june 2014

This month is cruising on by! I can't believe that it will be July in just a few days. My big brother Mark stopped by for a short visit on the eve of my birthday. It was nice to visit with him and have dinner together. 

Burke and I went for a little spin in his rental car:

Liv did swimming lessons the first couple of weeks in June and is doing ballet again this summer. It is interesting how much more focused she is since her last ballet class (ended in March, I think?). She doesn't especially enjoy all the stretching, but she enjoys dancing for sure. At the very end of class the teacher puts on a Disney tune and lets the girls "free dance" to the music. I took this photo through the window so it isn't great, but I think she looks so cute up on her toes. And yes, I'm pretty sure that is a blurry 'jazz' hand :)

Hewitt went to cub scout day camp June 5-7 at Heard Scout Pueblo in Phoenix. One of my friends sent me this cute photo from the first day:

I went up as a chaperon on the second day. It was a fun group of boys and we managed to survive the 108+ heat (it honestly wasn't too bad)! We were in shady areas most of the afternoon and were spraying everyone with water to stay cool.

Hewitt's face is so cute here:

 I got to take a turn too!

Hewitt and Tosh are doing swim team this summer! It is a pretty big commitment as they practice Monday-Thursday from 6 to 7pm and then have swim meets on Saturday morning. Neither boy was thrilled about us signing them up. Tosh started getting excited about it once he got his new racing shorts, cap and goggles:

Hewitt got very anxious before every practice at the beginning, but both boys seem to be settling in and enjoying it more now that their bodies are getting used to swimming the long distances. At the first meet, Tosh did Butterfly when he was supposed to do Breaststroke! Rob and I (and some other parents) were chuckling on the sidelines. He took 2nd place, and then took 2nd place for REAL when everyone did Butterfly stroke!

Some really exciting news this month is that Sue and Zach (Rob's sister and bro-in-law) are moving here! They were here staying with us for a little over a week checking things out. I was super lame about taking photos, but Sue was kind enough to send me some that she took of their trip.

We swam every day. Sometimes twice. August and Kiefer love the water. I think this is the kids playing "store" here:

Burke was really looking forward to the twins being here. This is such a cute shot of Kiefer and Burke playing together:

We went to Tumbleweed park EARLY one day. I've never seen it so empty! We lasted for about an hour until our water was running low.

Hewitt doing floor puzzles with the boys:

The Lundells had us over for Addie's 4th birthday party. Kiefer decided to do his own sunscreen! Ha! :)

Addie's party was a 'Batman' theme. Liv and Addie came out all dressed up at one point. I love these two little friends:

This is such a great photo of Hewitt reading to these cute cousins that both suck their fingers when they are tired. I'm not sure this is the best book, but it's what Kiefer brought Hewitt to read :)

We had a nice Father's Day. I made pork roast and mashed potatoes for dinner (among other things), and Rob's favorite chocolate cake for dessert. Tosh did this for Rob in his primary class:

I think he was right on! 

My sister had a great idea for us to make a video for our Dad for Father's Day. She had a certain song in mind that she thought my dad would really like (they are both country music fans). I was able to get the video put together and sent a copy to my dad before Father's Day. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb26gTg0tvA

Boy scout camp started the day after Father's Day. Burke met his troop at 2:30 in the morning to drive north of Flagstaff! Early! It was strange to have Burke gone an entire week with the rest of us here. It was the very first time he has ever spent the night away from some family member. Rob joined the troop for the last two nights of camp (Thursday-Saturday). Here are a few photos I got from Rob's phone:

Do you see the dirt on Burke's shirt? I hate to document this, but I guess Burke wore the same shirt and scout shorts the ENTIRE WEEK! Well, he did change into his Class A shirt in the evenings for dinner. I bought two Class B shirts and we packed other clothes as well. He did change his socks every day at least. Boys are so different from girls...  Burke finished four merit badges and has three partials that he should finish soon (camping and cooking take a long time). He had a great time!

It seemed REALLY quiet around here when our cousins left and with Rob and Burke gone. Tosh had the great idea last week to do a lemonade stand. I didn't know how successful it would be, but since we get a lot of traffic driving in front of our house,  it was worth a try. I had already bought all the stuff to make Rice Krispy treats, and I thought it would be fair to charge 25 cents for lemonade and 50 cents for a treat. The boys got busy making a sign and setting up on the sidewalk in the shade.  I thought it was a good opportunity to teach the kids how to sell/talk to customers, and Tosh was super excited to make change. Turns out that no one ever wanted change back which was a bonus! The kids ended up making $9.25 in a little under two hours.

While Rob and Burke were driving home from camp last Saturday, Liv and I went to Tosh and Hewitt's second swim meet (she was a trooper as the meets last almost four hours!). So Hewitt insists on wearing this sweet swimming mask. I keep offering to get him racing goggles (and a cap), but he isn't interested. It is helpful that I am able to spot him easily though:

On your mark!

Tosh doing backstroke:

 This last random photo of my funny girl (with some crazy hair) makes me laugh!

Hope you are enjoying the summer as much as we are!