August

 What a month August was!  The yard work continued.  The fence was taken down, post holes were dug and the landscape crew began prep around the shed on the east side of house.  In doing the prep we discovered we had wasps under the shed.  We realized we had a problem on Tuesday the 2nd.  We were leaving for our cruise on Friday, the 5th so we had to do something.  

I called a pest control and they came out on Tuesday. With the fence down they could get all around the shed to spray it.  On Wednesday the wasps were still there so I called again and they were going to come out on Thursday.  

We decided we needed to prop up the shed to see if we could get the nest out.  We borrowed Randy's and Dunstin Jackson's car jacks.  We fully clothed ourselves so we wouldn't get stung, emptied out the shed (working to avoid the large holes dug for the new fence posts) and Jason dug under the front corners to lift the shed. 

Looking lovely

  

We lifted the shed and Jason tried using a mirror to look underneath.  He couldn't see any nest.  He sprayed around, lowered the shed and packed dirt over the hole where they had been flying in. 

The next day they were still there.  The pest company came to spray again and that was the best we could do for the workers since we were leaving on the cruise the next day.  

I also put up a wasp glue trap on the door of the shed.  When we came home from the cruise it was covered.  More on this later.  

Ah, the cruise!!  So nice to get away!  We left on Friday morning to fly to Orlando.  Our flight left at noon and we landed at 6:30 p.m.  Jason has Marriott points so we used those for our overnight hotel stay.  

 

Our Itinerary

My travel ritual--peanut M & M's

The next morning the Ahyous and Searles came to our hotel where we all boarded a shuttle to Port Canaveral where we boarded our ship--Carnival Mardi Gras!

A ship with 6200 passengers and 2000 crew members.  It is a big boat!  

Front: Ben, Andrea, Elias, Tenya Ahyou, Torri
Bond (Searle), Me, Jacob
Back: Cory and Morgan Searle, Jason

We had paid for Faster to the Fun so boarding was easy!!

We were able to get into our room (luggage didn't arrive until 6 p.m.) and then we went to Guy's Burger Joint and had a burger.  They were good.  Later at 4 p.m. they had the sail away party.  It was SO crowded!!!  This picture is after it ended and many people had left. 

Jacob went off with Elias and did the water slides all afternoon and when done he was hot and tired.

Redwood City on the table map!

 We signed up for early dining and had great waiters!  The main waiter was Joel.  He was from the  Philippines and was very friendly. 

Every night, about mid way through dinner the Matrie d would announce "Its Shooow time!"  There was then a song where the waiters danced and we could get up and dance too.  

Monday night's formal dinner

Sunday morning we got up and met Ahyous for breakfast at The Palms restaurant.  It was good, but I preferred the breakfast buffet the rest of the week.  I could better get exactly what I felt like and in the amounts I wanted. 

Dinner on the last night

Comedy club

   There were comedy shows and lots of trivia games to keep us entertained while at sea.  They also had a ropes course.    

Cory in the final of a music trivia game

Ben and Jason on ropes course

An evening show we all attended.  

Tuesday we docked in Aruba, grabbed a taxi and went to Eagle Beach.  It is a beautiful beach and we all played in the water.  It was so nice!

Coming into Aruba

Sand castle building

Water was great!

I look like a grandma!  :(

We were pretty tired and headed back to the ship to shower and get dinner.

The ship left Aruba at 10:30 p.m. and headed to Bonaire.  We got up at 6:30, had breakfast and were off the boat by 7:50 to catch our Mangrove kayak tour at 8:20.  

Coming into Bonaire

We met our guide, divided into 2 cars and headed across the island to where the tour began.  On the way we saw beautiful pelicans!  I have never seen any in real life.  

The island of Bonaire has a population of about 24,000 people.  The thing that surprised me about the interior of the island is it has cactus and dirt...not the lush palm trees you would imagine.  Much of it is protected and undeveloped, but I was very surprised on our drive at how harsh the landscape was. 

We arrived and our guide was Stan--he was great!  From the Netherlands (Bonaire is a Dutch colony) and very laid back.  

We got our snorkel gear, glass bottomed kayaks, and headed to the shore to go out.  I was with Jason and Jacob was with Elias.  With the water I didn't have a way to take pictures so I looked on the internet and these 3 how what it looked like.  

We kayaked through the mangrove groves and through "tunnels" made from their branches.  At one point we got out, put on our snorkel gear and looked underwater.  It was kind of muddy looking, but fun to see.  

After going back to the kayaks Stan said there is always a great picture of someone trying to get back in.  This trip it was me!  Luckily Jason had me climb on his knee to get in.  I told everyone that I was the picture for this trip.  

This tour for me was so peaceful.  We were the only group out and no one else around.  I really enjoyed it.  

Kayaking through the groves

Underwater snorkeling

Stan our guide

After Kayaking we walked around a little bit before heading back to the ship.  Thursday was an at sea day.  One of the things Ben, Cory and Elias did was enter the bean bag toss competition.  They all won!

The winners--all with their new hardware 
hanging around their necks!

Monday and Thursday night were formal dining nights.  We took this picture on Thursday just after dinner and before going to a show. 

Coming into Grand Turks

Friday morning we got up early again to meet our tour at 8:30 in Grand Turks.  That morning we headed to breakfast and in the pool area, by the buffet, they had all of these towel decorations along the pool. They were so cute!

We stopped to take pictures in front of our boat at Gran Turks

It was a big ship!

hiked across the sand and met our group.  We were fitted with snorkel gear and fins.  We then headed out to the boat.  We had 2 guides--J.J. and Vasco.  

We headed out in the boat to an area that was about 35 feet deep.  It was close to where the ocean floor drops to about 700 feet.  The water was a little choppy, but it was SO clear!  You could see down to the bottom and their were beautiful fish!

After about a 1/2 hour of snorkeling we headed out to an uninhabited island where the sting rays can be seen.  On the way JJ got his snorkel gear and held on to the back of the boat, face in water, looking for conch shells while Vasco drove the boat.  JJ would signal when to stop and then dive for the shell.  He got 5.  He also picked up a star fish for us to look at.  

JJ holding on dangerously close to the
motor of the boat

Holding a heavy conch shell and star
fish

On the island we saw a couple of sting rays.  They told us they used to be able to feed them so lots came around.  That is not allowed anymore so it is luck of the draw if or how many you'll see.  

I got to touch and hold the sting ray.

Here is our cabin.  A bit snug, but fine.  If I gave feedback I would say they need more hooks to hang thing to dry...or install, somewhere in the hall, a swim suit spinner to help dry them.

Here is Jason giving Jacob a little encouragement to get done whatever we were asking him to do.  The cruise was a lot of fun and we saw great things!  The ship was big and Jacob struggled a bit with all the people.  Some days were hard for him, but he loved the excursions and getting to play and see things!

But, all fun things must come to an end and we headed home to see what our yard looked like.   While we were gone the fence was to be finished.  

Weirdly, while on the ship we could get some texts.  One came through early in the week that there was some conflict with Greg's (landscaper) guys and Sam's (cement and fence) guys.  Greg pulled off the project while Sam was to finish. We got home and the fence was up.  Not perfect, but it was up.  For the money spent I am disappointed in some of the areas of finish work.  We tried to talk to Sam, but you could tell he was not budging.  He had been friendly before, but not was just wanting to be done.  Kind of frustrating.  

Over all looks nice, but look at the crocked 
cross bars

We need to paint it

Fence was done and that week Greg's team worked on sod and rock.  It is now finished except for planting.  There just were not enough plants in the nurseries to fill the space we needed to fill.  Greg's team will come back in the spring to plant.  

The last day they were here I had to take a picture.  I felt like I was losing my friends!  😅  I had seen them almost everyday for a month!

Greg, Caiden Tanner (lunch boy), Eric

So we have gone from this......

to.......

this!

From this......

                                                                                to......

this!

From this...

                                                                     to........

                                         this!

From this...

                                                                            to...

                                                                                                                        This!

It all looks so nice!!!

On the 19th of August Chris' daughter Mallory got married in the Payson Temple!  The marriage was at 11:30 a.m.

Afterwards they had a wedding lunch at the church by the temple.  We then hung out at Mom's until the ring ceremony at 5 p.m. and reception at 6 p.m. in a church near Mom's.  They did a great job decorating at the reception.  After Mallory and Jon left we helped clean up before heading home.  While Jacob was waiting for us, at the end, he took a few spins around the parking lot in the car.  

That following Monday, August 21, was the first day of 10th grade for Jacob.  He wasn't overly thrilled about going.  I can't believe he is this old!!

The Saturday after school started the Young Men went on a water ski trip to East Canyon.  Jacob had a fun time!

Lastly, I'll just slip this in.  The day after school started, Tuesday, Jason came home from work not feeling well.  He tested positive for Covid.  UGH!  So next day I tested and was positive.  The week between us getting home from the cruise and the wedding I had a small cold.  Just to be safe I tested myself 3 times before the wedding just in case and was negative.  So I don't know if we got it at the wedding reception, Jason got it from church???   Jason didn't feel good for a few day, I didn't feel sick at all and Jacob seemed to be fine too.  Then Sunday, the 27th, Jacob showed signs and missed 2 days of school.

The most frustrating this about Covid is not that is made us deathly ill, but because it is so contagious it puts you off limits for several days.  

I enjoy playing Wordle.  I do it almost everyday.  You are trying to figure out a 5 letter word.  On this day I was able to get the word in 2 tries!!  

The black letters mean they are not part of the word.  Mustard color means it is in the word, but in the wrong place.  Green means correct letter in correct place.

It's the little things that make me happy!  😅

Summer has flown by!  Jacob had quite a few things and the yard took about a month.  I'm sad to see the summer going!!