PA to NJ to CA

Where There's Smoke

Tonight's adventure was provided by a driver hitting a power pole on the far side of the street behind our house, the whole pole coming down, the driver being pulled from his car by either my neighbor or the police (that detail was fuzzy), something then exploding, and at least three of the pine trees in our next-door neighbor's yard going up in flames. I gathered the kids, their school bags, and a few irreplaceable items and we sat in our van across the street from the front of our house watching the firefighters battle the fire. There are pine trees all along the back of our property and I was concerned that the fire in our neighbor's yard would jump over to our yard. The fire is now out and we're all going to try to sleep for a few hours before we need to be up for school.

The first picture was taken from our front yard.

Starting Again, Minus One

We spent the last week and a half in California and Utah. We flew back home yesterday so the kids could start school today. Well, most of the kids started today. We left Peter back in Utah so he could move into his apartment on-campus and then start his classes at BYU next week.

Has it registered that Peter has moved out? Not really. It kind of feels like he's on a trip. Though, his all-night packing right before we flew to California means that he left his room a wreck. I spent most of today cleaning it. I've filled four kitchen-sized trash bags just from his side of the room. So far. Maybe all the sorting of stuff will help it sink in that he's in college.

Here's our first day of school picture!

Everyone had a good day. We celebrated by going out to dinner and then getting ice cream, both at places that aren't peanut-safe. We all felt weird, like we were breaking the house rules. And we kind of were, at least the old house rules.

A Big Change for a Little Guy

"Peter, I'll miss you everyday when you're gone. I'll cry because I'll miss you so much." -Topher, on Peter's last night before leaving for college.

Learning From a Master

For many years we've been trying to teach Peter how to cook. In the last few weeks he's been a more engaged student. His lessons with Bryan have been particularly effective. He's learned how to make stroganoff (how to chop an onion, how to brown ground beef, how to cook noodles), homemade pizza (how to use the cup and stretch method for the crust, how to do a J cut for the peppers, how to thinly cut peppers, how to use cornstarch so it doesn't stick), cranberry sausages and rice (how to use the Instant Pot, how to cut meat on the bias), and baked chicken with roasted potatoes (how to wash and chop potatoes, how to safely handle raw chicken, how to use the meat thermometer). He already knew how to make ramen, scrambled eggs, and turkey sandwiches, so hopefully he won't starve at college.

Team Work Makes the Dream Work

We're making progress on the bookcases. My arm is mostly healed (though it does ache when it rains), but I'm still being gentle with it. This has turned into much more of a team project since I can't do as much with my arm as I would like. Bryan has stepped in and helped so much. I was able to handle the corner shelves by myself though.

A Snowy Treat

Sophie got to help with the end of summer party at the library. She was given the very important job of running the snow cone machine. She had fun and there were many kids that benefitted from her role.

Words and Actions

"I love you is a hug for when your hands are messy." -Topher, brimming over with love for Bryan when he took the younger two kids for a fun lunch at Costco.

One Sweet Day

Some of our friends have annual passes to Hersheypark. They invited us to join them and offered to share their guest passes with us. Unfortunately, Bryan had to work, but the rest of us took them up on their generosity. We got there when it opened and stayed nearly an hour past closing time.

Once we found our friends we split into two groups, big kids and little kids/parents.

Topher loved getting to hang out with his friend Violet all day.

Topher told me that he would hold Violet's hand so she wouldn't be scared on the slightly bigger rides. I didn't point out that Violet is a daredevil and would be fine. Rather, I appreciated his sweet gesture.

Sophie split her time between the younger group and the older group. When she was with the younger kids she got to spend time with her friend Lily.

Gillian did a good job leading the big kids to all the rides they wanted to go on.

Meredith (Gillian, Lily, and Violet's mom) does not like rides that spin. I love them so I got to take Topher and Violet on spinning rides while Meredith happily waited.

During this adventure I learned that Meredith has a secret superpower: she can beat the Whack-a-mole game. She won the first time she played and Violet chose this Kiss as the prize. When Meredith saw how much Topher wanted a prize of his own, she bought another round of the game for everyone and swiftly won again. The two candy themed stuffies had adventures for the remainder of the day thanks to the imaginations of Topher and Violet. Hershey Bar now has a place of honor on Topher's bed.

I had stayed on mostly tame rides all day. Topher and I spent almost an hour in line for a slightly more exciting rollercoaster in the afternoon, but otherwise we leaned toward the little kid rides. At the very end of the night Peter and Gillian helped Meredith take the younger kids on one more ride while I joined Cooper and Phoebe and rode a real rollercoaster. The kids all think it's funny that I'm the rollercoaster parent. I guess they feel like that fits with Bryan's personality more. Nope, that's my job.

It was a great ride.

At the end of the night we walked over to Chocolate World and went on one more ride. It was a Disneyland-esque romp about the making of Hershey's chocolate, complete with singing cows and talking a Hershey's Kiss. Our kids prefer the chocolate that Bryan's company makes, but the ride was fun.

One of the perks of their membership includes pictures from all the rides. Meredith shared these with me. It was fun getting to see how the big kids spent their day.

It was a long, fun day. We're glad we were able to squeeze in this adventure!