our summer vacation?

So I think we are probably the most unfun vacationers there could be.
This past week we tried to take advantage of an empty house (sans Mom, Scott and Carter who were in St. George). I have to admit that the extra space and peace was a much needed break for me if no one else....that was vacation in and of itself.
Tuesday we had our meeting with the foreman--finally! We solidified our architectural plans and other details which needed doing before turning the plans into the city for approval and permits. This could take up to a month or so before an actual hole can be dug and any construction started. We received a list of places to go to pick all our colors, and we were able to spend a good part of Tuesday and Wednesday hitting every place we needed to go. Andrew was able to take both these days off (his first break in weeks...he's been working seven days a week lately).
While the sheer mass of choices was overwhelming, I feel we made our decisions in a decisive and time-efficient manner, eliminating some of the anticipated stress and only adding to our excitement for the house to be completed. We had to pare down the amount of upgrades as it would be SO easy to go overboard in that department, but I feel the upgrades we did choose to invest in will be well-worth the money. Luckily the 'standard' upgrades are already well above the norm, and we feel lucky to have found such a great opportunity at this time.
The girls did remarkably well during all the housing hoopla and ins-and-outs of various stores. Even with Zoe only a week or so into the potty-training thing, she did really well and continues to impress me with her fast-learning and awareness...phew!
We took the girls swimming at the rec center and had so much fun with them in the water (or as much fun as one can have while toting around a toddler). I was invited by a group of moms in the ward to take the girls over for a swim 'party' the following two days...Lily is quite the social butterfly and was SO upset when we left both days after more than two hours of play. Then on Saturday we went to Andrew's sister's house for a family swim party in their backyard. It was fun had by all although the 100 plus degree heat left me regretting my decision not to swim due to the ridiculous rash I got from being out in the sun previously in the week.
I have been so bad about taking pictures and even worse at posting them, but I will try to upload what pictures I have taken and get them up (for my sake if for no one else).
And that's probably the extent of a vacation for us this year....exciting, no?