Way back in June...

Well, in an attempt to do a little catch-up, here's a quick recap of some things that happened 'round these parts in June.

Fish-sitting again.  The kids really love this, but I find that even the level of commitment
necessary to keep a betta fish alive is too high for me.  Feed something other than my family
three times a day?  Whoa.  That's asking kind of a lot...

At the beginning of the summer, we were all pretty gung ho about daily learning
time.  The kids even got all set up to do learning time outside one morning.
It didn't last that long...

Jack had his first experience with rec league soccer in the form of
the summer training camp that is available for kids who register early.
He loved it. 

I was excited to bring the younger kids to the library's summer reading kick-off event,
which was called "Teddy Bear Picnic." Everyone had a stuffed animal they brought
and Cat was convinced it would be incredibly lame, so I told her she could read
her book by herself in a shady spot nearby.  But since it was all about science and it was
NOT lame, she decided to participate anyway.

After the science demonstrations there was a puppet show.  The kids
enjoyed meeting the puppets afterward.

The science demonstration lady showed off the bug collection she put
together with her kids and it was pretty cool.  For about two seconds I was actually
tempted to start a bug collection with my kids for the summer.
I'm not saying I hate the idea of starting a bug collection.
This just wasn't the summer to do it.  Gimme a couple more years.

Hello, Puppets.

Have I mentioned that Jack and Eliza started folding their own laundry this summer?
On the first day we did this, Luke was enjoying un-folding as much as he could,
so Cat helped him fold washcloths, which worked out great.

We went to a new-ish children's museum at Thanksgiving Point called
the Museum of Natural Curiosity with some friends and the kids had a blast.

This was my favorite part - a music studio where you could tap on the computer screens to manipulate
the rhythm and melody of a bunch of percussion instruments.  I could have stayed in there for a while.

This part was really cool too - a water table with little toddler seats built into the table
so the kids could be surrounded by water without having to actually sit in it.  Genius.

We hung out at Orem's Summer Fest for a little while and Jack and Eliza LOVED
the little roller coaster.  It reminded me of our trip to California last fall.

 

 The over-sized slide was a big hit with everyone too.

Another fun one for J & E

Luke was really into all of the rides, until we tried to put him on them.
Then he would immediately scream until we took him off.
I was glad to find a ride we could do together because he had a great time
as long as Mommy was with him.

Cousin Playdate at the park.  Everyone is in this picture except the baby.

My voice teacher made me a tape of vocalise to warm up with and the only place
I can listen to it is in our car (yes, our car is pretty old).  Luke reminded me
of why kids and cassette tapes don't mix.

We had a good time at the origami exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art
for the second time, this time with my cousins who were visiting from California.

Jack learned first-hand the misery of having to write sentences as a punishment.
Grounding him would have been easier on both of us...

We ran into our friend Liberty at the Riverwoods Freedom Fest Block Party.

J & E also got to meet a skunk.

These two took advantage of the face painting.

Eliza also got free hair chalk and nail polish, but it's hard to see.

Jack just enjoyed a romp in the splash pad.

Father's Day Breakfast

Father's Day surprises - 

 

We met up with some of my cousins and their kids at Liberty Park in SLC.
Such a cool park.

Because we were traveling during Cat's birthday, she had an early birthday playdate
with a few friends.  They made fabric-backed glass plates and decorated cupcakes
to take home on their plates.  Then they watched "Cupcake Wars."

Cupcakes!