Happy Birthday Grandpa Ken!!

Happy # 87 (and a day)!!!!!! 

Onward!

 Hello!!!

What a summer! Wowza. What a year, really. 

Doug broke his ankle in a crazy accident in February. It's been a slow recovery. Nutmeg broke her wrist

in July.  She's a fast healer and is back at it. The pieces fell into place for our two eldest young men as far as their next steps in life.  They graduated/finished high school in May/June. All three teenagers found jobs in the food industry on the West End of our town. I played chauffeur and spent my time helping the boys get ready for college. I am planning to teach a high school logic class this upcoming year, so somehow, I need to pull that together. For much of the summer, I've felt like a hamster on the wheel trying to figure out what to do next. I knew I needed to get to hit the ground running as soon as we got home from our road trip for college drop-offs, but I managed to develop a blood clot in my lower leg on the trip back and then came down with an uncomfortable case of COV . . . , (you know what) yesterday. So I'm a bit stalled on the "to-do" list.  Thankfully, Grandpa reminded us about getting pictures posted here.  Something to do while sitting down and it doesn't require too much brain power.  I guess the other "to-list" will have to wait. No worries, I've been taking a supplement for the clot that seems to be working already.

***Apologies: my writing won't be the best due to COVI. . taking over my brain cells. 

So here's where we have been the last couple weeks. Mid-August, Basil and Sage finished up at work: Chipotle and dishwashing at the country club. Doug, myself, Nutmeg, and Mace, set off with Basil to his college several hours away. Sage stayed home to take care of packing, haircut, etc. We spent the night in Basil's college city and moved him in the next day. It took all day! Phew! We took off quickly so that we could drive home. We only managed to grab a few photos that day. 

Last good-bye before drop-off #1. 

Mid-day lunch in dorm room. "How are we gonna do this bed?" 

Good-bye in front of the gym because he "had" to get gym time in . . . 

Dinner and pool in Elko. 

Saturday we finished packing Sage up and running errands. We went to church Saturday evening and
took off early Sunday morning. Sunday we drove all the way to Elko, Nevada. 

Monday we drove through Nevada and stopped for a picnic lunch at Lake Tahoe. That color of blue! Monday night we stayed with my sister and her husband near Sacramento. They have a beautiful home and fed us well. They also took us to a friend's house with a pool. It was fabulous to get out of the car. 

Tuesday we drove from Sacramento to our rental in Ojai (cute town). From Ojai, we drove down to Rimcon Beach. We played on the beach for an hour and had to practically drag Nutmeg and Mace out of there. I think it will be no problem to convince the gang in the future that a beach vaca is good idea. Nutmeg LOVED playing in the water! 

After Rimcon (chosen particularly for the tidal pools), we headed off the Ventura to grab some delicious tacos at Beach House Tacos on the pier. Another lovely moment. After tacos we grabbed some groceries at Trader Joe's. 

Wednesday we moved Sage into his dorm. This move-in was a TON easier than Basil's. He has A/C and we didn't need to loft the bed. Plenty of space and well-allotted. It was a bit of a rush for me because I drove into Ventura for some extra items for the dorm room. We went to Mass on-campus, had a barbeque with all the other in-coming freshman families, had a brief parent orientation while the freshmen and siblings had an ice cream social, and enjoyed a beautiful wine and cheese reception with the college staff member. We met Sage's academic advisor. He'll be a super fit for Sage. I was too busy to grab pics, but Doug did. Honestly, I think the best pictures are the ones we took last year on our visit to TAC. Check those out from August 2023. We said good-bye to Sage about 9 pm. 

Thursday morning our new little nuclear family took off into the desert. We found travelling with four MUCH easier than six! Nutmeg found driving through Las Vegas interesting. Thursday evening we checked into our COVERED WAGON at Wildflower Zion Resort. So, so enchanting, refreshing, magical!  We highly recommend. Great choice Doug! Doug, by the way, did ALL the driving on this trip. Bravo!! We checked out the lovely pool and snuggled into the cozy beds in our covered wagon. Mace said this was the highlight of the trip. 

Friday we spent the day exploring Zion in our van and also via park busses. Friday night we went out to eat near Zion. 

Saturday we drove from Zion to Lander, Wyoming, home of Wyoming Catholic College. Sunday we went to Mass and drove home. Success! 

It feels good to have our boys all settled and onto the next step. It feels right and we are so happy for them! Basil already has a large group of friends and Sage is continually amazed at the beautiful setting in which he finds himself. 

Next week Nutmeg begins high school! Crazy! Mace will be in fifth grade. I'm mostly ready for all that; I just need to look everything over. It's just this Logic class that I need to wrap my mind around. Nutmeg will be out of the house full days on Tuesdays and Thursday at some homeschool classes (Spanish I, English, and Biology). She'll continue working until the basketball season begins in November. 

TTFN.