England

Here we are, having lunch in Bourton on the Water.

Catherine and her new cousin Rosie.

Adam.

14 year old wisdom

Well, apparently everyone washes their flip flops in the washing machine. I mean, how else would a girl get their myriad pairs of flip flops clean? I learned this today when I came upon a bathtub of floating flops which Catherine sighed had only been necessitated by the washing machine having - heaven forbid- someone else's damp clothes in it. Transfer to the dryer was impossible because There were clothes of Ryan's in the dryer, and a warm soapy bath was drawn for the flops. My wondering about whether the washer was the best way to wash shoes, was met with disdain/confusion: how else does one clean one's shoes? I confess, I had no answer.
We leave for Paris tomorrow and I guess that means clean flip flops are in order. There is much excitement - Sam packed everything he owns clothes-wise yesterday and then schlepped around today in mismatched and ill-fitting clothes deemed not cool enough for Europe.

remodel

Craig and I made a deal to do away with the hideous flooring on the main floor of our house. The kids and I do the demolition before leaving for Europe and he will lay the new floor while we are gone. Here is our part of the job...

dinner disaster

For some reason I decided to cook roast beef for dinner tonight. Sam had said a few days ago that he likes it and was generally negative about the preponderance of chicken on our menu, so I decided to humor him. The whole meal was labor intensive and an unmitigated disaster. Well, everyone said the potatoes were alright. Add to this that it was 92 degrees out and it made even less sense to be trying to serve a roast dinner.
After dinner we took the dogs and timed the walk over to the kids' soon to be completed new school building. Looks like it will take them anywhere from 20-30 minutes depending on how close they are to the tardy bell.

One reason I love Utah

This morning after I dropped the kids at their tennis lesson, I headed up Mill Creek Canyon for a hike.
Today being July 1st, the last stretch of the road up was open after being gated for skiers, snowshoers and dog walkers since November. I parked at Elbow fork and took the trail 2 miles up (and I do mean up) to Lambs Canyon Pass. Here is a picture of the view and one of the kinds of wildflowers I saw (23 different kinds in all). It was warm but nothing like the high nineties on the valley floor. I saw four other people and three dogs -- another reason I love Utah.

More road trip

This is where we camped on the first night. 9,100 feet and we were the only people there. The second picture is Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park.

Road Trip - the american way

The open road, sleeping in the car and Sam on a horse in Montana.