Sunday Jessie and I finished reading Peter Nimble. It was one of the strangest, entertaining and gloomy books I have read because it is so dark and lacks any hope in the beginning. You our compelled to continue because you anticipate that this boy must somehow have a better life then he has. In the end you are glad you read it because of the perseverance of the main characters and ultimately the triumphant over despair and evil. You have been warned of the dreariness but I would recommend reading it.
We spent another pday with the missionaries at the Beachnut building. They boys really enjoy playing basketball with the missionaries. They do a 4 on 4 in a round robin since the missionaries aren’t allowed to play full court basketball to lessen the likelihood of injuries. Allie, Jessie and I did some drawings on whiteboards with these cool whiteboard pencils. Jessie also played school with her bitty boos. I also visited with missionaries that weren’t participating in basketball. We decided tonight was a good time for family Torchy’s night. Gotta love our Torchy’s. ;)
The kids enjoyed a fun day in our backyard pool with each other. I don’t think Allie planned on actually swimming but Bode saw to it that she got drenched by jumping from the house roof into the pool so it was inevitable after that. I picked up two blow-up surf boards from Five Below that are great to lay out on (Allie and Zac) or have some fun swimming competitions (Jessie and I). Zac got a one-sided burn from laying out. :P I am glad the kids love being together. Makes a mom happy. :)
Zone meetings were held on Wednesday. I went to the Houston South Zone and while I was in the meeting the kids played basketball and rode long boards at the church. Afterwards they went to another family favorite, Bahama Bucks. Allie and Zac love the Strawberry Bahama Colada. The other two got fun flavored snow cones. Nice on a hot sticky day! The boys had a YM/YW combined activity. Bode did not want to go because the Deacons were in charge and he did not like the “boring” activity that they had planned. The activity was making boats out of straws and tape that had to hold a penny and race against other straw boats. They did get to enjoy homemade ice cream afterwards. I explained that in the future this was a good learning opportunity to speak up when you have a differing opinion. He thought I was lame. ;) Did I mention I have three teenagers in the house. Today was not nearly the pleasant day that we had yesterday. Between Bahama Bucks and YM/YW everyone was bugging each other and quite frankly were rude as well. Too much down time together. UUUGH!
We planned our day to go to Schlitterbahn, a really big and fun water park on Galveston Island. The boys had gone last summer and loved it! It is kind of pricey so I was hesitant because I wasn’t sure it was worth the expense. As we were driving down the clouds opened up on us and just started dumping. We were worried our day was ruined. Bode was determined we should still go because even though it’s raining it is still warm so why not, so I continued driving down. As we got closer the sky began clearing up but still drizzling. We could finally see the park and it was completely clear all around it. I thought we should at least check it out to see if it was open. It was and we went for it. Such a fun day!! Most likely the storms scared others from coming because it wasn’t really crowed and we rarely waited more than 10 minutes to go on a ride. We only stayed four hours but I totally felt like we got our money’s worth because we weren’t fighting lines or crowds. Jessie begged to stay later but Zac and Allie had headaches. So when we got back home, showered and eaten dinner Jessie and Bode were back in the pool. Funny kids
Wake Nation was on our to-do list while Allie was visiting but the boys really wanted Aaron to be able to go with us so we waited for him to finish up a zone meeting before we went. Wake Nation is a cable wakeboarding park in a small man made lake with ropes coarse and an Aqua zone area that includes paddle boards. The boys all paid for wakeboarding and the girls Aqua zone. Aaron and Zac were able to wakeboard from the get go but Bode was having a hard time and getting frustrated. I could see he just needed to get used to the pull of the cable and suggested he try the beginner’s cable. It pulls a little slower but I’m just his mom and don’t know what I am saying. After hanging with us in the Aqua zone for half hour Aaron and Zac convinced him to go with them over to the beginner cable. After doing it for a few times he came back to the advance cable and did great! Bode boy has a stubborn side but luckily we got around it so he could enjoy the rest of our time at Wake Nation. We had a fun family day! We are glad we waited for Aaron to join us. Having all of us there as a family made it more fun. :) We enjoyed dinner at Blaze pizza and Marble Slab and Jessie and Bode ended the day in the hot tub.
The boys had a shooting basketball camp on Saturday at Rice University from 9 to 3. I did my own “sprint triathlon” again for my workout today. I am sure my swim is not nearly long enough but oh well I am enjoying myself. We got the girls ready to go to Utah. We made a quick run to the mall for Allie and grabbed lunch while we were there. We came back with plenty of time to get to the airport but didn’t get out the door as promptly as we should have. Traffic didn’t help us either nor did not getting on the HWY 8, we missed the exit. We arrived to the airport with enough time for them to make the boarding time but the airline didn’t want to allow the girls on. Aaron set them straight and they finally let them go through security to board. They made it on their plane and made it back to Utah. My heart is heavy because I will be without both my girls for almost six weeks. I know they will be fine with all our family so anxious to have them there but I may struggle. L Aaron and I then picked up the boys from their camp. They were hilariously imitating the coach on how to make a good shot. If anything they will not forget the mechanics of shooting. We then dropped Aaron off for the priesthood session for the Houston Stake Conference. We had a full week that I will cherish! Make memories!