Tuesday August 28 2007 - WHAT A SUMMER

Well, here we are already, the day before school officially starts!!! I can't believe summer flew by so fast (this seems to be something I say regularly now!!). Time really does seem to fly faster and faster each year. We had a great summer. Lots of fun visiting with family, moving, meeting new people, and a little bit of travelling here and there! I am a little worried for real life to begin again (mostly cause that will mean that my extra set of eyes "aka: Kendall" will be back to work as well). The girls had a little sleep in this morning and missed saying good bye to him and it was like deja vu from life only a couple months ago. He's got some little daddy's girls here who have become quite accustomed to him being home more often!! I also have had fun doing a little bit of canning this past month or so. We've done pickles, apples bottled in a sause for pies (but since I can't make a pie, I'm thinking apple crisps), my grandma Toone's million dollar relish (there's nothing better on top of chicken or turkey than this relish!!!!) salsa of course...(Kendall had to make his own batch again...this time with 5 habenero peppers in it....OUCH!) and also beets (thanks to mom and dad!). It's been so fun to learn how to do this. I suppose all this is explanation for why my heels are killing me these days (that and a combination of gaining weight!!!!)...but it's all so new to me still that it's just thrilling to get jars up on my shelves!!! We had a fun weekend this past weekend. We joined the "other Rausch's" (my uncle Darcy and his family) camping in Brooks and water skiing on Lake Newell. Quite the amazing lake. We arrived later on Friday in time for a fun boat ride (the girls loved jumping from the boat into the lake) and of course a great time visitng with all my cousins and their kids. It was great to see Chad and Heather and their kids as well that night!

Mya was cute with my uncle Darcy. I think he reminded her a lot of my dad (Grandpa Rausch). Same silly fun loving guy who even sort of looks like Grandpa. She would inch up close to him wanting to sit by him...it was pretty cute I thought. Instead of cooking our own breakfast, we headed into town for the best breakfast ever....at auntie Lans A&W. Thanks again so much!!! We loved it!!! The girls had a blast there. Ava got to talk to Jess on the headphones while she was serving customers! They also got to try out the new till and pretend to take an order!

We got to go in the back, and as Mya would say "we even got to see autnie Lans desk!". Wow! We loved being there. It was such a busy day for them and we appreciated her taking the time to make our visit so fun. I have to say, I think its so cool that Marlan and her kids work together. Theres something pretty neat about that and I couldnt help but think as we drove off after seeing Jess and her mom at work together... that I hope that my girls and I will be that close when they grow up. I can imagine that working together allows them to share in different ways than if they each went their seperate way to work each day. No doubt there are lots of laughs!! I wish we could have seen the 4 of them in action but we'll just have to visit again! So cool I think!! It was great to see Jess as well and we cant wait to see more of her when she moves for school!!!! Here is a shot of Kendall and Brookie Lan helping him (sort of) with the tent.

The girls had fun sleeping in the tent. Luckily it wasnt too cold! The next day the wind was quite strong and the water was so choppy. There was no way the boat was going in that day but the kids still had fun playing in the waves. The waves were so strong it actually sort of frieked me out cause it would come in and just bowl them over!!!

So, after deciding that there would be no boating for sure....we headed into town to a big indoor water park that was totally fun. There are no pictures from that...cause it was just too fun to take time out to snag a shot or two. We are already planning another trip there. I feel bad that we havent visited there more often!!!! So that was our fun weekend. One last little adventure before school starts. I had better run before Brookie eats all my bread dough. I can hear her pushing a chair up to the counter. That kid is so silly, she LOVES raw bread dough and could eat it by the handfulls if allowed. Just a quiet day here playing catch up and getting laundry done and other organizing! I hope tomorrow goes well for Ava and Mya. First days of school can be pretty exciting but I hope they have at least one familiar face in their classes!! Mya is going to Kindergarden (mornings) and Ava is already in Grade 2. That will leave Brooklyn and I at home to enjoy a little one on one for a few hours each day!!! Should be exciting!