Random bits of late summer

I'm slowly but surely working my way backward, catching up this record of our lives. There are a few random bits of summer I need to group together into this post.

We spent some happy hours swimming at the Lakeshore pool this summer, especially since we had an unusually warm and non-rainy summer. I will never, however, get used to the fact that it gets chilly once the sun goes down in the summer in Washington. I do miss Utah summers.

 

 The beginning of August Dan drove Bailey, Aubrey, and their friend Emma to a Lee Brice concert at the Oregon Zoo. I stayed home with Joseph and his buddies at the annual "Summer Party."

The end of August Bailey and Aubrey were servers at a wedding reception of a good friend of ours.
 
One day in late August I took Aubrey to get a few errands done:
First she got a haircut and she also decided to get bangs for the first time in several years!
 
Then we got her a phone. She had used Brandon's phone while he was on his mission, but he reclaimed it when he returned. She also had used her iPad to communicate whenever she had wi-fi, but after the iPad was stolen she needed a way to reach us/be reached.

When we returned home, Bailey had made a wonderful meal for all of us and had the table set for dinner.

 She made homemade garlic pasta and veggies. Joseph's friends thought it was "the best pasta ever!"
 
Labor Day Weekend was quiet and peaceful. We did a little bit of shopping with the kids and took a bike ride with Aubrey and Joseph (Bailey was with friends). We rode to the Minit Mart and got a treat and then took a leisurely ride home.  That night we had a barbecue with some good marinated meats and lots of fresh fruits and veggies.

 

While on the coast, we had some fun with back to school shopping. Here Bailey and Aubrey try on some high heels.

 And Bailey and Joseph try out some hats.

Finally, Dan has been doing an intense workout called Crossfit. This inspired him to try to improve his diet, so he met with a personal trainer early in August, and she put him on a special "clean eating" diet.  He has followed the diet religiously (with a two week break for our trip to Europe). The stringency of the diet will change after awhile, but for now this is what he eats every day:

• 5:40 a.m. (before Seminary): 7 egg white scrambled eggs with 6 spears of asparagus, steel cut oats with coconut oil, cinnamon, and 1 cup of strawberries
• 8 a.m. (after workout): protein shake
• 10 a.m.: almond butter and apple
• 12 p.m.: chicken breast, one slice of "good seed" bread, 1 cup spinach, a quarter of an avocado, 1/2 cup berries
• 2 p.m.: "good seed" bread and almond butter
• 4 p.m.: 4 oz. chicken breast and a quarter of an avocado
• 6 p.m.: Salmon, 1 cup spinach, 1 cup broccoli, 4 oz. sweet potato
• bedtime: protein shake

It's a lot of food! He says that by the time he thinks he might be hungry, it is time to eat again. It's also a lot of vegetables, which is such a great thing.

I've tried to eat similar things, but I haven't had as much self control as Dan. This diet does require a lot of thinking ahead. The food for almost the entire day has to be prepared and pack in a cooler by the time he leaves to Seminary at 5:40 a.m. So, we prepare almost everything ahead of time, and I get up early with him and help make his big breakfast while he gets ready in the morning.

This week (mid October) Dan is gone all week for work. We really miss him, but I will secretly admit that it's a vacation for me to not have to worry about getting his special meals ready every day!