June is almost over and it makes me sad. Tragically sad. I really love summer. I love watermelon and corn on the cob and barbequing in the backyard. I love the late summer nights where we stay outside until after 9:00 p.m. riding bikes and hanging out with friends and then we all fall asleep watching a movie. I love no school and no homework and no packing lunches. I love reading great books and doing fun projects and going on exciting adventures. I even secretly like sprinklers and the plastic dinosaur pool and rootbeer popsicles even though I hate the accompanying grass in the house and sticky patches on the kitchen floor. I really like summer. So in honor of the passing of June, here are some of the highlights...
Our adventures actually started last May before school even let out. J. made his acting debut in the school play entitled "Sunlight and Moonlight" where he played a demon bear. Yep, a demon bear. He was the 2nd to youngest member of the K-8th grade cast and he did a GREAT job. We had to laugh at the costume that gave him a HUGE wedgie in the back but he loved the face paint and the opportunity to act demonic and crazy.
Our second big event was the birth and then baby blessing of Hazel, one of my new and enchanting nieces. She is perfect and beautiful and I loved being there for her birth and blessing. She lives so far away now so it is especially sweet for me that I got to share those 2 significant events in her life. I really, really think being an aunt is the greatest job in the world!
M. is a preschool graduate. He graduated valedictorian in his class...well, no one came right out and SAID that but we feel certain this is the case. I can't believe my M. is going to be in kindergarten. Sometimes in the middle of the "daily grind" you feel like your kids are never going to be old enough to wipe their own bums or get their own drinks of waters or stop stealing Pop-Tarts out of the cupboard and then you wake up one day and 5 years have passed. It happens just like that and I don't like it. I'm so proud of him and the big boy he is becoming but I mourn at how quickly being "little" just vanishes. I made a secret promise to myself at his graduation that I wouldn't ever wish one single day away but that I would slow down and appreciate these amazing moments with my kids!
On Memorial Day, our family ran in a race to honor Ryan Cox, one of the young fathers in our ward that passed away last March. C. and the kids ran the 1 mile and I ran the 5K...finished in 34 minutes which was great considering I'd never run 3 miles in less than 40 minutes. It also explained why my entire body was screaming in pain and my lungs were on fire. Nothing like a little race adrenaline to cut 6 minutes off your time and almost render you comatose at the finish line. It was a really fun experience though!
Well, C. celebrated his 41st birthday at the very end of May. (Yeah, be scared. We're not even to June yet...) C. is the master cake maker in our house so it's always a little scary when once a year I'm in charge of the cake. This one was super-duper chocolate but I couldn't get the frosting to go on and stick without ripping chunks of cake off the side so at the end I got out a box of candy that I was going to give to a friend and tried to cover the whole mess up with chocolates. It was hilarious and probably a little pathetic but I didn't hear anyone complaining when it was actually time to devour the huge ball of chocolate delight. My husband truly gets younger looking every year...and more and more fabulous. C.'s birthday was followed by J.'s last day of school where we celebrated at Maggie Moo's ice-cream shop with some friends. My oldest is no longer a first grader...sob. (See above paragraph for all the emotions that repeated themselves that day. )
So now we have arrived at June...my darling brother Chip kept us all entertained for the first few weeks with weekly field trips to various local hot spots. He was doing a "Busy Bee School" with his kids while his wife was teaching her class at BYU each week and so we got to do a scavenger hunt at the Monte Bean Museum, had a dinosaur adventure at the BYU Earth Science museum, and a fabulous family day "Renaissance" style at BYU Art Museum. It was great hanging out with cousins and having someone else provide all the entertainment. Their family is now having Busy Bee School adventures in Sweden and France and I can't tell you how pathetic it has made our adventures seem now. But pressing forward...
We have gone swimming at the Rec Center which took all my courage. In the first 5 minutes we were there, a stray band-aid floated pass me in the pool, I picked a black hair off my arm, and when we tried to use the family restroom, we found a puddle of pee on the floor. I can't even write about it because I get light-headed and want to dry heave. We have since made use of the slip-n-slide and plastic dinosaur pool because I refuse to return to human wasteland at the Rec Center. My poor deprived children. We have been on a couple hikes and have discovered a passion for bike riding. We love to head down to the Stake Center and have speed racer races around the parking lot. I challenge any one of you to a race...I can't be beat.
Last week my kids went on a field trip to Heritage Park in Salt Lake City with some good friends of ours who let them each catch a chicken. Apparently my city slicker kids are a little "livestock impaired" but after a little assistance, they each caught their chicken and our friends are graciously housing all the pets in their backyard. J. still holds his chicken like it is a chunk of burning acid but in time we are hoping he develops a little less agricultural fear and embraces his farming side. They had a great time though...Heritage Park is one fabulous find here in the great Beehive State!
Other than that, J. has started piano lessons, H. has decided to start reading, and M. has discovered a passion for anything on wheels that can go really fast. We are enjoying the lazy days of summer that don't seem all that lazy and are gearing up for a ward trek that starts tomorrow. So let the REAL fun begin...stay tuned.
