Remembering 9-11

September 11 is always a surreal day for me. I remember with scary detail the things I experienced in my 5th grade classroom while all teaching was halted, and instead we watched the TV nonstop the entire school day. My teacher was ex-military, so he was quick to shut down any talk of anyone saying anything like "cool," "wow," "look at the flames" etc. He was candid in his remarks as to why what we were witnessing was not "cool," "wow," or in any way entertaining. Now that I'm an adult and have a more mature way of seeing things, I'm realizing the impact that day had on American history. At how torn apart the country seems these days, it is amazing to see that in the moment of tragedy, our people will pull together.

A Sept 11 Memorial came to the Davis County Fairgrounds this year and we were sure to take our kids to it. They spared no detail in documenting the events of that day. Although our girls weren't able to understand much of what they were watching and seeing in the pictures and videos, they were able to understand that it was a scary day. It was a good experience for us as parents to be able to teach our girls about history, and how it can impact our future.

Cute Sof comforting Claire. They were feeling all of the feels looking at the pictures.

They had separate rooms where people could sit and watch documentaries of survivors. It was surreal to sit and watch the same broadcasts I saw as a 10 year old. It's crazy to relive things after 21 years.

This was super cool to me and something I didn't know happened.

After getting through the heavy history stuff, there were fun activities for the kids outside. 

The girls were thrilled to get some balloon animals; kitties, of course.

The coolest bus ever!

Me and my Quincey babes. She makes everything better!

Claire Starts Pre-K

I'm learning that Claire is smart. Like, crazy smart. She has the memory of an elephant, nothing goes unnoticed, and she is constantly surprising me at her crazy attention to detail. Her genius is both a blessing and a curse. For one, she often remembers where I put things and can tell me where they are when I forget (or when she hides them). But, her genius causes her to obsess over things, like starting Pre-K for example. It was a loooooooonnnnnnnggggggggg couple of weeks until it was her turn to go to her class. 

This is Claire with Ms Kaylin. Our neighboorhood absolutely raves about Ms Kaylin, so I was pretty excited for Claire to experience her awesomeness.

Claire only had Ms Kaylin for 3 days, until we got an unexpected text saying she had been in a biking accident and was unconscious at the hospital. After multiple surgeries, she was deemed unfit to teach, and we were left high and dry for a few days while we waited to see how she was. Her injuries were so extensive, that her husband emailed us a list. She broke all sides of her body except her left leg - it was crazy! She was optimistic that she would be able to return to teaching by December, but I wasn't too sure that was going to happen, so I frantically called around and got Claire signed up for another preschool. I may have jumped the gun, but Claire needs opportunities to be social, and I need the 3 hours I get on Tuesday's and Thursday's to be productive - it's necessary for both of our sanities!

Ms. Kaylin had her accident the day before the first scheduled field trip to the Kaysville Fire Department, and since she had made an appointment, we all went anyway. It was pretty cool but equally sad to be there without her.

Claire wasn't able to celebrate her birthday in Preschool like we planned, but luckily her new preschool made up for it on the 2nd day she was there. She is happy to be back at Apple Tree Schoolhouse and chose to celebrate by having her classmates dress in their jammies.

Hiking Donut Falls

Let's start the post off with a video of The Quince. We love her!

We hiked Donut Falls one Saturday in September, and it was really cool! The road and parking lot were crazy busy, but we were lucky enough to snag a parking spot close to the trail head. It was a beautiful day and the girls enjoyed being out in nature! 

Claire and her silly antics. She is so funny!

The girlies climbing a hill. It is waaaaaay steeper than it looks!

Meanwhile, back on flat ground ....

Climbing back down.

The scenery was beautiful and it smelled even better!

We made it! Greg and the girls are up there somewhere.

Waiting with my little bestie.

Sof loved it so much she climbed back up with me to see it again. It was really cool!

Greg and his little bestie.

The whole crew.

Later that afternoon, we decided to go to Cherry Hill, because why not?

The confidence of this man astounds me.

Rub a dub dub, 3 beauties in a tub.

The Deck of All Decks

So, we redid our deck, and it ended up being a doozy. You think by now that I would realize that none of my projects are ever as easy as I think they would be, and redoing the deck was definitely something I don't want to ever do again.

It took most of June for me to get measurements and quotes from various suppliers in the area. After deciding who to go with, the next item on our list was to pick the Trex color that we wanted. That, again, took weeks because Greg and I are 2 of the most undecided people to hit the planet. We finally picked out a color, which in itself seemed like a small miracle, and I got everything ordered. It still boggles my mind how a Domestic Goddess like myself can know more about building supplies than the so-called experts who work at the local construction stores. 

Anyway, the project I thought would take 2 weeks ended up taking 2 months. It was not awesome.

Greg did a fantastic job demo-ing the deck and it was my job to put it back together - a job that ended up being much bigger than I thought.

Buh-bye horrible blinding vinyl.

Hello totally rotten joists underneath.

I ended up removing all but 2 of the rotten joists and replacing 1/2 of 1 of the beams. Aren't the new supports so pretty?

This is how the girls got to the backyard. They made a fun game out of balancing across the joists, and I'm proud to say that no one fell through the cracks. They were good little helpers and I like to think that they will grow up to one day enjoy building things like their Mama.

Every morning they would wake up to see what progress had been made on the deck while they were sleeping. All I can say is our neighbors were troopers.

Doesn't it look so good?! Now it only needs the white trim.

If you are ever in the market to redo your deck, I have a wealth of knowledge of what not to do/what not to buy :). It was a great learning experience, and I have had a few nightmares of my father telling me what I did wrong. Probably because my sub-conscious knows what I did wrong, but the deck is sturdy and that's all that matters. It's a beaut and I'm so glad it is done! It feels so good to check this on off the list of things to do. 

I built a deck in my sandals, ripped my good exercise clothes, and personally fed the local mosquito community, but that is okay, because the deck is done.

Hala-freakin-lujah!

The End of August

We got an awesome tow strap that allows me to pull Sofi on her bike. It's the best!

We love finding Kitty Casey when we go down to the Kaysville ponds.

I hope Claire is always this confident. 

Claire is so excited to start her dance class. She sure dances to the beat of her own drum.

6 months old!
- So smiley
- Loves food
- Getting stronger at sitting up

The cutest babe at Cherry Hill!

They're loving the neighbor's A/C unit 🤣

I'm not sure who looks more mischevious

Sofia the 2nd Grader

Sofia started 2nd Grade. She was equal parts nervous and excited. We were told she had the best teacher in the school, Mrs. Smith, who has won multiple awards. We thought Mrs. Thomas was the best teacher for 1st Grade, so Sof has hit the teacher jackpot again.

True to tradition, Greg took Sof to school on the ebike. Yes, the Farrari was in the parking lot again this year.

Sof came home really excited about her class. She had a lot of fun friends in her class and said she had a great day. That is always a relief for me to hear her say that :).

We surprised the girls that night by going to the Ogden Jump Park for Family Night. There was fun Wipe-out area in the corner that the girls had a lot of fun on. It took a few tries, but they finally got the hang of it.

Watching Claire scorpion was a highlight of the night. Oh to be 4 again ...