Ping Pong

The boys made my dining room into a ping pong room!  It was so much fun I let them leave it up for a week.  We love summer and the creativity it brings out in the kids!

Family Fun Today

It has been a fun day!  We went berry picking this morning for jamming supplies to take us through the next year.  Many hands really do make labor light.  After the thorny boysenberries the kids were thrilled to head into the blueberries.  Very fun!

I think we may have picked more than we ate.  :)

After berries we went to a "summer festival" at uwajimaya.  Gordon was in heaven with the Japanese street food and treats.  The girls love the dress of Photo Booth.  What a fun day!

In Training

I have some seriously silly children.  The boys had been doing "cold water training" the first few weeks of the summer.  They would take all their showers freezing cold, so they would be prepared to jump in the lake.  They've now moved on from that.  Ethan and Aidan just informed me they are now doing "KYBO" training  (outhouses at camp).  You train for KYBO's by taking as few breaths as possible while using the bathroom.  Oh, silly boys.

Summer Time Slavery

 This summer we have tackled a big job!  Refinishing the deck.  It needed it badly, as you can see.  Nails and screws sticking up everywhere, and wood that I'm pretty sure had never been treated or protected.  We set up a system so that each boy had to sand one board a day.  If we kept the pace, we would be done in 20 days!  Of course, they chose the very short boards to start, and it was all fun, and then we hit the big boards.  It was long, hot, hard work, but as you can see, it paid off!

Here we just had a couple of boards done.

 This was the difference between sanded, and not after a bit of rain.

 Working Hard!

 And when it was all over, we could hardly wait to  get the dust off the patio, and get it done and over with.  So, I spent two evenings applying the finish.

 And now here we are!  It is not only beautiful, but feels so much better under the feet!

 Thanks for all the hard work boys!  I know it was tedious, but it was worth it!

Cub Camp

It's been another great day at camp discovery!  Chandler is having the time of his life at his first official cub camp week. The heat doesn't slow these guys down a bit!  Great flu today for friends who took little ones for the whole day, and others who ran poor Ethan to the dentist for an emergency extraction.  Busy days...

My Girls

Ballet

 Car Washes

 Speech

 Gymnastics (and pig tails!)

 swimming

 Magic Shows

Sisters

Swim Season

What a fun time we've had at swimming lessons and the lake so far this summer.  We did two weeks of rather chilly lessons at the Wilson pool, but everybody learned a ton!  Emilee is finally swimming and is turning into quite the fish!

The lake has not disappointed either.  Always full of friends, fun, and usually lots of sun.  So glad we have access to this beautiful place.

Our First Teenager!

Ethan is a teenager!

For Ethan's birthday this year, he wanted to go see a movie with friends, so at nap time, we loaded up and took Ethan and 5 friends to see Malificent.  We had a great time and filled up on popcorn and soda.  Pancakes for breakfast, meatloaf for dinner, milkshakes for a treat.  Ethan had a great day!

 New Heelys and a light up wand were also a huge hit.  We had a happy boy!

Happy Birthday Ethan!  We're so glad you are a part of our family!