI rocking a rented minivan and enough Dramamine 
to choke a horse–at least that’s sort of how it went down. Turns out I had a bad case of anxiety (I’m going to blame it on a really rough June and PMS) so in addition my dose of Dramamine I was also rocking a Xanax. We gave motion-sick Christopher his meds and hit the road, only to discover 90 minutes down the road (up through the mountains) that little Andrew gets motion sick as well. Is that the sound of dry heaving coming from the second row? *cue Xanax for mama*. One of these trips we’ll figure it out. The boys rode well, and enjoyed staying in a hotel. Roughly 36 hours later (with a dinner stop to see Jim & Jen in Dubuque) we landed at the farm at about 9pm Sunday night.
Our time in Wisconsin was enjoyable. We saw lots of family, checked out the Sauk County Fair, played with cousin Clara, and threw tennis balls until border collie Mike was worn out. The tractors were still rather big/noisy for the boys to want to go for rides, but they found the 4-wheeler ok, and the neighbor’s Gator acceptable. William and Christopher have decided they are NOT fans of humidity or bugs. William was outside with gnats buzzing in his ears and declared “Dad, I hate outside in Wisconsin!” The humidity was a good reminder of how nice we have it here in Utah sometimes.
(Click on pictures to see full-size with caption)
The drive back was par for the course. Less Xanax, more puking. About 10 hours into day 1 of driving it became obvious we had forgotten to give Christopher his second dose of daily medication when again there was puking…this time from the 3rd row. We re-medicated and made it through the rest of the trip back relatively unscathed. We even arrived in Salt Lake City by 4:30pm on the second day.
Upon arriving back in Salt Lake City, I expected that after a 2 week vacation the hail damage would be all fixed up on my car and I could pick it up from the shop. I. WAS. SO. WRONG. Two more weeks, insurance delays, some damage caused by the shop and one lost car seat later my car was back in working order. That’s right ladies and gentleman, not only did they bend (and repair) a panel trying to get the gas cover off, they accidentally sent one of my car seats home in the wrong vehicle. Some poor schmuck had to go through the shop security footage to confirm what had happened to it and then call the owners of that vehicle to ask for it back. The “story” was they had gone on vacation right after picking up their vehicle, and never noticed the huge car seat presumably in the back seat. People. Seriously. You can’t make baloney like this up. My car is now dent free but I think I’ll be trying out a different shop next time.
The rest of the summer has been filled with summer type things. Swimming in the backyard swimming pool, the neighborhood block party and parade, more fireworks, a trip to the zoo (my work summer party), a trip to a baseball game (Jason’s work summer party), a play date at the park, a sleep out in a tent (twice!), a couple trips to Tracy Aviary, a chairlift ride, fun with cousins, and I’ve probably forgotten more events than I’ve remembered. These boys have been living large.
In other news, this week HOPEFULLY ends my summer dental saga. During my dental cleaning in June we discovered 2 cracked teeth. (Can anyone say stressed?!?) We placed crowns on each of them in order to stabilize them (see nightmare dental story from June’s post), but one of the crowns just wasn’t enough to do the trick. I haven’t been able to chew on it since June, and finally had a root canal this week. It is still a bit tender, but hopefully by the time the permanent filling is placed on Tuesday I will be good to go. Being able to chew on both sides of your mouth really isn’t asking too much is it?
My new job is going well. I’m working about 20 hours a week, but all on my own terms and timeline with a really nice team lead and nobody to babysit. I can work a few hours in the morning, afternoon,
and especially after bedtime for the boys. It’s not big money, but the flexibility has been great. I feel like I’m slowly getting up to speed. The next transition will be when I am working and keeping up with the boys at school. Monday through Thursday Christopher and William will BOTH go to the school by 8:25, then Christopher will be done at 11:30 and William at 3:05. I’ll have Andrew a couple days a week and the other days he will still go to daycare. I’m looking forward to having several hours of 1-on-1 time with each boy during the week.
This summer they boys have been spending a lot of time at Debbie’s (daycare). It’s hard to compete with all the fun and friends they have there and she’s charging us little of nothing for the summer. One particular Friday was “science experiment day” and they made homemade crayons, homemade slime, and built stuff out of pretzels and marshmallows–all in the same day! When they’re home with me I just expect them not to fight and to pick up after themselves. No wonder they choose to go to Debbie’s as much as I’ll let them. I also know that their time there is fleeting–Christopher will have 4 days per week of half day preschool this year and William will have school every day. I’m letting them enjoy their summer fun and friends while they can (and just trying not to feel too guilty about it).
I think that’s a good update for now. By the next time I write we’ll be in the thick of our new school schedule (William starts the 22nd and Christopher the 27th!).
Take Care Everyone!
S.~