July! Where did June go???

Wow, what a busy month! I always look forward to school getting out because we can relax, be lazy, we don't have to worry about schedules and getting out the door, etc. But then, I always panic and think the kids will be bored and schedule a bunch of activities. I seriously can not believe June is over and July is heading into the double digits already!! We had a pretty busy month and I'm looking forward, finally, to a relaxing July. What have we been doing?

We kicked off the month with our quick trip to Arizona for a family reunion and then came home and got busy with lots of activities.

Tyler didn't have much going on except for scouts and working on getting everything done for his Webelos and Arrow of Light which he'll get in August. His busy month starts at the end of July when football camp starts. The weather has been kind of weird this year and we have had so much rain! I only watered my garden probably 3 times all of June. That is NOT normal for Utah. Anyway, Tyler, Spencer and Lauren had their annual "mud football" game and had fun with that. This year they added mud wrestling in the big muddy patch under the trampoline.

I don't know what was really going on here but it looks like Tyler
is trying to make Lauren kiss Spencer because she gave him rabbit
ears and Spencer is not thrilled with the prospect.

Lauren had soccer camp for the whole month of June, a 3-day camp the last week and a conditioning/optional summer practice 3 days a week. She also got to attend achievement day camp this year and loved it. I was able to go with her and her friend McKenzie's mom, my friend Katie. We only had four girls and it was soooo much easier than when I have gone with the cub scouts!

Achievement Day Camp Pictures

Bethany, Lauren, McKenzie and Shantelle

First we got to ride the "boats". Wooden docks that float.
I opted out since things like swimming, porch swings
and watching google earth zoom in on a location make me sick.
Katie was a good sport and went out with them. Again,
here, the girls returned back nice and dry, the cub scouts
always end up wet.

Here the girls were trying to hit a target with a sandbag on a lasso
and a bucket of water would drop on the dummy. Lauren hit it
but the bucket fills slowly so there wasn't enough water to dump.
She was pretty disappointed. Then it started to rain and a huge
thunderstorm passed overhead so we had to seek shelter where the
girls learned to make rope and I forgot to take pictures.

Next they got to make beaded chokers and leather bracelets.

They even got to shoot arrows.
This is the nice picture where Lauren gets to shoot a few arrows.

This is the picture that caused the camp guide to question
my parenting abilities. Lauren didn't feel like I knew how to
shoot an arrow regardless of the fact that I have been here with
the cub scouts several times and they had just taught all
of the parent chaperones how to teach the kids, I couldn't
know what I was talking about.

Thankfully, shooting the BB gun went smoother...
they didn't allow the parents to help.

Lastly, the got to pan for gold. They all really got into this one.
I can't imagine why, just looking at the way they are all hunched over hurts my back.

McKenna and Brooklynn had swimming lessons which is every day for two weeks. They LOVED it. I tried to sign them up for the next session but they didn't have any classes for both girls at the same time and I didn't relish the idea of trying to keep Brooklynn out of the pool during McKenna's lesson, so we opted out.

McKenna (kind of in the middle...just her head)

Brooklynn and her teacher

Brooklynn jumping into the water (Pink Dora swimsuit)

In between activities we go to the library and playgroup once a week. We went to Malad for Father's Day dinner to help celebrate with Chris and all but one of his siblings (sorry Curt, we missed you guys) and his dad. That was really fun. Other than that, just about every other spare minute goes to our new puppy. She's a really sweet dog and pretty mellow. She is a puppy though and chews on EVERYTHING! I won't miss that stage. She is finally sleeping through the night which is SO nice. It was like having a new baby all over again.

All tired out after a long walk

Oh yes, and Lauren had her first dance with a boy! (Ward party)
He is trying to spin her but she's a little taller than him and
that proves to be a bit tricky. (Katie...I have one for you too!)

We finally set up our pool and have spent the afternoons swimming and playing outside. It took exactly 3 days for the kids to get their tans back. They are so dark already. We've since gone through 3 cans of sunscreen! I have been too busy to post lately but hopefully will get caught up soon. We were back in Malad for the 4th but that'll be another post.