This was the last week of summer vacation for Mark so I tried to get him to choose our outings. Monday was pretty rainy but Mark and Jared had made plans to go frisbee golfing with the missionaries so they went and got soaking wet. They played 9 holes then called it. Lydia and I went over to Barnes and Noble to read some books and enjoy a hot chocolate. She is always so excited to get hot chocolate and then starts drinking it and comments on how the stuff we make at home is so much better. It really is. But we enjoyed our date together. We also spent a good amount of time reading that day. Jared and Lydia have both been doing a great job with our reading "program". Jared has earned 5 rewards and I think Lydia has done 3. I have spent a fair amount of time looking up books at their reading levels and found this great series for Jared called the "I survived" series. They take a famous event and a survivors experience and he loves them. He is a big fan of Historic Fiction. Its been so lovely to see him start a book and not want to stop reading, to sit read it from start to finish. I have had time to read more books this summer and its been so nice. Hooray for reading all around. We also did another science experiment which was kind of a dud and will not be repeated. Its been helpful to try these out for preschool next year too. Speaking of preschool, I had 2 more families sign up on Friday and another one email me about preschool! That means I have a full class of 8 students and like a wait list!!! It's an amazing feeling. What an answer to hours of prayer, stress and frustrations. I am thrilled to have a full class and am anxious to see what it will be like to A. not have Lydia in the class and B. have 8 students to teach, love, prepare for and manage. It will be great to see if I like that many or will aim for 6 next year. I am so grateful.
World War II Memorial.
Lydia was at camp from 9:00-11:00 and had a great time! She has never been super excited about going to Kindergarten. It's not that she doesn't want to go or doesn't think she will like it, she just seems to think she would prefer preschool. I am pretty sure the only negative thing I have ever said is that its long and really that is just the truth! But I think she will have a good year. She met with 2 different teachers, one on each day and ended up with her teacher from the first day, Ms. Hunter which I am thrilled about. Everyone I talked to had only good things to say about her and I have been impressed with what I saw of her at school. There are about 6 kids from primary who are all going to Baker Butler next year but it doesn't look like Lydia has class with any of them. It's totally fine but it could have been fun to have one of them in her class. It looks like most of the "mormon" kids ended up in separate classes. There are 6 classes I believe and I do know 2 kids are together but not the others. Hopefully she will feel comfortable and love Ms. Hunter. I know I will be sad to have her gone all day but she is ready and will do great. Its a happy-sad. We found out Jared's teacher too. He has Annie Martin, a new hire. We found out that a friend from church is in his class and his good buddy from last year Marcus, who lives just down the street from us, is in his class. He hoped to have class with Tyler again but no luck. He is so happy to have Marcus though. Hard to believe the new school year is just a week away.
Mark really wanted to float down this section of the Shenandoah River so we made the hour and 25 minute drive over to Luray and made it happen. We drove to the end spot, dropped off his car and then drove back to the put in spot and got ready. This stretch was 8 miles long so it would take roughly 3 hours. We got our kayaks in and I had this strange feeling of almost anxiety. Were we really committing to being in kayaks for 3 hours? It's not like a pool or park where if we got tired of it we could just walk away, no we would be doing this for the next 3 hours. I was concerned about Jared paddling that long too. The river didn't really have rapids but it did have a decent current that helped. It wasn't completely flat, it had parts where the current picked up they were sort of like ledges or "steps" and Jared and Lydia loved them. We got stuck more than once and scraped up the bottom of our kayaks but using them was way better then floating in a tube. That would have taken even longer than 3 hours and our bums would be soar from rocks! We knew we would scrape the kayaks up and had decided it was what they were made for, what would be the point of having kayaks that we didn't use for adventures? After about 3 miles Mark attached Jared's kayak to his and towed him and Lydia. This was a really good arrangement. Lydia started out in Mark's kayak but then there was a bee so she was not wiling to stay in his and came into mine. It was fine having her with me but way more fun when she rode on the back of Jared's. On the map Mark looked up the night before it showed a good spot for swimming and Jared and Lydia took advantage of that. I'm glad they could swim some. We had really nice weather with good cloud coverage and low humidity which helped a ton, it was a fun adventure. I'm not sure its an every summer kind of thing (Mark would say yes it was and I would be willing to do it every year) and we both agreed it would be even more fun with friends so we will try that next time. We finished the 8 miles at just over 3 hours. Mark drove his car to the put in spot about 10 minutes away, came back with the Highlander to load up the kayaks and then we drove back to the put in spot so he could drive his car home. It definitely takes some coordinating but it all worked out great. It was a pretty spot and a fun different thing to do.
You can see the "rapids" here. Jared really did an excellent job.
Beautiful.
So, Mark wanted to have a BBQ with the families serving in the Bishopric and planned it all out with those he's serves with. I just needed to show up. But before that could happen another crazy event took place. Jared, Lydia and I were in the front room reading when all of a sudden we heard a crash in our front yard. A car crashed into some trees at the top of our driveway! Mark had been walking down the hall way and saw the car come across our driveway and crash. We stood there for a moment and then rushed out to see if we could help. The driver was a young girl right around 20 and said she blacked out which caused the crash. Mark called 911 and they arrived shortly after. It was amazing that the girl could walk away from her car. Her door got jammed by some trees so she ended up climbing out the sun roof. I was thinking of worst case scenarios and wanted her away from the car as soon as possible in case it blew up or caught fire. She seemed in pretty good shape, a cut on her arm and leg and sore ribs. Our neighbors heard the noise and came up to help. One is a nurse so it was nice to have her there. A fire truck, ambulance and sheriff all showed up. The paramedics checked her out and she seemed fine. This was at 4:00 and everyone was supposed to arrive at 5:00. It was scary and crazy! She came over today to drop off a nice card thanking us for helping her and bought brownies. We allow Jared and Lydia to play at the top of the driveway but had a good talk with them about where they need to go if they hear a car coming. Our mailman also came by shortly after and his first question was to see if Jared and Lydia were okay. They love greeting him and he looks forward to seeing them, it was sweet of him. We were just so relieved the driver wasn't hurt more!
The BBQ turned out well. The tow truck was removing the car when people started arriving, an unexpected sight I am sure. We planned on eating outside on the deck but were concerned we would be rained out. It rained for about 20 minutes but then stopped and we were able to enjoy our newly stained deck. It really is great outdoor space. I am glad we could eat out there as finding space where 20+ people could be together and covered would have been a challenge. Mark grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and everyone brought delicious sides. It was low key, loud and fun. The kids enjoyed playing together and it was nice to have a chance to visit with some of these people. The men talk regularly but I have rarely gotten to visit with any of their wives and was glad I could some. They are great families and we are so appreciative of their willingness to give of their time and their family time to help Mark and our ward. I am sure we will have more gatherings together. I enjoy getting together with people but can't decide if Mark maybe likes it even more.
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