August
August was a hot and dry month around here. So many forest fires...so smoky...and a record breaking lack of rainfall. We kept busy in August trying to enjoy the last bit of summer before school started at the end of the month.
Tyler had his company picnic and family night at the Spokane Indians baseball game:
I love baseball and nothing says summer like a night at the ball park!
Time to Redband Rally! Sadly...we still lost.
It was a great night with the family enjoying a hot summer night and fireworks too!! It doesn't get much better than that!!
No night at the ball game is complete without the chicken dance!!
Photo Courtesy of Kameron
The work continued out at the lake all through August. The lake house wasn't (and still isn't) completely cleared out including the outbuildings. It is taking forever!! My mom's house (and shop and storage units) still aren't completely empty and her house still isn't on the market. The amount of *stuff* is still overwhelming. We are dealing with at least six different family members' worldly goods that never got sorted out when they died and were just stored. It's been awful. (People in your golden years...do your family a favor and PURGE!! Yet I see so many of you at estate sales, yard sales, and thrift stores buying MORE!! Don't do it!!) I am the exact opposite of this...if something isn't being used, beautiful to look at, or EXTREMELY sentimental...It's GONE!! I cannot stand clutter and storing things... and this is from a person who has a vintage home decor business. Yes, I also have a storage unit but I clear it out after every show and fill it again and clear it out again. Also, the joy that I get from taking things to Goodwill is unimaginable!! Good-bye old crapola and good riddance!! Also, as far as our vintage home decor business goes...my Mom, Stacey, and I were all heard multiple times saying, "I AM SO OVER VINTAGE!!" It has taken me until the end of September to come out of that funk. In case you were wondering...extended family relationships are still strained and it's taken a toll on our McClellan family as well. It's been really rough. Plus, there just isn't any more time that we can all take off and put toward this undertaking. Everyone is out of PTO, school has started with all of the accompanying activities, and it just isn't possible anymore. It is time to call in the professionals. We are all wiped out!!
Needless to say, we have had many lunches and dinners out on the dock after long days...hot afternoons...and nights working out at the lake. Our kids have been awesome though and work just as hard as the adults. I appreciate all of their dedication and service. Don't feel too sorry for them though because they have gotten to enjoy lake time too. More than any of us.
Sunsets at the lake are beautiful! We have spent our evenings out there swimming in the gold as we try to catch the last few rays of light as the sun goes down.
Tea Party Tuesdays were going strong through out August. The girls love doing these and we have so much fun and it's educational!!
One Saturday we went to Green Bluff and picked peaches. I don't think there is anything better than a juicy peach plucked right off of the tree. They were amazing. We ate them plain, with cream, and as pie. We bought several big boxes and ate every last peach.
Our favorite farmer that we buy from every year is such a cute little old man. We love him! He told Bryn to make sure that she tasted the peaches!! :) She took him up on that! Lyle is the best! We buy everything from him: apples, pumpkins, peaches, berries, squash etc.
Tyler and I also did quite a bit of paddle boarding and kayaking on the Spokane River. It was so beautiful!! The water was crystal clear and super cold...even for a lake girl!! Brr...
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Kendyl, Ailey, Elle, and Bryn
Kelley and I running errands for my mom.
Ailey and Bryn enjoying the last hurrah of summer!!
The forest fires have been so bad here. It has been horrible and heartbreaking. The air quality has been horrendous. This was one day around 4 pm when it was so dark and smoky that all of the lights came on and it looked like it was night.
Smoky Lake Pend Oreille
Luckily the skies cleared briefly for the solar eclipse. I totally remember the last one. I was in 1st grade at Sharon Elementary in Orem, Utah and they didn't allow us to go outside during recess for fear of us looking up at the sun and going blind. We did make little pinhole viewers and I was very underwhelmed. I was excited for the eclipse to come around again especially with the invention of eclipse glasses. I knew that my family would be stoked about it...we love weird things like this. So we ordered a bunch of eclipse glasses online and looked forward to the big day. Our area wasn't in the path of totality but we were projected to have 90% which would still be cool. We sent some glasses off to Reilly in Utah and waited for the big day to arrive.
It turned out to be really fun!! Tyler took the morning off of work; we turned on the news, had donuts and chocolate milk, and got ready to watch the sky.
Brynnie patiently waiting and NOT looking at the sun. Ha ha!
We watched the news as Oregon hit totality and waited to see what would happen here in Spokane. It definitely went from a sunny morning to what looked like late afternoon. Our backyard was in complete shadows. The temperature dropped a good 10 degrees. It was cool and strange but we were definitely kicking ourselves for not making the trek to a place of complete totality. That would have been really awesome. For some reason we thought that it would look like dusk and that with Spokane being at a little over 90 % we would be close enough. It's amazing how light and bright it still is with a little over 90% of the sun blocked. But still we had fun and face timed with Reilly while she was out in Provo and wearing her glasses and watching the eclipse. Then we went back inside and watched the eclipse as it made its way across the USA. Fun stuff!!
This is what we saw.
School started at the end of August and we did two full days of school shopping. One for the actual school supplies which was SHEER HELL!! I loathe trying to find all the 500 million specific and particular folders, erasers, pencils, pencil pouches, pens, sticky notes...all of which are random and weird...not what you can just easily find at Walmart. Tyler and I had two full carts of crap at Walmart since suddenly everyone needed new lunch boxes and back packs and zip up binders. The school supply aisles were packed with parents and kids. A meltdown ensued...and eventually... with my marriage still intact (barely) we left that hellacious store and were done! Then a few days later I took the kids on an all day until late at night back-to-school shopping excursion for clothes and shoes. That was equally exhausting and hellacious in its own way...girls...enough said...but no meltdowns ensued. (At least on my part.)
The kids showing their *joy* at going back to school. I am showing my crazed grimace after about 6 hours of clothes shopping already and heading to yet another mall.
Treats were necessary...
Massage chairs were so necessary!!
Terrible blurry picture due to all the vibrating of that glorious massage chair.
Terrible blurry picture due to all the vibrating of that glorious massage chair.
Somebody else cooking dinner was DEFINITELY necessary!!
We all survived and everyone found clothes and multiples pairs of shoes that they liked. #miracle We got home late that night totally exhausted but DONE!!
The first day of school arrived MUCH too quickly for all of us. As the kids get older summer goes by so much faster... sad.
Ailey is a web leader at her school so she had to be there early to help all the little newbie 7th graders find their classes and open their lockers. Hence her shirt. :)
This month we bought a new suburban (to us) so now we are a three car family (technically 4 car family counting Reilly) and now Kam can drive the Honda to school and to Seminary!! Hallelujah. Praise the Lord!! We were on year seven of straight early morning seminary. We are thrilled to have a break!!
Bryn heading into school!!
Bryn has Mr. O this year and she was really excited about that! Reilly had Mr. O in elementary school too and loved him. Mr. O was pretty happy to have another Johnson kid in his class!! Everyone had a great first day and there wasn't any drama with classes and schedules. Also Hallelujah!!
Tyler was busy for the last half of August doing dam inspections in Washington, Idaho, and Montana. It requires travel and long long hours but he likes getting out of his office and the view isn't bad!! Here are some cool pics from several of the different dams:
Dam inspections are always interesting. They require lots of hiking to take measurements. He is out in the elements both summer and winter doing inspections. Tyler has rappelled multiple times down into the penstocks that are back behind and underneath the spillway. In the above photo Tyler's crew was out on a barge while there were divers underneath the water taking measurements. It is always an adventure out at the hydrodams. He loves it!
Bryn started running cross country for her city team. They began practicing before school started. She has practices twice a week for this team and has a meet every Saturday morning. She loves it!! Ailey and I do a three mile power walk while Bryn has practice.
My cute workout buddy!!
Reilly made the decision to move back to Spokane when she was here in July. She decided that cosmetology wasn't for her and that what she really wants to study is nursing. This wasn't a surprise to us. She loved all of her biomed classes that she took in high school. She also worked as a CNA all through high school and after graduation as a medtec. I think this field will be great for her. Reilly, Tyler, and I had many long discussions about this when she was here in July and we all thought that it was a great idea. It was hard for Reilly to leave Provo but ultimately she felt really good about her decision. She needs to go to college and get all her GEs and prerequisites under her belt so she might as well do it here where no one has to pay out of state tuition. She made it very clear that she wasn't moving back home with us but will continue to live on her own and attend EWU. :)
Reilly moved back over Labor Day weekend. She caravaned up with my brother Kirk and his family when they came to help my mom over the long weekend. We are THRILLED to have her close again!!
August was a month full of activities...fun times and hard work. Lots of end of summer celebrations with friends and family. I also spoke in church and stayed busy with Primary things. Plus I was gearing up for one of our favorite vintage shows The Funky Junk Antiques Show in Sandpoint, Idaho over Labor Day weekend. More on that in another post. I am so behind on posts and I'm trying to catch up now that the kids are back in school.
Onto September...
