The Last Week of Summer

This week was the last week of summer break. Jeff went back to work at the high school on Thursday, August 17th, so it was actually only a partial week with the true summer feel. Wildfire smoke rolled in from Spokane yesterday, and we went from a clear, single-digit air quality index (green, or "healthy") to an AQI of 209 (purple, or "extremely unhealthy") in a few short hours. We've been hovering between 191-209 AQI for over 24 hours now, and it's giving me a headache. To keep it simple, here are some bland journal excerpts from the week:

Monday, August 14th: Back at it! Cross country practice, then an hour long PT workout (killer), followed by a trip to Walmart. Whew. This afternoon Jeff and I prepped papers to hand out at the HS fall sports parent meeting that was held tonight, and we went to the meeting. It's so nice to be an assistant coach again, at least for this season! Haha. 

Amber ran a mile with me at XC practice this morning (her time was 10:55) because we had our hill workout in front of her best friend's house that's a mile from here. Amber grew out of her 20 inch bike, and Rose's old 24 inch bike had dead flat holey tires, so Amber ran the warm-up with us so she could see her friend. Those two friends are adorable-- they hugged right when we arrived and immediately started talking intently. My heart melted.

Jay had his good friends Noah and Jordan over today. They played Dungeons and Dragons in the barn for two hours. They are cute about it, not weird or creepy, haha. Rose had a great workout and enjoyed a relaxing day at home recovering. I gave her a pair of my running shorts because she grew out of more of her old shorts, and apparently she can wear all of my clothes now!

Tuesday, August 15th: Today was another busy day doing businesslike things. After xc practice this morning, I did all kinds of useful paperwork stuff, emails, etc. It felt good to be productive. I even had time to play piano today finally! It felt good, although my back and core muscle are so tired and sore from yesterday's physical therapy that I didn't have much more than 20 minutes of piano stamina in me today. 

We had family scripture tonight! That is always an extra win in the summer. I have been struggling with Paul in the New Testament. Last night Jeff and I talked it over and we decided that for family scripture, we will read a few verses that are listed in the Come Follow Me manual and then read from the Book of Mormon. We needed some positive meaningful scriptures in our family time, and it felt great to get back to that tonight. 

Wednesday, August 16th: We went to the Moses Lake Temple open house today! It was a 95 minute drive through the blank brown center of our state on minor bumpy roads. How does the Moses Lake Stake have 11 wards and a temple?? Why do people live there? It's in the middle of nowhere! But the temple was gorgeous. I loved the decorative apple blossoms painted and carved on the ceilings and over doorways. I also loved being in the peaceful temple with Jeff, Jay, Rose, and Amber. We met our 8 local White family members there for the open house. Jay and Rose said they liked the peace they felt in the celestial room. Amber liked when Jeff held her up to see the mirrors reflecting forever in the sealing room. It was a sweet experience talking about the temple with our kids and showing them around the parts they don't get to see often. 

When we were walking to the car after the temple tour, my cousin Juliana drove past us in the parking lot! She parked and we chatted for a few minutes in the blazing 99 degree sun. She drove her kids 4.5 hours from Olympia (where they live) to see the temple open house! As we drove back home from Moses Lake this afternoon, wildfire smoke floated in. Ugh. Hopefully it doesn't get bad enough to stop us from running!

Thursday, August 17th: Jeff had his first day of work in the new school year today. I did cross country practice with Coach Dan Winger and 15 runners this morning--thankfully the wildfire smoke from yesterday blew away so we could run just fine. Then I went to a physical therapy appointment--PT twice a week is whipping me into shape! This afternoon, I took all 3 kids to the dentist. We stopped at the library on our way home, and Amber chose a large stack of 20 books. Jay and Rose didn't pick any books because they prefer audiobooks and Kindle books. I love how much Amber loves the library! She's been asking to go all week. 

Friday, August 18th: Jay went to freshman orientation today! At the high school! He said it went fine. While he was there, I took Amber to the bike shop in the tri cities (45 minutes away) to trade in her old 20-inch frame bike for a 24-inch bike. The trade-in value of her 2 year old bike was good for $100 off the new bike. Add in tire fortifications/anti-puncture treatments, and it was still a bit pricey--over $400. It was hard not to cringe or second guess buying such an expensive bike for an 8 year old on a normal non-birthday/non-Christmas day, but a good bike makes such difference, and Amber needs to be able to bike with our team while we run. I hope we aren't spoiling our last child though! Jay and Rose never had a bike even close to this nice at Amber's age. They also disliked biking at her age, possibly due to their heavy rusty clunky thrift store/Walmart bikes. Ugh. Whatever. Expensive decision has been made. Moving on. 

While we were out, Amber and I also went to Target to get some new bath towels for the kids (finally) to replace the disgusting yellowing, 11 year old, used-to-be-white Walmart towels. I threw the old towels in the trash and replaced them with freshly washed soft new towels. It felt good to do something that I've been meaning to do for YEARS. Hah. To complete our extravagant outing, Amb and I got burgers at Five Guys for lunch on our way home. 

Rose ran 5 miles at XC practice this morning, and she felt tired and lounged all day afterwards. We're still working on not being total vegetables after a run. But five miles is a lot for a 12 year old, if you ask me! 

Jeff threw out his back while setting up his classroom at the high school today, by simply bending over, so he went to the chiropractor and then came home to rest. He has to lie down with his feet up for at least two days! Bad timing! The man has enough other physical battles to fight! Why now? It's been years since he had a back issue! Waaaahhh! Silver lining: since Jeff was home flat on his back, I did not make Rose come with me and Amber on our errands. Not that Rose can't stay home alone, but it seemed lame and sad to leave her alone. But she got to stay home after all because Jeff came home. 

Saturday, August 19th: Wildfire smoke rolled in steadily all day long today, and now we're at an AQI of 217, which is purple, or VERY UNHEALTHY. It gives me a headache and kills my motivation. I ate Domino's Pizza for dinner tonight for the first time in years. That's how low my defenses were. It took two lactase pills for my stomach to digest it comfortably, haha. 

I ran this morning before the smoke got really bad (even though it wasn't great), and I went on a bumpy 2 mile bike ride out back with Amber to enjoy her new bike. Then we all stayed inside for the rest of the day. The kids watched 2 Harry Potter movies this afternoon and evening. I finished watching a weird K drama. Amber got out one of Rose's outgrown cami bras and randomly decided to wear it today. She proudly pulled up her shirt to show me. And Jay, hahahaha. Jay looked away and left the room. 

UGH smoky AQI headache!

Hill workout in the country.

Amber and her BFF, Kamila.

It makes me happy when the cross country kids choose to hang out in our yard, snacking blackberries and talking after our August runs.

Speaking of the new yard, the landscaping company was hard at work revamping the irrigation system! It is a fascinating process to watch.

As if attending freshman orientation wasn't enough of a milestone, Jay shaved his face for the first time this week! He had a crop of golden chin and mustache hairs that had to go. I had to take a picture in memorial of the event. I also gave him a back-to-school haircut, so he was looking extra sharp in time for his first high school event.

Amber is getting rather savvy at dishwasher loading.

A sisterly card game of Cover Your Assets.

Jay and two of his friends, Noah and Jordan, playing Dungeons and Dragons in the barn.

Before the wildfire smoke rolled in, the first four days of the week were a heat wave, with temperatures in the triple digits every day. We just can't win in August!

A sibling game of Cover Your Assets.

We don't know exactly when our new house will be ready, but the estimate is within the next two months...which has resulted in a less organized rental house--we're on the verge of lugging all of our stuff across the street anyways, so why waste time organizing it now? Take our pantry, for example. It is a weird pantry to begin with, but I know how to organize it well enough after all this time living here. But what's the point in a well-ordered pantry now, when we're moving soon? This cluttered junky pantry is driving me crazy, but not enough to make the organizational effort to change it! 

Library books! Amber picked out all of her favorite graphic novels as well as a bunch of others, and it was a formidable stack.

The Moses Lake Temple Open House:

The temple was bigger than I expected it to be! The heat wave was still waving when we went, so we were melting outside the temple in our quick pictures.

Grandparent/cousin picture at the temple.

Family temple selfie!

An unexpected meet-up with my cousin Julianna! She's so sweet.

Jay, all ready for freshman orientation.

Amber, riding her new bike from the bike shop to the parking lot.

The 24 inch bike doesn't fit in our van's trunk anymore--we had to fold down the back seats.

Post-shower Amber, attempting a towel head wrap while eating breakfast.

Our house on Friday morning, after the heat wave blew out but before the choking smoke blew in.