Cousin Fun

One of our butterflies emerged from his chrysalis and Carter got to release him! A very exciting moment!

We went to Marbles and the kids loved it! There have been some changes since the last time we went and I am always amazed at how well built the play spaces are! The kids enjoyed playing vet with the stuffed animals and lab coats.

Carter, Mike and Jake the firefighters!

Jake putting out a fire. I love how his jaw is clenched as he imagines putting out the fire with all his strength.

Mike kept giggling with the stethoscope in his ears but he still wanted to play doctor.

Fast forward 13 years...

Nicole riding a cow.

Peek a boo!

The pirate ship is a favorite! It is built so well and is so sturdy. There are hammocks inside and dressup. The kids imaginations go wild with this one.

Michael testing in the lab inside the submarine.

The kids played for a long time in the sub, imagining all sorts of underwater missiles coming their way.

Underwater alien!

 

Mike LOVES these race cars! Every time we have ever come to Marbles we have to drag him away when the rest of the kids are ready to move on.

All 7 kids using the track! Jake is presiding over the finish line, Sterling is getting used parts with Diana, Brody and Mike are watching their cars and Nicole and Carter are pulling the start lever.

Hockey!

Mike is so strong! (the weights are made of foam)

Surfing like daddy!

Mike was so strong he could pull himself all of the way up!

Jake could pull himself up a bit by himself.

Outdoor water fun! The weather was so nice the kids enjoyed splashing around right before the place closed for the day. We will miss Kelly and her boys and had such a fun week with them. Swimming, fishing, museums, sports camp... it was a great time!

Sports Camp and Cousins!

 

This week was All Sports Camp and we held it earlier in the day to beat the heat. The kids were all very nice to give Jake turns and let him join the fun. He LOVES sports!

 

Nicole just started her first soccer season so it was great practice for her to be at camp.

One day the kids did relays- this is the crab walk.

We are also having a blast with cousins! Kelly and her three boys flew from AZ last week and we're having so much fun with them!

Of all the sports and games played all week, TAG was by far the favorite that kept the kids squealing, running and laughing the longest. We played so many variations of tag, plenty of which are new from what I remember as a kid.

Each of the kids wanted me to trace them so they could make themselves on the driveway. These were some dedicated artists!

Nicole working on her drawing.

D and Jake playing in a boat at the mall play place after family pictures.

Our second harvest of the cantaloupe!

The Museum of Natural History is a favorite of ours- free and kid friendly. Mike and Brody with their binoculars! Mike has the spider costume on from the discovery room.

 

Today at church while I was conducting the opening song. This is what 7 kids would be like (Jim is holding Diana)!

Harvest, Swim, and Junior Chefs

Our first gardening attempt in NC has been super easy! Jim just put some seeds under the bark surrounding our front hedges and they've grown like weeds! This cantaloupe was our first harvest a few days after this pic. Perfectly ripe and sweet.

We don't have a good garden area, and since we're renting we can't really "make" one, so we just planted where there was dirt that gets sun. It worked!

Nicole had her last swim meet this week. She had a blast hanging out with friends for hours.

Nicole has done awesome this year, placing top three in almost every race. It helps a lot, as you can see, that she is a head taller than everyone else :)

Not to mention her incomparable diving form :) Her biggest advantage is actually her reaction time to the starting shot (you can see the kid in the lane next to her hasn't left the starting block yet). And she gives each race everything she has, it is awesome to watch!

This week was Junior Chef camp and I had 10 little bakers making tasty food with me all week long. We learned to crack eggs, roll out dough, boil water... all the good stuff :) Jake joined us for a few of the days and was a sweet little helper. He had his 3 yr appointment (I forgot to schedule it so they reminded me when I scheduled Diana's 1 yr appointment) and of course everything was fine. He's a fun kid, and so light and wiry. He weighs 27.8lbs (5th%) and is 37in long (34th%). His bmi is 13.7 which puts him in the 1st percentile. A very different experience than his older siblings! I'm just hoping he didn't get my height gene!

Fruit-kabobs!

Mike flipping pancakes!

Nicole making her pancakes.

Homemade pretzels (this was a delicious hit!)

For family night, we made a paper chain of "things that make our family strong" that include everything from being kind to helping mom to reading scriptures. It has been a great visual reminder for the kids if I remind them to help keep our family strong.

Frosting sugar cookies! This was one of the favorites of the week!

Leftovers of our monkey bread! The kids were so fun to watch making balls of dough to dip in the butter and sugar mixtures.

Our pulled pork! The kids couldn't believe it took 3 days to make this, but they had fun pulling apart the pork with forks.

Diana enjoying spaghetti dinner. I love how her dinner goes from a little pile of food on her plate, to piles of food on the floor, her clothes and hair. It's like the loaves and fishes with the way the mess multiplies. Diana finally had her 1 yr checkup and she is 18lbs17oz (10th%) and 29.75in long (60th%). She is walking 1/3 of the time now and enjoys giving mom heart attacks by climbing up the side of the stairs.

Here's video of the grand ceremony as we harvest our first produce of the year! http://delbifamily.blogspot.com