After the reunion, we had a couple of weeks of vacation left before school started back up. They ended up being pretty eventful. First--some more cute Eve pictures:
Unfortunately, fire season started in August. The smoke in the valley got pretty bad. Then, our air conditioner stopped working. It was SO hot in our house but we couldn't open the windows because of the smoke. I'd take Eve on drives just to escape and get cool air. I'd had enough one day so I took the kids to escape the smoke and the heat up to Shaver Lake. It ended up being a great day. The smoke in Clovis as we were leaving:
The air was much better up there:
We had fun swimming in the lake. The boys, Natalie, and I loved jumping off these rocks. Eli jumping off:
Nate jumping off:
Not long after that trip, a fire started right there by Shaver Lake. It got scary for awhile and a lot of people had to be evacuated. The gas station we stopped at on our way home from the lake burned down. The YW gathered supplies for people that were displaced from their homes. After having troubles with one company not fixing our air conditioner, we were finally able to have another company come out and fix it. It made life so much more bearable.
Then, summer was over and it was back to school. Unfortunately, it ended up being virtual school. We went to the school to pick up school laptops and got the girls' schedules figured out just in time for the first day. A snapshot of virtual school:
Although it's not the best, there are perks to distance learning. Eating lunch together is one of my favorite parts. I also love watching the kids have so much more time with Eve. Nobody can resist her cute smiles:
Eve started eating solid food! She wasn't a big fan at first:
We did a ton of moving rocks over the summer. Well, mostly the kids and Joe moved a ton of rocks while I took care of Eve. The kids got paid for their work but also couldn't use devices and stuff until they'd done it for the day. It was quite hot most of the time so they'd try to get outside early. One hot morning they were working in the front yard and our nice neighbor came over to bring a canopy for shade. It probably looked like abusive child labor going on. Anyway, they all worked hard and we made a big pile in our driveway. Eventually we had people come take them away.
All Joe wanted for his birthday was for everyone to help move rocks so that's what we did:
All while Eve snoozed in the hammock:
