Ah, summer! I live for summer, really! It makes the other 9 months of the year (especially the long winters here) seem worth it all. I love breaking out the shorts and flip flops, smelling the flowers, listening to the birds chirp happily, the summer barbeques and get-togethers, vacationing, planting things (though that's not one of my talents, that's for sure),
On the kid's last day of school, I had to wake them up with the classic "School's Out for Summer" by Alice Cooper. I just can't resist! ;) And we were all singing that song all day! They had a great school year. They had some great teachers! We gave them some mason jar cups with straws that said "You're an ex-straw special teacher", and we did sticky notes for the principals and other helpers that had notes that had tags that said "Just a note...we think you're awesome"! We also just got back their report cards and they got all great marks...I'm so proud! They also got to do a few fun things for the end of the year - field trips, field day, Cal got to participate in this car derby for good behavior and Emma got to get her face painted (again).
Lucy also finished up preschool for the year. We had a little graduation ceremony, since lots of her peeps are moving on. I was in charge of it, and it was fun! We had a few kids read poems, sang the "Who let the Alphabet out?" and "Days of the Week" songs, had a slide show (that didn't work because of technical difficulties), passed out some treat bags, diplomas, and poems, and ate snacks. We had "thirst for knowledge punch", little caps made from little Reeses and Ghiradelli squares, "diplomas" which were tortillas with lunch meat, rolled up and tied with baking twine, "Smart apples" and dip. I totally forgot to take pics of the food and decorations, but at least got some of the cute kids!
When the kids came home from the last day, we had a "Welcome to Summer Party!" with a few of their friends. We made cotton candy and had popcorn. We played a present game where we had several layers of tissue paper covering some prizes, and when the kids rolled a 1 or 6, they got to unwrap a layer. We played Dance Freeze. We played a clothespin game. We did a photo booth where the kids got to take pictures of each other. Then we watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (Emma has read that book at least 10 times, she loves it!). It was fun! That night, we got all ready to put in our sod that was being delivered the next day. We already did the till work, and just had to touch it up by raking it (and raking it and raking it again where the kids walked) and moving the dirt a little more even again, since it's been several weeks. We put the kids to work, as we are trying to instill in them a love of work and the need to belong and help out running a household. Emma was awesome, Cal did pretty well, Lucy was less-than helpful, and Cov was undoing what we would do. But hopefully someday they'll get it! ;)
Saturday, we had some soccer games. Em & Cal are both enjoying soccer. We had 4 games for Cal and 3 for Emma last week, thanks to all of this rain, we had a few makeup games. Emma's not very aggressive, but she still has fun and that's what matters. Cal loves playing offense, and does pretty well. His coach called him a "little Kyle Beckham", ha ha! Lucy loves cheering them both on as their "Cheerleader", and Cov enjoys trying to run on the field. Their last games were the week after school. Emma said next year she might try something new, like art lessons, and Cal can't wait for the next time around. It's been a great season!
Saturday afternoon, we finally got our sod and layed it all down. Cal kept laying on it with his hands behind his head saying "ah, this is the life"! And Em, who helped a ton was jumping up and down exclaiming "we have grass now, yay!" Now, just to keep them off it for a few weeks so it takes root.
We put our Summer Bucket list together over the weekend. This year, we wrote our ideas on clothespins and then put them on the rim of a bucket. Each time we complete one, we'll throw it in the bucket and see if we can't do them all (or most!)
Here's what we came up with for this year:
Summer Bucket List 2015
o Weekly mom/dad dates
o Go Star Gazing
o Participate in the library summer reading program
o Get lawn in backyard in and growing & set up the trampoline
o Go visit Vedawoo
o Walk the Washake Trail
o Visit Denver – go to the temple, see the Olympic Training Center
o Camping with Amy & Kolby
o Practice soccer
o Family football game
o Visit Fort Steele
o Week with the Cousins
o Go bowling
o Nature scavenger hunt
o Plant a garden
o Visit Martin’s Cove visitor center
o Watch the clouds
o Make homemade donuts
o Water balloon fight
o Enter something in the fair
o Barbeque Party
o Make snow cones
o Enter something in the fair we make
o Have a BBQ
o Plan and carryout a neighborhood block party
o Finish painting our trim in the house
o Go geocaching
o Frisbee golf – entire course
o Science fair at home
o Around the world night
o Visit Nauvoo
o Do a garage sale
o Finish painting house
o Make homemade bread
o Do a white elephant gift exchange
o Spend a week with the cousins
o Make our own music video
o Family service project – Food bank/rest home/clean up the town?
o Have an Around the World Night
o Sew something to wear
o Go hiking
o Put on a play
o Read some chapter books together
o Read or listen to the whole Book of Mormon
o Visit Rock Springs & the splash pad/Rec Center
o Finish making the teepee
o Play tennis
o Sell popcorn and cotton candy at the Fair/ Music in the park
o Go camping
o GET A CAT!
We also have started our favorite summer schedule that worked so well last year. Each day, after the kids get their chores, practicing and workbooks completed, we have a fun themed day activity. Make-it Monday (make a craft, special recipe, science experiment, etc.), Theatre Tuesday (go to the theater for their dollar movies or have a movie theater at home), Water Wednesday (sprinklers, water balloon fight, pool, slip n' slide, water guns, etc.), Field Trip Thursday (go somewhere new or old that's educational or fun), Friends Friday (everyone gets to invite a friend over). So far this week, Monday we "made" our garden, planted a few veggies and got some flowers planted and made key lime pie popsicles (yum!), Tuesday we watched some Netflix episodes, Wednesday, we went to the pool and did the mentos/diet coke science experiment, Thursday we biked a trail through town and went on a picnic under the gazebo, then we collected wild flowers we identified and pressed to make a book, and Friday, we invited friends over and made homemade donuts for National Donut day. We've also already visited two parks, played outside a lot, have been doing lots of bike riding, crafts, writing and reading. We also had a baby shower for friend Mariah on Saturday, who is due soon. It was very cute and food and decorations all turned out well, except my cake pops kept cracking...epic fail! But they tasted good at least. ;) We got signed up for the summer reading program, the kids are excited about the super hero theme. We've been outside a ton. The kids like riding their bikes and catching butterflies and bugs. Cov especially loves it! "Outside" he always begs. Emma and her friend Becky also did a lemonade stand to earn some extra cash. Our lemonade was a hit and the girls did well. It's gonna be a great summer, we just go, go, go until we crash!
