Just July

 July is the only month in the whole year without one day of school for us.  So, we have found plenty of other things to fill our time  For instance,a Demolitian Derby.  We LOVE this new tradition.  We have gone the last three years here and this time Paige and Jason, as well as Brandon and Malia accompanied us.  It rained, but that couldn't stop the car carnage.  Everyone loves these events, while it does tire us out.  Brenna, at bedtime the other day told me, "oh what a fun day!  You are my best friend!"  Then, her voice changed to a resemble a gremlin as she growled, "Now GET OUT!"  The girls needs more rest!

 Fireworks-of course!  I didn't take one picture of any firework occasion, but we did see them.  We have the best firework show in our little city on the 4th of July.  My family comes and we play games and wait for hours. It is well worth it.  Our neighbors joined up with us this year too.  It was a fun night of oohs and aaahs...okay, we squeal with excitement a bit, but it is genuine.

 Grant had cub camp and I got to go up with him for one of the days.  Nothing like boys shooting guns and tying knots...or eating cheetos out of a trash can.  That wasn't Grant but it was a boy in my car, who also nearly made me loose my lunch when I opened the door and saw him covered in melted chocolate.  Chocolate, I know in itself is not gross, but it appeared nasty when I opened the door.  Boys will be boys!

Here are some of the boys who went up from our troop...

 It has been a record breaking summer in the heat department, a serious scorcher.  I take responsibility for this because I vowed I never would have an August baby, one of the reasons being huge and heat don't mix.  But, here I am due end of August and being taught that I am not in control of pretty much anything!  To beat the heat, we have spent time at the waterslides and my kids have really loved that!

 We usually go to a parade or two, but that wasn't happening with the temps, so we just checked out the floats and the kiddos got their faces painted. Seriously don't mess with Grant here... I think he has to try and be tough because Brenna was just singing the 'You Are So Beautiful' song to him and petting his face.  She did change up the words to, "You are so beautiful, like a dress!"  That girl loves dresses and figures her brother must too. 

 We have frequented treat shops that sell ice cream, slurpees or snow cones.  Next time, Dave and I decided the kids get no say in the ice cream flavors.  The play doh ice cream was nasty and tainted the rest of our delightful sundae. 

 Because we are not at a year round school and most of the kids' friends are, we have spent a lot of time chillin together.  Somedays this goes well, sometimes it results in fighting and extra chores and a very frazzled mother.  I have tried to be creative and change up the consequences of the sibling battles.  One of them is they get to spend lots of time together in a room playing. 

 Of course saying sorry is always a requirement, but I am having a hard time getting those words out of this girl:

She will say 'sorry' as close to a ventriloquist as she can.  I make her say it over and over until it resembles someone not in the field of puppetry.  But, she insists on apologizing without moving her mouth.  I guess it is somewhat of a compromise! 

Trippin in June

Besides finishing up with the school year and jumping into summer...we went on a couple of trips in June.  Well, I went on one with my dear sister Shannon-NYC!  Dave arranged a fabulous vacation for us where we stayed right in the heart of Times Square.  I was a little excited....

 We went to the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) and saw the one and only 'Starry Night.'  It was awesome!  We may have also seen sculptures out of  rabbit poop and some prints squashed with stinky moldy cheese.  There is a whole variety of art there!

We visited the 9/11 Memorial.  It is a really moving place.  The feeling is somber and the architecture is great.  There are two squares with water running down the sides into the pool and a square hole in the bottom of each.  Along the perimeter of each square the names of every person who lost their lives due to the terrorist attacks are listed.  You can walk around them and read them all, touch them and reflect on those events and our country.  The museum and towers are coming along nicely there as well.

 

 We walked through central park and went to church at the Manhattan temple on the Sunday we were there, where I happened to run into my BFF from 6th grade...whom I haven't seen since 6th grade.  I tapped her on the shoulder and she cried, "Kara Petrick!!!"  It was so fun!  She recognized me in all  my pregnancy glory. 

 Of course, the main events of our little trip were our Broadway shows.  We saw Spiderman-it was totally weird and creepy and odd and slightly awesome at the same time.  But, the musical of musicals that had us jumping out of our seats was: NEWSIES!!!

 Loved every single minute of it.  Dave is an awesome hubby for planning this whole thing and taking care of the kids while I went.  He and Grant and Katelee got to go to Lake Powell two weeks later (on his birthday!), so really Brenna is the only one who has missed out on a trip...but shush, don't tell her!

I heard their boating trip was fabulous and I stole this pic of Uncle Brian's facebook...look how awesome Katelee is!  Grant also got up for the first time this year on the surf board.  Brenna and I stayed back and cleaned our newly finished basement!  She did tell me she wants to be bigger and I need to cut her in half.  I'm not quite following her logic on that, maybe if I stack the two Brennas, she could be taller-but the idea of two Brennas is exhausting enough! 

They passed!

 The kids had their evaluations and they have officially received the okay to move on to the next grade when school starts again!  Here is Katelee at her kindergarten graduation.  Dave questions the relevance of these ceremonies and I tear up, no matter how unneccessary he deems them to be!  We have loved both of the kids' teachers this past year!  Here is Katelee with Miss Spence:

 Both kids were also awarded medals on their last soccer game...Okay, yes, every other kid walked away with the same end of the season award, but they felt proud, nonetheless. 

 Surprisingly, we are not registered for soccer in the fall.  Both kids are venturing out and trying some new activities.  Brenna also will begin the rotation of activities on our ever growing calendar, in the fall.  If we make it to the fall...Summer is upon us and I feel a bit of anxiety.  We always have a good time, but the months of everyone home seems daunting.  And, the last few days of extreme heat may or may not have turned me into a bit of a she-devil! 

I would say I am the nicest pregnant lady I have ever been with this little babe, so I shouldn't feel too guilty as I become possessed at the end, right?  I just need to convince my family of this!

Kiddo Catch-Up

 We printed the last 5 years of our blog, and I love it.  It will be a great family history someday to look back on, it even is now.  Now I just need to remember to post often enough to keep up with our happenings!  We have all been just doing our things...

Brenna, the dress-up Diva, has a new ensemble everyday.  She entered my room like this, held out her arms and said, "BEHOLD!"  Yea, I laughed.  I did not, however, laugh when she was throwing a fit the other day and hurled a baby shopping cart at the door and was pulling decor off the wall to toss at me.  You just have to pray for good moods with this child!

Katelee did fabulously in her Nursery Rhyme Festival, as the darling 'Mary,'  from the rhyme "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary."  She opted to sing for all her fans rather than just recite the words.  It was moving!  She is loving her soccer team and accomplished her goal of climbing the rope all the way to the ceiling at gymnastics!  Wahoo!  She was very concerned the other day when Dave forgot his wedding ring when he left for work.  Her biggest fear was that someone would fall in love with her Dad while he was out working.  Thank heavens that didn't happen!

This is Grant playing some of his songs on a street piano in Park City.  We went to a lego art display and this was at the art center.  It was so fun to see him sit down and have a few things memorized he could whip out.  His second grade play was just a couple of weeks ago and he did a great job! 

This little guy is plugging along!  I still get vomitous every other day or so, but all in all, this has so far been my best pregnancy.  I feel really blessed.  Brenna told me she was so sorry I was sick all the time and sorry she put the baby in my time.  I told her that she did not do that to me, but Dad did.  She was so consoling when she said, "I'm so sorry he did that to you on purpose!"  So true.  The name game has begun.

Grant was certain we could name this dude Grant Junior.  Little did I know he was serious and when the news was broken to him that would not be the babe's name, he was mad.  He even offered to pay me and do extra chores if I would reconsider (that has never happened before!).  Katelee, chimed in and said maybe we could just do another "G" name and suggested "Goner."  I was a bit puzzled and said, "Goner?  As in, 'He's a goner, or gonorrhea?"  She giggled and replied, "Oh mom, Gonorrhea is a girl's name!"  Too bad we are having a boy ;)!

Our Southern Side

 This Easter/Spring Break we got to spend our holiday in Dave's hometown of Pensacola, FL.  It had been three years since the kids were there for a visit and we figured it was time.  We are so glad we did because it was awesome!!!  Grandma had lots of fun Easter activities planned...a kids primary activity/Easter Egg hunt was being held, so our three joined in the fun. 



There were crafts and treats and every child was transformed into a bunny.  I think Grant's tail was especially fetching. 



We colored eggs, hunted for them in Grandma and Grandpa's back yard, found Easter baskets, went to church and had a declicous Easter dinner. 



We were in town for a very momentous occasion-Grandpa's 75th birthday!  It was great to join in the celebration. 



We even made a special birthday annoucment to him in the sand at the beach. 



Speaking of the beach...it doesn't get better than this soft white sand and clear water.  It is paradise there!  The kids could have spent all week there. 



Brenna was a little hesitant and cried at first.  She said she loved the beach, except for the sand and the water!!  Grandma took her searching for seashells,



and Dave made her a little Lagoon where she decided it was her own little pool.  Aunt Anna was a invited in the exclusive Brenna resort!



There was plenty of frolicking, building and buring- it couldn't have been better!


Dave and I also left town and left the kiddos over night.  We drove over to experience New Orleans.  And that place is quite an experience.  We stopped by a cemetery- they are fascinating there.  It's all above ground since New Orleans is below sea level.  Plus, we got to see a voodoo queen's burial site.  we etched our three 'x's' spun around, knocked on her grave and she spoke to us.  Okay, she didn't but that is the ritual.  We passed on that, but watched others seek her assitance. 



Mostly my favorite part is was just eating beignets at Cafe Du Monde.  Okay, lets discuss my hair for a brief moment.  It became a mop of kinky curls, very similar to a man's mullet.  The humidity always makes things unpredictable, but this was out of control. 



When we got back to Pensacola, we took the kids to the Naval Air Museum, home of the Blue Angels.  It is an amazing place. 



Everyone loves climbing in the jets, looking at the helicopters,



and of course, riding a missile. 



There is a replica of a air craft carrier that Dave's granddooy was on during World War II while in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.  We have a lot of family who served (or are serving) in the military and it is an honor to learn from them. 

Across from the museum, is the lighthouse, still in working order.  We climbed all nearly 200 stairs (without Brenna)  and it was fabulous. 



We spent lots of time with family, family we don't get to see very often.  Dave's grandpa lives by a bunch of goats and donkeys.  The kids loved feeding those stinky animals. 



Grandpa Church always had a bag of veggies cut and ready to go out for the kids to take.  We also saw Dave's uncles JP and Jimmy.  Because Dave's siblings (and parents) are spread out all over the country, sometimes it is years between visits.  We loved seeing Anna and Curt (and Droopie)

 and Dean. 

 

Grandma and Grandpa are the best hosts-they even gave up their bedroom for the 5 of us.  It was a fantastic vacation, full of family and fun!  Dave loves reconnecting with his southern roots and I love hearing my kids pick up a southern drawl by the end of the week!!