Summer of Carly

Today was a sad day in the Ames' household. Carly left to go back to Idaho. I feel like I lost a friend today. :( Okay so that was way too dramatic. Of course I didn't lose a friend....there's still texting, yearly visits, etc. But it was a joy to have her around and she will certainly be missed. I've decided to name this summer in honor of Carly's visit....the Summer of Carly. Last summer was the Summer of the Twins...they ruled our lives. The summer before that was the Summer of Building our New House. And the list goes on. Anyway, here are some fun memories from this summer and things I will miss.

1. Carly watching movies with Daniel and I and NEVER failing to fall asleep. You can count on Carly to sleep through just about any movie.

2. Carnival rides at Grady's that Carly is still young enough to handle while Daniel and I have decided we can no longer stomach rides such as the Tilt-a-whirl. The kids were grateful to have someone fun to ride with them. Here's a picture of fun times at Grady's.

3. The time Carly and I went to McDonald's and thought it was so cute to see Max and Henry drinking from a big person cup. I said it was awfully nice of Carly to share her drink with them...and she said that's your drink right?....We both looked at each other in horror. Fun times. A picture of this momentous occasion. The boys with a complete strangers slobbered on drink. :P

4. When Carly went with me against all rational thought to Ashley's school on the first day of kindergarten and consoled me after breaking down in the office. She assured me everyone has embarrassing breakdowns. Sooo glad she was there but then maybe I wouldn't have gone if I didn't have Carly with me to watch the little kids in the van while I went in. So of course a part of me blames Carly for the whole incident. ;)

5.The time(like 24 hours ago) when Carly sweat buckets with all 5 of our children so that Daniel and I could go to the Temple together. It was HOT outside. We are very grateful to her for that. We all also learned that our family is not ready to be in public yet! :D

6. Carly and I were also in the church nursery together every week. We got to hear some pretty crazy stuff from some of the kids. One kid assured us his parents aren't married and he's allowed to lick himself at home whenever he wants. Carly also got to hear many solos by me during singing time and lots of interruptions during songs with me saying "Sit in your chair" or "Please don't pick your nose".

7. One night Carly, a date, Daniel, and I had a double date at our house. We played frisbee and Daniel pegged me square in the forehead with it. Everyone had a good laugh and then we all played Beatle's Rockband. Daniel and I took turns singing and I'm pretty sure I'm the worst singer on the planet.

8. Also, for anyone who doesn't know...Carly can sleep through anything. We'll have fond memories of the blaring alarm clock going off on Saturday mornings...and afternoons for that matter. Carly tells me she has to set like 5 alarms just to make sure she gets up. She was never late though to her multiple babysitting jobs. Amazing.

9. We all went to visit Stephen one weeknight and went out to eat at Monical's. Max and Henry were both like Godzilla at times during the dinner...climbing around and trashing the place. It was fun but mostly stressful. Here's Stephen, Carly, and Daniel in the parking lot outside.

We had so many good times this summer. We'll miss Carly.