Four weddings and a carnival.......and then some.....

We've just finished up swimming lessons. I had the kids take a two-week session from the Sports Academy. I even took a "parent/tot" class with Cole while the kids were in their class. 2 weeks straight in a swimming suit is not my ideal for feeling good about myself. But it was fun, anyway. I think the kids learned a few good skills.

This last weekend was a busy one for us! Wendell had weddings on Thursday and Friday and then FOUR on Saturday. Saturday was also our big ward carnival - which we were in charge of. That weekend was also a huge Tolman family reunion (Wendell's mom's side) a couple of hours away. And to top it all off, our concrete guys were finally able to get started ripping apart our yard on Friday!

The concrete crew showed up on Friday while our babysitter was here. We were doing a wedding at the temple. We had no idea they would be there that day. Poor girl, she was probably so confused. lol. But it was fine. Then I got stressed when they dug up the yard and dumped a HUGE dirt pile right on my nice green lawn!! And the backhoe left huge crevices in my yard as it was driving through. Not to mention just kind of killing my lawn by driving all over it. That caused me a lot of stress. I guess that's just the way the game is played. So now we will have to, YET AGAIN, work all summer long to repair our yard and try to make it beautiful. Our back yard has posed problems for us since the moment we moved in and we finally had it under control, for the most part, this year. oh well! On the very positive and wonderful side of things: I now have a back patio. And it's big and I love it! They finished pouring it today. Tomorrow or the next day they will finish the area to the side of our garage - where we're extending the driveway for more parking. I can't wait!! Mostly I can't wait to hang out on the patio- and to have a nice shady place for the kids to play outside during the day. That area stays shady almost all day long. Oh, and, the guy in charge has said they'll help move the dirt pile up around the patio. We're sloping the grass down from it since it's up so high. Anyhoo...we'll post "after" pictures asap.

All four of Wendell's weddings on Saturday went smoothly and without issue, thank heavens. And our ward carnival only had a couple of hitches, but overall went so well. I just can't believe it. We have so many good people in our ward who are willing to help out. We kept it relatively simple: a bounce house, a fish pond, face painting, train rides (provided by a couple in our ward who has made a cute little train out of a riding lawn mower, I think it was, and several big metal containers they've cut and put seats into, painted, and added wheels), and plenty of carnival food (hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn...). There was also a juggling act and country swing dance lessons. We had a huge turnout and everyone seemed to have a great time. I'm so mad I didn't have a camera!

On Sunday Wendell loaded up the two older kids and took off for the last day of his family reunion. I stayed home with Cole, who had pinkeye (yes, he had it the night before...I kept him in a stroller, away from all of the kids!) , a cold and 3 teeth coming in. Plus I was exhausted and not feeling top-notch, either, so it was nice to just chill at home with Cole and let him get the rest he needed (a FOUR hour nap!!!) to feel better. Wendell and the kids had a great time. I'm glad he took them.

Needless to say I'm thrilled that weekend is over. Now I feel like we are back into "normal" life and maybe we can do more to enjoy our summer which is quickly slipping away from us.