Summer 2017

The kids are back in school and thus ends the shortest summer ever. We've kind of gotten used to our short summer breaks and usually don't mind so much because the idea of a 3 week break when it's not so sweltering and everyone else is in school is nice. But somehow this summer went by more quickly then the others. But I have to admit, it is nice to get back into a routine. With the coming and going of family and me going to girls' camp we never quite got a summer routine going, and routines make life run a little more smoothly.

Since the Tucson Temple open house was going on for the majority of June, we had some family visitors that planned their trip to coincide with the open house. Why else would someone choose to vacation in Tucson in the hottest month of the year?!

We had a week off of school, then Todd and Savannah spent the first full week of June here in Tucson. The kids loved the cousin time, we had a good time swimming at various pools, and we even got to celebrate Peyton's birthday while they were here. Which is apparently the only time my camera came out that week besides at the temple.

 We did make it to the library a few times over the summer. 

 Annie decided that this was a comfortable way to read her book:

 The week after Todd and Savannah left was quieter, but Jacob's cousin, Susie, and her family did come down that Friday to visit the open house, and spent the rest of the day with us. The kids had lots of fun and Rachel and their oldest, Mariah, decided to be pen pals. (Of course Rachel has yet to send the letter she wrote weeks ago.) They really hit it off and we left saying we really should get together more often than once every couple years.

The following week Jacob's parents came in to town just in time for the hottest week on record. It was the most consecutive days over 110 degrees, and the 2nd and 3rd hottest days on record (116 twice that week!). Needless to say we didn't venture out much. We also didn't pull out the camera much while they were here, but we do have a little evidence that they came to visit. The kids love to crowd around when Jacob is watching Smarter Every Day (on YouTube).

 We did make it to the park for a short time while Rachel was at synchro practice on the day that it only hit 109.

 Besides visiting the temple, we only ventured out on one other outing. We went to the Mini Time Machine--Museum of Minatures.

 It is cool to see so many mini houses and trinkets and figurines. Room after room of them.

Annie decided to put on a show to entertain us one of the days they were visiting. It was a great dance/gymnastics showcase, set to the music from Moana.

 It was a fun visit, and the kids keep asking when it's our turn to go visit them in Utah.

This summer a few friends decided we'd do a basketball camp once a week with our kiddos. I worked with the boys that were all 6 or younger.

 Ryan took to it and really enjoyed basketball. He loved his green ball and looked so funny dribbling because the ball seemed almost half his height.

The girls had the other half of the court and since they were a bit older (8-10ish) they actually got some defense practice and played some real games. Rachel enjoyed it and improved a lot over the summer. Annie decided after the first week that she wasn't interested and she sat out on the sidelines keeping Megan entertained, unless we needed an extra person to step in as a partner down on my end of the court, in which case she willingly jumped in and helped.

 On the 4th of July our ward always has a pancake breakfast and kids' parade. We have been out of town every year they've done this (except the one when Megan was born, then we were in the hospital), so this was our first time participating. The kids had lots of fun decorating their bikes.

 We had gone out to Del Lago in Vail to watch the firework show there the night before, on the 3rd, which was great. We parked in just the right spot. So on the 4th we enjoyed the pancake breakfast, then after lunch we went swimming at a friend's pool, then went home and had a movie marathon while I finished getting ready for Girls' Camp. It made for a great 4th of July.

The boys finally got haircuts a week or so before school started. Ryan got his first, then wanted a turn with the clippers. We made some cool designs on Jacob's head before finishing it off right.

 Me (or at least my floating head) and Annie at Rachel's synchro show:

 Rachel enjoyed synchronized swimming this year for the third year in a row. At the skills meet she placed 6th and her friend, Sara got first place in the beginner/intermediate group.

Their performance was the Saturday before school started and they did a great job. They weren't even going to have synchro available at our pool because there was no coach, but one of the parents called and convinced them to make it happen and our team turned out to be the biggest in the city (out of 4 pools, which was crazy small compared to other years). And our team won 2nd place!

 Way to go, girls!

While Jacob's parents were in town, Jacob and I took advantage and went on a date up to the first lookout point on Mt. Lemmon and tried our hand at taking pictures of the stars. Here's one we got of the city lights and if you look close (and use your imagination a little) you can see a saguaro on the right side.

 We waited and waited for Monsoon season to start this year. With the extreme heat in June and fires burning all over the state, including the one that shut down Mt. Lemmon 2 days before we were supposed to be heading up there for Girls' Camp, we were so ready for the rains to come. Thankfully they finally came the week before school started. We've had several great downpours. Jacob tried to catch some action shots of raindrops. Here's a pretty good one:

 We discovered that there were lots of ripe grapes on our grape vine. It was lovely to sit on our back porch on a relatively cool evening and eat grapes.

 We got to the last week of Summer Vacation and realized we had managed to do everything on our Summer Fun list except a movie night with friends, so we had friends over the last Friday of break and finished off our list.

 Some highlights I haven't mentioned yet:
We went up Mt. Lemmon for a picnic and short hike on Memorial Day weekend.

The kids had a sleepover at Grandma's house and had a super fun time, as usual. It happened to be a day I had a meeting for cultural celebration prep, but Jacob and I managed to fit in a dinner date after he got off work and before I had to be at my meeting, so it was a win all around.

The kids (mostly Annie) decided to sell tomatoes--a lemonade stand, but with cherry tomatoes from our garden instead.

They got maybe 4 customers, including our neighbor, Shannon, who we give tomatoes to for free all the time. She was happy to overpay, and totally made their day. I think they earned maybe $11 altogether. It was super hot, so I was glad when they were done with that entrepreneurial endeavor.

We made it to several swimming pools, including Purple Heart, Clements, Palo Verde, and the ARC pool by the zoo. The kids also went to the splash pad over by Justin and Marie's house while I went to an open house tour with one of my friends.

We got a new couch. The kids had fun couch shopping.

 Until they didn't, then they made sure everyone knew they were ready to go. We didn't end up getting anything that day, but at a different store I found something I liked, and Jacob agreed, so they delivered it a few weeks later.

 We had to move lots of things around to accomodate the huge couch in this room, but everyone loves how comfy it is, and how everyone can fit, and the recliners/foot rests.

We did one movie theater trip, me taking the older girls to Beauty and the Beast, and Jacob taking the younger two to Cars 3. Apparently Megan did not enjoy it and wished she was with me the whole time. I think Grandma took them to one or two others over the summer, too, one on their sleepover, and one while I was at Girls' Camp.

We had a full summer of fun, so that probably helped the summer fly by fast, too. Even though we didn't manage a trip out of town, we squeezed in a lot of fun.