3 weeks away!

Actually tomorrow we will be 3 weeks away from our arrival in Washington. Let me tell you we are so ready! The heat has been ridiculous. Yesterday on our drive to church @ 10:00 in the morning, our gauge in the car said it was already 100. Craziness! So its been pretty miserable. We don't dare take the kids outside in the afternoon. If you do you better have lots and lots of water to play in and to drink!

This weekend we had a lot of fun. Friday night after I put Jackson to bed, Jaycee and I went to the Velma Picnic. Its not really that exciting, but they have carnival rides. Jaycee was very excited to go. She road on the mini roller coaster. She was probably on it for a good 15 mins. The worker of the roller coaster would stop it and ask the kids if anyone wanted to get off. If they said yes he would get them off and if they said no they would stay on. So Jaycee kept riding on that thing. The only other thing Jaycee wanted to do was called Monkey Business. Its an obstacle course. You go through punching bags, then through a monkey barrel, into a pit of balls. After that you claim up a rope bridge, walk over a swaying bridge, then into a maze and then down a covered slide to the end. I think she did it 7 times. She wasn't interested any anything else! They also have a live band playing country music with a dance floor (concrete area in front of the band stand). She wanted to dance. She would get out there and sway back and forth. She was pretty excited when a long distance relative, came and asked her to dance. Kyla will be a senior this year at Velma. She took Jaycee to the middle of the dance floor and tried to 2 step dance with her. Jaycee absolutely loved it and now has a new friend! We left there around 11 that night. The temperature was probably 95 at that point!

Saturday morning was the Velma Parade. We met my parents and watched the parade. Jaycee worked extremely hard to make sure her Wal-Mart sack was full of candy. Jackson had his serious face on the whole time trying to understand what was happening. He got a little worried at the beginning when the fire trucks set off their sirens right in front of us. He really enjoyed the horses that rode through the parade. Yes, it was hot. Both kids were red faced and sweaty. Jaycee's hair was glistening beautifully in the sun with sweat!

After the parade, we met with my classmates for lunch at the school. I can't believe its been 10 years already. It was fun to see all of our kids play together. Jaycee and Jackson did very well. They were excited to run around in an air conditioned building! I was a little disappointed b/c a few of my classmates that I really wanted to see didn't show. It was a little weird at first seeing people after 10 years, but it was okay. Our class wasn't the closest class in the world so there was still that tension there. I know we all have gotten older but the memories you have of each classmate is 10 years ago. So in your mind that is how you view that person/people. I know I tried to go in with an open mind knowing that people can change, but not so much in this case. The partying crowd in high school is still the partying crowd now. Everyone after about 5 mins. went back to their comfort zones from high school. It was still nice to see everyone and "catch up" on their lives.

Saturday evening, my mom came up and watched the kids. We went to dinner at the ChuckWagon with my class again. After that we went to the Velma Picnic. Byron hasn't ever been and pretty sure he won't go back. There isn't much to do, but for me I enjoyed seeing people that I hadn't seen in a long time. I saw a couple of my classmates that hadn't made an appearance at any of our gatherings that weekend. They actually were in the Velma rodeo so they weren't able to come. We visited with them for quite a while. We also chatted with different teachers I had throughout my years in school, and with people I went to school with but didn't graduate with. That part was nice, but nothing that I think we will mark on the calendar for next year. Well, except the parade. Next year the kids will probably ride in it. Next year it will probably will be on mom and dad's 4-wheeler. Hopefully in a couple of years the kids will be able to ride mom and dad's horses in it!

Yesterday after we got home from church it was a total relaxation day. Both kids went to sleep on the drive home. We carried them in and put them down to finish their naps. Both slept for probably 3 hours if not longer. Byron and I ate lunch in peace and then took a nap ourselves. The rest of the day we lounged around the house. It was a great day!