Such a busy summer

I don't have a lot of hope that I will ever catch up on the blog. During the busy school months I told myself that I would have time to catch up during the summer.  So far the summer has had a lot of extremely busy days and very few relaxing catch up days.  I'm actually looking forward to school because I have this erroneous belief that I'll have time to catch up on life then!

A few days after Bailey's graduation school ended for the other kids and we took off for Utah to take Bailey to college and Aubrey to EFY. We spent a week in Utah and then returned home. Aubrey did a week long tap camp in Vancouver and then flew back to Utah for a week of BYU Young Ambassador camp. A few days after she flew home, Aubrey went on an intense overnight backpacking trip with the 4th year girls in the stake (she totally rocked it!). Then I met up with her at Girls Camp, where we spent a week.   Like always, I thoroughly enjoyed being with the girls and women.  Like always, the physical conditions tested me somewhat, but being in nature was heavenly. And the overall experience was totally worth it.  Last week I helped at Cub Scout Camp, which was exhausting and really fun to be with my favorite 10-year-old and his buddies.

In two days Dan, Aubrey, and I leave on our stake's Pioneer Trek. By the time it ends I will have spent a record number (for me) days this summer sleeping outside in a sleeping bag, cooking in the great outdoors, and using a porta potty. I'm generally a fan of cooking in a real kitchen, sleeping in a real bed, and using clean flushable toilets. Because Dan and I are a "Ma and Pa" we have spent weeks in preparation for trek and collecting the long list of camping and other items needed for our "family." Our entire house is filled with piles of camping gear. Gathering the pioneer clothing has been more time consuming and frustrating than it should have been. 

Aubrey is anxious about the trek experience, and so am I, to be truthful. This is a big unknown, and it's going to be hot and tiring. But I have been telling Aubrey that I am handling this anxiety by focusing on the good things I know will come from it. I like the feeling of doing hard things which push my comfort zone. I look forward to getting to know the youth in our "family."  And I know this is a once in a lifetime experience I will never forget, so I'm going to enjoy the adventure.  

Here's hoping we survive!

Graduation Events

We remembered from the last time we had a graduate . . . graduation is a multi week activity, with different events almost every night.  We did our best to enjoy every one of them with Bailey. Some highlights:  

Baccalaureate was on Sunday, June 7th.  

Here are some of the LDS graduates.

and all the LDS graduating girls, including Lauren and Elissa who have been Bailey's very special friends for many years and have helped her decide to be pursue special education as a profession. 

Posing afterward with good friends Nina and Laura.

"Look, it's our future!"

I'm not sure what they were going for here - maybe fear and anxiety??"

 

a few with Mom and Dad.  

Posing by the Skyview sign.

The culmination of a week's worth of graduation events was the actual graduation day. Grandma and Grandpa Springer drove into town to be there for the graduation.  

Before graduation we took pictures and then ate dinner at Sweet Tomatoes.

We didn't have enough tickets for everyone to sit in the gym, so they sat in the overflow auditorium.  Believe me, they got the better end of the deal!  They had air conditioning, softer seats, and this was their view when Bailey walked across the stage.  

And this was our view.

 We sat on the upper level of bleachers for what felt like a VERY LONG TIME.  

 After Bailey was officially graduated we met up with her for a few minutes until she had to leave for the "official but not sponsored by the school" all night grad party.  

 So, 5 years ago we took a snapshot of Bailey on Brandon's graduation, indicating that she would graduate in just 5 more years.  

So we couldn't resist having Aubrey and Joseph do the same.  3 years . . . . . 8 years.

And now, you thought we were done with graduation events, right?  Nope.  Seminary graduation was a few days later, on Sunday the 14th.  

This year Bailey did a great job serving as seminary president. She learned so much from the experience, including getting comfortable with public speaking and how to lead when people don't always follow through on assignments. I really appreciated the theme the council chose for the year,"I have learned for myself," and the uplifting thoughts the council members frequently posted on the seminary facebook page.  

Here Bailey is standing to the right of her teacher this year, Sister Allen (who just might be her favorite teacher ever, but don't tell her sophomore teacher, her Dad!).  

 The Seminary Council, minus a few people who were out of town and plus sweet Elissa, who jumped into the picture.

Next up, off to college.  Five days after graduation and the day after school ended for the other kids!

A few of the graduation decorations:

Our dreams came true - a Disney Cruise!

Bailey and I have dreamed about a Disney cruise for years and years. We frequently looked at all the pictures on the Disney cruise website and studied the itineraries and layouts of the different ships.  Each of our kids has the chance to go on a senior trip with parents, and Bailey debated for a long time but chose a cruise on the Disney Wonder with a 5 day itinerary on the West Coast, from San Diego to Vancouver, Canada, with a stop in San Francisco. Because we weren't able to figure out how to get both Dan and me on vacation with Bailey for a week, Dan stayed home to man the homefires and I was the lucky chaperone for the senior trip!  

We traveled to San Diego a day early to walk around Old Town and eat some fabulous Mexican food.

We posed by lots of cheesy faux Mexican backdrops and walked all around Old Town San Diego, touring the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center and sampling chocolates at a fantastic candy store.

The next morning we were on our way!  Look who was there to greet us!

Our stateroom was so perfect.  Small but just big enough for us.  The bathroom was teeny tiny.

Of course, every night our steward left us chocolates on the bed with a folded towel animal.

Before the ship left port we walked around all the decks and checked out our temporary home.

The ship is so charming and filled with special Disney touches.  

We especially liked the section of the ship modeled after Route 66.

and all the fun portholes.

But one of the highlights of the cruise was the amazing food.  Every meal was in one of the themed restaurants, and the food was delicious and imaginative. We ordered anything and everything that sounded good from the menus.  Our motto was "why not."  As in . . . . "I can't decide between the chocolate cake, the baked Alaska, the cheesecake and the torte.  I think I'll have them all.  Why not?"

Some of the time for lunch we ate at the buffet restaurant and sat outside on top of the ship.  That worked great until the last few days of the cruise, when a cold front dropped the temperature dramatically!

Bailey and I loved, loved, loved the day we spent in San Francisco. It was quirky and unique and full of history, beautiful buildings, and delicious food.  

We bought hop on/hop off tickets but after waiting in lines several times to re-board the buses we decided to just walk.  So we walked up and down almost every neighborhood in San Francisco.  It was a great way to get a feel for the city, and also a good way to work off some of the extra desserts we had been eating at every meal!

Bailey definitely wanted to see these famous "Painted Lady" Victorian Houses which provide an interesting juxtaposition to the nearby modern skyscrapers. Is she a fan of architecture? Nah. She wanted to see where Full House was filmed! 

We had a gigantic ice cream sundae at Ghiradellis to re-fortify ourselves.  Because why not?

Back on the ship, we played Disney Music Trivia and Bailey just about took the grand prize (which was a Mickey ribbon). I knew all those years watching Disney cartoons would pay off big!

And the evening entertainment every night was just sensational.  Broadway-caliber shows performed in a big theater.  Our favorite was the final night's performance of Disney Dreams. I have to admit that it made me cry!

When we were relaxing in our room we watched the Disney cartoon channel on our TV or listened to the channel of nonstop Disney tunes.

 I tried my best to convince Bailey to pose with all the Disney characters. This is the closest we got to a picture with the princesses.  

 On the final day she agreed to one picture with Mickey.

On our last full day we took some dressed up pictures around the ship. The light was pretty weird for photos.

 Sadly, all great things have to come to an end, and Monday morning we packed our bags and said goodbye to the ship.

We then spent the day touring Vancouver, Canada. We have always wanted to see how this Vancouver differs from our hometown.  We had an interesting tour guide who gave us lots of interesting Canada nuggets as we drove around the city.  We did decide that both Vancouvers are very green and full of trees and bridges over water.

And look at this . . . we found a serendipitous Mickey Mouse icon in the parking lot of Stanley Park.

And finally, flying home to Vancouver, WA on this teeny tiny plane.  For the first time in my life I had to collect my luggage right on the tarmac and then walk quite a way across the tarmac to the terminal after deplaning.  

It was a gift to spend this week with my oldest daughter before she begins new adventures far away in Utah. It was a perfect week in every way!