JUNE

The first month of summer was so much fun.  Here is our June in reverse...Lou had her first ride in the cart at Costco.  She loved it.  How is it possible that my baby is this old already?

 

Just for fun here is a photo of Millie and Phin the first time Millie sat up in the cart...be still my heart.

We went to Lagoon  with cousins.  It was fun to ride Rattlesnake Rapids with this crew.

 

Conrad and Jeff came to the last kickball class of the summer for the kids.  They had a ball with this ball.

 

Lou prefers to be by my side all day...my mom teases that she thinks she is one of my limbs.

 

I love watching Silas play.  Phin often gets frustrated when they are asked to clean up the basement...Silas gets distracted with his toys and ends up playing rather than cleaning.

 

We had a movie day at home.  The kids all picked out a treat from the dollar store and I popped some popcorn.  They watched "The Bad Guys," which they loved.

 

We went to Kangaroo Zoo for the first time. I found a great deal on Groupon and thought it would be a good way to stay out of the heat.  The kids all loved it.  Carver actually said as we left "I want to have my birthday party here." 

I loved watching Phin at kickball.  He figured out that they would count to two to assign teams so he made sure that Millie, Silas and Carver all ended up on his team.  Silas wasn't so sure about kickball...so he stuck to Phin like glue.  Phin would kick the ball and then they would both run the bases together.

 

We went to Summerfest in June.  The kids loved carrying the dragon around.

 

They also did a Tiger craft.

We took cousin Carver to a splash pad one day.  This was our first visit to this one this summer.  

Phin got to be the pitcher at kickball one day.

 

We were able to go on a little weekend trip with Seth's parents and his brother Matt's family. We stayed at Banbury Hot Springs in Buhl, Idaho.

Grandma Jo made yummy peanut butter bars to share...but this little critter thought they were from him too.  I woke up and found the Tupperware all torn apart.  As I was sitting with Lou before everyone wake up, I saw the little critter come back for more.  It reminded me of the viral video of the rat in NYC with the pizza.

 

Our last night we had s'mores.

We hiked Box Canyon down to a waterfall and a spring.  I noticed many of these little ladders in Idaho over barb wire fences.

We stopped at Ritter Island.  The actual island was closed and this is a spot we will have to come back to someday.  The water looked so gorgeous.  Some people were tubing from this spot down the river.  We also saw some people right out in the river in the lawn chairs.

 

This gorgeous waterfall was just a few hundred feet from the parking lot.

 

We also stopped at Malad Gorge.  It is crazy to think this beautiful spot is right under a busy highway.

 

Earlier in the day we kayaked from Banbury Springs to Blue Heart Springs.  Silas had a gift on this trip of falling asleep in the kayak.

The water in Blue Heart Spring was gorgeous.  

 

Seth's sister, Jamie, and her family joined us for the day.  It was fun to see Phin and Gavin together. They turned this single kayak into a double for the ride back to the camprground.

The water was so COLD!

 

The clear water was beautifully contrast with this black lava rock.

 

The day before we had kayaked from Centenial Park in Twin Falls all the way to Shoshone Falls.  We stopped at Pillar Falls on the way back.  Aunt Emily swam in this little spot.  Silas was so funny and told her he was going to "walk out" to her. 

 

The water was much lower than the last time we visited so Pillar Falls was not quite what it used to be.

Can you spot a sleeping Silas?

 

Shoshone Falls also looked like it was lacking water but it was still gorgeous.

 

We stopped for lunch after we carried our kayaks over Pillar Falls.  Man those kayaks were heavy.

 

Millie and Phin loved collecting "sea weed" with their kayak paddles.

 

At camp the kids loved exploring and playing card games.

 

Here we are all packed up and headed to our adventure...it was a tight fit.

We were able to make it to a summer movie...Paw Patrol.

 

The kids all took a Lego class together.

 

The kids took a summer paint class.  I signed them up for the many scoops of ice cream class.  They painted with Zoey, Connor and Grace too.  I loved just chatting with my best friend Amy while they painted.

 

 

 

 

Lou has such fair skin that I try to keep her shaded at all times...this huge umbrella has come in very handy.

On Father's Day we also checked out the chalk art festival at The Gateway.  Here is a photo of Seth with the kids.

 

We had Father's Day dinner at Nona and Papa's house.  Papa got some special cuddles from Lou.

 

Silas gave his first talk in Primary.  He did such a great job.

We were able to get together with some of our Clemson friends in June.  The Malcarne's were in town from Pennsylvania.  We already had plans to get together with the Crooks so we all got together.  I will forever be grateful for the experience of living in South Carolina and especially for the friends/family we made there.

 

 

We also went to the car show in June.  The car parade was much shorter than last year which was disappointing.  But the kids each scored a Hot Wheels car.  Phin also found Darth Vader.

 

I took the kids to SeaQuest Interactive Aquarium.  Teachers and their immediate families get in free here which is so nice.

We also visited Pizza Pie Cafe.  The only thing Phin likes more than pizza is dessert pizza.

We went down to the first night of Farmer's Market.  The kids had a blast playing in the water at the splash pad.

Seth and the kids harvesting strawberries from our yard.

Me and my girls.

We held an Activity Days activity for both groups of boys in June.  You can see all the boys in the background of this photo.  We played The Lawn is Lava.  We had the boys bring items that would help them cross the grass.  It was so funny to see the ideas that worked...and didn't work.

Silas had a brilliant idea of using two buckets like shoes.

 

We have tried to get to parks more often this summer.  This is one of the kids favorite ones to visit.

 

The see-saw is their favorite.  Lou had her first ride on it and agreed that it was pretty awesome.

 

We went to Huntsman Day at This is the Place Heritage Park in June.  Mary had let us know about the day and we were so happy to resume this per-pandemic tradition.

The kids loved riding the big and little trains...although a few geese kept making the little train have to stop by hanging out on the tracks.

 

The kids loved panning for gold.

They also loved just being with their cousins.

While I was cleaning up a massive blow-out...Mary kindly took photos of my kids on the pony.

 

 

 

Lou was very interested in the baby goats. 

 

The kids also loved the free push-pops.

 

Millie had a final play date with her best friend Betty before her family moved to Indiana.  For their final play date they did a few crafts together.

 

 

 

Seth took the three oldest kids up to cousin Jameson's birthday party.  They had so much fun playing and getting wet.

 

 

 

 

 

While Seth and the kids were at the party, I went to a farewell party for my next door neighbor Jill.  A small group of us met up at Nielsen's Frozen Custard.  It am so blessed to know so many amazing women.

 

 

Seth's work had their annual summer party at Cowabunga Bay.  Our kids look forward to this each year and it was fun that it was so early in the summer this year.

Silas was given a sticker at school lunch one day...an naturally that sticker had to go on his nose.

Phin went to an Activity Days camp.  I thought it was funny when I dropped him off that two of the other boys were also dressed in blue shorts.

 

The day after Phin attended his camp, I went with the older Activity Days Boys.  While I was at camp my kids had a great time playing with Carver and Conrad at Nona's.

We had a ward BBQ in June.  Phin loved it and was happy to suggest to the Bishop that we have a BBQ at least once a week.

Millie picked a flower from our yard and wanted to share it with me.

 

Lou didn't seem to mind having me to herself while the kids did summer rec classes.  I would usually push her around the park in her stroller for the first half and then we would find a shady spot to hang out in the shade.

 

We went to dinner at Nona's one weekday when Sarah's family was down from Idaho.  The kids loved playing in the water out back.

I got a new hat at Costco one day and Silas thought it should be his.

 

We went to Lagoon with Sarah's family when they came down in June.  I love this photo of Millie and Silas holding hands while in line.

Silas with the parachute at his music class.

Phin at disc golf.

The kids ended their track season with a home track meet.  

 

I love this photo of Millie cheering Phin on.

This home track meet was a last minute thing so there weren't many kids at it.  I encouraged Phin to run the 1600 m if there weren't many kids running and he ended up doing it.  There were just 2 other boys that ran with him but Phin came in 1st.  He ran the entire time and I was so proud of him.

We started going to summer lunch.  Some of the kids...Phin...hate it.  But I love that I am not left with a mess in my kitchen each day.

 

The kids started their first round of summer classes...Phin took Disc Golf and loved running into his classmate Rockwell.

Millie took a hairbows and jewelry class.

Silas and Carver took a music class together and made unique instruments each class.

We went up to Corinne one Sunday afternoon to have dinner with our Havens cousins.  It was fun to see these kiddos run around together.

 

We went down to Main Street on a Sunday afternoon to check out the Chalk Art Festival.  We actually ran into several other members of our ward which was fun.

 

Millie is obsessed with rainbows lately.  Every chance she gets to draw, she draws a rainbow.

 

For his birthday we decided we would have a mini-party for Phin.  I found a Groupon for the Flowrider up in Ogden for four.  Phin decided to invite the three cousins that are closest in age to him to come with him.  It was really fun to see each cousins personality come through as they went out on the Flowrider.

 

We had time for a few photos in Downtown Ogden before our scheduled Flowrider time.  

We had pizza on the lawn just outside the Ogden temple.

Phin's entire "party" was in reverse too.  We started by opening presents and then had some ice cream.

 

The kids ran in a track meet up in North Logan the first weekend in June.  While we were up that way we helped Grandma Jo and Grandad cut off a tree limb that had been damaged in a recent windstorm.  The kids were amazing helpers.

 

They both participated in the 400 meters.  It was such a good opportunity for them to be pushed outside their comfort zones.

We stayed the night at Grandma Jo's and Grandad's the night before the track meet.  Phin found a badminton racquet in their outdoor toys and begged all of us to play.  Grandma Jo was a great sport and went down on the lawn to play with Phin.

 Carver and Conrad gave Phin a Minecraft Lego set for his birthday that he loved putting together one afternoon.

We went to the Bountiful Town Square Splash Pad one day and Phin was delighted to run into his friend Titus.

 

Phin's primary teacher Aneisa dropped off a special birthday Crumbl cookie for him.  

 

Phin requested an Oreo Ice Cream Pie for his birthday.  I had made a peppermint pie for Seth's birthday and this may be the new tradition.

 

Silas cracked me up at the grocery store when he wore this basket like a turtle shell.  

 

Phin's birthday morning started with opening presents.  He got several specialty card trick decks.

 

He also got a chess game for the arcade and a couple of Nintendo Switch games.

 

We took a scooter ride down to the library one night.  It happened to be one of the first nights of the chalk art festival.  The kids loved looking at the art and having photos taking by their favorites.

 

Seth and Phin played chess at the library while the Millie and Silas went down the kid section with me.  It is fun to watch these two pick out books for themselves...and for Lou.

 

I pulled out a rainbow loom for Millie.  She can't quite do a bracelet all by herself but she is able to put all the bands on the loom on her own.  This girl could happily craft all day.

We went to the Fairy Festival at Gardner Village.  We ended our visit with a sugar cookie.  The cookies were butterfly shaped with pretty swirled frosting.

 

We got our traditional photo on the wagon by the water tower.

Silas wanted a picture by this cute toadstool.

There were fairy wing photo opportunities throughout the village.

We decided we like the fairy festival even more than the witches in October.  There were fairies from A to Z.  Each fairy was in a mason jar and below each fairy was a clue to the next fairy.  The kids loved running from one fairy to the next to find all of the fairies.

8 MONTHS

Lou is 8 MONTHS old.  She hit the 8 MONTH mark on the first day of summer. We have been crazy busy this summer and Lou has been a trooper with having to get in and out of the car as we go between all the activities for the older kids.  I think she kind of likes to have me to herself when they are busy with activities.

Here are her weekly pictures for the month...pretty in pink.

 

Lou smiles with her whole body.  She was quite smitten when Seth showed up to Phin and Millie's Track and Field Practice.  She is babbling up a storm...and just like normal her first "words" are dada.

She discovered the walker at Nona's house and loved being upright and able to move on her own.  Her older siblings were more than willing to "help" her walk around.

She sits like a pro these days.

She spent time with Nona and Papa the last week of school.  She had a major blowout one day and I had forgotten to pack a change of clothes...so she got to show off all her beautiful chubbiness.

She liked sitting up in a high chair when we went to a restaurant.

Millie continues to ask to hold Lou several times each day...she also insists on giving Lou goodnight kisses.

Lou went on her first Skyride at Lagoon with me and Phin.  I felt good about her being strapped to my chest.

 

She had her first ride on the carousel and Millie wanted her to be on the Kitty.

 

She got her first taste of watermelon and seemed to be a fan.

She took a little nap at the beginning of our Tracy Aviary visit this month.  She tends to fall asleep in the car...which can be a good and a bad thing.

 

Lou has way of cheering Millie up.  I can't remember why Millie was sad while we rode scooters around Liberty Park...but just a few minutes holding Lou and she was feeling much better.

Lou seems to enjoy scooter rides.  We strap her to our chests and she loves to be upright and close to her siblings.

Lou still doesn't have teeth...although she can produce quite a bit of drool.

 She loves to move her hands back and forth along textured items like our couch pillows.

She likes when I put her feet in the water at the splash pad.

She still isn't crawling.  She is able to back herself up when she is on her tummy...but there is no forward motion.

She is eating solid food much better.  Pears are her favorite by far. 

It was fun to see her side by side with Sarah's youngest Jack. 

This was one of the first times that I sat her up in this stroller and she loved the view...and access to her toes.

She also loves sitting on grass.  She is my first kid not to be terrified of grass.

She also loved this little floatie. 

She had her first taste of Dole Whip...and was a huge fan.  I couldn't feed it to her fast enough.  I also think she looks pretty cute in this swimsuit.  It has lemons on it.  I ordered it because we often call her Lou Lou Lemon.

One Sunday Uncle Bart worked his magic and was able to get Lou to fall asleep.

Lou tagged along on a date with us this month.  We left her with a babysitter while we went to the temple and then picked her up when we headed to dinner.

Lou is quite flexible and can often be found nibbling on her own toes.

It has been so fun to see Lou in all of Millie's old clothes.

Lou had her first ride on the teeter totter and she loved it.

Lou gave Papa some special loves on Father's Day.

 While I was working out in the raspberry patch the kids were more than willing to provide Lou with a little shade.

We love watching you hit each milestone Lou!