We Had Issues

Road Trip!

Jeremy had been wanting to take another Southern Utah trip because our hunt for roadrunners and other birds was so successful when we went back in 2022. There was a particular place he wanted to go this time that we'd never been before. So we made sure to schedule it in on one of the only Saturdays we hoped we'd have available. I told you things have been soooooo busy the last few months.

So on Saturday, September 20, we got the kids up early and headed out.

We had to drive down a long gravel road to get to our destination, which was nice as it was fun to see cactus and Joshua trees and even lillies around. We only saw a few birds, however. We did see a roadrunner.

We saw some lizards, which are always fun. 

When we got to our destination to get out, it unfortunately wasn't as good as it could be for birding. I won't go into details but several of us were having issues. None of us were trying to be difficult, we were just having a difficult time.

So we went back to the van, drove the long gravel road back to the main road and headed into St. George to a park we enjoyed going to last time we were there. We stopped at restrooms because it had been a long morning.

The original plan was after lunch and bathroom break we would drive over to a different part of the park to leave the van while we walked around looking for specific birds. Most of us ate lunch. I was still having issues so I didn't eat but cried a lot.

My sweet husband was so nice to me, though, and so patient with me while I was having problems. Have I mentioned how much I love him and how awesome he is?

Anyway, to make a long story short (too late), we all got buckled in the van and Jeremy tried to turn it on and it wouldn't start. In St. George. 4-5 hours away from home.

The van had issues. 

Now it's time to talk about recognizing blessings and answers to prayers. We knew of another birder from Utah County Birders who was planning on being in the area that day. We were able to contact him and he came over and jump started our battery. Our hero. While we waited, Jet got to play on the playground that he really wanted to play on so it was easier getting him back in the van when we got it jumped. We also had plenty of food and water if it was going to be a long wait, which it wasn't.

We drove over to Autozone where they checked to see that it was a bad battery and told us it's possible the battery was still under warranty. We bought some tools for changing the battery and a portable jumper just in case the next time was not in the middle of the city where our birding friend could get to us (because he happened to be in the area that day). It was a good thing it was not at the end of that looooong gravel road that the van decided to die (blessing).

We drove to Costco and found out that indeed our battery was still under warranty so we were able to get a brand new battery (with a new warranty) for a lot less money than it would have if it was not under warranty. I helped Jeremy change the battery in the parking lot and we made it home safely.

As bad as it was for this to happen, we also recognize the timing as a blessing because we got a brand new battery before Jeremy left on a couple more big trips. I didn't have to worry about the van dying while he was gone.

And the drive home was beautiful with a nice lightning storm and beautiful sunset colors. 

So even though we had issues that day (including the van), there were still lots of blessings we were able to recognize.

It was appropriate that September 20 was National Punch Day because I feel like we got a punch with the things that happened. 

Quadruple Celebration Again

Like last year, we were able to celebrate four holidays in one meal on September 20. National Pepperoni Pizza Day, National String Cheese Day, National Fried Rice Day, and National Punch Day.

We had pepperoni pizza with string cheese baked into the crust. We had more of the fried rice from our pirate dinner the night before. We also had "jitter juice" made with Sprite, Tiki Punch, sherbet, and sprinkles. It was what Lucky's teacher gave the students in his class one time to help them with jitters at the beginning of the school year (with Hawaiian Punch, but we had Tiki Punch). Perfect for National Punch Day.

 

That day was also National Care for Kids Day. We didn't incorporate that into our dinner, but Jet and I went down to the Provo Library to get him another prize for reading. 

After we left the library, we just kept driving... all the way to Bridal Veil Falls to go for a walk and get some exercise. Love that bonding time with my littlest. He sort of posed for pictures this time.

He also went around saying, "Hi, waterfatl. How are you today?" And that's not a typo. He really calls it "waterfatl." So cute.

Quadruple Celebration Plus One

I got a picture for September 20, Pepperoni Pizza Day, String Cheese Day, Fried Rice Day, and Punch Day.

I didn't get a picture for September 21, World Gratitude Day, but I did express my gratitude to my husband and my children.

Not Authentic? No Problem.

March 24 was National Cheesesteak Day. I don't worry about authentic a lot as long as I can celebrate and we can create good memories and traditions. I mean just look at National Cereal Day and the tradition of having cheese and pickle sandwiches that day- not so cereal authentic is it? So I knew for this holiday I wasn't going to get real real cheeseteaks and that didn't matter.

So I turned to Mel's Kitchen Cafe once again and adapted her french bread rolls to make buns. I also adapted her cheesesteak subs recipe to make ourselves cheesesteak sandwiches. They may not have been authentic but they were tasty. 

The buns turned out somewhat thin so the kids kept calling them breadsticks (thick breadsticks) and kept asking for the leftover breadsticks.

Jr. Jr. and Lucky ended up having a lot of fun with the "breadsticks" and even made a song.

 

Jr. Jr.: Super super breadsticks breadsticks breadsticks. Super super breadsticks breadsticks breadsticks breadsticks.

And I end it like this.

Super super breadstiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicks.

Chomp. 

On another note, I asked Nichole to help me with the dough. I had her punch it down when it was time. She was such a good helper. Bwah ha ha ha. (Especially look closely at that last picture)

Not authentic? No problem. Sometimes it's fun to see how creative you can get with the holidays.

Triple Celebration

September 20 was National Punch Day. We've celebrated that in the past and Lucky made tropical punch Kool-Aid for us to go with dinner.

September 20 was also National Pepperoni Pizza Day and National Fried Rice Day. Guess what we ate along with our punch. We made English muffin pizzas and the rice was so good. It was boiled/steamed but the rice was sautéed first so I count that as fried. Tee Hee. 

The rice was based off of Budget Bytes' One Pot Teryaki Chicken and Rice with our own adjustments.
 

Catching Up on the Last Five Months- 5

Let's talk about September.

September 1 was Johann Pachelbel's birthday, so we listened to Pachelbel's Canon.

Jeremy was still out of town at his fair during Labor Day weekend so Saturday the kids and I packed up and went to Idaho to spend the weekend with him.  Since he was in the same city our friends live, the kids and I visited with them Saturday evening, stayed overnight in the motel with Jeremy, then we all went to church with our friends on Sunday.  We also spent time going on a walk with our friends and playing games.

Nichole needed to get violin practice in since she is doing a 100 days challenge (practice every day for 100 days straight) so our friends let her play at their house.

Monday, Jeremy went back to work and the kids and I drove back to Utah.  That was a nice weekend.

When Jeremy got back from his fair, we surprised him with a belated Father's Day gift since June was so crazy, we didn't do anything but go to church with him that day.
We got him a new bowl and had the kids trace around their hands to replace his old bowl from Christmas 2015.  After time the hands had faded and one day while we were doing dishes the bowl slipped and broke.  He was happy with his replacement.

September 4 was Eat an Extra Dessert Day... so we did.

September 6 was Read a Book Day.  We definitely did.
September 18 was National Cheeseburger Day.  We ate cheeseburgers.

September 19 was Talk Like a Pirate Day.  Sadly, we missed our tradition of dressing up in a balloon pirate costume and handing out balloon swords at Thanksgiving Point this year.  Sigh.  It just didn't work out.
We did eat pirate-themed food for dinner, though.  We had pirate map pizza, goldfish crackers, chocolate cannon balls, pretzel peg legs, root beer barrels, golden nuggets and chocolate coins, and orange juice to ward off scurvy.

September 20 was National Punch Day.  I made sure the kids had Tropical Punch Kool-Aid Jammers in their lunches.

September 22 was the Autumnal Equinox.  Our family got out in nature for HawkWatch migration day at Squaw Peak.  We didn't make it over to Strawberry Reservoir to see the salmon this year.  But we did make fluffernutter sandwiches to eat.  We'd been wanting to so we finally did.  The round about way to rationalize it is that in the Fablehaven series, there is a character who makes another character a fluffernutter sandwich.  Magic boundaries are changed a bit on solstices and equinoxes so... why not have fluffernutter sandwiches on the equinox.

After spending all morning at Squaw Peak with other birders, Jeremy and I took a tip from one of them and went to see a new life bird- long-eared owl.  That bird is long, not just its ears.

Earlier that morning I told Jr. Jr. that there is a myth that on the Autumnal Equinox, you can stand an egg on its end without it falling over.  Then I demonstrated.

Jr. Jr. and I decided to balance like an egg, too.

That afternoon, I tried to show the other kids but it wouldn't work.  So apparently at only certain times on the equinox can you stand an egg up on its end.  Hmm.

September 22 is also Hobbit Day, so that night, Nichole started watching the first of the Hobbit movies with Jeremy and me.

 
September 27 was Crush a Can Day.  I did.

September 29 was Happy Goose Day.  It made me a happy goose to go on a date with Jeremy to see birds up at Squaw Peak then hike a bit in the Fall colors at Big Springs.

In September, I also got to go to another girls' night and see some friends back in Pleasant Grove I hadn't seen in a while.  That was nice.

Lucky and I had some bonding time at a park then he and ZZ had some bonding time.

The Orem Library had a Chinese Moon Festival the kids and I went to.  They had activities and had a live video chat with a NASA scientist.  Lucky even got to ask a question, "Is the moon hot or cold?" which the scientist answered.  At the end when the moon came up, we each got to see it through a telescope.

And here we go again.  "Mom, may I make brownies?"  But Nichole can't just make brownies, she also has to decorate them.  She used a toothpick to draw a picture of a dragon from a book she's read.

That girl loves dragons.  Youth activity- dragons.

And when Jr. had scouts (where he received his Webelos and Arrow of Light awards), Nichole helped him with the activity where they were making superhero capes.

Nichole is not the only creative one.  This is what happens when Jr. does dishes.

I knew I had plenty to talk about September.

I'll catch up on October later.