Happy Pioneer Day. We helped my dad pull the peas from the garden, pull up stakes, wind up twine, and weed. His pea crop this summer was not stellar. His garden is meticulous and every year he adds something to make it even better. The hanging discs helped to keep the birds from eating his peas and raspberries. When there is a breeze, the discs twirl in the sunshine causing dancing reflections on the walls in the house.
My mom used her sun oven today to cook chicken. She and my dad are pretty handy people. The girls and I dug some more potatoes. The potatoes aren't really ready yet so most of the plants only had one or two potatoes. We pulled one rogue carrot that had been growing in the middle of the peas. It was nice and fat, but the carrots on the other side of the house were not ready to be pulled at all.
After dinner (lunch), Amy and Kristen headed over to the swimming pool to play. Misha went downstairs to play pool. She loved my dad's pool table and tried to figure out a place in our house where we could have one. If we got rid of some couches or a dining table, maybe we could fit one in.
While my dad and Chris rested for the afternoon (after watching a hilarious Youtube spoof on the upcoming BYU football schedule), I helped my mom with her iPad and understanding Pinterest, learning hand strokes, and getting the Facebook app so she could follow the pictures we posted online. I updated all of her apps and helped her get her music from the Mormon Channel so that she could listen to church music. She was much appreciative.
Another big step for my parents; we helped them get a cell phone with an international calling plan. We stopped first at Costco, but their plans and phones weren't what my parents wanted. We headed across town to the mall where Chris worked out the different plan details between Koodo and Virgin Mobile. I had them look at the phones and hold them in their hands so they could decide which would be the better choice. They opted for a plan and flip phone with larger buttons through Koodo. My kids weren't too interested in shopping at the mall, though we did make a quick perusal through it.
My parents had brought their own car so that they could go home after getting their phone and then groceries. We weren't able to make the 7 pm show at the Movie Mill so decided to go for dinner. We found this place called Top Pizza and Pasta which was highly rated by TripAdvisor. The pizza, when it finally arrived was delicious. It was baked in a pizza oven, which I imagine accounted for the wait. It was pretty spendy as well, but we figured with the exchange rate, the cost would even out to normal.
Walmart was also on our list of stops to pick up more snacks and treats. Recognize any of these Canadian treats?
After leaving, we had to drive slowly through the traffic for the air show. It would have been fun to see, but turns out we had the best seat for the best performance of the day. As we were driving by, Amy noticed an F-18 positioning for takeoff. We pulled over to the side of the road and were treated to the most amazing display. Amy LOVED it. She would love to fly these airplanes someday. It was loud, and right over our heads, and cool. Such a fitting end for a fun vacation.
Since it was our last evening at my parents' home, the girls stayed up late to play pool. I started packing things up so that we weren't so rushed in the morning. I stuffed most of the dirty laundry in to my suitcase and pulled out just what I would need for our final day of travel and added it to Chris' case. I did the same with Kristen's stuff and had Amy and Misha consolidate what they might need in to one suitcase.