August recap

The second month of our two month vacation was less busy but still jam-packed.  We started out with a trip down to Castledale in Southern Utah for another family reunion, but this one was for an ancestor quite a ways back.  Our trip involved a visit to the county fair (they had elephants!), a lamb fry, an interminable small town parade, and an outdoor pageant.  The husband had left by then, so it was just me and the boys with Grandeur and Grandest.  We stayed in some little log cabins owned and operated by a gas station in another little town down the road and our visit was just as strange and fun as it sounds!

Outside our log cabin!

Look!  Elephants!

The next week, the boys started swim lessons at the local rec center and after a few false starts (they thought E was 14 instead of 4 and so put him in the wrong class three times before we got that straightened out) and some judicious bribing (these boys really, REALLY needed to learn to swim), the boys both had good experiences and learned a whole lot.  J was diving into the pool from a seated and a kneeling position by the end of their two-week course and E was almost back-floating by himself.  Huzzah!  Hopefully we can continue to practice their skills and if they don't allow me to get them into another course here, they will be able to move up a level next summer.  The rec center had a built-in aquatic park (with water slides!) and indoor playground, which we also loved visiting after swim lessons.  I was very jealous of that rec center, actually, and wished we had one just like it in Doha!

E is crying because of the cold, but they really did have a good time!

We spent a lot of the first half of the month with cousins T and G and new baby E who were also living with Grandeur and Grandest, but they moved out to a lovely new house in the middle of the month, much to my boys' chagrin.  I spent part of my time there trying to figure out my parents' phone/internet/cable needs and getting new services set up, most of which seem to have worked out pretty well, thank goodness!  I also went through all my old and new boxes in their garage, donating still more things to charity (or my parents' wedding gift box) and consolidating items into better boxes or waterproof bins.  My efforts inspired my parents and I to keep going and reorganize the entire garage, so we ended up making several donation trips to the thrift store and moving around and consolidating still more boxes, but, in the end, there was a lot more space in the garage, which is saying something, since they are now housing boxes/furniture/electronics from at least 4 of their 6 children.  And I was able to take the kids to a few more fun museums and a matinee movie in a movie theater

Grandeur and Grandest!

E and his cousin G semi-napping.

J and his cousin T in a happy moment.

During that month, I was able to finish all my errands for the summer, including getting my library card (I had gotten my driver's license switched in July), and we made one trip back to the in-laws for a temple open house, which was a great experience for both me and the boys.  As an added bonus, we were able to connect with one of our good friends from Charleston who has taking her daughter off to college, so they got to come with us to the open house, which meant more fun for everyone.  I was also able to talk to my good friend from Shaker Heights who has since moved to Chicago, which also made me very happy.  I sometimes wish these trips back to the States could be spent visiting all my old friends, but that would be a very long trip.

Outside the temple.

Grandma and Grandpa!

Over the summer, my youngest sister got engaged (Congratulations again, L!) to a pharmacist (Go Team Pharmacy!), so I was able to help my mother find her mother-of-the-bride dress (the colors are charcoal and aubergine and we managed to find something lovely!) and pick out some of the decorations for the tables.  My namesake aunt whom I haven't seen in ages came to visit my parents as well, and she got to meet the boys, which was fun for all of us.  We played a lot and generally took it easy for the last part of our vacation, which was probably just as well because it turns out two month trips are a bit wearing on everyone.  When people ask me how my holidays were, my first thought is always "LONG!"  Not that we didn't enjoy or need our time away, because we did, but with about three weeks of vacation left, the boys started telling me they wanted to go home and, surprisingly, they meant Doha!  But we still had three weeks to go and increasingly their behavior showed they were done with this trip.  My friend from Charleston, who always had to travel to visit her parents and in-laws with her children said she always said to her mother "My kids in Utah are not my kids in Charleston" and I have to agree with her assessment.  Vacationing this way is fun but also hard, especially for the young.  Hopefully, we will increase our stamina, work on our endurance, find some balance between play and work, and do better every summer!

Selfie at the zoo (everyone else is watching the elephants)!

Legos!

Tired, tired boys!