More from August

The big test 

Brody had his BIG test the first week of August.  He spent a good portion of his time during the summer studying for it and a good portion of his time afterwards worrying about whether or not he passed.  I think it's just plain rude that they made him wait 3 FULL WEEKS to get the results.  And let me just remind you -- this was his last chance to pass the Qualifying Exam.  A fail = no PhD.  Ever.  (At least in THIS program)  So it was a pretty big deal.  When we finally got the results -- drum roll, please............................................................. we were so RELIEVED that he had passed!  We let out a huge breath and can now somewhat relax through the rest of his program (which includes just 3 more classes and his dissertation, so about 2-3 more years)

I didn't get a picture of him studying, but to give you an idea of what it was like,
 this is the shelf in our bookcase full of all his study materials

My summer as a nanny
I finished up my summer of being a nanny just a few days before school started.  I grew to really love the 2 kids that I spent 40 hours of my week with and I miss them already!!  I told their parents that if they ever need a sitter anytime during the school year, I'd be happy to do it.  We did a lot of fun things over the 2 1/2 months I spent with them, as seen in the collage below:

From left to right, top to bottom: bounce house, pool, roller skating, bumper cars, Fort Fun, car wash,
bowling, bubble art, splash pad, playing in the rain, ice skating, mini golf, bike ride to the pond to feed the ducks, playing at the park, building a fort, arcade games, just hanging out and being silly.

Most of these things we did more than once, if not several times.  I think it's safe to say that we were never bored.  I'm so glad I was able to land such an amazing summer job.

I also made a new friend who I saw almost every day at their house.  Cute little guy.

Pranks
One Saturday, after a morning run, I poured myself a nice tall glass of ice cold water, took a few swigs and then jumped in the shower.  While I was in there, Brody though it would be funny to throw the remaining (freezingly ice cold) water on me.  It wasn't terrible, since I was already in a hot shower, but the contrast was a bit overwhelming at first, as you can imagine, so I planned my revenge.  I was super excited about it, but it turned out to be not so great.

I filled a glass full of ice cubes, turned it upside down on the counter and left it there all day.  By the time Brody got home from school, it had melted, so if he tried to pick up the cup, the water would flood the surrounding area.  Apparently, it wasn't too hard to clean up though, he just sopped it up with a few towels.  Lame.  But it was fun anyway.

Riding bikes to work
One day, I had a training at the school district building which just happens to be 2 miles away from our house and in the same direction as Brody's job, so we rode our bikes to work together that day!!  It was so fun, I wish we could do it every day.  Too bad my real job is 10 miles away in the complete opposite direction as Brody... :(

New West Fest
Like I've mentioned before, Fort Collins has some sort of festival going on almost every weekend during the summer, but New West Fest is one of the bigger/awesome-er ones.  

We went one evening with our friends and had a great time!  We got a GIANT turkey leg for dinner and a delicious pineapple float from Dole Whip for dessert.

Then we enjoyed some people watching and walking around looking at all the booths/rides/activities.

To end the night, we sat back and enjoyed some melodies from Mr. Ben Harper. For free.  It was a great night!

Back into a routine
The few days leading up to the first day of school and the next two weeks afterwards were some of the busiest days I've ever had.  I felt overwhelmed constantly and had a strong sense of being rushed (which I hate) since I had a long list of to-do's that were due the day before.  I only had 3 days this year (before the first day) to get done the same amount of work that took me 7 days last year.  It was tough, but I got through it!

Now we're back into a somewhat normal routine, but we still have a few last minute fun weekend trips planned before the summer is gone completely.