Sunday, October 27, 2024

Summer Kickoff

We started off the summer with a trip to the desert museum. We got an annual pass last fall and have been trying to get our money's worth. I love that place and wish it were a bit closer! 

 

The chains to keep the hummingbirds in their enclosure are always a hit


This was the first time we sprung a bit extra to do the sting ray encounter. It was so fun! They give you a cup with shrimp and fish bits. You hold them between your fingers and the sting rays suction them up. 

Isaac was extremely hesitant at first, but we worked on it, and at the end he was petting them like a champ (although he still didn't want his fingers anywhere near their toothless mouth side).

It's waving hello!

As always, we seek the A/C of the packrat playhouse when the sun gets too hot. Unfortunately, Elliot was slain by the giant rattlesnake. 

If Elliot gets eaten, Annie wants to get eaten too.

Annie loves playdates. Especially when they involve dance performances. 

I love this picture so much. Annie is awesome. 

Annie was tall enough to go on the waterslides this year! She was very nervous about it and wouldn't go the first time we visited the clubhouse. We were working our way through all of our methods of persuasion to get her to muster up the courage. What finally worked is that we went to the pool with her cousins and Eowyn invited her to go. She went without us even realizing it and loved it! She was a water slide fiend for the rest of the summer. Elliot and Annie did evening swim lessons at the clubhouse, and we always tried to get there early to have some waterslide time. 

I found out about this program where kids can bowl for free over the summer! The first time we tried it out, our registration hadn't cleared yet. We ended up enjoying the AC of the adjacent arcade and playing on the arcade equipment without actually buying any tokens. Isaac didn't know the difference. I will say that it was the single most overstimulating place I have ever been and I don't know why anyone would ever choose to go there. The actual bowling was cool when we went back!

Alchemy was a favorite game over the summer. Even Isaac kind of learned how to play. He's a pro dice roller now!

And we love him for it

All three kids went to VBS this summer! The theme was Breaker Rock Beach. Annie was so into the songs and was delighted to find them on spotify so that she could practice for the big performance. It turns out that Isaac so far matches Elliot's lack of expression while performing. We loved watching them anyway. It's so great that these people take my kids for 3 hours a day for free, entertain them, teach them bible stories and good lessons, and then give us a free family dinner at the end. 

This was shortly before Colton threw up in line for the hotdog dinner.


Elliot is going through what I call his "chaos photography" phase. He likes making warped panorama shots like these. I find all sorts of weird pictures on my phone. 

We started reading the Percy Jackson series for bedtime stories after making it through Harry Potter book 4. 

We were regulars at the library summer activities! Lots of crafts, a magic show, and even a planetarium that Isaac almost got us kicked out of. I love having access to such a wonderful library. 

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