Dow Gardens

 This was our first full week of summer vacation. Monday we had a real lazy start and then ended up watching my friend's kids. They were not a great addition to my lazy plan. The oldest always grates on my nerves- she's very bossy and not a good listener. The youngest was constantly putting himself in dangerous situations- light sockets, chairs, tables, my new oven....I had promised Lucy that we could bake something that day and this little one made that extremely difficult. I realized how unsafe my house is for babies. But when all was said and done, Lucy and I did end up with some pretty delicious brownies. It was our first time making them from scratch.

That evening we had a Family Home Evening with the Jensens. We honestly don't do FHE's officially, we just do lessons around the table but they had basically invited themselves over. They wanted Tyler to teach about 72 hour kits and they didn't have the space to host. It was awkward. Mostly just Tyler talking to the parents and the rest of us feeling bored. I also don't mesh super well with the mom, conversation always feels more stilted. So eventually I ended up outside with the kids where I was more comfortable.

Tuesday morning I picked up some bundt cake and delivered to one of my young women for her birthday. Then that afternoon we met up some friends at the park. The weather was perfect for a park day. The kids had fun while it lasted but everybody took off pretty early which was kind of lame. I was hoping to kill more time there. But one of my friends messaged me that evening, thanking me for planning it and that made me feel good. Sometimes I get tired of being the planner so I needed that reassurement that it's worth it. 

That evening Lucy got to go kayaking for Activity Days. I think the kayak was a little much for her, she said it was a bit of a struggle and the leaders ended up having her come back in their duoble kayak. 

Wedneday we were supposed to go to Dow Gardens with the Mays but they flaked out on us. Their eldest had hurt his ankle and wasn't up for lots of walking. So instead I took their daughter, Andrea, and our neighbor, Jacob and went on my own with 6 kids. It was a 2 hour drive which felt long,because I had the start of a headache. But the garden itself was mostly fun, just sometimes difficult managing 6 hyped up kids. The walk to the tree canopy walk was really pretty and the kids kept insisting on taking pics. This is just a small portion of the pics. The first pic shows the cool stained glass flowers that they had throughout the garden.

The tree canopy walk was really cool but Penny found it a bit nerve wracking. She wanted nothing to do with the lookout that had a see through barrier and floor. She did get brave and go out on the cargo rope net. There was also this part with a very thin rope bridge that went up to a higher loft. She did not brave that one out but Lucy did. We got stuck up there for a bit because there was a little girl with shaky legs that did not want to go back down and her grandma was not coming to get her. I finally helped coax her but oh those shaky legs.  

After the canopy walk we ate some lunch and played on the playground. It was a cool one and the kids really enjoyed it. The big kids had some game going that consisted of frequent visits to the tunnel pictured below.

We finished off Dow Gardens with a walk through their children's garden. It wasn't super exciting but it did have a lot of these pretty creepy scarecrows. The girls had to take a picture by the one that was wearing a shirt that Lucy used to have. And Andrea and Ben had to take a picture with the Pokemon one.

On the drive back we stopped to get slushies and I got a lot of raised eyebrows as my big crew all filled up their cups.

That night I was pooped but my day was not over. I still had a young women's activity in my backyard. I ended up being the only leader there. The girls ended up being crazy. The younger ones insisted on running after an ice cream truck and screaming and burning marshmallows and making crazy marshmallow messes. The girls also attempted to talk about lesbian barbies in a barbie movie and pronoun choices. I had to try to steer conversation away because I just didn't find these topics super appropriate for a yw's activity. Then at the end the girls all ran into my house and started rooting through my fridge. Um no. It is seeming more likely that Tyler and I will actually get to be seminary teachers together so after that night, that seems like a welcome relief. Tired, older teenagers instead of hyped up younger ones ;)

Thursday I invited friends to our beach and spent the whole afternoon there. It was perfection, I had really missed those long beach days with friends. The kids had a blast with all their buddies there and I had a blast with all mine.

Thursday night I went to visit one of my yw. I brought along the class president, hoping she would bond some with this girl but she did not. It was mostly me talking and trying to bring them together in conversation and failing. It was disappointing.

Friday I watched my friend's crazy kids again which was not a great choice. They are just so difficult and my hormones are a little out of whack so it was a bad mix. When they finally left I was trying to clean house but then my kids were fighting. I was feeling overwhelmed and frustrated so I ditched cleaning and went to run a couple errands. While I was out errand running my new friend, Grace, sent me a text inviting my 3 youngers over. It was an answer to a prayer. I am so grateful she took them so I could regain my sanity. Quite honestly, I can't remember the last time someone offered to host my kids and it just really made my day.

Saturday morning the girls informed me that they think Penny's "Penny the Elephant doll" is alive. All because Penny had left her downstairs and somehow she had gotten into her bed. Maybe that had something to do with me cleaning the house ;)?

This week I also discovered that while Lucy does not like chick flicks, Penny most certainly does.I was watching one while doing the dishes and Penny started watching over my shoulder and making comments and smiling real wide when the couple kissed in the end. I am glad I have someone to watch these shows with me.