June brought us our first school free month of the summer. Temperatures were warm but not too hot and the kids were outside constantly. We loved seeing them make memories in the play house.
Daddy got tired of seeing our neighbors junkyard grow, so he decided to buy 10 poplar trees as a natural fence and eventual shade. Grow babies! Grow! We fenced each one to keep the neighbors' dogs off of them. Hopefully they will survive and get big fast.
Soccer season started. Annie had a practice at one of our local parks. After practice we stopped at an abandoned caboose to play for a few minutes. The kids loved climbing on it and imagining what might be inside. It is locked and we only get a partial view from the outside. It is an old Union Pacific car. Annie used the brake as a steering wheel and called us all aboard the "Onion" Pacific. At first I thought she was just pretending to be a train delivering onions. Then I realized she thought the way to pronounce Union was Onion. I almost peed my pants laughing. Now any time we see trains we ask Annie to tell us whether or not it is the Onion Pacific Railroad.
Outside play means lots of bubbles, sidewalk chalk, water guns, and messes. Tommy somehow combined bubbles, chalk and water into a body paint. He had rinsed most of it off before this picture. He looked like an Indian brave heading into war all covered from head to toe in color.
Tommy's first soccer practice was at his coach's home. He was so excited and nervous before the practice. He thought it was a game and was worried that he didn't know what to do. We sat down and explained that soccer practice is like piano lessons. He was going to learn soccer and he didn't have to know anything. That helped him relax. He was the fastest kid out there.
He listened to his coach and worked really hard to do what she asked. He loves soccer and can't wait to do more.
Annie did her hair all on her own and wanted me to get a picture of it. I stopped at the credit union with the kids and it happened to be customer appreciation day. There was a bounce house, cotton candy, Mexican food, hot dogs, and cold drinks. Joey didn't want to stop bouncing. We finally bribed him out with a cold root beer.
Annie is also becoming a good artist. Her favorite things to draw are horses, flowers, mermaids, and princesses. She did a drawing for Joey and he wanted to share the chair and provide a model horse to be sure Annie got it right.
We recently discovered a beautiful Japanese garden in Idaho Falls. We like taking the kids there to enjoy the shade and play in the water.
It feels just a tiny bit like being back in Washington. Mommy hopes we will go there very often. Here's some Sunday morning shenanigans for ya. The boys filled Joey's crib with all the blankets and pillows they could find and then climbed in together to play and eat apples before church. Silly silly!
We had multiple science experiments happening on our kitchen table one morning. Everyone got in on the fun and even dressed up for the occassion.
Lily was the lead scientist and did a good job with crowd and mess control. There was so much food coloring and fizzing that it made Mommy's anxiety climb high.
We're still not sure why the wool fedora was necessary for science, but hey, they played for hours and got along, so maybe it is a magic hat.
A friend invited us to join her at Kids Town for a play date. Lily id definitely getting too old for Kids Town, but she is a great helper to the little ones and enjoys knowing she is helping the younger kids.
Annie and her friend Olivia had a blast together.
Joey bravely saved the princesses in the castle from the vicious dragon.
And we got to pet a baby turtle.
I'm not sure what was happening here, but Lily is such a good sport when the boys want to rough house.
For a Family Home Evening activity we made edible slime with Starburst candy. The kids thought it was awesome!
It didn't make too big of a mess and we had fun together. It was delicious but got very hard the next day and wasn't edible (without risk of breaking teeth).
Now that the kids are out of school, Mommy has to adjust to running errands with all four in tow. It can be a bit of a hassle, but we try to make it fun. Hot dogs, pizza, and frozen yogurt at Sam's Club always make everyone happy.
Daddy decided the kids needed some extra soccer coaching. So we made it a family affair in the back yard one night. So much fun and totally cute too. Tommy really liked being goalie and pretended like the incoming balls were little enemies to fight off.
We had a spot of cool weather and thought it was a good opportunity for a marshmallow roast.
The neighbor horses came by to see what we were doing. Lily got brave enough to feed one of them.
Once the fire was roaring, Daddy brought out the guitar for a few camp songs. I guess we don't do that enough. The kids didn't know Daddy could play. They loved seeing him and hearing him play for us.
It was a beautiful night and we had a special time together telling stories, singing songs, and making memories.
All the summer swimming caught up with Annie and she developed another UTI. She felt pretty yucky for a few days, but we caught it early and she recovered quickly.
Our neighbor Grayson turned 4 and invited us all over for his birthday party. Water balloons and squirt guns were part of the celebration.
Daddy was the only adult to get in on the water gun fun. He's such a good sport.
Here's some funny shots of the boys. Before church Joey had his suspenders on without any shirt. We started singing "Cotton Eyed Joe" and he was dancing and posing around the living room. I wish we had taken video. You can seen Annie cracking up on the background. It was hilarious. Tommy declared himself the king - with our princess crown. We need a boy version of a crown.
One Sunday morning Annie and Tommy tried stacking the dinosaurs as high as they would go. I think 5 was the record. There were many tears shed over these dino towers. Heaven forbid if we knocked one over. They were intended to remain a shine to plastic dinosaurs everywhere. But after much coaxing, we convinced the engineers to take their towers down for the night.
We made Daddy grilled steaks, corn on the cob, and a blueberry lemon cake for Father's Day. He didn't get breakfast in bed because Mommy was speaking in stake conference that morning. It was a wonderful Sunday celebrating our favorite Daddy and Uncle.
These munchkins wanted pictures on the Sinclair gas station dinosaur. Once Joey was on the dino, he immediately regretted his decision. Lily was "too grown up" (in her words) for a dino ride. She's only nine but we can feel the pull of adolescence already.
We tried a new DIY bubble recipe. It worked really well. To compare the girls and I tried two different recipes at the same time to find out which one is better. One formula was the clear winner.
It was a fun Mommy-Daughter experiment. The corn syrup and soap recipe was a disappointment, but the corn starch and soap recipe was great. We were surprised.
We love the Japanese garden so much. We went again with the whole family and rode our bikes into it from the greenbelt.
It was a perfect summer night....and then Tommy misjudged the shore and fell into the creek. He was wet from head to toe and crying like someone was pulling off his toenails one by one. It was a little chilly that evening, so luckily Mommy had a fleece to wrap around Tommy for the bike ride back to the car.
We stripped off his wet clothes and wrapped him in the fleece. He thought that was pretty funny.
And so with naked Tommy and the rest of the crew, we rode our bikes back to the car.
Laughing all the way!
When we got back to the car, Tommy accidentally flashed a family walking by. Oops! We're pretty sure he won't remember it and we're hoping that family won't call and report us for having a naked child in downtown Idaho Falls.
I love the trips to the park and cool mornings in the basement playing with trains.
After weeks of practicing, Tommy finally had his first game. We had great weather for team pictures, and just a few minutes after the game started, we got a summer downpour.
I thought Tommy would cry and refuse to play, but he was a trooper. His coach told the kids "don't worry about the rain, it is just water, and we are sharks, we love water!" He even scored the first goal of the game - which would turn out to be his only goal of the season.
Lily and Joey found shelter under the playground slide.
I'm not going to lie. It was a relief when that game ended. Getting soaked was not fun. But it was a proud parent moment to see Tommy overcome some of his usual hang ups and get out there and play.
We made a trip to Utah to visit Grammy and Grampy. They treated us to a day at Thanksgiving Point. We chose the Museum of Natural History and loved it.
The kids wanted to dig forever, but we convinced them to keep moving so we could see the rest of the museum. And once we started moving, Joey never stopped. Even with two adults and three older siblings to watch him, we lost him twice in the museum.
This iguana was unusually active and really liked interacting with Tommy. He was running around his enclosure and would jump at the glass - which made us jump each time.
This was the first time Tommy had seen dinosaur bones. He was amazed at how big the dinosaurs were.
After one of the times we lost Joey, we found him hiding from us in a little cave. That bugger. He really gave Mommy a fright!
The water room was so fun. We built dams out of sand and watched the water wash them away. Plus the air conditioning was blowing hard in this room so we got nice and cool after chasing Joey.
In the lobby some BYU biology students let us look at and handle some bones. The turtle skull was huge. Joey found a caiman skull and wouldn't let it go. He kept calling it a baby crocodile.
Tommy used the microscopes to inspect his own toy dinosaur.
After a fun day at the museum we enjoyed a swim in the hot tub. The kids played until their eyes were red from the chlorine and their skin was wrinkled from the water.
Daddy was due to arrive that night so we passed the evening waiting for him with fun games.
The kids love playing games with Grammy! Pick up sticks is a fun one for all of them.
We played a few rounds of Disney Guess Who, got ready for bed, and then Daddy arrived.
The next day we found a spot to watch the Pleasant View Days parade.
We got to see Uncle Jake ride on the servicemen float. Daddy was a typical brother and gave Jake a hard time.
Aunt Diana was a huge help. She got Joey to wave and smile at the floats so they would throw him more candy.
He ate a piece of warm salt water taffy that turned into a blue gooey mess.
The kids stood for almost the entire parade - hoping for one more piece of candy.
I think we got enough!
After the parade, it was time for more swimming and a turn on the city water slide.
Annie and Grammy had a few good runs. Joey was too timid to try. And Tommy rode twice with Mommy, but was terrified. It felt so good to get wet on a hot day. Hardly any adults were riding the slides. Mommy and Grammy loved it.
We came back home to Idaho and the girls built a zipline for their Barbies. It worked really well. The dolls went down at just the right speed and landed on their feet at the bottom. The girls were so proud of it.
The weather was a bit cooler so we agreed to a campout in the backyard. It was a good trial run before almost a week of camping in Coeur d'Alene in July. All the kids did great - we got pretty cold as the night went on, but we had fun. Daddy decided to sleep in his own bed since he had to go to work the next morning.
To beat the heat we tried Family Home Evening at the lake. It was a fun way to cool off and play together.
It was one of those perfect nights when the kids all got along and everyone had a good time. We left the lake happy, ready for a good shower, and a good night's rest. But on the drive home we got some heart breaking news:
Our friend Dave McCashland called to let us know that his grandson had drowned in an irrigation canal in Kuna that afternoon while playing at his other grandparent's house with cousins. Someone had left the fence gate open and little Spencer wandered out to the canal.
We have known and loved Spencer's mommy since she was a little girl in Primary. She has served a mission, married in the temple, graduated college, and started her family. Spencer is her first child and was only 21 months old on the day he died.
Emotions were pretty raw in our house for a few days as we grieved with and for our friends, counted our blessings, and tried to cherish every moment with our kids. It was an exhausting week. They asked me to play the piano for the funeral, which I was happy to do.
Joey kept us laughing through the tears.
We cashed in some of our Summer Reading Program prizes - chocolate covered ice cream is sure to put a smile on your face - unless you're Tommy who loves chocolate and vanilla ice cream - just not combined.
The girls and I helped film a little commercial to advertise a stake carnival for girls and women of all ages. Annie got to eat a whole stick of cotton candy. She was in Heaven.
Joey had a fleeting moment of interest in potty training. He wore underpants for a whole afternoon, bu never used the potty. We made him stay outside to prevent any carpet messes. He decided he likes diapers better. I guess he's not ready yet.
We drove over to Boise and stayed with Danielle's family for the funeral. It was an emotional day and we were so glad to be there for our friends. Mommy had a special spiritual experience while playing the piano. Gabe and Cassandra were so strong in their testimonies and hope. The kids loved getting to spend the night with cousins. I forgot to get pictures of the kids playing together. We need to get over to Kuna more often.
On the way home we stopped at Mad Mac restaurant. Mommy's friends Jeff and Rhiannon Hoisington own and run it. We ordered one of each dessert and a big bowl of their top selling mac and cheese to share. Rhiannon gave us the food for free. The coconut lime cake was our favorite and the mac and cheese was yummy. We want to go back and try more flavors. Joey loved the bacon on top of the pasta so much, Jeff gave JoJo his own cup of bacon. That boy was so happy - and wouldn't share his beloved bacon bits with anyone.
We are so thankful for the time we had to reflect on the Plan of Salvation, our Savior and his sacrifice, which allow us to live again. This has been a great teaching and testifying experience for us as parents. The gospel is such a blessing in our lives. It is a comfort to cling to it when trials come. Please say a prayer for Gabe and Cassandra as they grieve and move forward in this life without their sweet little Spencer.
