This month we took a very quick getaway trip with our good friends Eric and Tennille Sorensen. They are always fun to be with and offer loads of deep conversation. We went up to the Philly Temple and then over to Amish Country to see the Sight and Sounds Theater put on the play Esther. It was incredible. We also visited some great Amish stores and even an Amish auction, which as pretty entertaining. We are some really great food including authentic Philly cheesesteaks and a bacon platter.
With a lot of tears we said goodbye to Ivy Springs. We ate one last meal on the floor and had scripture study. We all said things we are going to miss or memories we won't forget about the house.
The kids took last pictures of their bedrooms. So many hours of work that I spend on those bedrooms making them each special for that child. I think what made this so hard was the fact that we didn't have a new home we were going to. In fact, we still don't know where we are going to end up.
We spent our first week in a hotel room at The Boards Head Resort, which came with some pretty great amenities. The kids loved this rock wall and the pool and I loved the room service. We are so grateful to our neighbors, the Cronburgs for helping us get this room. He's the manager of the resort and had hooked us up a few years ago when we redid the floors in the house. He did the same this time too!
After the Boards Head, our dear friends the Sheffield's let us stay at their home for a whole month while they were gone on vacation. This was incredibly generous of them. While it felt strange to be in someone else's house, we were grateful for a kitchen to cook in and a washer and dryer and just a place to be.
We had the responsibility of tending the garden, which was no small task. The kids pretty much took it upon themselves to take care of it. Any plant I touch seems to die. We got away with only killing one tomato plant.
We spent a lot of time watching the Summer Olympics. Carmen really got into the rowing events. I can't think of any other time I'd sit and watch a ping pong tournament, but the Olympics make you want to watch every athlete!
And then the event for which Dallin has been waiting so long....youth summer camps. Not because he could attend them, but rather because everyone would be gone and it would be an entire week with just MOM! And boy did he have big plans! After dropping everyone off for camp, we promptly went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, just the two of us.
Later we decided to have a Chick-fil-a sauce contest to see which one really is the best. We ordered a ton of chicken nuggets and got all the sauces and then ranked them. And it was no shock to either of us that the best was indeed Chick-fil-a sauce. Honey mustard and buffalo were close though.
Another day, we invited his best buddy, Case, to the science museum with us. Once we got there, I wasn't sure how long we would last, but we seriously closed the place down. These two tried it all!!
They loved this racing game where you had to try to beat some of the fastest animals on the planet.
And they spent forever making their own claws for the claw machine game.
Im so glad Dallin has such a good friend. Case and him have been together since preschool.
And then I think on the hottest day of the week, we decided to go play miniature golf...and we played two rounds. I was dying from heat!
Meanwhile these girls were at Young Women's Camp. Here are a few pictures I got from their leaders. It's so strange to not be there and be part of all the hoopla. I was a little jealous of everyone that got to go. Carmen was over the same group that Charlotte was with, so I got pictures of both of them, but none of Aliza. It looks like it was an incredible week.
