Too hot

Things have been busy lately. We've been going lots of places and doing fun things, so I haven't really done any serious planning or organizing for our trip to Bertschesgarten next week. This is Sean's department. He does trip preparation: making sure we have all electronic devices charged and their chargers with us, packing clothes, planning the activities once we get there, gassing up the car, getting the necessary euros, etc. I buy the snacks, and a good book to read on the drive. I am not used to being the one in charge of making sure we have everything and thought of everything. Too much pressure!!!! So, this morning I realized I needed to get serious about this planning thing. I was gonna go to the commissary while Ella and Colton were at a Primary activity this morning. But they didn't want me to leave and kept coming back to me, so Mason and I pulled up a spot of grass and parked it for two hours. In the heat. We got a chance to talk to some people who just got back from Bertschesgarten and coordinate with some families that are going with us. Wanna hear something funny? There are 8 families going, and only three of the husbands can come. So, it's kinda like a little harem. Think of the Mormon poligamy jokes we can make. "Sister wives" takes on a whole new meaning. All the ladies that are going are great, and I think we will have a good time. Now, back to the Primary activity. It was on Pioneers. Here are Ella and Colton with their pioneer hats that they made:



The kids complained about how hot it was, how hard it was to pull the little wagons, how they didn't like the food...hmmm, "Wow guys, you had it so much harder than the real pioneers! How were you able to survive the heat for the whole two hours? And pulling that cart across the lawn? No way, you must need a break. Sit down in the shade with some ice cream for a while." My kids wouldn't have lasted very long with the pioneers. They are more "Hilton Hotel" kinda pioneers. "You mean the hotel room doesn't have cable? No room service? How long can we rough it like this?"
After the activity, a nice friend offered to take Colton and Ella home with her to play with her kids so I could just take Mason and run our errands. Thank you Tiffany!! Mason wanted to go home, of course, but we headed to the KMCC for some essentials for our trip: candy, sleeping bags (the lodge has beds, you bring your own sheets, and everyone said sleeping bags is the best way to go), some cute new t-shirts for me (hey, its really hot here right now, and I will be without a washer for a week, I gotta keep cool and have enough clothes, right?) and more candy (one can never be in possession of too many sour patch kids in our house). Then off to the commissary. Here is Mason making a blanket out of the produce bags that come with the big suffocation warning to keep out of children's hands:


After the commissary, Mason and I were really hot. When the temperatures get higher, like this:

the kids get kinda cranky, like this:

So, we ran home, put groceries away, and left to pick up Ella and Mason from Tiffany's. Guess who I saw in the Netto parking lot as I was going through the Spesbach roundabout?

JAXON WAS BACK!!! YEA!!!! I saw a whole bunch of dirty, sweaty, young men with some tired looking adult leaders. The Scouts were back! We flipped around and picked up my eldest who I severely missed these past 5 days. Even though Jaxon is very self sufficient and spends a lot of time on his own, I really missed his presence and his spirit in our house. I don't know how I'm gonna do the 2 year mission thing. I will have to get some good disguises and periodically 'visit' his mission field. Purely vacational reasons of course; and if I happen to spy him safe and sound from a distance, yippee. I already bought the big ladder like the mom has in the book "I Love You Forever". You know the one where she drives across town, uses the ladder to climb through her son's top bedroom window, and if that great big man is really asleep, she rocks him as she sings, "I love you forever, I like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." I think Jaxon actually missed Colton these past 5 days. Right how they are playing chess together, NICELY, right behind me. There is peace and happiness in the Burke household. For a minute. Better go and enjoy it!