July

The beginning of July seems so long ago now.   For the 4th, we met up with the Hunts in Pocatello.  The day before the big fireworks show we met at a park and played games and had a BBQ.  Chris and Bethany ran the show, and as usual, there were always fun things to do.  They had sparklers and fireworks for the kids to enjoy after dinner.

The adults had a sack race.  I can't quite remember who won, but I know it wasn't me.

Ella and Jonny both got burned when they touched the business end of a sparkler.  They recovered.

For the big day, we met at the fields by where the fireworks were to be set off.  We set up shade tents, had treats, played at the park, and other revelry.  The fireworks were great, except we were a little too close, there was a little too much fire, we were a little too tired from all day at the park.  We ended up leaving before the finale, but none of us cared much.  We were thrilled to have missed all the traffic and be in our beds asleep before midnight. We stayed at Mom and Dad's house since we'd been there the week before house sitting while they were at girls camp.

Speaking of Girls Camp!  One of the main reasons why I didn't take any pictures myself this month (all of these were taken by other people), is because of girls camp!  It was a ton of work, but amazingly fun!  And it turned out that girls camp couldn't have gone any more smoothly.  Everything was absolutely perfect.

Our huge Costco haul.

First, of all, this place is gorgeous.  Nothing makes me happier than being in beautiful places like these.  

There is wildlife in this picture.

There is wildlife in these pictures, too!  I was in the kitchen when these were taken, but the women who I went to camp with are THE BEST WOMEN IN THE WORLD!!!  Gosh I love them so much.

Rachael really nailed leading us all, despite being super pregnant and maybe just a little stressed.  Gosh I love her, too.

There was that one moment when a squirrel got into the lodge.  So we (mostly these other people) did what had to be done and chased him out.

There was some hysterical competition with the Olympic torch.  Our theme was the Olympics and each group of girls (and leaders) represented a country.  It was brilliant.  Each of our meals correlated with the various countries. 

More wildlife.

SO FUN!

-------------------------------------------------

While I was at camp, my parents came to stay with the kids so Dave could be at work every day.  Mom took each of the girls school shopping for me while I was gone.  They are so wonderful.  It was such a HUGE help that they came.  Thank you, Mom and Dad!

I decided to give the girls piano lessons myself.  I picked up some books that I liked and we dove right in.  However, once school started, we had to stop, so next summer we'll get back to it.  I'm optimistic!  They're so talented.

All summer Dave has spent every Saturday night doing a Comedy Sportz-type thing (not officially a Comedy Sportz thing) called Improviver.  It's just like Survivor the TV show, only with comedy.  It was fine.  It got funnier near the end.  The final show, tons of our friends came to support him, and we all went out for dessert afterward.  He didn't win, but he only lost by a hair.  It was the funniest show for sure.

We went to Roaring Springs again through Dave's work.  I love it when they reserve the entire park for the evening so we basically have the place to ourselves.  Now that Darcy and Jonny are a little bit older, we lasted a little bit longer and I actually got to enjoy myself a bit.  Afterward we all got milkshakes and the kids dubbed us the best parents ever.

As a family we took a hike around Camels Back, which is where I went with the Young Women before camp.  I had loved it, but the kids and Dave didn't love it as much.  They did, however, love the park at the foot of the hill.  It's a good one.  After that outing we got Frosties and the kids REALLY thought we were the best parents ever.

I visited the eye doctor this month and finally got contact lenses.  Well, I got samples for my new contact lenses.  I'll order them soon.  It's nice to feel a little more like myself.  My glasses make me feel old.

Jonny was mad at one of the girls and in order to insult them he yelled, "You . . . you . . .little mermaid!"  It's like he doesn't know them at all.  :)

Also, Jonny got to go to his first birthday parties!  There were two little girls that invited him this month and he was stoked to go.

______________________________________________________

That was July!  August is almost over as I write this, and thinking ahead to that post and looking over the last two I've written, summer seems to have completely flown by.

June

Summer!  June was both wonderful and crazy.  It was both easier and harder.  Having the kids home from school was a hard transition for me.  That first full day with everyone home about did me in.  There were SO MANY crazy things that happened.  So many devastating messes, so much fighting and sassing and crying.  Very, very rough.  However, I'm writing this two days before school starts again, and I'll say that I think we've figured it out.  Just in the last week.  So, it does get better!  

But let's talk about June before we get too far ahead of ourselves.  Audrey, Jane, and Claire took swimming lessons every Monday through Thursday for the first two weeks after school let out.  They were at the YMCA.  I would drop Darcy off in the babysitting area, then go hang out while these little fish learned how to swim.  They did such a wonderful job!

Here's Jonny with his sweet instructor, Jitka.  He adored her.  His first day he freaked out, but he warmed up to things by the end.  He is definitely not scared to swim anymore.

This is a picture of Audrey and Jane paddling in the first lane of the instructional pool.  They both showed a lot of improvement after this round of lessons.

It's hard to tell, but Claire is in the middle floating on her back.  Her instructor, Nick, is supporting her shoulders in the water.  She was the one who feared the water the most before lessons but showed the most progress after lessons were over.

My birthday!  I was majorly surprised on my birthday to have a showering of love and sweet surprises from my friends.  Courtney came and watched my kids, she and Natasha gifted me a spa treatment and goodies, Rachael had lunch with me and made me a cake (and got me a cute Idaho necklace), then she and I went out for some dinner, snow cones, and shopping.  There were just so many wonderful things about the day!  It was more than I deserved, for sure.  I have the best friends.

I got to kick off the summer with my usual hike up Tablerock.  I always forget how hard it is!  But so fun at the same time, and a really nice view at the end.  This time I went alone, which is pretty safe since the trail is so populated and in plain view of people the whole time.  It was a nice little getaway.

From my car after I got back down.  It is a lot farther than it looks up that that cross!

One weekend Nate and Kumba came to visit!  We had only met Kumba at their wedding, so it was really great to get to know her better.  The kids adored her particularly because she played with them!

Flashback!  Dave made this meme.  Classic.

I did a little bit if redecorating.  I hung this quilt mom gave me (it's an antique), and I love how it looks there.

And I moved the painting that the quilt replaced here into the office.  It seems much nicer now.  I did a complete reorganization of the office and I feel much better about everything.

This baby was not much of a help during reorganizing the office, but she sure is cute!  Audrey let her wear her coat.

Dave and Jonny went on their annual Fathers and Sons camp-out.  When Jonny and I were preparing and packing before Dave got home from work, Jonny couldn't stop talking about how he was going to pee in the woods.  That was a very important item on their itinerary.  :)  I'm told he pretended to mow the entire campsite.  This is the only picture I have, and it was stolen from someone else.  So gorgeous.  And they had a blast.

So much swimming this summer!  We didn't do much last summer since Darcy was still too little to go in alone.  But this summer, her floaty allowed her to swim just as easily as the big kids!  She has no fear!

__________________________________________

I should mention that David also had a birthday this month.  However, I didn't take any pictures because I'm the worst wife in the world.  We went and had dinner at Texas Roadhouse, his favorite.  He is the most amazing husband and father.  I love him so much.

The girls got Roaring Springs passes again this year, and Dave took the three big girls to use them the last weekend in June before the expired.  They love going, and it's a lot more fun to take them now that they're bigger and better swimmers.  It's kind of fun having a little waterpark just a few miles from our house.