Summer Living

We had one chill week after school got out before we jumped into summer camps. First up was VBS.

All the kids still love VBS! Annie especially hit it off with her teen leaders. She found out that some of her buddies were volunteering at another VBS the following week and sweet talked me into signing them up for the second week. 

Later in the summer, the Stake Primary decided to put on a Book of Mormon camp which we unofficially called VBOMS. It's always an impressive feat to organize so many kids. They had 4 days with a focus story from the Book of Mormon each day.

Annie and Isaac taking a moment of meditation by the Tree of Life

The three older kids all did Be Well Summer Camp at the clubhouse again. We opted out of swim lessons for Elliot and Annie because they are such strong swimmers. There wasn't a convenient time for swim lessons offered at Isaac's level at the clubhouse, so we ended up swapping for swim lessons with Hannah Gardner at the pool at Casa Johnson. He made a lot of progress, but didn't make it to full swimmer level yet. We will hit it harder next year!

I finally figured out how to stand up on Grumpa's shoulders! All the kids love it and are far more graceful than me up there. We spent a lot of time in this pool over the summer! Mimi learned that it is very easy to lure us over with any offers of dinner, and we usually jumped in the pool before or after. It feels like instant vacation mode whenever we are over there. It is still very new and exciting having them so close by!

Anamax park opened a new splash pad as well. Arizona is a great place for wet summer fun.

We remembered that Home Depot does free kid crafts on the first Saturday of each month

Annie loves a good playdate, especially ones that involve dance performances. Luckily she has several friends that are always willing to bust a move (with several outfit changes).

Felix carried on the noble tradition of being a baby with a nest on his head. We find this VERY amusing. 

We even found a little volleyball keychain to be our perfect little egg!

The kids moved into the closet under the stairs the same day that Joanna & Rayne moved out- they had been using it to store their stuff. They labeled it the "Kids Club" and spent the rest of the summer taking turns sleeping in it. This was a bit surprising to me since there's no ventilation and it smells like shoes in there. Every time it was Annie's requested to sleep in the closet, she asked Aaron to take a picture of her sleeping. We have a whole series of pictures of kids asleep in the closet now. 

Here's a tender video of the first night in the kids club. Sure enough, the two of them sleeping together was fun for about 2 minutes and then we decided on a taking turns model for closet sleeping. 

"You are only allowed to come in if you are a kid or a grownup saying something to the kids or telling them we're going somewhere and other than that no grown ups allowed!

Snuggle time grown ups are allowed."

Look at this very loved Dad on Father's day!

Annie got a sweet gig taking care of a bearded dragon while it's owners were on vacation. Apparently it's hard to find kids that are willing to coat live cockroaches in calcium powder. Annie had no qualms about picking up the cockroaches and mealworms. 

Elliot started learning the violin! It has been a pleasure teaching him. Annie has had a few lessons too, but it's huge on her and she's the busy one in the family so I'm focusing on the Oat. He's picking it up quickly!

He also dropped it quickly. Luckily Grumpa has every glue in existence and was able to fix it up. 

Grumpa also hauled an old but very nice wheat grinder across the country with the intent of grinding up some mesquite flour together. This is 100% my love language. 

The cub scout pack had a summer activity where we dissected owl pellets, roasted marshmallows, searched for bugs and scorpions in the dark, and looked at the stars. I really like the family oriented feel of scouts. 

We spent a weekend visiting Mary. I decided to take the kids to the mini Legoland in the Tempe Mall to give Aaron and Mary (and napping Felix) some time for good chats. It was a blast!

There were two rides, both with short lines. They were small but fun.

Legos, Legos... all I see is Legos

That Lego unicorn was quite tricky to build!

This station had earthquake simulation plates. There were also ramps to test out car creations, and a pinewood derby style ramp for racing wheeled creations. There was also a Lego Police themed play structure with tunnels and slides. It was like everywhere we turned there was a new thing that could entertain them for hours. 

The 4D movie!