Friday, August 17, 2012

Summer is Like Pressing Fast Forward

For us, summer goes forward in double and triple time. So much happens in so little time that it’s like watching a movie in the old VHS fast forward mode. Sadly our July at Bear Lake with family, friends and relatives came to an end. It seemed as though before we could barely blink an eye, it was over! 

Gone were the great times with the cousins “hanging out” at the beach:

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And on the deck…

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Gone were the days of lizard catching….

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And the gaggle of kids waiting to ride the horses…..

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The twins’ “snake” riding or “Babes” paddling canoes….

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No more cousin’s birthday cake….

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And crazy car rides including driving lessons on the beach….

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No more listening to exciting stories from Aunt Saydi on her Kindle….

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Or Ice Cream parties….

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Or finding the hiding place for the licorice….

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The kite flying was over….

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And great bonding at the Pavilion on the beach….done for another year.

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And thankfully…no more haircuts…

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FYI: This beauty salon was also facilitated by much larger scissors!

One by one singles and families packed up and left.

Jonah and Aja smashed all their stuff, their spare oil and all the kids (including Elsie with a fresh haircut) into their great old Mercedes Greasel which has run about 480,000 miles on mostly used vegetable oil and headed for Washington State and Blakely Island via Grandma’s house. We weren’t sure they were going to make it out of the driveway, but when the smoke cleared they were gone!  

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Jonah, are you just a bit apprehensive?  Maybe he’s just as sad to go as we are to see them go!

 

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In the end, the shoes were all gone from the front door….

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And on Sunday the Dingle Ward Primary was diminished to half its size….

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What a summer reunion we had! Parting is such great sorrow….along with just a little relief from the crowds, the never-ending messes and teething cries, sleeping in a room with two parents, five kids and a very noisy fan (hottest summer on record) and occasional squabbles. But that was all swallowed up in the fun!

Everyone cleaned out their own rooms and the general living areas, but there was much work to be done to literally clear out every drawer and closet, clean out every fridge and scrub out barbecue grills, not to mention getting the sand out of the hot tub and being sure that the septic tank was working properly (at one point some little squirt emptied a packet of wet-wipes into the downstairs toilet which destroyed the downstairs pump). The renters were coming! 

These two little troopers stayed to help with the seemingly endless task of moving out. They were truly amazing! I couldn’t have done it without their willing hands and running feet. They were champions! So were the cleaning ladies who came to finish up after we left.

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And so….sigh…we bid everyone a fond farewell and it was on to the next adventure which was just around the corner!

1 comment:

Shawni said...

Oh that makes me sad. Miss you all.