summer 2017

Time to play catch up. The good news is that I take a lot of pictures. And that every Sunday, the girls write or dictate journal entries. Some weeks they enjoy it more than others. But we’re trying. And now for our summer in a nutshell…

June was a big blur of camps and lessons and playdates and adventures. I’m rather ashamed I’ve taken so long to record it because I’m doubtlessly missing so much detail I wish I could remember.

We kicked off summer with the annual family party campout with my parents, siblings and cousins from my dad’s side. This year’s theme was Knights of the Round table! The scrolled invitation with clever language hung on our fridge for weeks with the girls exclaiming over it regularly. We arrived and set up camp on Friday night, just in time for s’mores (I never miss s’mores!). Then on Saturday, we had a fun filled day with so many great activities. I’m glad we took a billion pictures to help the girls remember. We did jousting and archery. We built Popsicle stick catapults and painted wooded shields and designed milk jug helmets. We decorated drinking goblets with fancy crystals and did games and challenges as part of our knight training and ate tons of delicious food. We divided into two teams and decorated giant cardboard castles. Then, protected by our castles, we waged war with slingshots and marshmallows dipped in powdered sugar. And then in victory, feasted on the cupcake dragon I had brought. The entire day was amazing and everyone had such a great day. Even the men, who were by far most covered in powdered sugar from the epic battle.

Husband’s family came for a weekend visit and the girls had a great time. They had a tea party with little lemon cakes and brownie bites. They played dress up and played at the park. We got out all the summer backyard toys and filled the kiddie pool and water table much to their delight.

We celebrated Father’s Day and my mom’s birthday all in one. Grandpa ended up being out of town for work and my mom had just gotten out of the hospital with pneumonia so it was a mostly quiet celebration but with a very cool amethyst geode cake.

Husband, Z and I slipped away for a quick adventure weekend in Washington DC with kid sister. Z was happy and delightful and charmed literally every person he met. He loved riding the metro and insisted on getting his very own sunglasses. The first day we explored the botanical garden (my favorite was the orchids room) and Native American Smithsonian (where mostly we just ate lunch). We stopped for ice cream at a food truck, finding the most creative (and delicious!) flavors I’ve ever seen (like machata, honey buttermilk strawberry, spice cake, southern maple cornbread, ginger, peppermint chip, etc.). So, so good. Then we spent the afternoon at Ford’s Theatre. The employee giving the presentation was a great storyteller, very knowledgeable and needed no fancy tricks or theatre gimmicks. It was a great experience, followed by a visit to the boardinghouse across the street, where a self guided tour took us through a somber experience. Husband later surprised me with a souvenir from the gift shop, a new tea towel with Lincoln’s favorite cake recipe. And then for dinner, we got to go see some longtime friends that moved away a few years ago. We met them for dinner, feasting on delicious Indian food and lingering over conversation, catching up and remembering why I love them so much! The next day kid sister and I took Z (husband and grandpa were working) to the Natural History museum.  I loved the precious gem exhibit and butterfly room but baby Z absolutely lit up seeing the triceratops and again at the elephant. He cracks me up! In fact, we couldn’t even get a good picture with the dinos because he couldn’t tear his eyes away from them. We bought sisters some souvenirs and then visited kidsister’s office to show off the boy and meet her coworkers. Most of them ended up being out of the office when we stopped by, so we took pictures of Z working at their desks instead. And then our afternoon was fantastic! Husband had been meeting with Seantor Hatch’s office all morning and arranged a capitol tour for us! We got to explore the beautiful building with lots of inside information and little known details. While riding the underground tram, we saw Senator Bernie Sanders! I loved the room of statues and even Z was partial to his friend Brigham Young. Best of all, we got to go see the office of Senate Pro Tempor (currently Senator Hatch) and Z had a great time playing at his desk! We hurried back to the hotel where we settled Z in for the night with kidsister’s roommate as a babysitter (he fell asleep within an hour, silly boy) and we went to a U2 concert! The music was amazing, the energy was incredible and it was such a great experience. What a perfect night.

We hurried home from our DC trip to see the girls’ show! They had been attending a two week drama boot camp and preparing a performance of “The Greatest Birthday Party Ever”. L was cast as the lead, Charlie! A played Shadow, a character they created by splitting another role and it was perfect fit for her. And then E played Pim, charming and impish adorable, learning her lines even better than I hoped. (except for the first performance, forgetting her line “but what if I forget?” how appropriate!) Drama camp was a ton of fun, they made lots of friends and especially loved the cast party between shows. Watching especially L was a ton of fun, helping her learn her many lines and explore the delivery and gain confidence for her solos.

We spent a LOT of time swimming. A and E did swim lessons at the new city pool, and spent more time playing than learning and made me grateful for patient teachers. Plus we had summer passes to Seven Peaks water park, but with all the lessons and camps and trips and playdates, we didn’t use it much. We went once on a Saturday with Daddy, rather spontaneously and got to enjoy exploring all the features. As we were leaving we realized Stadium of Fire was that night, so we grabbed some dinner and found a great place to park and watch the fireworks.  Then we had another wonderfully long day there with friends a few weeks later. They shared their tubes with us so we got to explore more of the rides and such and the girls had a blast! They especially loved the tire swing (which despite its small size, I can really get going!) and the waterslides and wave pool.

Our fourth of July was fun, the day was mellow and spent playing with friends. Then we got to watch Grandpa perform with his singing partner at our favorite restaurant Tarahumara. It was very casual and the girls had plenty of space to dance and play and relax. After his set, we invited some friends over for dessert and fireworks. We set some off at our house and then just watched in awe at the over-the-top show my neighborhood puts on every year.

We attended a music festival that grandpa helped put together. It was mostly folk and blues and jazz and best of all, husband’s aunt was one of the featured artists! We got to wander a few booths (the girls went nuts over the tye dye stuff) and discovered a kids’ craft area (after which we could hardly drag the girls away) and loved lounging and listening to the amazing talent.

We also had a day long play date with my brother’s family at the Ogden Aquatics center. The kids loved the pool and slides and diving boards, but most especially any excuse to play with cousins. Z was especially charming, completely fascinated with a fire hydrant water feature. We spent the whole day playing and then picked up pizzas and veggies to eat at the park until it was dark. Then we settled in at the drive in! My girls LOVE the drive in and its always one of their very favorite summer adventures. We watched a minions movie (meh) and Cars 3 (yay!)

We spent a weekend at my grandma’s cabin. The kids were delighted to go play with cousins and created all kind of imagination games. Apparently one side of the cabin was Kittenlandia and the other side was Pandalandia. Our girls especially loved having all the dogs around and smothered them with hugs and kisses and “training” sessions. (one of the little dogs had markings similar to that of a panda and I thought E was seriously going to try to smuggle him home!) On Saturday we stumbled upon “Duck Creek Days”. We bought the kids all day wristbands and they wore themselves out on inflatable obstacle courses and bounce houses and such. We explored the booths and ate treats and had a great day. On Sunday, I introduced the girls to the chest of dress up clothes that I used to play in and then enjoyed all the adorable fashion shows. Z tolerates the long drive okay. He won’t sleep very much but we’ve found he does love books and pull and peel twizzlers to play with.

Our Pioneer Day was a little quieter this year. Husband had to be out of town for work so the kids and I went exploring. We checked out the Charleston Fair getting some food and listening to music.  The girls couldn’t resist one of the booths though and they got to hunt for gemstones like panning for gold.  We watched the little parade and then went to a friend’s house for a bbq and great view of the city fireworks.

We spent a day at Cherry Hill with Grammy and Papa. We came up the night before to camp with them in their trailer. Then on Saturday, the girls and Daddy tackled the waterslides while E, Z and I took in more casually in the camp pool with Grammy and Papa. We had lunch together at our favorite Hawaiian food place nearby and frozen yogurt shop for dessert. But then we had to hurry off to a family reunion dinner. I didn’t know very many people there since it was extended family. But mostly I just chased kids anyway, while husband took over cooking the meat. Z found a yard decoration, a poka dotted chicken, and fell in love with it! He carried it around and hugged it and pet it all evening. The girls scattered to find kids their age and then joined in to the fashion parade, modeling dresses made by the grandma and greatgrandma of the family.

L got to participate in the Fair Days parade. She rode on the float with the dance studio waving and cheering. A decided to set up a drink stand and sold sodas to people waiting and watching the parade. Pretty brilliant!

Somewhere in the midst of our crazy summer, Z started walking! He walked for about a week back in May. Then went back to crawling. And just as abruptly, started walking again. And very quickly, he got faster and bolder and now he’s a mischievous stubborn little imp who has all of us wrapped around his finger. He is constantly getting into everything and refuses to be left out of any adventure. He is fearless and noisy and so ridiculously charming.

One of our favorite summer field trips was a day we spent at the Bean Museum on BYU campus. Each of the girls had a different scavenger hunt and that really kept their interested as we explored and searched for clues. They still laugh about the bear that growled and surprised them and the sneaky cougar that stole the honey! Or the two headed snake that creeped all of them out.

Husband gets full credit for our wonderful garden. Most days he comes home from work, scoops up the boy and they go outside to check on their garden.  Some of our plants didn’t do so well. But the zucchini and lemon cucumbers in particular, thrived and produced enough for the whole neighborhood. So we go on lots of “popsicle walks”, especially on Sunday evenings with lots of veggies to deliver as we go.

Once August started, L launched back into dance, taking various classes and workshops from 9 to 12 Monday-Thursday. The last week of summer was boot camp. She got to work with this year’s new team and embraced the idea of being one of the older girls, like a team captain or big sister and has helped create a lot of excitement and fun. During bootcamp, they add extra activities like an improv night, a movie night and the studio bbq. She came home glowing every time and is having such a blast. She and her best friend are the oldest on the team this year. I’m excited to have her be on Pack for a second year. She has advanced so quickly the past few years that we weren’t quite ready to jump to the next level yet. I’m hoping this will be a good year to build confidence and get the chance to be a leader on the team. Also, she and her best friend will be doing a duo for competition. They’re excited for any chance to get to spend more time together, for the added tumbling classes so they can incorporate more tricks and to dance to music they picked out. I love seeing their excitement and feel this individual coaching will likely be even more beneficial than if she was taking another class. I love the choreographer we’re working with and am so excited to see what she puts together for them.

The last weekend of the summer, before school started, was a whole lot of adventure all packed into one. Friday was my birthday. Husband made me crepes for a special birthday breakfast and then I got to each at the gym. Then the kids and I spent the afternoon lounging, cuddling and watching our favorite show. (I got them hooked on “Once Upon a Time”) One of my girlfriends brought over key lime tarts and lounged with us and it was a wonderful lazy afternoon. In the evening, we kicked off a family reunion dinner with husband’s mom’s extended family. We went to Olive Garden and then played at the park. (But yes, I got my birthday date night. Husband took me to meet my parents for dinner at Chili’s and then see Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat the week before. It was so good!)  The next day we continued family reunion fun at the annual lake day. With lots of little kids, we spent most of time playing in the sand and splashing in the water. The dads took the kids out on the kayaks and Husband took the girls exploring on the island while Z napped on me. It was a great afternoon with lots of family to play with.

The next day began our Idaho adventure. We drove up to join some of Husband’s dad’s extended family and stay at their house. Their girls found lots of kids their ages to play with and especially sweet was L spending time with Gram’s sister, asking to learn to crochet and sharing projects. We got to spend more time with husband’s dad and kid sister, taught the girls how to play pool, and I loved staying up late playing speed scrabble with his (second) cousins. On Monday, we watched the eclipse! The whole morning was spent in anticipation, having a big breakfast and watching the approach. We had a big picnic on the lawn and played lots of games. Husband’s aunt gave each of the girls a short riding lesson, not just led around the pasture but taught them enough to confidently ride and gallop and guide the horse. And the eclipse was incredible! I loved the vividness of color, the ring of light at totality, the way the shadows and the air and the animals around us changed. The drive home was long, with the added traffic we didn’t get the girls to bed until after midnight but fortunately, the anticipation of the first day of school was enough to get them out of bed despite their late night!

The school year kicked off with lots of energy and excitement. The girls are attending the brand new elementary school, three blocks from home and LOVE getting to ride their bikes. L has a male teacher for the first time and was very nervous about how strict he is according to rumors. But so far she’s loving all the science experiments and even joined an afterschool book club. A is doing great and her favorite part of school is recess with her friends. “the dragon crew” spends every recess training their dragons and in other imagination adventures. E was very mad that kindergarten didn’t start until a full week later. She was so ready and eager to go from day 1. She is in afternoon kindergarten, which makes our mornings a little easier, not having to rush her to get up and ready for school. And we love our walks together to school, usually with other friends in her class and then she comes home with her sisters. While she’s at school baby Z takes his nap and I’ve been able to use that time for cakes and catching up on chores and such. Mostly cakes. And I’m very, very appreciative as that has meant I rarely stay up late trying to finish a project now.

My cake decorating business has grown so fast. I’ve gotten to do a lot of fantastic cakes, lots of fun and creative ideas. I’m learning fast on new techniques and am gaining more confidence. Many of them have turned our even better than I hoped and I’ve absolutely loved it. The hardest part has been pricing, trying to guess how long something will take and the best way to do it. My most popular design is the unicorn, which fortunately I love to do. I also especially love doing cupcake creations. I have all my cakes posted onto a facebook page for advertising purposes but it’s really only been through word of mouth. I’m grateful to good friends that have been quick to recommend me and I’ve been able to fill nearly every weekend all summer. I had no idea I would get so busy so fast but I’m loving it.

Epic Dance weekend was a full family affair this year and such a blast. We left right after school Friday, arriving just in time to get L and E registered and handed them off to their dance coaches for workshops and team building and adventuring. While they were doing that, husband and I took A and Z out for a special date night. A picked sushi (of course) and we spent a long time a Desert Book picking out her scriptures and hymn book and such. After we picked up our dancers, we went swimming at the hotel, joined by the rest of L’s dance team. The girls were crazy and were bouncing off the walls, having a fantastic time. The girls love any chance to stay in a hotel so winding down is always a little rough as they beg to explore the room or watch tv or are simply too excited to sleep. But eventually morning rolled around, we ate breakfast at the hotel and dropped off the girls at dance again. Husband took A and Z swimming (since he had slept through the previous night’s adventure) and the thoroughly wore him out. We lounged in the hotel so he could nap and then ran a few more errands until it was time to go watch the dancers’ showcase and pick up the girls. E’s age group did an adorable fairy adventure, making wands and donning wings for their cute routine. And then L attended several classes of different dance styles and preformed a combination she learned in each. She declared hip hop the hardest and jazz to be her favorite. After we left Epic, we met up with Grammy to go shopping. We wanted to find A a baptism dress and struck out a few times before stumbling on the perfect dress. It was the only dress, and happened to be on clearance at a usually too expensive store and she instantly fell in love with it. Success! We had dinner and picked out some new school clothes and declared the weekend perfect.

For Labor Day weekend we had our annual co-family campout with my best friend from collage. Her three boys again hit off with our three girls had we had a fantastic weekend. We spent Friday evening setting up camp and playing games and climbing trees. L had a brief but really rough moment. Their oldest son and she hit it off last summer, agreeing to grow up and get married and she has ever since had a special favor for him. She would occasionally shyly mention she has a boyfriend, especially when all her other friends are giggling and delighting over their crushes. But on the first night of our campout, he told her they were just friends and she took it pretty rough, I think mostly because she had built it up so much in her head. But she bounced back by morning and they had a great time as friends.  We spent Saturday swimming and playing in camp. Husband backed the truck up to the huge tree in our site and they built a big fort to play in. And then they watched the Avengers for some much needed quiet time and declared themselves superheroes for the rest of the time. My parents stayed in a campsite nearby and were able to keep Zach at night and during naptime, making our sleeping arrangements (and swimming) much easier. He had a blast with lots of one-on-one time, playing with bubbles and splashing in the water and devouring animal cookies. On Sunday we attended church together and spent more time playing and exploring.  Each night we stayed up making smores with the kids and then after getting the kids to bed, stayed up chatting. I love my gorgeous friend and every time we are together, even once a year, its like no time has passed at all, instantly connecting and celebrating and catching up on everything.

We celebrated A’s and E’s birthdays with lots of fun and festivities. A’s birthday was a Tuesday. We woke her up for a special breakfast and decorated the downstairs a bit. I took Creamies in for a class treat at school and she got to play at a friend’s house in the afternoon. For dinner we made some of her favorite foods: alfredo tortellini, shrimp and asparagus. E’s birthday was on Saturday so we did a special date night dinner on Friday, taking her to panda express. Then Saturday was the birthday party. After E’s special birthday breakfast, we scattered for nutcracker rehearsal, teaching at the gym and the usual Saturday chaos. And then had their party in the afternoon and so much fun. We had it at the new city pool, starting in the party room for cake and ice cream and presents. They agreed on a Hatchimals theme so I made a Hatchimal cake and we bought a Hatchimal creature for each of their guests as a party favor. They got lots of great gifts, Legos and crafts and L even made them each a Hatchimal house. And then we turned the kids loose to go swimming. E spent most of her time on the playground splashpad with little brother and A did laps on the obstacle course with her friends.

The Women of Steel relay was such a blast. It was my third year running it and I was determined to do it simply because I LOVE the team I was running with. I was undertrained (only doing one 3 mile run once a week for the past two months—definitely not adequate for the 9 miles I would need to run) and fighting a cold. But I showed up Saturday morning and joined my team. I love these amazing women and have been looking forward to our day together for months. We talk and connect and catch up and left each other up. They are so inspiring and entertaining and simply so fun to be with. My first run was rough, the cold air felt awful on my lungs but somehow everything fell into place. By the end of the day I was averaging my pre-baby race pace and feeling fantastic. We took 9^th of 60 teams (we took 1^st the first year and 3^rd the second year, this year all felt undertrained and promised it was just for fun) and were thrilled with that. It wasn’t until the next day that DOMS kicked in and I literally could not walk normal. But totally worth it.

Our ward has changed once again. We are part of a newly formed ward. Husband’s calling as stake young men’s president but I’ve been asked to be the primary chorister. I’m feeling very inadequate and anxious about it, wanting to do it well with a lot of energy and excitement. It will definitely be a new adventure for me! With creating the new ward and general conference, I get a few weeks to let it sink in and will be starting soon.

And for one last adventure, a rather spontaneous trip to Maui! We had planned to go on a couples’ trip to Lake Powell with some friends. But a necessary work trip to Maui kept getting postponed and then landed right in the middle of our lake trip.  We debated what to do. With about a week to go, we decided I’d go to Maui! My mom was already scheduled to watch the kids and encouraged us to get some much needed R&R. So husband flew out Sunday and went to work. I arrived late Wednesday night. Unfortunately husband and his crew ended up working all day Thursday too. So I spent the morning laying on a beach, reading my book, lounging, shopping and getting a pedicure. I ran a few errands for husband and picked up lunch for them. As soon as they were off work we raced up to the Haleakala Crater to watch the beautiful sunset. We got some dinner and took some of his employees to the airport. And then relocated from our hotel in Kihei to Kaanapali. Unfortunately we made hotel reservations before husband knew he had to work Friday too. So on Friday he dropped me off in Lahiana and he went back to Kihei. Again I got to lounge on the beach and go shopping and sightseeing. Husband joined me for a late lunch at Paia Fishmarket (unbelievably good blackened snapper) and shopping on Front Street. Then we drove to Iao Valley, one of the few tourist destinations we missed on our trip last year (it had been closed due to flood damage). We arrived only half an hour before closed but that was plenty of time to race up the two minute trail to see the Needle, admire the views and explore a little bit. There were some locals having a belly flop contest into the river. Thus inspired, husband had a go at it too. We found a lunch plate for dinner, stopped at grocery store for more fresh pineapple and bought some breakfast foods including guava bread (so good), dragon food (cool appearance, underwhelming flavor), papaya (poorly chosen and overripe) and more pineapple (always amazing). I could plan entire vacations around food. *happy dance* And then Friday was absolute perfect in every way. We slept in and lazily readied for the day. We spent the morning surfing, both of us able to hold her own (but admittedly, husband is better than me despite my so cal childhood) and having a great time. We checked out of the hotel, grabbed a quick deli lunch and then spent the afternoon snorkeling. We went to Maya Pier, which collapsed in a storm a few years ago. About half the pier still stands above the water and despite the “keep out” signs, had plenty of locals fishing and using the nearby boat ramp. The half of the pier that collapsed is now a colorful and between reef. We saw millions of fish and they were fascinating to watch, their bright colors gleaming as they darted here and there. I was ecstatic when I caught sight of a spotted stingray and quickly followed. With all my focus on the stingray, I never even saw the jellyfish that crossed over my left hand and wrapped around my right leg. It felt like I was tangled in fishing line that suddenly electrified and I admit I was such a baby, thrashing and panicking to get it off. But I hadn’t seen a turtle yet. So once the initial pain wore off, we swam on. I soon saw a small turtle and mentally willed my stupid jellyfish to be his lunch. We slowly made our way back to shore and husband motioned me over to under the fallen pier where we found a giant turtle! He was huge and beautiful and I love him! He ignored us, exploring the rocks as we took pictures and delighted in our find. Happily satisfied, we lingered on the beach for a while and finally left (in search of more pineapple and lidocaine). The beautiful hotel we stayed at, the Maui Kaanapali Villas let use us the courtesy showers to get cleaned up and then we began our wandering drive back to Kahului. We took the northern route, stopped to explore the Dragon’s Teeth again and found the heart rock! The northern route is used mostly by locals as it’s much slower and more winding and requires a very confident driver. But the views were beautiful. We happened upon a tiny town, in search of shave ice, and stopped at Lorriane’s. A true hidden gem of Maui, this was so fun! It was relaxed and intimate, with an unhurried authentic island feel. I couldn’t decide on a flavor so Lorriane offered to make it her way. I asked what that was and she laughed back “it’s my way”. I still don’t know what it is was but it’s my favorite! She took great care of us and invited us to enjoy our treats “out back”. This turned out to be a perfect view of the bay, more beautiful than any postcard and felt like a perfect sliver of heaven. It was the perfect way to end out trip and without a doubt, we will be back. Reluctantly we left, drove to Kahului for a lunch plate and settle into the airport for a long flight home, eager to get back to our sweet babies. (I cannot say enough how much I appreciate my mom for watching the kids. She managed their crazy schedules of school and dance and other activities, even coordinating playdates and bringing Hatchimals as fun new surprises. The girls gushed about their trip to the Dollar Store and getting to go to Panda Express. Plus it was the first time I had been away from baby Z overnight and he had a really rough time with it. My mom is incredible!)

And then September was over. Literally overnight, our beautiful mountains went from lush rolling greens to splashes of brilliant reds. And then got dusted with magical white snow! (Luckily it didn’t last and we might get a few weeks of fall weather before winter really takes hold.) But our summer has quickly come to end. It’s been so busy and so wonderfully fun, packed with adventure. Onto October!