July Fourth

What a fun-filled July Fourth birthday party for America.

We always wake up and feel like we have to wait forever for the neighborhood bike and scooter parade to start. It seems larger each year. Just a horde of people. I feel like people move away from our neighborhood in order to get a bigger house, but they miss the neighborhood so they come back for the parade and such.

They had some carnival activities afterward, but it was so hot by then we were fading fast.

The Thorntons invited us for lunch and swimming.  Greg has always had great success in building confidence among my kids in the pool. They go from clinging to me, to paddling across the deep end.

Millie however didn't want to leave me. JB took her in a baby float, and she wailed "Back to Mom, back to Mom!" On the bright side, it was her first three-word sentence.

Millie and James also drank too much soda, and had some tummy aches that night.

JB and the boys played basketball.

Ben got a wasp sting. He's smiling here after a mix of baking soda and water soothed his leg.

And JB finally got Millie to rest and nap.

Seattle cousins and BYU roommates

On July 3, my brother Michael and his fun crew came in to town from Seattle for a few hours, on their way to Idaho for a baptism.


I love seeing these cousins together, I have always thought we could all be friends - our combined 7 boys and 2 girls.

 



I miss my siblings and wish we could get together more often. If only states weren't so far away.

James and Andrew had their swimsuits on in the picture, because while Max and Ben were heading to basketball practice, I was heading to a splash pad to see my former BYU roommates. We met at this same place in the past when they came into town for a summer trip in 2012 and in 2015 

Big brothers

Maxwell D and Benjamin J are really good big brothers.

They are often trying to be peacemakers among the younger kids, and only sometimes try to be another parent.

Max also doubles as a perch for watching shows in the morning. (he looks so tall (sob))

Millie loves a good book. Ben reads to her a lot, but he admitted he doesn't get these board books based on Jane Austen and Anne of Green Gables.

She crawled into his lap during sacrament meeting and fell asleep. Afterward, when I took this picture, I almost thought about how he could just stay there with her and miss primary. 

I had to sub in a class. Then Max offered to take her with him to Sunday School but she woke up in the transfer. Afternoon church, amiright.

The big brothers co-babysit for short times when necessary. We have them split up the younger kids into upstairs and downstairs.

And I think their favorite time of night is right after the little boys go to bed and before Millie goes to bed. They try to rile her up to play with them.

She eats it up. "Horsey! Ax! En!"

OWL Camp and basketball

Max and Ben went to a one-day camp at the county library that was Harry Potter themed. But it wasn't as literary as I had hoped, it was more STEM-based (which is also good).

They went through Platform 9 3/4.

Met Professor McGonagal

Entered the Great Hall

And talked to Snape before the sorting (he was one of the best).

Then I said goodbye to them, but did an interview for a news story on the week-long opportunity.

The boys also had a basketball tournament in June. They lost but fought hard.

Summah

Summer has meant almost-daily trips to the park for the summer free-lunch program. They want anyone and all to come, no matter what income, so we keep going back. JB takes them most days right when it starts, but I have been a couple times if I am done with work.

They eat and play, and it is breaks up the day of what can tend to fall into squabbles if left to their own devices.

I try to go for a neighborhood walk after dinner if it isn't too hot. James rested on the grass while waiting for others to catch up. He looks so tall and long here.

We had ice cream at our friends' house to say goodbye to Katie going on a mission.

 The boys recently went for haircuts and a donut after

And they had a day at LagoonA Beach with Max's friend Andy coming along.

We are doing the summer reading program at three different libraries. We fill out the trackers and go back for prizes. One of them is music-themed, and when the younger kids brought home their prizes of recorders, kazoos and maracas I about lost my mind. Now they are under the couch I think.

Most days though are us hanging around the house, making messes and trying to keep kids from fighting.

Ruth Lake for everyone

I, Mary, can camp! JB is the adventurous one, often taking the big boys camping or backpacking, while I put littles to bed and enjoy a good BBC show and clean the quiet house.

But this time, I borrowed a baby carrier and some courage and went along.

It's about a mile or so from the parking at the trail head to the camp sites by the lake.

JB, Max and Ben carried big packs with all the gear, the little boys had some of our food in their back packs, and I carried the baby and anything else.

I was worried about our two youngest and the mosquitoes and falling in the lake and falling on rocks, but I relaxed a little when I realized everyone was being careful. Dinner was hot dogs over the campfire then rolled in tortillas, and we were hungry after hiking and setting up camp! 

It got a bit chilly way up there (10,000 feet I think?)

We did a walk around the lake, and James would get mad at us when we kept him from getting too close to the swampy, muddy spots. He just wanted to throw everything into the water.

Sometimes Millie let me have my hat back, but she wouldn't wear hers.

We all fit in the 6 man tent, and I was sooo warm in the new sleeping bag JB got for cold weather. He also had blow-up pillow pads and sleeping pads, to make sleeping on the ground a little better. I think Andrew got the coldest, because James kept rolling up in their double sleeping bag.

 This girl got sad when it was time to wake up.

Hiking out in the morning went quickly. But this girlie fell asleep on me in the pack, and the hat fell off somewhere along the trail.

Some things about camping are not my favorite, but overall I think it was really fun to do it all together.

Handsy

I have more pictures like this, she does it all the time. Just a nice spot to rest her hand whenever I pick her up.

Also, with her funny habit of starting things with a hard "g" sound, when she wants to be picked up, she'll reach up her arms and holler, "gold you, gold you!"

Speaking of funny things she says, I had called out to Andrew to stick closer when we were at Ruth Lake (post coming), and she called out, "Drew-drew, mon" (come on). Then when he came over, I swear it sounded like she said, "good girl."

The boys think she doesn't know how to say the word "yes," only NO.  We maaaayyyy be spoiling her.