In our last episode, My Dad, Jon Wayne, and Stephen worked around the clock for two days straight and still by the time my family left, my house was a complete construction zone. There were tools and grime covering the garage, our main room was covered in ungrouted tiles with patches that still needed to be finished, there was a thick layer of dust (from leveling the floor) throughout my entire house (but especially my kitchen), most of my furniture remained on the back patio, and overall just looking at my house made me want to cry and hide in a hole. It all happened just in time for me to prep for Girls Camp!
My first step was to make my kitchen usable, seeing as I needed to prepare food for 30 people for the week, so I went about wiping down every surface in my kitchen and after three different cleanings it was finally a (fairly) sanitary place to cook. After that, I crossed my fingers that no one would turn up at my house unexpectedly and see the sheer chaos we were living in. The kitchen was clean, but was soon covered in crockpots, instant pots, and dry good groceries. Our rooms each had furniture displaced by the new floors crammed into them. There was really no place for Rory to play freely, and this girl actually handled it like a champ. It was a small miracle. When we were finally able to safely walk on the tile, I moved her rocking chair out to the front room so that she at least got a little time with her beloved Super Why during the week.
Costco became our home away from home this week as we collected Girls Camp menu items and enjoyed not being at our house. We seriously made four different trips to Costco in five days, and that didn't include all the in between trips to Walmart and Fry's. It's a lot of work to be in charge of the food for camp! I was either shopping, cooking, or running around like a crazy person trying to find a place to store food ALL WEEK.
As I look back at this week, I'm amazed at how awesome Rory was through it all. It was like she knew that I just couldn't handle one more thing on my plate, so she just happily went along on a million shopping trips and entertained herself in an unlivable house. The second picture is her watching a show on the iPad because the TV wouldn't work. You can see the TV stand and lamps crammed into our room and there is more furniture on each side of the bed. So we stayed in our little bed island, watched Super Why, and pretended like life was completely fine! With girls camp preparations and Stephen's work schedule picking up, neither of us had one spare minute to spend on the floors, so with no end to our project in sight, we somehow miraculously made it to Friday.
On Friday, once Stephen was off of work, we drove down to Vegas in the night. We anticipated Rory would sleep the whole way down, but she woke up about two hours into the drive and never went back to sleep. She just sat there, being cute, speaking at us in gibberish every once in a while. She really is the best baby in the whole entire world. I can't remember if Stephen and I listened to something specific on the way down, but just being away from our house and our troubles lifted both of our spirits and it was a wonderful break from reality. We made it to John and Ashleigh's around 1 or 2 in the morning, where we were greeted by an eager Vienna. Rory LOVES Vienna and was in heaven from the minute we stepped into their house.
We slept in the next morning (hallelujah) and John and Ashleigh made us a delicious breakfast. The girls played around at home for most of the morning until we all headed out to play at the splash pad, which Rory also loved very much, as did Vienna. Lucina, John, and Kenzie made their way up from St George and met us at the park. We all went to dinner at a nice Greek place, where Stephen and I ate quickly before we had to leave for the show. From dinner, John and Lucina would be taking Rory back with them so they could watch her while I was at camp. I tried to focus on the play and my plans for the evening so that I wouldn't fall apart at the idea of leaving my baby for so long. It's hard to be too sad when you know she is going to be in absolute heaven without you.
So, backing up a little bit... John and Ashleigh bought season tickets for the theater this year specifically so they would be able to see Hamilton when it came to town. As season pass ticket holders, they were able to purchase two extra tickets to the show before they went on sale for the general public. I can't remember exactly when, but at one point when I was out of town over the last couple of months I got a text from Stephen asking if I would want to go to Hamilton. Uh, duh! But, it turned out the only day they could get tickets for that Stephen and I were both free was the Saturday before Girls Camp. I told Stephen I didn't know how I could be gone that day when there would be so many last minute things to get done (because let's be real, I was in charge and that's how I roll!) but everyone I asked for advice (aka my sisters) said to just go and make it work and everything would be fine. So we booked the tickets and decided to wait and see whilst tentatively counting down the days for our dreams to come true.
At a planning meeting about a month before the show, I brought up the possibility of me being out of town the weekend before camp. I explained that Rory would be watched by my in laws while I was at camp, but that I needed to bring her to them in order for them to do so. I told them I would be meeting them in Vegas and so I would be unavailable for last minute details on Saturday AND Sunday before we left for camp on Monday. I was so apprehensive, but, of course, every lady was like, "Oh that's no problem at all! Thank you so much for being willing to drive all that way just to come to camp!" and basically just acted like I was a superstar. I simply kept the Hamilton detail to myself and everyone was happy!
Hamilton was incredible. Stephen and I have enjoyed listening to the soundtrack together for the last couple of years, and he would feel like it was important for me to add here that he discovered it first, and so we were both eager to see the show but apprehensive that it couldn't live up to our expectations. Luckily, we were wrong! It is such a unique show and it was a complete thrill to watch it live with all the staging, costumes, and choreography. The show was so good, in fact, that it made up for the rest of the summer when one of us would ask the other, "What happened to all our money?" and they would respond, "Hamilton. We are poor because of Hamilton."
So, backing up a little bit... John and Ashleigh bought season tickets for the theater this year specifically so they would be able to see Hamilton when it came to town. As season pass ticket holders, they were able to purchase two extra tickets to the show before they went on sale for the general public. I can't remember exactly when, but at one point when I was out of town over the last couple of months I got a text from Stephen asking if I would want to go to Hamilton. Uh, duh! But, it turned out the only day they could get tickets for that Stephen and I were both free was the Saturday before Girls Camp. I told Stephen I didn't know how I could be gone that day when there would be so many last minute things to get done (because let's be real, I was in charge and that's how I roll!) but everyone I asked for advice (aka my sisters) said to just go and make it work and everything would be fine. So we booked the tickets and decided to wait and see whilst tentatively counting down the days for our dreams to come true.
At a planning meeting about a month before the show, I brought up the possibility of me being out of town the weekend before camp. I explained that Rory would be watched by my in laws while I was at camp, but that I needed to bring her to them in order for them to do so. I told them I would be meeting them in Vegas and so I would be unavailable for last minute details on Saturday AND Sunday before we left for camp on Monday. I was so apprehensive, but, of course, every lady was like, "Oh that's no problem at all! Thank you so much for being willing to drive all that way just to come to camp!" and basically just acted like I was a superstar. I simply kept the Hamilton detail to myself and everyone was happy!
Hamilton was incredible. Stephen and I have enjoyed listening to the soundtrack together for the last couple of years, and he would feel like it was important for me to add here that he discovered it first, and so we were both eager to see the show but apprehensive that it couldn't live up to our expectations. Luckily, we were wrong! It is such a unique show and it was a complete thrill to watch it live with all the staging, costumes, and choreography. The show was so good, in fact, that it made up for the rest of the summer when one of us would ask the other, "What happened to all our money?" and they would respond, "Hamilton. We are poor because of Hamilton."
We slept in on Sunday, had a relaxing kid-free drive home (cue tears from both of us already missing Rory), and got ready, or as ready we could, for the coming week!
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