Fall Break 2024

The kids went back to school today after fall break. I always dread fall break because I’m never quite recovered from summer. I’ve reached a point in my parenting journey where I’m just kind of done. I’m done trying to provide my kids with fun and activities. We’ve done it all. There’s nothing left. 

Even though I’m utterly exhausted from 17 years of entertaining children, I tried really hard to give them a good fall break. I didn’t want to do any of it, but I toughed it out. 

On Thursday we got Ghostbuster donuts from Krispy Kreme. 

Then we went for a short hike to Lisa Falls. 

It’s been in the mid 80’s here for the last few weeks, so I wanted to take advantage and spend a little time in the mountains. 

We also walked around the temple quarry.

My kids found a praying mantis, named it Trevor, and carried it around everywhere. They were upset when I didn’t let them bring it home.

Trevor was very uninterested in goldfish crackers, for the record.

Eva went out to dinner and on a shopping spree (sponsored by the dad) with a friend for the friend’s birthday that night. While Eva was gone, I took Zoe to Target to look around for a while (per her request). Zoe found a toy penguin she really wanted and decided to save her money for. Then, by sheer coincidence, Eva came home from her friend’s shopping spree with the same penguin. Zoe went ballistic, and we ended up having to manage hours of jealous rage. 

On Friday I left my kids with a big list of chores and went to work for a few hours. Then I went to the dentist to have a tooth chip repaired. 

When I got home, I was a bit of a bum for the rest of the day. But I made Halloween nachos with orange and black tortilla chips, so I feel like that should grant me some awesome mom points (even though my kids didn’t eat them because there was too much “stuff” on them).

Our neighbors came over and played for several hours with Zoe and Eva, so that was nice to have them occupied for a while. Daisy and I watched 13 Going on 30, which she got a kick out of. 

On Saturday I catered a wedding luncheon, so I was up at 5:00 a.m. working on that. I don’t think I even sat down (other than driving in the car) until after 5:00 that evening, and the only reason I sat down was because I finally squeezed in a shower, and I dried my hair seated at a vanity.

My family and a couple of friends helped me get everything served. We did a pasta bar with penne and spaghetti and three different sauces. Also broccoli, green salad, and garlic bread. Then we did sundaes for dessert. Everything went well for the most part. There’s always something, but we got through it. 

Sadly, I didn’t get a single photo of the food other than this one of my chickens eating some leftover salad. 

They were so happy!

That night, Scotty and Nicky worked at the Imagine Dragons concert while the girls and I represented at the wedding reception. I got to see lots of old friends there! 

On Sunday I took Scotty to the airport to go to North Carolina for work. 

I’m not gonna lie… it was really hard to come back home and go to church, but I did it! After church, I got everyone fed and then I said, “I’m going on an outing. Any of you who would like to join me are welcome, but if you’re going to have a bad attitude, stay home.”

Everyone came. Including one who ended up with a bad attitude despite my earlier warning.

She didn’t know there would be walking involved. Apparently it was very traumatic to have to walk. Poor baby. 

We walked around Memory Grove. Some of us chose to enjoy it. 

I wanted to go to a few other places, but Grumpy Pants wouldn’t let us, and Nicky needed to go to a fireside anyway (with Elder Rasband), so we cut our outing short. 

That night I was really, really tired. I ended up going to bed at 8:30, and I didn’t get up until 8:00 the next morning. It was wild! 

On Monday I took Zoe and Eva to the skate park. They rode their bikes and skateboards for about an hour. Zoe accomplished new milestones while Eva crashed twice, so I had one happy kid and one sad kid.

We went to see White Bird at the movie theater (I might actually write a post about this experience because it was a bit of a milestone for my family).

 

I snuck in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We were the only people in the theater, and that was nice because my kids asked a lot of questions, and I didn’t have to shush them.

When we got home, we cleaned the house, which was a huge job. Everything was in disarray from the crazy weekend, and there was a lot of stuff that needed to be put away from the wedding. I also spent about an hour and a half on a chat with Gabb trying to sort out some problems with Zoe’s watch (a few hour later they informed me they will send us a new device, which is exactly what needed to happen, but it took them a really long time to come to that conclusion). 

Zoe went to play with a friend, which was a huge blessing because she and Eva really needed a break from each other. 

Nicky appeared a few times over fall break, but for the most part, he was gone. We don’t see a whole lot of him these days. On Sunday he met with the bishop to start the process of getting his mission papers ready. I can’t believe it’s already time! 

I ended fall break by letting my kids spend way too much time playing video games Monday night, and I sorted the Rubbermaids. It’s been on my to-do list for several weeks, so I actually feel like quite a champion over it. For this brief moment, I have corresponding numbers of containers and lids. That’s the highlight of fall break for me personally. But my kids didn’t need to be home for five days straight for that to happen. I’m just sayin.