Summer Life

On the first day of summer break, Isaac asked if he could sleep outside. We set up our little 2 person tent in the backyard. Annie thought it looked like fun, so she moved her stuff in with him. They ended up sleeping outside for 3 weeks until it started to be 90 degrees at bedtime and I declared it too hot for this nonsense. 

Isaac was bitterly disappointed to return to his boring old bed. He asked if he could sleep in the laundry room instead. He has been there for 3 months now with no desire to move back. He's got a nice set up with a camping mat and pile of blankets, and the more I bring up the topic of him going back to his bed, the more he digs in that sleeping in the laundry room is cooler. Elliot is thrilled to not have Isaac bunking above him, so we've let the matter drop. 

 

Elliot's hammock is now set up outside. He slept in it for a week or so, and let Isaac sleep in it a few times. Now it is a book reading spot when it's not boiling lava hot outside. 

Felix is all to eager to join Elliot whenever he is relaxing. 
The other siblings are less welcome, but we all have a soft spot for Felix these days. 

Aaron celebrated turning 37 with some baklava tastefully decorated by his adoring children.

We also got him a yummy breakfast in bed on Father's Day

The first weeks of the summer were busy with camps. We had VBS, a Stake Primary camp, and swim lessons for Isaac. Aaron was able to flex his work schedule to help bring the the kids to the pool, which was deeply appreciated by my hugely pregnant self. It felt soooo good to float in the pool, even though getting out triggered contractions every time. 

Elliot attended his first sleep away camp at Camp Geronimo! He reports that it was the best week of his life so far. He had an absolute blast working on his game design, chess, and cooking merit badges, and eating candles and all manner of treats. They did service projects, hunted crawdads, played gaga ball, built fires, and had a polar plunge. He came home dirty and delighted. I'm so glad that he's found a great group of friends in the Scouting program. 

There was an at home portion to the cooking merit badge. We were very pleased to have him cook several meals for us. 

Marble race videos were a popular pastime for a while. Mimi donated a cardboard box, and Elliot made an awesome marble run for us! They purchased "skittle" marbles on Amazon and have run many excited races since then. 

The racetrack in action! It has a built in award podium for the winning marbles. 

The kids had quite a few sleepovers when I thought I might be going into labor, and later once Heidi was actually here (spoiler alert!) The kids loved cooking pancakes with Mimi, making playdough, and generally having a great time. They are always happy to be going to Casa Johnson. 

Elliot on a Breezy date to try many exotic foods

He opted to start with a nice slice of provolone

Felix loves playing autoharp with Breezy! The cutest is when he echo sings "No rainbows" in the song "Where rainbows never die" by the SteelDrivers.

Here's a pretty standard breakfast lineup. Felix refuses to stay in his high chair a lot of the time, and Elliot usually sleeps in and gets himself breakfast later. Isaac typically rejects utensils and tries to eat all foods with his hands. 

This gal is ready to strike a pose anywhere, anytime. 

I think this picture really encapsulates Isaac's essence. This is his trademark happy prance with plenty of elbow action. 

I just want to eat him sometimes. He's such a cute little buddy!

Someone in our ward opened a business called MindForge. You can play board games and build lego and STEM toys, or do art. They have special events too. We bought a punch card, and it has been a favorite place for the kids to hang out. 

I love it when these two are being buds. 

We crashed Ranch Ward's summer party with inflatable water slides. Note Isaac horizontal in the air on this one.

My friends wanted to have a baby shower for me, but since I already have all the stuff I need, I asked for the theme to be "float in the pool and please nobody give me presents." We had a lovely time in the Casa Johnson pool, and I forgave the people who gave me presents anyway. Some people couldn't come, so they secretly turned a planned drop and swap activity into another baby shower! I went home with lots of cute baby girl clothes, and some pink cupcakes in my belly. I have the best friends.  

Sad to be getting a shot, but his hair was on point

One time, Annie asked us to count how many cartwheels she could do in a row. She got 20. She told us to watch because she thought she could do better. She proceeded to do 350 CARTWHEELS IN A ROW. WITHOUT STOPPING. I thought she would stop when she got to 50, then again when she got to 100, but she just kept on going! I started to video when we were somewhere in the 200's. It was absolute insanity. This girl is an athlete, and she can definitely be tough!

I hope I always remember how frantically happy Felix was playing in the roof runoff at Casa Johnson during a lovely storm.

It's safe to say that we enjoyed this monsoon season!

End of School Events

The end of the school year was busier than ever! 

Elliot was George Washington Carver in a 5th Grade Living Museum. The mustache was really perfect. 

Naturally, his presentation had a mini-game. He hid 8 tiny smiley faces in his informational poster. People who found them all won a single peanut from his prop peanut jar. 

Just like that, he's done with Elementary School! They had an advancement assembly. His class was the third to go. The first two classes were all given yellow certificates. Elliot was first up alphabetically in his class, and was handed a blue certificate. I was quite baffled by this, especially when the next kid got a yellow one. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that Elliot's class and the class after gave every other kid a blue certificate. Perhaps there were yellow paper shortages?

I have very photogenic sons. 

Annie's 2nd Grade Musical was soccer themed. Who knew that there were so many songs about soccer? Hits included "It's Not if You Win," "El Juego Bonito," and "Goal."

Annie had a great year in Ballet/Jazz. She says that Gymnastics is her true passion, but she still loves everything to do with performing on the stage. She would be sad to miss out on the outfit, hair, and whole general vibe of recital day. 

Her dance this year was to Meghan Trainor's "Better When I'm Dancin'." The highlight is around 1:40 when she lifts another girl (she's strong!) then gets to show off her side extension. 

At the gymnastics open house, she got to show off her skills on floor, vault, bar, and beam. Then they wrapped it up with a group floor routine. 

She has come SO FAR this past year due to some seriously hard work. This is the move she probably worked the hardest on- her backbend kickover. 

The splits are also a new development this year! It's so great that Annie gets to be with her BFF and neighbor for gymnastics and dance. They really support each other and have a great time. 

Here's their performance to "Determinate." 

Isaac nailed his line in the Kindergarten musical. He had a fun time singing on the stage. The music teacher does an impressive job of managing 5 classes of kindergarteners in one performance! Every kid who wants to say a line gets to, and I thought that the participation rate of kids doing the dance moves that go along with the songs was impressively high.

Isaac had an adorable Kindergarten celebration. They dressed up in fancy clothes and sang their favorite songs from the year. Hits included "Rise and Shine and Welcome to School Today," "Herman the Worm," and a parody of Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off." The kids were so earnest and you can tell that they just love Mrs. Chittum. There have been times this year when Isaac struggled with all the rules and expectations of school, so it was extra sweet to see him so happy for the last few weeks of school. 

They shine bright with their sunglasses!

Each kid took home a very robust portfolio of all the crafts they did this year that hadn't already been sent home. Mrs. Chittum is impressively skilled with graphic design, and had a lot of crafts that incorporated pictures of the kids into them. Our favorite was a bat with Isaac's face on it that we have been taping in random locations throughout the house. 

We celebrated the last day of school with the traditional water fight at the park! 

Zicko was the master of the punctured balloon squirt

Elliot grabbed a shirt full of balloons then sprinted to the top of the playground to claim the high ground. It was very effective. 

Annie had stayed to play at the playground with friends for a couple hours before the water fight. She ran home, changed into her swim suit in record time, and then stayed for another couple of hours at the park. That's the dream!

Felix was very content with a cup and a cooler of water from popped balloons. 

Welcome to summer fun!

An Aaron in Paris

Aaron took an unexpected trip to Paris! A few days before his work's biannual in-person meetup in Chicago, his co-worker called him up and asked if he could travel to Paris to do an important vendor evaluation. We were a little nervous because I was 35 weeks pregnant, but it ended up being fine for us at home and a cool trip for Aaron.

 

On the second day in Chicago, the trip was finalized and tickets to leave that evening were purchased. His work got him a nice business class ticket! He had one of those pod seats that reclined all the way so he could try to sleep. It was in-flight luxury the likes of which we have never before experienced. He caught his last minute international flight with only the backpack he had packed for the Chicago trip and a suitcase full of testing equipment that is now in our bedroom. 

Here's the view out his hotel window. All the buildings are gorgeous! The location was amazing, too- he could see the Eiffel Tower from the roof of the hotel, and the office he was working at was just a few buildings away. 

This was a short trip. With the jet lag and red eye flight, he didn't have much time to calibrate before his big meeting. Then, his equipment testing took much longer than anticipated because one piece of equipment didn't make it into the hastily packed suitcase. His co-worker woke up at 3am US time to figure out some work-arounds with Aaron. 

He had some free hours before and after the long work day. ChatGPT was a huge help in figuring out the best sites to visit that were open and close by. We are usually planners, and everything about this trip was forcing Aaron to just wing it. He managed to soak up a good taste of the city in the short amount of time he had there.

The Arc de Triomphe looks like a giant game of frogger! There are cars driving about with no lane markings, and pedestrians dodging the cars to get close to the monument. Aaron says this was the closest he could get without risking life and limb. 

Aaron is more of an architecture guy than an art museum guy, so ChatGPT sent him walking to Saint-Pierre-de-Chaillot. 

A few blocks away was another soaring cathedral! This one is the American Cathedral in Paris. Even though it was May, it was cold at night, and he only had his light jacket. 

Aaron indulgently took pictures of the food for me. He said they have smaller serving sizes but really high quality. He tried the Creme Brulé, which was incredibly delicious.

Salmon with yummy veggies? An Aaron dream come true!

This was an unexpected adventure, and I'm glad it worked out that Aaron was able to take advantage of such a cool opportunity to see a new part of the world!