The end is near.

I was really looking forward to summer vacation this year, and we've loved it.  The first several weeks were a nice change of pace from the craziness of the school year.  After that, it got busy again, but for the most part the busy-ness has been comprised of good, fun things and lots of time with friends and family we don't get to see on a regular basis.  What a wonderful blessing!

The kids have been good sports, not complaining too much, and getting along pretty well, and keeping up with their two daily requirements (piano and reading time) for the most part, so I feel like we're doing fine in spite of the schedule we've been keeping.  But I do have a small amount of anxiety over the fact that we only have two and a half weeks left before school starts again.  I'm hoping to fit in some more fun adventures with the kids, but also at least a couple of pajama days where we don't have any plans at all.  Perhaps it's wishful thinking, but I think I can accomplish both of those goals.

Kool-Aid Girls

Cat has been wanting to try some kind of hair dye for months now.  We decided the Kool-Aid method was something we could both live with: fun, spunky, cheap, and temporary.  We used these directions, and it worked out perfectly!  Eliza wanted to do her hair also, but she used a slightly more diluted solution, and her ponytail wasn't as long as Cat's, so her result was less vibrant and the dye doesn't show up as much in the front, but she still loves it.  We did it about a week and a half ago and both girls' red is fading, so I think they'll be back to their normal hair color before school starts.

Soaking the ends of the ponytails in the Kool-Aid solution for 10 minutes.

After the hair air-dried the first night.

After Cat's hair air-dried that night.

After being styled the next day.

Another shot from the next day.  Fun (TEMPORARY) red!

Wheeler Historic Farm with a COUSIN

I recently found out about a cool historic working farm run by the Salt Lake County Parks & Rec so when my brother and his family came to town, we all headed there one afternoon.  It was hot and sunny, but we all had a good time watching the kids enjoy the animals.  We spent the majority of the time near the entrance, with the kids completely entertained by the ducks, geese, and pigeons.  At one point, Jack tried to help some cute little ducklings up a steep stream bank so they could follow their mama into the grass, but the mama quacked very loudly at him.  Jack really was trying to help, but the mama wanted him to leave her babies alone!

Eventually we progressed to the farm area with big pigs, chickens and roosters, horses, goats, and sheep.  The kids went on a little tractor-pulled ride, explored converted chicken coops, and slurped up Otter Pops.  We also took a few minutes for photo ops.  Eliza's pose in front of the flower bed was cute, and Luke's just cracked me up.  It was a great afternoon!

 

Sock Puppets

One Sunday afternoon earlier in the summer the kids were bored, so we decided to make sock puppets using holey socks from our cleaning stash and miscellaneous craft supplies.  I rather like the way they turned out, and the kids played with them for days.

Meet Stripes, Sock, and Ginger.

Morning Workout

Friends For Everyone

We had a great couple of days with my wonderful friend Margot and her family!  They stayed at our house and the kids were excited to have some sleepover time, with the girls in a bedroom together and the boys camped out on the floor of the play room.  Everyone had a great time playing, playing, playing.  They played at a playground, they played at a splash pad, they played with toys, they played without toys.  The kids got creative with dress-up, role-play, LEGO car-building and demolishing, and Eliza and Phoebe even made a puppet theater and put on short shows for us.  We also had fun at Shakespeare for Kids together.

It works out so well that while I get to hang out with my dear friend Margot, she has four little ones who play so well with my kids.  Our husbands happen to get along also, so it all just works out.

Margot and I managed to sneak away for a yummy HAM breakfast at IHOP, in honor of Alexander HAMilton, whose biography we discussed on the anniversary of his fatal duel with Aaron Burr (July 11th).  We also watched "Austenland" one night, which was the most screen time that anybody had during the visit.  Other than our movie, the only time anyone watched TV was a few Studio C sketches just before bedtime on Monday.

We're all looking forward to their next visit.  It can't come soon enough!

Cat's Birthday

Cat recently had a very special birthday.  The celebratory events spanned a week and included a girls' day with Grammy, Oma, me, and Eliza the weekend before the big day, and a daddy-daughter camping trip the weekend after.  If that's not well-balanced, I don't know what is.

Can you tell which four people just got made-up at the Clinique Counter?

We kept Cat's actual birthday pretty simple.  She slept in as long as she wanted, then after a lazy morning and lunch at home, Ben left work early so that the three of us could go to the Provo City Center Temple.  We had a lovely time together, and Cat appreciated finally being able to enter an LDS temple and participate in sacred ordinances.

After our little temple trip, we went back home and Cat opened her presents.  She received her big present, a Camelbak backpack, early so that she could take it to Girls' Camp with her.  The presents she opened on her birthday were a new soccer ball, mascara (!), and a CD player alarm clock.

After a dinner of homemade copycat Zupa Toscana, Cat was too full to enjoy the ice cream bar she'd wanted for dessert.  She had a frosted sugar cookie with a candle in it instead.  (But don't worry, the rest of us benefitted from the ice cream bar).

After dessert, Cat rushed off to the church for her first YW activity as a bona fide Young Woman, and she loved it.  When she came home, she talked Ben and me into watching a big-kid movie with her before she went to bed.