Summer Happenings

Monday! July 6

The start of another fun-filled week of summer. John is in Florida all week, we have very few commitments, and have the ability to play, play, play!

We met friends (The Johnsons) at the park then decided to head over to the water area at the mall for some cooling off fun.

Tuesday is pool day! bummer! no pictures! Then Madison and Brooke had playdates with their new friends, Gwen and Darby Johnson, and couldn't be happier!

On Wednesday, I had an appointment with a [new] dermotologist (which is a nightmare story to be discussed later. Or not.). Lisa was nice enough to watch my kids for me.

We are going to miss having her so close!

To mix in a little adventure, I had Madison and Brooke ride their bikes to Lisa's (grandma's) house. This is Brooke's first time riding outside our cul-de-sac. She learned how to ride a bike years ago, but always prefers her scooter - and flat out refuses to ride her bike - until now. I followed them the whole way and they did great! It will be fun for them to someday be able to ride their bikes all the way to grandma's house (they move back soon) by themselves.

On a side note, I don't recommend Dr. Searle in Camarillo.

Thursday - Beach Day!

We met Tina, Iayn and Adin, and Marie and her kids at Zuma.

They had a great time playing and even made it to tennis lessons and ward picnic in the park afterward. It was a non-stop busy fun day.

Rebecca Tarbet, Brooke (buried), Harrison (in green - Christian's friend that we brought)

On Friday I thought it would be fun to take the kids on a hike, and that Cole would love it, too (which he did). There is a field at the end or our street that goes into "open space" and proves to be quite a nice hike. Our friend Iayn slept over and a neighbor girl, Alana, joined us so I had six kids and a dog. Initially I had planned to go in the morning, but I suppose that it takes six kids and a dog a while to actually stop playing and get ready to leave - so we ended up going at noon - nice and hot.

The kids loved it, the dog loved it and we were all dirty and exhausted at the end of it.

Taking a little break in the shade of an oak tree. Here they were educating Alana on Nauvoo, the prophet Joseph Smith and pioneers. Good little missionaries!

Ashlyn was a trooper and only needed to be held at the very end. She reminded me of a little Laura Ingalls here. When we got home, they all had a Bomb Pop to cool off and said they were ready to die and decided that they wouldn't make it as pioneers.

THEN I decided to brave Coscto with six kids (minus Alana, plus Iayn's brother Adin). They were great, but let me tell you . . . it is difficult to maneuver a large cart with 7 people through the crowds at Costco. I ended up taking detours to less populated aisles just to avoid the hassle (and the rude glances). We had fun and were surprised to run into four different people I knew, particularly because Costco is not in my city. I think we would have been out of there much quicker if I didn't stop and chat. It's a good thing I don't sneak around because one of our friends saw me coming in the store and immediately starting texting John! :-)

Yeah for midnight! John arrived safely home and all is well. I think it's one of the only times that he's been gone and nothing noteworthily dramatic has happened! Nothing broke in the house, nobody got sick. Amazing!