July 2019: The First Half

I can't believe we are already half way through July! That also means the hot temperatures have peaked, right?

July 1 Justin's parents were kind and took us boating along with Justin's friend from high school, Brad, and his family. 8 kids on the boat! I hadn't been on the boat with my kids in a long time so it was fun to see how brave they are.

Erica tested her balance by standing up and then no hands. She surprises me. She's so quiet and shy but then will just do things on her own.

 James still hates his lifejacket just like last year. "I'm not having any fun" he'd say periodically. He did have fun too, periodically.

Count on James to find the sticks in a big lake. Well okay, it's Utah Lake so it's not that hard to find debris.

We stuck with tubing since the water was so choppy. Every time the boat stopped the kids would ask if they could jump in and swim around.

 James didn't care about riding on the tube but he did like to swim. Problem was he didn't want anyone to hold onto him so he got frustrated and wanted to go back on the boat.

Erica and Justin took a belly ride on the surfboard.

 I had to bribe this turkey to take a tube ride with me and he hopped back on the boat the first chance he got.

 And then Justin wakesurfed to prove he's still got mad skills.

 Independence Day! We spent the day playing games and prepping food for that night. I asked my kids to hold up 4 fingers for the 4th. This captures their personalities perfectly. Sarah perfectly obliging, Henry doing it but with obnoxiousness, Erica not holding up any fingers because she doesn't want to, and James trying to count to 4.

 What is Henry's face? Someone explain 8-year-old boys to me.

We met my sister and her family at my parent's house where Justin and I put together an awesome dutch oven dinner and my girls helped my mom decorate the deck.

Sarah painted these jars for the plasticware.

 It was really windy for awhile and then it was cloudy and perfect for eating time.

 By the time we moved to the firepit, it was getting chilly. I don't remember ever being chilly on the 4th before. My parents found us some blankets and sweatshirts to keep us warm. The men thought we were crazy.

 It's hard waiting for fireworks and smores.

 We were counting on my parents' neighbors to put on a good firework show. We did see and hear a lot of fireworks but they were from houses a little farther away and through the trees.

 It was still fun to see fireworks from all sides but it wasn't as great as other years.

We stayed until we were full of smores and the fireworks died down then we headed home.

 America.

One morning I snuck out while everyone was still asleep and went for a walk. When I came back the littles were outside riding bikes in their pajamas.

Saturday morning we drove the Nebo Loop. My kids are super obnoxious and loud on a three hour nature drive. I don't know if we'll do it again or anything like that for a long time.

We got out to view Mt. Nebo. It's crazy how big that mountain is and how close it is to our house but because of other mountains, we can't get a good view of it.

And then we drove on to Devil's Kitchen overlook. The kids could not guess what Devil's Kitchen might be. Henry thought we were going to get something to eat there.

James found a lizard.

He wasn't freaked out by it like Sarah and Henry were.

 "Oh I remember this," said Sarah.

 It's so hard to get a good picture of all 4 kids looking at the camera. Especially if one of those children is James.

And if another of those children is Henry.

 And then we completed the loop by driving down to Nephi and then home. I had my hands over my ears for the last 30 minutes of our drive because Henry would not stop pestering Sarah and Sarah would not stop calling "Mom!" every 20 seconds. Erica complained no one was listening to her and James wanted something to eat. Good times.

Erica has been all about doing her own hair lately. She likes to put her hair into a side ponytail and it lasts for 1 minute before the hair on the other side falls back down because it doesn't reach that far.

 She won't let me help her. I remember going through this same stage too. I'm just glad she is paying attention to her hair. She hasn't want it brushed or done until now.

 Last week was Henry's swimming lesson. What he lacks in focus he compensates with enthusiasm.

This is a sunset that was super cool. 

I bought a new frame for our bed because I wanted more storage space because my house has very little. I found a frame with 17 inches of clearance. It's like a cave under there!

I had to tie a pair of Sarah's old soccer socks around the foot because I've stubbed my toe too many times. It works great.

And today Erica and Sarah started their week of swimming lessons. I wasn't able to get any of their lessons back to back so Henry went last week and this week Sarah goes in the morning and then I take Erica back in the afternoon. And since I can leave Sarah in charge for that little while, I got 30 minutes of poolside relaxation today!

For the rest of the month: Finishing up swimming lessons, Pioneer Day at Mapleton, family reunions, and National Ice cream day.