June finally came. Imogen's graduation from Martin High School was June 3rd, the Thursday after all school was out. It was held at AT&T Stadium. Since she worked so hard and was ranked in the top 2%, she got to be on the front row and go up first. The speeches were soooooo boring, and they had so many of them, but getting to see her walk across the stage was amazing. Imogen is going to be attending UTA in the fall on an academic scholarship. It pays for almost her entire yearly tuition. She is majoring in history with a secondary social studies certification. She plans on being a museum currator. She is starting college with 35 credits. She will be a junior by next semester. I wish I was as smart as her.
June 5th, we left on vacation. Our first stop was Memphis. We did a few things we hadn't done before with the girls. We visited Sun Records, had lunch at Gus', and went to Beale St. We also attended John and Susie Hofer's wedding. It is crazy seeing someone that you have known since he was 7 get married. It was great getting to see family.
We then headed towards Florida. We made a stop in Tupelo. We had to see Elvis' birthplace.
We finally got to St. Augustine on the 8th. We booked a cute bungalo for two weeks. Now I personally enjoyed the two weeks at the beach. Everyone else was split on if it was too long. I loved that we were in one place the entire time. I loved that I didn't feel like we had to spend all day at the beach or go at all everyday. It was a great two weeks.
While at the beach we did go into town a few times. One day we went to tour the old jail, but when Patrick saw the in costume actors, we vetoed that. We headed to Ripley's Believe it or Not instead. The girls love that place. Another day, we headed out to the lighthouse, Lorelai's request. Unfortuatley it was raining, so you couldn't go up. We did see it from the outside. We shopped a few days as well. St. Augustine is a great little beach town.
Towards the end of the trip, we celebrated father's day. Poor Patrick, he has to celebrate away from home most summers. Don't worry, he got to go to the record store and get several new records. Patrick is a wonderful father. He is such a great girl Dad. He takes an interest in everything they like. They are so lucky to have him. I know I am lucky. We were supposed to do summer soltice that night too, but it was raining, so we moved it to the next day. The girls decorated the garden of the house wiht candles. We also had sparklers.
On the way home from the beach, we spent two days in New Orleans. Now I don't know what my problem is with New Orleans. Patrick and I had been there one time before, and we weren't too impressed, but we thought we would try it with the girls. I think it would have been fine if we had just stayed one night. We plenty of time to shop and sight see when we got there the first day. That meant we had to find more to do the second day. The same thing happened when we were there before. We ended up taking an alligator airboat tour. Now I would totally recommend this if you go. It was awesome. Everyone saw tons of alligators, not to mention petting and holding them. We also toured one of the cemetaries. I love all of the tombs. I think my dislike came from the hot, humid weather. I am a sweater, and I was soaked the second day. Everything is also so expensive. Meals were almost $100 each time we ate out. We did love the vodoo shops.
We did stop and get the girls beigts. Personally it was too hot to eat, but they enjoyed it.
Matilda is in band now, so we got to attend the 4th of July parade. Thankfully it was cloudy and pretty cool. It didn't get uncomfortable until right at the end. Of course, she was marching between two giant seniors, so you can't barely see her, but she's there.
The week after saw the temple finally allowing youth temple trips again. All four girls got to go. It was Matilda and Eleanor's first time to go. I am so proud that they are all worthy and willing to go and do the work of the Lord. Patrick got to chaperone, so it was a bit of a family affair.
This week, we fianlly had our end of school tea party. Unfortuately with graduation and vacation right after school, we had to push it. Imogen wanted a french theme this year, so we had inteded to have it on Bastile Day, but she ended up having orientation that day, so we did it the next day. She made tons of yummy sweet and savorie treats. She did a great job planning everything.
We celebrated Eleanor's birthday on the 21st. She turned 12 this year. I can't believe she is so old. She decided she wanted a hermit crab. She got two. She named them Shinny and Hermie Stiles. Eleanor is such a good girl. She is the most helpful of the four. She loves everyone, and she is always trying to find ways to show it. I am so thankful to be her mother.
The last three weeks of the month, we tried to fill with a few fun activities. Trips were made to Six Flags, Wet N' Wild, Free Play, the bookstore, and the mall. It is crazy having one kid drop another off at the mall with a friend to go shopping. My girls are getting way too old. Next week there will be some jetskiing and band camp. The summer is basically over, and we will be back at school on the 2nd. This was the first summer in forever that I took the entire summer for myself. I have done zero school the summer. I have not gone up to school early and worked on my room. I have written zero lesson plans. I have given no thought to what my new room will look like. I have put it totally out of my mind. It was a hard year. Now I know that I was blessed to make it through a lot better than a lot of teachers. I am tech savy, so online stuff wasn't an issue. By the last nine weeks, most of my kids were back in class, so it was mostly buisness as usual. But even managing well with all of the changes, I was mentally exhausted by the end of the year. Most days we just came home and sat on the couch doing absolutley nothing. I needed this summer to recharge. Now I am not saying that here in a week, I am going to be full of energy to have to get up at 6:00 again, but I will be a lot better off taking the time for myself this summer.
