We had so much fun at the Junior Rodeo last year (though I'm not sure that's the official name now?) that we were excited to go back. Alas, I had to go to choir rehearsal that night but Ben took the kids and once again they had a blast. Eliza and Luke were able to do Mutton Bustin' again and Jack got sweet revenge after his many disappointments last year (no sheep-ribbon, no chicken) and got the FIRST ribbon off of a sheep's leg, winning himself a $5 bill.
Waiting for the Mutton Bustin' to begin
Eliza's ready to go
Happy Sheep-Riding Girl
Bring on the Mutton!
I can't find Jack in the above video until he runs away with his ribbon,
but kudos to you if you can!
A blurry screenshot... can you see Jack running to the officials to claim his prize?
Eliza was so excited when she could finally hold her newest cousin, who'd been in the hospital for a several weeks after he was born.
We celebrated Harry Potter's birthday with a movie-inspired cake. Eliza did the honors.
Our last night with Grammy included Mexican for dinner (of course) and chocolate pizza for dessert. Always delicious. And always sad to say goodbye to Grammy. We loved getting to see her throughout the summer!
We finally took our kayaks and paddleboard out as a family for the first time early in August. We hung out at Tibble Fork Reservoir for a little while one evening after Ben came home from work and loved it!
Jack wanted to buy himself some treats at Target but his siblings wanted some too, so he bought them Icees and snacks as well.
Luke and Jack sure love looking at toys at Target. Me? Not so much.
I was so on top of things this summer that I signed all three younger kids
up for swim lessons. Then completely forgot about them. By the time I remembered,
the week I'd purchased was two weeks earlier. I must not be the only one this has
happened to, though, because when I called the office of our city aquatic department,
they asked if I'd like a refund or to reschedule? How about a reminder email
next time? I wanted to say, but didn't. We rescheduled.
And now Jack and Eliza have finished level 4 and Luke has finished level 2.
Workbook time.
Cat had the hankering to make cream puffs from scratch. I tried to discourage her, knowing it would turn into a huge ordeal, taking a long time and making a huge mess. But I finally gave in, and I'm happy to say I was wrong. It was neither a huge ordeal or incredibly messy. And Cat was sweet enough to let Eliza and Luke help.
AND, they were delicious. I think if she wanted to make them again some time, I'd consider it.
The day after we returned from our big trip at the beginning of the summer, I was itching to just do something fun and active at home. I wish I could say we went on bike rides often throughout the summer, but this was one of the few.
We did do a lot of reading though.
Cat attended Orem's Summerfest with her friends. It was an evening she won't soon forget,
with one of her friends getting very sick on the rickety rides.
Eliza also attended Summerfest with a friend of hers, and they both had a blast.
With Toy Story 4 coming out, the boys were completely obsessed with the toys they saw at Target.
They pored over pictures of the toys for weeks.
We brought one of Cat's good friends to see Aladdin with us before he took off
for the rest of the summer. We enjoyed it!
Once our summer calmed down a bit (after our big trip and after our stream of visitors
dried up) we got into the routine of spending a little time doing school work most days.
More reading time.
"How old were you when you got your first rifle?"
"13."
Jack began learning to type on typing.com.
While Cat was at Girls' Camp I took the younger kids to a splash pad for a picnic, water time,
and ice cream. (I planned it this way specifically because Luke had said he wanted to go on a picnic this
summer, but at the end of the summer he had no recollecction of the picnic. Sigh.)
Jack wanted to learn how to make grilled cheese. Yes!
Big got a big grill and we made grilled pizzas one night,
with delicious chocolate-topped pizza for dessert. Mmmmmm.
Sometimes, you just have to tame the mane.
Scera Pool -
This picture was taken just over a month after the first picture on this post.
Notice the different amounts of snow on the mountains in the background.
Lindon Pool -
I love Luke jumping to Cat in this picture after crawling down as many of the Lily Pads as he wanted.
When I asked the kids what they wanted to do the last week of summer these were their answers:
School Supply shopping (Cat)
Puppy Store (Jack)
Nickel City (I think all 3 younger kids)
Pool (me)
We were able to do those, and more. Because the only way to recover from a busy summer and prepare for a busy school year is to jam-pack your last week of freedom, right?
Monday:School supply shopping. Cat was so happy. She'd been checking for the school supply list for weeks and finally found it the weekend before, and asked at about 9:00 Saturday night if could go school supply shopping. Alas, Staples was closed. So we went Monday morning. And by that night, Cat's backpack was packed and organized and she just had to wait another week to use it.
Tuesday:We spent a joy-filled 20 minutes at The Puppy Store, where the kids loved on just about every puppy in the place. They were all adorable and the kids would have been happy to bring any, or all, of them home.
Cat had a far-away soccer game that afternoon but I took the other kids to the pool to use up the passes they received from swim lessons. I'm going to miss summer weather and spending a couple hours at the pool!
Wednesday:Meeting up with an I-knew-you-before-I-had-kids friend in downtown Salt Lake, talking as we walked around the mall, and having lunch together. When we spotted berets in H&M, all we could think was "Caps for sale! 50 cents a cap!"
That night we had a cousin campfire dinner in American Fork Canyon. The mosquitos wer attacking us but as always we loved spending time with family and being outside.
Thursday:
A fun playdate in the morning, gymnastics in the afternoon, then Ben took the kids to Back to School Night and Nickel City (nickel arcade) while I was at choir in the evening.
Friday:
Hanging out at home, eating candy while watching "Zootopia," then when Ben got home from work we went out and played mini golf and ate shave ice.
I had good reason for letting them pull each other down the stairs by Dollar Store jump rope while
sitting on a pool inner tube atop my bench cushion, onto an enormous pile of pillows, blankets,
and stuffed animals. My good reason? I was reading a book. Bonus: no injuries were reported.
I love that I accidentally caught Jack celebrating a hole in one.
Luke is working on reinventing golf.
Saturday:
Cat went to the temple with some friends early in the morning, Luke and Eliza helped me make cinnamon rolls (which we ate for lunch), then in the afternoon we took the kayaks and paddleboard to Payson Lakes. It's about an hour away but we loved the lake - small enough and secluded enough that it wasn't crowded, but big enough that you could have fun exploring. And the icing on the cake: it wasn't freezing cold, unlike many lakes in our area. We picked up pizza on our way home and had a movie night watching "The Missing Link."
Not pictured: Cat and me racing in the small kayaks, Luke trying to paddle around on a raft.
Sunday:
A relaxed family day, just hanging out at home after church, and Ben giving all of us Priesthood Blessings in the evening. Blessed, indeed.
