Finishing Up Summer

For one of our last days of summer we went to the zoo. Brendan decided to stay home.

It was a nice day so many more animals were outside. However, most were sleepy or sunbathing. However, the wolves were out playing. 

This picture makes it look like the giraffe has too many legs. 

We rode on the carousel. Daddy found the otter and Paige rode a red panda. 

It was a nice way to spend the morning. School Open Houses were that afternoon and the next day. Three open houses is a lot but this is the last year we will have kids in three schools. 

We also spent some time doing home repairs. We were able to finally fix the ceiling fan in the loft area so that it worked with the remote. they are old so I had to climb up on a ladder and angle the camera just right to find the make and model info to research the repair.

Jason also installed new smart thermostats. The ones we had were old as well and were not working correctly. Hopefully this will help our system work properly and save us money on our energy bill. 

There was also a Primary broadcast on Saturday. Paige is our only Primary kiddo so she watched it alone. I think she liked it though she is getting to the age where she's anxious to be in Young Women.

Lastly, there was a seminary fireside tonight where the students got to find out which class they had and meet their teachers. Brendan has Sister Ross and Sister Stuart and we are SO happy about that. Eva has Sister Gaynier and Sister Pike. We don't know them very well but they seem very nice and the kind of teachers that Eva would like. 

Open Houses

Two weeks ago an email was sent out that you could log on to view the class schedule for your students. I was able to print out everyone's except Eva's. For some reason hers was unavailable. I called the school and they said they were working on a fix. Well, we had to go into FHS to get her ID picture taken and card a few days ago made so we stopped at the counselor's office and asked if they could print it out, which they did. Now she knew which classes to find at Open House.

Franklin High's Open House was tonight and yesterday was Lundy Elementary's and Hornedo Middle School's. We went to every one and walked the building to find the classes. Elementary and middle had the teachers there but high school did not. Paige's teacher, Mr Cicchetti, is only in his second year of teaching and his room wasn't quite ready. We met in his team teacher's (Mrs. McIntosh) room. Then we walked over to Hornedo where Darby walked to each of her classes. Most were on the second floor and the ones on the first floor were pretty close to each other. She is happy with her schedule. 

For high school there are several buildings to contend with. There is main campus and magnet campus  (both two stories high) and the outdoor portables and gyms in between or behind. It took us a while to find Eva's classes and a lot of walking. We took pictures of the campus maps and I will print them out for her. She is very nervous about starting high school.

Brendan wasn't as concerned having been at FHS last year. So he skipped the Open House in favor of D&D with his friends. 

Saying Goodbye

Today we had to say goodbye to Fred and Nancy. It has been so  much fun having family visit. This morning we took Fred out for some birria tacos (which are amazing!). He agreed and thought it was a great way to top off his "eating my way through El Paso" trip. He said, "I am not the kind of person who takes a picture of my food but man I am going to take a picture of this!"

Back at home, before they left, we were able to get some cute pictures too. 

Uncle Fred and Grandma Nancy with the kids (silly pic and not)

The original McDaniels

I got in one picture. :)

The brothers. Jason loves having his brothers around. 

 

Steakhouse

We decided that taking Fred and Nancy to Cattlemen's Steakhouse was something we couldn't pass up. Its such a unique experience that you can't get anywhere else. We pulled in and stopped first to feed the deer. So many baby deer!

After checking in we went down the path to look at the other animals. Jason and Fred were enthralled by the rattlesnake pit. It just gave me the heebie jeebies. 

The rabbits were super cute. 

We were seated in the same table as the last time we came, which was funny.

While waiting for our meal we went out on the balcony and got to see the beautiful view. It was raining far off. 

The food was tasty (now that I know what to order). I especially like the pineapple coleslaw. There was a typo on the menu for one of the desserts. It was written "chocolate mouse" instead of "chocolate mousse". Fred ordered it the way it was spelled, hoping to get a chuckle from the waitress. She didn't even blink as she put the order in. Oh well. 

After we finished we took a look at the museum, the gift shop and the movie poster hallway. Uncle Fred got a picture with the "Manliest Steakhouse" poster. It was a fun night. 

Guns

One of the things that Jason planed to do with his brother was go to the shooting range. Jason called up his friend Todd and they all went. They took Brendan as well. By all reports it was a ton of fun. Fred said he is going to try to find a range when he gets back home. Brendan said he was better with the big guns than the handguns. 

 They also spent some time seeing the sites of El Paso. One of the girls had an appointment so it was just the guys who hung out this afternoon. Jason also introduced him to the best burritos he has found in EP yet and they are from the Speedway gas station. Fred joked that when he got back to SLC he would say that "even El Paso gas stations have better Mexican food than you do". 

Art, Downtown and Haircuts

We've been having a lot of fun with Uncle Fred. The kids love him and he is so good with them. He played For dog the Rings monopoly with Brendan. He drew pictures with Paige. He let her mess with is head and dress him up in her hat. She cannot get enough of him. He's such a good sport. 

We went downtown in search of food and the Welcome to El Paso sign. We ate at Chicos Tacos just for the experience but all agreed that they were nothing special. We walked around the downtown park for a while and ate the cream of chile soup at Cafe Central. We then walked along where Jason said the sign was. Well there was a Welcome to El Paso ARCH there as we were right on the border but it wasn't the welcome MURAL we were looking for. It was a super sketchy part of town too. But it was an adventure. 

At home Uncle Fred cut the hair of every female in the house. He said that Darby's hair was among the thickest he had ever worked on (she didn't get it from me!). He trimmed the girls hair and gave me a new style. He straightens the hair before he cuts and I had never seen Darby's hair so straight before. 

We took Grandma Nancy to do some shopping (she wanted a new purse) before dinner. Jason and Fred went to Cabelas while I took Grandma to HomeGoods. Now Fred has some new soaps from Cabela's that he is obsessed with. 

Visit

Uncle Fred and Grandma Nancy came to visit for few days! It was so much fun and we all loved it. They arrived in the afternoon after church. One of the first things that the girls wanted to do was play a ball tossing game with Uncle Fred. This game used to be something Jason and his brother Brad would do across Fred when they were teens just to bug him while he was sitting down trying to watch TV. The kids know this and thought it was funny. 

We had dinner and then sat and talked for most of the night. We have a lot of fun things planned to do with them these next few days. 

 

Birthday

They say things happen in threes. Well I got four today. Eva brought in the milk jugs after grocery shopping and put them down on the counter a bit too hard it seems. The circles on the side of the milk burst open on both gallons spilling milk all over. It even reached the back of the couch. 

We used every towel available to sop it up and wipe down all the surfaces. Now I have to wash them. Then Brendan mopped (bless him), but not until after he opened a tightly sealed cereal bag and accidentally spilling its contents all over the living room. Stella loved that. ;) 

Let's not forget that the outlet nearby kept tripping so I had to fix that before Brendan could plug in the steam mop. Lastly, I discovered this afternoon that somehow an ink pen was in that load of towels I had to wash due to the milk spill. Now I have to find a way to get ink out of all my white towels. 

Oh, and its my birthday today. Nothing to do but laugh about all my misfortune and move on. My forty fifth year isn't looking too good so far. Hahaha.

All I wish for for my birthday is no fighting and I don't have to cook. I got it this year. Jason and the kids took me out to my favorite steakhouse for dinner. 

Back at home he brought out the tasty tres leches cake he purchased for me and a new Willow Tree figurine to add to my collection. He had the kids all sign my card with a nice note and he also added Stella ("Woof!") and our robot vacuum Rhonda ("Vroom!"). 

So the day ended on a good note. Happy birthday to me!

Operation Outbreak

 

We did another escape room today.  This time we were bank robbers trapped in a vault trying to get out before the police arrive. It was fun and we all worked well together. At the beginning we were feeling very confused and I wondered if we would get out in time. But once things got rolling (and we opened up the secret room) we were doing better. We definitely needed different perspectives and abilities on this one. We escaped with 3 minutes and 26 seconds left. We went out for dessert to celebrate. 

Summer Days

There are only a few weeks of summer left. We had to go school shopping and I am always surprised at how much that costs. However, since moving to many digital assignments because of COVID we had to get less than in other years. 

The weather has been super hot and close to record-breaking. This is one of the only times I wish we had a pool.

Daddy missed us while we were at camp. I am so glad to be home. I just want to chill out for a few days and have low responsibilities. 

Eva came home with these glasses from camp as part of one of their activities. Paige thinks they are fabulous and thinks she wants to be a hippie for Halloween. 

Stanley has not lost his appeal to the kids. We found him reading a Far Side book the other day. 

Grandma Nancy and Uncle Fred are coming to visit soon and then we have all the school Open Houses. We have a little bit of summer left to come and we intend to have some fun.