the back to school picnic that finally happened

Many weeks ago, I decided that I really wanted to have a Back to School Picnic. I wanted to drive up the canyon road and spend an afternoon napping under an aspen tree listening to the rush of the Provo River at my side.

We planned to spend last Monday fulfilling my desire and I thought about it for weeks. The night before, I laid in bed, stirring, and constantly asking D if he was excited about the Back to School Picnic. And like the devoted husband he is, he replied yes every time.

The next morning, I drove to the grocery store to pick up some provisions for our journey. At a red light, I started to notice something strange in the corner of my eye. It was a flashing light the shape of Oklahoma taking over the upper left corner of my vision. I could see it when my eyes were closed or open and the fear of the unknown began to set in.

In the grocery store, I called the expert on all things in general: Mom. "You're getting a migraine. It's just an aura," she explained. She then told of how auras of flashing lights, crackling ice, and neon worms preceded her migraines and her mother's migraines, and her mother before her. She made it sound like a beautiful family legacy.

So, in similar fashion to the advice I asked for when I received my first special visit, I asked her what to do. I took two ibuprofen and one for good measure and continued with my shopping. By the time I returned home, however, all I could manage was to put the milk in the fridge, stumble into the bedroom, peel my contacts out of my eyes, and crawl in to bed, not to be disturbed for hours.

When I woke up, I realized that I had missed the window of opportunity for afternoon napping along the Provo River. I was so upset, I made Jack and D take me to Target to walk around.

Luckily, the picnic was easily postponed and we spend a beautiful August afternoon, eating pasta salad, laying in the grass, and dipping our toes in the freezing snowmelted water.

These are the only pictures D and Jack allowed me to take of them.

Jon and Tina were much more cooperative.