Temple Picnic
One of my favorites. We walked around. I enjoyed it. I spent a lot of time looking up into the sky and saying, "God, are you sure about all the stuff happening in my life?" So yeah.
Our selfies....
Eating our lunch across the street. I don't think they want you actually on the lawn there with your so-so-casual PB&Js.
Oh man these pictures are so good.
HAHAHA! I had to include this one.
The Friend magazine recently said, "You are never lost when you can see the temple." My kids like to say that, too. Kinda adorable.
I can hear their peals of laughter when I see this picture.
It was fun! I like that we make it an annual outing.
TriCities
Well... what's the short version of the long story..... I won tickets to a concert on the radio. I was very very very excited. I made a mix CD even. I asked Shane's sister to watch my kids in the TriCities and a I found a cool girlfriend to go with me.
I drove out to the TriCities.
Then the lead singer of Nickelback got a sore throat and they canceled the show on Friday night. I was so bummed. I guess we make lemonade out lemons and we stayed the weekend anyway and enjoyed ourselves. (Turns out the guy has a lump on his throat and needs surgery, and they canceled the entire rest of the tour. Sigh. I gave up the Stake Campout for this!!)
Laurel helped Aunt Nicole plant flowers.
Wesley played in the pool in the hot desert sun.
We met my friend who I was going to take to the show at a park, so our kids could play. I really liked her daughter, who is a few months older than Wesley. I think the two of them got a lot well, like they could be fast friends. They just *looked* alike. They had the same coloring and body type, they were little peas in a pod. I wish we could see them more often.
Aquasox Baseball Game
Wesley had a reading challenge in 1st Grade and he succeeded, winning himself a ticket to the minor league baseball team around here. Of course, haha, I had to buy Laurel's and my ticket, pay for parking, buy Dippin Dots (Laurel didn't even eat all hers, so I really wish I'd shared mine with her), etc., so it wasn't the cheapest of nights out. But hey, it was a fun summer adventure.
I love that I had to go to a minor league game in the Pacific Northwest to get my hometown major league logo on my baseball cap cup. Go Os!
Scout Camp
The end of the month was 11-year-old Scout Camp. I went as a volunteer with the Stake Primary. We did a lot of planning ahead of time, then really just coasted during the day and a half program (read: played card games and sat in the shade). It was hot but I guess I felt like it could have been MORE hot... I guess I did a good job and was prepared since I never felt that miserable, as miserable as 90-plus-degree weather should have felt like.
Our "fireside" on Friday night was given by Christian Niccum, a guy in our stake (my old ward; he moved in after I was gone) who is an Olympian luger. I had met his wife before and she had told me really wild stories about his experiences in the Olympics, like how he was recruited and how some of his partners were bozos. I got a picture :-) Boy, he was a cool guy. I reeeally like his family.
My favorite part of the campout was late on Friday night, after most people were in bed. I went out into the middle of the field, brought my star chart and a flashlight, and I laid on the ground and looked at the night sky. Cue more of "God, are you sure about all the stuff happening in my life?" I thought a lot about my dad, since he and I would look at stars all the time. I have so many wonderful memories of him. I found the Big Dipper, Hercules, Bootes, I think even Scorpio, and more. It was beautiful, just beautiful.
There were a couple things in June that didn't have pictures...
Our strawberry plants were AWESOME. We got lots and lots of berries. I made strawberry jam that I thought I botched but it turned out great. The rest of the garden has been more complicated... sigh. Maybe I'll blog more about that later. But homemade jam? Just so very wonderful.
Some friends have started some exercise groups and it's been great! On Tuesdays we run around the track at a high school here, and I bring push toys, the stomp rocket, the iPad, and snacks for the kids. Wesley calls it "Running Club," which I love. On Wednesdays we meet at a local elementary school and the kids can play on the playground while the moms do a cardio interval kind of workout... pushups, wall sits, jumping jacks, that sort of thing. Plus we do Zumba :-) We bring our phones and speakers and plug into Pandora. It's really great. Exercise feels so good.
We also started swim lessons. Since there's more of that in July, I'll post about that in the July summer installment :-)
In general, I love letting the kids stay up and sleep in. I stay up way too late. I'm watching a couple TV shows (Bachelorette and UnREAL, plus Prison Break from the library), reading books, and getting work in. I should clean my house but I'm not doing that as much, haha. My to-do list always seems a mile long, and I'm just trying to stay above water.
But summer does make me happy.
