Johnny boy taking his Sunday rounds of the hallways. We are six months from nursery and way too vocal to stay quiet 3 hours.
Nicole finished this tie quilt, it took her years and lots of knots, but she was so proud to have finished it. She gave it to Jacob and it's sweet to see it on his bed.
Swim meets are great for the kids to swim and compete, sweat and talk with friends, and for Jim to express his love by being there the whole time cheering them on!
With two days left of school, I just couldn't let Mike go to school with his shoes beyond falling apart. It was so hard to pay for them knowing the summer would destroy them, but he got new shoes. RED is his favorite color!
Michael doing his Real Story of the Three Little Pigs, dressed as the Wolf. This wax museum idea was a great way for the kids to finish off the school year somewhat productive. We had missed a week of school but somehow Mike didn't miss anything lol.
Nicole gave a powerpoint presentation and the girls came with me to watch.
Nicole presented with her cousin Kiersten. It's been such a constructive blessing to have a sweet, dependable cousin in her class.
Diana prepared to listen to the presentation.
Aunt Marian came to watch Kiersten and helped keep Diana contained ;)
Nicole and I went to see The King and I. Fun show and good cultural experience. Her favorite part was the interpretive Tom's Cabin.
Sunday shenanigans as recorded by Diana.
The Monday morning after school got out, we got back in the van to go to Busch Gardens. We went to meet up with Jim's sister and her kids. It was SO fun to be able to meet up with them at the tail end of their trip. We learned from our first trip and took a Bojangles biscuit break before hitting the park. Must be fully fueled to play.
The Sesame show- those poor sweltering costumed characters!
I loved seeing Jim ride with his sister and all the cousins having fun together!
Nicole with the adults on Apollos Chariot while I was with the remaining 8 kiddos. (I didn't lose any haha)
Same as last time, little Katy caught the attention of the young ladies wandering the lunch hall playing a violin and accordion. The kids asked them to play the Final Countdown but they opted for twinkle little star instead.
We really enjoyed hanging out at a fun place with the cousins!
Then off to Virginia Beach!
The cousins had as much or more fun at the beach- we like the variety of Busch Gardens, but there is nothing like endless beach time. No lines, no stress, just sun and sand.
We had to pass through an underwater tunnel and it freaked the kids out.
Katy was covering her ears? I must have hyped up how cool and slightly scary it was to be under water a little too much.
Sunset from our room. We ordered ahead at a BBQ place and after Jim dropped us off at the hotel he went to pick up the food. The BBQ was amazing, but Jim was also amazed he wasn't shot since it was in a rather sketchy area. Whoops!
Crabs and sand castles
Jumping over waves
Playtime with cousins. I love Kelly's kids, they get along so well with my kids it is always a great time.
John attempted to eat all of the sand on the beach. This is the reason we have not been to the beach more than once this summer. Jim was googling last night how soon babies stop putting things in their mouth.
Diana had her 5th birthday on June 15th. She got a PJ mask shirt and some Mickey figures.
Since she wanted a firecracker oreo cake, we decided to put her candles in her hotdog dinner. She loved it- unique and fun just like her. She has come such a long way, she is a really good girl and tries so hard to be good. She learns by experience which makes life tricky, but her sweet heart carries her through. I'm super excited for her to experience the all-day social and learning environment of Kindergarten. She is ready.
She made herself a cowbell. Because all we need is a little more of it. haha
I took Jake on an adventure to the Pigfest downtown. I love the events downtown and how they are so close and small town. We grabbed some beignets since we were there early and the line usually gets super long. We went by the Kona ice truck to scope out our competition (Michael is sure we are putting them out of business haha) and the owner was there and gave Jake the first cone of the day for free. Jake was thrilled!
We settled in with our goods to have front row seats for the pig races. It was awesome to see the pigs, ducks, piglets and goats race to the cheese doodles. The announcer had two kids and one of them kept sneaking past the gate to get one of the cheese doodles off the finish line plate it was hilarious to me because I could totally see my kids doing something so gross.
Jake with a channel 11 weatherman. The weatherman was impressed that Jake gave such a detailed and serious forecast. Jake loves this kind of stuff. We got a lot of free stuff like Frisbees, coloring books, and waterbottles. It was a fun adventure together talking and exploring the festival.
We had an eye-opening experience at a local rollerskate rink. Our new school had a skate party and we had everyone except John on skates. They all had such a hard time, but slowly figured out how to slowly move.
They mostly stayed at the outside and really never got a stride going. We couldn't believe how hard it was to learn for them! I skated a lot on the sidewalk growing up, but we haven't had the kids skate before.
The real eye opener was Michael. He couldn't stay up. Literally. This picture is after he took out three people. His record was 5. He could not stay up and would windmill his hands and feet, looking 100% like a cartoon character before he went sprawling. He faithfully endured over an hour of this, and kept trying and trying despite how hard it was for him.
Jim and I could not believe how his balance was nonexistent, but were so proud of him and the other kids for their continued efforts.
Diana did a great job, she did more of a walk and could go pretty far without falling.
Katy went around with me or Jim and she loved it! We decided we need to either fork out a bunch of money for lessons or never go again. You can probably guess what we decided. Good family experience :)
Jim has been helping the kids learn to mark scriptures and cross reference. This is such a blessing to our family.
They had a free day at Marbles kids museum for families with a rising kindergartner. When we arrived right at opening, they told us the free time wasn't until that night! However they still let us in free so we got the best of both worlds- free and practically empty. The kids loved the new virtual camera area and pretending to run from the viscious (cute and cuddly) dogs.
All the kids
I let John roam since it was so empty and you can see he was on cloud nine.
Their imaginations are hilarious.
Diana working a motor with all her energy. I love activities that go as fast as her own motor.
Katy hopping from coin to coin. She is such a spunky sweet girl.
Nicole waited for a long time to wait for the shower of green balls.
While the boys played ENDLESSLY with the K'nex racecars and the girls colored, Nicole worked away on creations with wood, nails, saws and hammers.
John never quite went to the cage, as he wasn't sure if it was a dropoff. Grateful he has some sense of self preservation!
We've eaten as many/more snow cones than we've sold, but the kids love selling snow cones and filling out the ledger to see their money in start to make up for the cost of the equipment. It was most fun to make and try out the many flavors.
It's hot and sweaty work, but the kids learn the value of money, how to give change and how to professionally offer a product. Great life lessons.
We attended the wedding reception of one of Jim's young men back when he was president. This young man also works for him now. A sweet evening- with our kids it was slightly more crazy- but I love weddings and enjoyed it a lot.
Another day doing snow cones. This was a super slow midday Saturday and the poor kids just baked out there, but they stuck with it and took shifts so they could each get lunch.
We had the annual Run For Liberty and again Jacob ran a super fast 1 mile and got first place. Around 9 minutes or less. He was awesome!
The family band played What Makes You Beautiful with Mike and Jake as lead singers, Nicole on drums, Jim on lead guitar and me on bass guitar. Some racers were dancing along and I think people enjoyed it.
Selling snow cones at the race.
A sweet page from Michael's journal. He really knows and is confident in who he is.
Jake on a dinner date he earned (the kids earn coupons by doing workbooks, piano and chores in summer). This picture was after he learned that his dessert- a molten lava cake- only came in adult size! He happily consumed the entire thing.
On the 4th of July we enjoyed a ward breakfast at a park within walking distance of downtown. Then we ventured out to enjoy the fun free activities.
The boys loved this one!
Water slides always a treat!
We had a fun party for John, water fun included. But first we did some fun games like Fruit Loop relays.
And John ate the leftovers.
Counting to see who was the winner.
John stayed with me at the baby pool while the kids did a slip n slide on our front lawn. We can probably do that once a year without destroying the grass.
I had mowed the grass without picking up clippings, so the kids ended up covered in grass!
John's German chocolate birthday cake.
Happy to make a mess! John sleeps through the night (unless he has a runny nose), and has picked up the habit of screaming like a pterodactyl (so he can be heard), and loves to open cupboards and explore. With all of his exuberance, he is still a cuddler and actually fell asleep in my arms while I was pushing a shopping cart (this was tricky for me but we did it!)
The boys made their own fidget spinners.
Getting ready for school and Diana got her first haircut. Blending in her scissor experiments and her very fine hair was a challenge I was grateful not to take on.
Nicole's goofy face. She like her hair long with a little bit of layering.
Mike won a race! The kids mostly do heats and do really well in them. The actual races are filled with year-round swimmers, so it's nice they swim separately. The kids are good enough in a few strokes to compete though and that is awesome!
Mom and Dad and Caleb returned from the Philippines! They came straight to our house for dinner and then to the swim meet. Jenica and her kids also were with them as Josh is working in NYC for the summer. It was quite a reunion at the meet! That welcome hugs for Mom and then Dad were ones I'll remember my whole life!
Happy to be together again!
We've waited for these precious moments for years. Storytime with Grandpa.
Reading to Grandma.
Park outing with cousins and grandparents. We had several days before the official reunion in Boone and it was an absolute joy to have time to talk with Mom and Dad and share our lives with them. I loved hearing of what they've experienced and learned.
Ruthie is about John's age and she is a walking explorer. She enjoyed sampling John's dinner :)
The night before our vacation, Diana flushed the toiled and got it plugged. However, instead of just filling to the top and stopping, the toilet broke and continued to pump out water continuously. I came out from storytime with the girls to literally ankle deep water coming from the bathroom. It also went through the lights downstairs.
The next morning they were tearing up carpet, vinyl and drywall to set up huge fans to dry out everything.
It was so crazy and the big fans made so much noise, plus John couldn't crawl around since the kitchen was full of their equipment.
We gave the repairmen the garage code and got out of there the next morning! Jim strapped on his surf board and we must have looked silly driving to the mountains with our board. However, Jim did manage to successfully surf behind Brandon's boat at a nearby lake so it was worth it!
The rental house in Boone was huge and totally fit everyone! Daniel brought his girlfriend and even Josh was able to make it through a series of miracles. Joe got the whole week off and it was the most we'd seen him since...forever!
Board games with a very patient uncle Caleb.
Huge dining tables made mealtimes actually work. We couldn't believe how it didn't feel crowded with so many people. The volume definitely was high at certain times :)
Grandpa time
Josh modeling a minute to win it game involving pantyhose, water bottles and a tennis ball.
Sunday morning on the front porch. Hours spent on this porch relaxing. There were no mosquitoes in Boone it was marvelous!
Cousins
Diana taking pics before church. It was one of those Sundays make very tricky because we forgot John's bottle at home (that he needed at the START of the three hours!)
Grandma doing Sunday games with the kids.
We took a Sunday hike in the yard of the house. I gave Michael my phone and told him to go so many steps in different cardinal directions using the compass on my phone. We walked and talked and enjoyed the gentle afternoon sunshine.
I love these people.
Caleb shared with us some of his experiences from the past three years. His unique life path has brought many blessings and challenges. I love him so much and appreciate his steadfast example.
We went to nearby Grandfather's Trout Pond. Three stocked ponds with beautiful rainbow trout. Rods, fishing license, bait, etc all included at 7.99/lb. They fillet and put the fish on ice for 50 cents. Best thing ever. Of course, Mike found a butterfly first.
I stayed at a supervisory distance to rescue anyone who fell in and warn passerby of when the kids would cast their lines.
First catch was as big as it looks!
Jake was so thrilled to catch a fish the veins on his neck were standing out. It was like his whole body was reeling that fish in!
Nicole knows how to cast and fish by herself after Daddy baits her hook with the worm :) She was proud of her catch!
Beautiful scenery and just a few degrees cooler than hot.
Diana was over the moon to catch a fish but fell over backwards trying to get away from it once she pulled it on shore.
Afternoon relaxing- watching Pete and the Big Wide World- on the tiny screen. Love these little cousins.
Jim and the oldest three went boating with Brandon and family. The kids loved swimming around and tubing. Jim got up wake surfing.
Sunsets here were beyond gorgeous and our location made every one a treat.
Our shockingly low scores on horseshoes didn't detract from the fun and good-natured ribbing we gave each other during the game. Sunset and no mosquitoes was amazing!
Breathe it in.
Mom put together a lesson for the grandkids on the Tree of Life. Her "hands on" lesson included doughnuts at the "Tree"
The kids held tight to the rope "Iron Rod" while Brandon, Joe and Marian tried to dissuade them (in strange voices) from continuing on.
Joe almost got Mike to stop with mention of a lizard on the ground. Temptation indeed!
When they made it to the tree it was time to "partake" :)
Jim's temporary lab as he puts together some braces for Dad. I love how Jim can help Dad out and it's amazing all the new technology and how Jim can't wait to try out ways to help him.
Family picture! Every single person looking at the camera, and it's hard to believe we are all together again!
Last time we got this shot was at Josh's wedding! They've had three kids since then :)
We all went to Tweetsie Railroad and had a great time exploring and playing together!
Stagecoach
Michael the bandito
The railway around the park had a few stops where you watched a little show. It was hard to follow the dialogue and was cheesy, and frankly I wasn't sure how my kids would react to the fake shooting and fighting. But they understood it was pretend and it was fine. I enjoyed the ride and scenery the most.
There were several shows and the kids loved getting up and tap dancing!
Jacob is so excited when he can show how brave he is with "heights", its pretty cute.
Nicole and Katy having fun together
Little Katy was the only one small enough to ride and she pushed her bar so she was flying high as possible.
Teacup spinner type ride and the kids loved every second!
Go carts! The kids loved this ride and went a LOT!
Jim went with the kids not tall enough to drive and you can see Joe and Addie behind them. It was so fun to be with family having this adventure!
After an absolutely terrifying ride up a ski lift with Katy and John and nothing but a bar separating us from a plummet to the ground- and they made me sit John down so I'm trying to keep both kids in the seat!- we took a breather at a fun park. The ride operators thought it was no big deal, so I think I have some fear of heights too- or at least a fear of wiggly children not strapped in at extreme heights.
Mike got called up to participate and was plenty willing to hold the hammer and sort of follow the cues of the leader.
Panning for gold- I am not sure if they ever found any, but it was sure fun to try!
The kids went on this ride multiple times. Jim went once and was done for the rest of the day.
Their petting zoo had free range goats which was so awesome! The goats were very nice-and well fed. The emus at the front totally stole Jim's ice cream cone cup with feed and he was not expecting it to grab it with it's beak.
Nicole was proud of luring this goat to follow her to the other side of the petting zoo area.
Katy did not want to be on ground level with something eye level that could lick her, but she did like bending over to pet the miniature horses.
Something very exciting about pretending to be in jail.
Now we know what it means to literally climb the walls. Does it surprise you it's Diana? :)
Waiting for the train to start. We had fun singing a bunch of train related songs and I was amazed at the harmony we had going. It was impressive and I had memories of Christmas caroling when one time someone wasn't home but we kept singing because their front porch had such great acoustics :)
Tweetsie or bust!
The older kids were much more interested in driving the stagecoach than being passengers. We had a great time there. The BBQ sandwich for $6 was delicious too!
Back porch view all week. Such a lovely spot.
I love how the cousins all got to really know each other and there was space for them to just roam indoors and outdoors without it getting too crazy.
Dinner being dished out after our day at Tweetsie.
We went to Valle Crucis Community Park and it was the perfect wading spot.
We had life vests just to be extra safe but it was not a fast current and perfect for finding little fish and tadpoles.
John was the only hitch in this plan, as his top priority was to find rocks and put them in his mouth. I finally gave him a large rock and he started to chew on it! He did splash around some and loves the water.
Beautiful day with happy kids. They said this was their favorite thing all week.
Which may have been helped along by the ice cream shop at the entrance to the park. The park is privately owned and profits from the shop also help maintain the park. Super generous servings with no extra cost for waffle cone.
All of the kids got birthday cake.
Perfect ending on a hot summer day.
Marian teasing the cousins- and they were eating it up! They love their fun aunt.
Mom was so patient with Katy as she painted her kite with just about every available puff paint color. This is Katy's first real memories with her Grandma, as Katy was a few days old the last time Mom saw her. So special!
Sunset poses on our last night while they play Frisbee and we watch :) Caleb, Joe and Megan. It was a relaxing last evening after smores and passing around candy I'd bought at a barrel candy shop. We laughed and caught up, and then shared scriptures that were meaningful to us. I loved the sweet time under the stars.
On Sunday, Marian and Brandon generously treated everyone to dinner and then Mom and Dad took turns at our houses sharing special stories with the kids about people they met on their mission. The kids were very engaged and interested and the time was a blessing to us all.
When we got back, the house was dry and they patched the ceiling, yay!
And on Monday we said farewell to Mom and Dad! They spent about two weeks in North Carolina and it was so great to have days when we said "See you tomorrow." Love that feeling. I remember when Marian moved here and the first time I said that it was the best feeling. It was like part of my heart was close. Sure love my family.
It has been hot, hot, hot in NC. 90-100 degrees for weeks. Our grass almost died while we were gone but we watered and resurrected it over a week. This means lots of pool time!
John loves the water. He will splash it into his face all day long with a smile. All of those swim practices and he's my little water baby.
Swim team ended right before our trip to Boone and they finally got us the picture from the beginning of the year. Go Hammerheads!
