We returned from England on Friday and jumped into Vacation Bible School on Monday. It seemed like a good idea at the time - would get us all up and adjusted to California time. Actually, it was easier adjusting this direction than it was going to England. No one had a terribly hard time getting up. It was a shock to me, however, that I actually had to get people up, dressed, fed and out of the house by 8:30 each day. Weren't we just doing that a few short weeks ago? Yes, we were. We had been so busy since the end of school that I hadn't thought through that part of the equation. And....I wanted the kids to go to VBS.
It was a TERRIFIC program, and they LOVED it! We bought the CD are are still playing the songs regularly.
VBS ended on a Friday, and my sister arrived with her son, our nephew on Tuesday. We had a TERRIFIC visit with them, although I could have made it better. I was very tired. We had been going strong since last November, when our move back to the U.S. kicked into high gear, and it felt like we hadn't stopped since. We rushed through Christmas, moved to a new place that we'd never been before, bought a house, moved into and out of a hotel while waiting for our house, enrolled the kids in 3 different schools, bought appliances, cell phones and cars, learned how to get around, tried to furnish a house significantly bigger than either our Cambridge or our Austin house, started the kids in sports, tennis and piano (at different times), and entertained a few visitors here and there. We had the kids' new friends over for playdates and found our way to new friends' houses, and made some new friends ourselves. Paul worked from 7am and didn't return home until after 8pm most days and I handled things with the kids and the house. I juggled school carnivals, meet the teacher days and made decision after decision about things I barely knew anything about. I was tired. Very tired. And I wanted some time with Paul.
I had a mind set that summer would be like this,
when it was more like this (and back and forth to England).
I am NOT complaining! I will put in a future post about how God has provided over and over in amazing ways. I'm just saying that my attitude could have been significantly better when my sister and my nephew visited. I'm so sorry, Marilyn.
Before I forget, the bike riding was SUPER fun! Every time we had a spare moment, David (our nephew) and our 4 kids were out on their bikes, wind whipping through their hair, having a great time on their "bike path". That is what summer is for, my friends!
We also went miniature golfing,
David got to drive these race cars,
and we went to Del Valle, a beautiful State Park just 6 miles from our house. You can rent boats and cruise down the river, or go on a hike, or swim in the little coves in the river. It was a nice afternoon. Here we are, starting out on our hike.
Andrew and John are always glad when there is a tree to climb.
Del Valle was really pretty. It kind of looked a little bit like Texas!
Throwing little rocks or trying to skip rocks in a river is always fun!
Over the weekend, Paul joined us and we went to Monterey. My expectation was to ride bikes along the beach, but it was kind of cool (again with the whole "cooler on the coast" thing in Northern California) and we started with something else on our list instead. I had found out about a "mirror maze". It sounded really fun, and it was a better hit than I thought. It's hard to see from this picture, but you entered from one end and you were supposed to find your way to the other side. There were plenty of hallways, but tons of mirrors,too. You could get REALLY mixed up - you could SEE your children, and hear them, but not touch them if they took a turn different from you, and it was REALLY hard to figure out how to actually GET to them!
This picture gives you a better idea. Obviously there is only 1 of Megan(pink) and Kathryn(blue). You can see the flash on my camera in the mirror. Which one is real, and which one is in the mirror? Pretty tricky to find your way through, isn't it?!
Fortunately, everyone (except John) thought it was fantastic fun, and they went in over and over, trying to "memorize" the right turns (once they found them). Good fun!
Right next to the mirror maze was a laser something or other. It was just a dark hallway, with laser lights criss crossed throughout the hall. You were suppose to be a spy (or a burglar), and weave your way from one end to the other without tripping any of the lasers. The goal was to be the fastest to get to the end. If you set off a laser, time was added to your score. I think this is one of us going through. There were many more lasers than this. They don't show up on the camera.
David went first, then our kids, my sister and finally Paul. Paul was DYING to give it a try! We discovered that the smallest/thinnest has a big advantage. For example, Andrew was not as tall as David, and he ended up with a better score, only because he didn't have to worry about his head tripping one of the higher lasers. Paul's broad shoulders caused him some problems. Megan was trying for perfection, and lost precious time. Everyone had a great time trying to improve their score, and I sat on a bench with John, enjoying everyone having a good time.
The mirrors/laser mazes, were vastly more entertaining than expected, and we ended up spending quite a bit of time there. We decided to opt out of the bike ride (it was my #1, but I am not a fan of cold, and it was colder in Monterey than expected.)
After a quick lunch, we headed for Pfeifer beach - supposedly it had purple sand! That post is next!!!
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