Sometimes the kids know if they play super nicely all morning, clean their rooms, and don't argue at all...then I will let them play computer games. Every now and then they connive to reach this goal, and I figure the peace and clean is worth the screen time. :)
Delicious caramel chocolate bomb with fruit inside
Jacob with his chocolate stampede all to himself- ate half at the restaurant and half to save for home. The self control required by me to not eat any was astounding.
The kids did a rock climbing camp! I think it was good for them after the crazy of Moab to have some more experience.
John especially needed more time climbing, he loved it and got stronger as the week went on.
Nicole had her Fun in the Sun camp for a few weeks and earned a bunch of money and the kids all had a blast!
Beach day trip!
Studious Mango
Jacob went to Arizona to spend time with his Grandma and Grandpa Ostler
Meanwhile John got a lunch date with mom. Endless lemonade refills.
And his own chocolate stampede. It was a good day to be John.
Jake scorpion hunting with cousins
Cross country has begun
Meanwhile Jake catching fish like crazy in AZ
Alumi race (pre-season fun race)
Mike, we learned, is fast.
Jake off to Sunsplash with cousins
Diana at the piano
Another week of Fun in the Sun. This will ruin our grass if done more than once, but once is sure memorable and fun!
First real race ever
Family swim
Nicole and I took a trip to New York with Marian and her older girls
The elevators were called by a screen where you chose what floor you were headed to and it told you what elevator to go to because there were a million elevators.
Times Square! I didn't know the best place to stay and didn't want to take a chance, so we were right on Times Square across the street from the place where our Broadway show was.
Found a quiet place for lunch after a lot of walking
And went shopping for hours and didn't really find much. Still fun to walk around and see everything.
Ate dinner at an old pizza place where it used to be a church
And found a tasty gelato place
View from our hotel room
New York Cheesecake. It was as amazing as I've heard. Fluffy!
Biking in Central Park was a blast! So many movies went through our heads as we went around. It wasn't super bike friendly since you were only supposed to go on certain paths...and we had a hard time knowing which areas lol
Giant Egyptian monolith
Nicole and I parked our bikes under the MET and toured for a few hours. It was fascinating! These were from Greece, yet were in the hallway to the bathroom! This is how much cool stuff they had!
A whole exhibit was there on VanGogh
Picasso
Monet
more VanGogh
Edgar Degas
Incredibly intricate!
Such a peaceful sitting room with low couches and a quiet fountain trickling. Wish I had a room like this!
They projected scenes onto the walls
Temple of Dendur from Egypt
This painting is ginormous. I had no idea it was huge but it took up an entire giant wall
Giant rolls filled with nutella. SO good and definitely big enough to share haha
Summit One Vanderbilt was a fun experience, but plenty of lines
Sugar Factory for dinner
Then off to Lion King on Broadway
Nicole said it was so amazing that when it started and all of the animals were coming down the sides of the theater that she almost cried it was so spectacular. SO well done. Just incredibly well done.
Drummers on the side
Outside the theater it looked as bright as daytime with how the billboards lit up the place and how many people were out there.
The next morning we got up early and walked over to Good Morning America and got to meet Robin one of the hosts. Totally random and fun.
Meanwhile my Peak kids started their first day of school!
And we were watching the show through the window.
Took a tour of the Statue of Liberty- it was long (4 hours!) but so much great information and timely
Ellis Island
Main people that helped get the Statue built
Ferry that took us to Ellis Island
Three sets of stairs- one takes you to America, one to medical waiting and another going back where you came from.
The great hall where everyone was processed. Hard to fathom all of the people that came through here.
We could've taken a pic earlier but forgot to and a huge crowd was there the second time we went by!
9/11 memorial was a good opportunity to talk about the events of the day with the girls and to talk about serving others.
Tree that survived the blasts
Chinatown fish store
Yummy sorbet
Little Italy
Lots of sugar consumed! We laughed at this shop with free blood sugar checks
So many taxis at the airport!
Jacob playing prelude on the organ at church. Scary, but he did it so well!
First day of high school! Nicole is the driver for these kids from seminary.
Love how they get to go to school together, cousins rock!
All done first day!
XC "fun"
Michael has really gotten into paper airplanes. He can make all the different types of gliders and darts and knows how to throw them to make them go farther. Fun to see him enjoying himself!
Pool fun! A hurricane was supposed to come somewhat near and give us a storm. It didn't. So the kids had a free day off school!
Fun with friends!
I got to be there for Kaitlin's first time going through the temple to get her endowment. It was incredibly special!
Mike and Nicole after XC just talking and cooling off in the pool
Kaitlin's farewell breakfast at IHOP. These kiddos were at the far end of the table and so they ordered the most crazy food!
John's teacher wisely teaching him how to control his mouth.
Jake sent me this pic after a win with his soccer team!
Mike got his permit!
Diana had friends over one Friday after school to swim
Mike and Dallin working hard at XC
On our way to camping
Seriously saw this. And told Jim to drive past fast.
We took the kids out of school for this, but left Nicole at home. In retrospect, we would've taken her out, but are trying to be careful now that she has AP classes.
Deer everywhere!
Fun campfire songs
Morning hike and devotional
Beautiful sunrise during our devotional
Gorgeous hiking- we were at Julian Price Campground
After our hike, we went canoeing at the lake right there with some friends that had come camping with us.
The boys were in one canoe
Beautiful scenery with the mountains in the background
Diana also went SUP in the lake
The boys got a crawdad
The kids gathered tons of firewood and sticks to keep the fire going. The bundle of wood we bought- and that Mike had carried- had a snake in it! All I heard was John yelling "snake!" and then it was harmless, but still quite a scare!
Next morning hiking Boone Fork Trail (about 5 miles)
Beautiful waterfalls and river to hike along! Another awesome family trip with the camper!
Diana on her way to her XC meet eating a snack to be ready. I love how she texted me this pic when I asked if she was ready.
Talking with coach beforehand
Diana did awesome! She runs about 8:30 pace mile, second fastest girl at school. Great start for never running before like this.
Kids had a day off school, so we went to the zoo! Looking for alligators.
Cougars are a must see
Posing with the cougar statue with Jake and Diana in their BYU cougar shirts.
Seals
Otters
I texted Jim this pic- he didn't know we were at the zoo- and he got excited since it's hunting season. haha I had to break him the news that this area is probably off limits.
We stopped at Millstone Creek Orchards for apple cider slushies on the way home
Nicole had her birthday party the next Monday (high school was off Monday, the other kids had the previous Friday off- yes I never get a break). Lots of friends to play volleyball and grilled hot dogs. Simple, fun time!
XC season keepin' on.
Diana reminding me of my duties. My poor kids :) it's just not something I remember!
Diana's XC meets are in the craziest places. This one was around a school following cones in a giant circle they had to run four times. She got first place in the meet!
They hand out sticky notes as you pass the finish line, so she was the proud recipient of a yellow stick with a 1 on it.
Mike before his meet, hanging out with Mango.
Sugg Farm is a unique course and they ran fast!
Diana had another meet and I finally got to go! She is a hard worker.
We went to a park as a family and played around, including flying dozens of Mike's airplanes.
Nicole went with friends to Homecoming! Such a pretty, flowy modest dress and she had a great time.
Cousin power!
The team photographer gets some great images of the work and pain these kids put themselves through.
Lots of running the family. Never thought we'd do XC, but it has sure been a wonderful way to work hard and meet fun, athletic friends for the kids.
No comments:
Post a Comment