4th of July Ninja Warrior Style

With our cousins in town we owned the 4th of July like amazing ninja warriors. We first did the traditional scavenger hunt breakfast where the kids have to follow clues to find their breakfast.

 Afterwards aunt Rebekah presented each kiddo with a Ninja Rice shirt that was pintrest worthy. We went over to our house (from grandma's) and had our own American Ninja Rice Warrior course. 

It started with being spun around 10 times then racing to the corner stop sign. The kids had to walk on the curb back to our driveway. Next they had to cross the lawn by jumping on only one color of a ginormous twister board. After getting safetly across the kids had to ride through a wiggle car obstical course. It led to the swing set where the kids had to choose a water squirter and swing while hitting a target on the wall with the water. Next was the gauntlet where they were armed with a baseball bat and had to hit away the soccer balls grandma/cousins were chucking their way. Once they made it across they climbed up and over the tilting picnic table. The last station was the pool. They had to jump on a raft and paddle across the pool without getting wet then roller coaster into the pool and swim across. There was even an easy button to hit to stop the timer. 

It was so fun to cheer each kid on. We spent the rest of the day swimming and chilling then watched fireworks at grandma's. It was an AWESOME 4th of July. 

The Annual Garden Party

Every summer our Ferguson cousins come down for a couple of weeks. We do swim lessons and play. We also have an annual garden party. We all wear fancy hats and eat finger food. Each year we look forward to the delight of the office inspired party. This year Brent even got into the spirit finding  a "sushi" roll recipe to make (rice krispies wwith a swedish fish wrapped in a fruit roll up). 

Father's Day Weekend

For father's day weekend Brent wanted to spend it with his father. So we drove up to northern utah and had a party weekend up there. For Christmas the kids got passes to a waterpark and a game center. We spent an entire day going on water slides and playing in the lazy river. Creed turned out to be super brave on the water slides (not a shock) but Jocelyn spent a lot of the day under an umbrella with me (was a shock). We didn't see Cami or Taryn most of the day because they took off with their cousins and rode as many slides as possible. The next day we went to a game center where we rode rides, played in the arcade, went bowling, climbed climbing walls, and played laser tag several times (everyone's favorite). In order to play laser tag Creed and Jocelyn had to barrow shoes (no flip flops allowed) from cousins and despite his pink tennis shoes Creed loved every second. We also spent time with Papa and enjoyed just being at his house. 

Trek

For three days in June Brent and I went on a pioneer trek.Our kids hung out with Grandma Rice. We were responsible for 10 teenage kids and we hiked 23 miles over the course of three days. It was a really good experience to help these teenagers (and us adults) gain appreciation for what our ancestors accomplished and suffered through. We took care of a lot of blisters, heat stroke, insect bites, utis, and aching bodies. We also had a blast square dancing when we thought we couldn't walk another step.and camping in the desert and pulling hand carts. All I can say is I am super thankful I was born when I was...no dresses and no desert trekking except by choice...And I am super thankful for the sacrafices my ancestors made so that I could have the comfortable life I do enjoy.

The summer...what it was made of....

Swimming and popcycles and more swimming and more popcycles....everyday for several hours. At first Creed was scary swimmer....lots of brave and little skill...by the end of the summer he was only mildly scary....lots of brave and pretty good skill...Jocelyn was a mermaid all summer long. Taryn and Cami loved it, especially when friends would come over. They had lots of fun and made lots of memories and still have tan lines in December.....

Spring Piano recital

When you get like 9 months behind on your family blog you can't tell if you all ready did this and why you don't have pictures of your other kid...but you seem to remember your phone battery dieing.....Anyway Cami and Taryn had a spring recital and both girls did great. Taryn is not really in love with piano but is still plodding along so that she can get advanced enough that we'll let her switch to guitar/eukalalie. Cami is getting really good and she really enjoys it. It is really nice to have a kid play well enough that they just randomly go in and play without being asked to practice and it sounds peaceful.

Super glue

So you know that one time when your husband cute a big flapper on his head by bonking into the mailbox while painting it....then refused to go get stitches because your insurance is crap....then he asked if instead you coud just super glue it together instead...so you did....This is what it looks like after you mash it back together and glue it......good times and it is a good time for health care reform of healthcare reform...

End of the school Year

I love the end of the school year....especially the end of busy. This year Taryn and Jocelyn had end of year programs. Jocelyn and Taryn both earned Radiant Roadrunner Awards given to kids who went above and beyond the regular school requirements. They completed science fairs, did extra academic stuff, participated in student govenment, etc....It definately takes extra effort and I was really proud of both girls for working so hard. There was some drama when Taryn's teacher forgot to give her the award she earned but in the end it turned out ok. Cami and Taryn both wanted to have end of the year swimming parties with friends and I took that as a sign that they are both growing up. Creed had a party at preschool with water toys and then his buddy came over to play and had a "picnic" at chick-fil-a. It was a great school year and an even better summer! 

 

Father's and Son's Camp out

Brent took Creed on a first father son camp out and it was awesome! Creed is still talking about how fun it was and he's planning for the next one. He has told me all about a stream and kids falling in it. He loved going for a hike the next day with Brent. He loved every second of it.

While Brent was away the girls played too. We went out for dinner and came home to swim and watch a little fixer upper. Good times all around!

Swim baby

One of the coolest parts of our new house is the pool. The kids were so psyched to use it that as soon as Brent had the pumps working and the chemicals figured out they begged to be in it....despite that it was freaking cold until like May. So they started swimming in the frigid water in April and true to form Taryn squirted everyone with water guns. Creed scared us all with tricks (his swimming wasn't great until half way through the summer) and kept us on our toes. Cami sat on the side til it got warmer although she did try to swim. Jocelyn was full on mermaid from day one smiling and swimming and spashing despite the temperature. She is 100% happy girl in water and it makes all the work of a pool worth it to watch her swim. It is truly her happy place.