Summer break weeks 3-4

 After we had our first Sunday Sundaes in March where we invited ward members over to get to know each other more, we decided we should do it more often. We managed another one that turned out to be fun, but I kind of lost count of who I had already invited, so it turned out bigger than I had anticipated, which made it all the better. 

Summer at its finest. Sitting around reading.

Ryan and Rachel are doing the swim team at purple heart this summer. It's a great way to stay in shape and make sure they're waking up and having a productive day (as Rachel realized after the first week of sleeping in, missing half the day). They had their first meet last week and both swam freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly. 

Part of the summer plan was list of cleaning chores that really needed to get done. Cleaning bedrooms and getting rid of junk was the top one. It took several days for each of the kids (over a week for one), but bedrooms are finally clean and less cluttered! I told them we'll do it again the week before school starts if needed, but so far they've managed to keep them pretty clean.

The older girls went to YW camp the third week of school. That left Megan and Ryan home with me. I thought they might get bored, but swim team and synchro keep them busy and they find time to fill the rest of the time easily. They wanted to go swimming at Clements one day, so we invited Ryan's friend Carter to join us, but then when I called I found out it was closed for maintenence, so instead we just hung out at grandma and grandpa's house jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler on. Since we were close to home we could have Mason and Makenzie join us, too (we didn't have room in Grandma's car, since we switched for YW camp for them to go with us to Clements). Ryan had fun showing them how friendly Grandpa's lizards are even without the mealworms he feeds them. Then Grandpa went and restocked on meal worms and they had a good time feeding the lizards, too.

Megan has been really enjoying synchronized swimming. Makenzie Sanders rides with us every day and it's a good way to break up the day. While the older girls were at camp we were going to take our own camping trip until we found out that the Synchro Skills Meet was moved to that Friday. So Jacob took Ryan camping and Megan and I went to her skills meet. She did a great job and got 3rd place, earning a medal!

Meanwhile, Rachel and Annie and Grandma had a fun time up at camp. Memorable moments include: Annie pausing the skit to run to use the bathroom. Rachel hit 2 tomahawks in a row. Annie's tent blew over, spilling all their stuff all over. Rachel really enjoyed being a YCL. 

All reviews from camp were positive. 10/10 would recommend. 

Saturday morning Megan and I cleaned our house making it the cleanest it's been probably the whole year. Then Jacob and Ryan got back from camping, and Rachel and Annie got home a little while later. Laundry got started, camp and sleeping gear was scattered, and our house returned to it's natural state of mild/cleanish chaos. 

That night we went to the drama show Karolee put on with her drama camp she'd held that week. I had to leave early to go set up a bare bones stake dance. Rachel didn't want to come, but got pressured into it and ended up coming.

On the plus side, she got to drive home in the dark, which she did enjoy.

Last week Megan and Ryan did cooking camp with Sister Petty. They both loved it and came home with delicious concoctions every day. We got grandma to handle the synchro/cooking camp run on Wednesday so we could get the older girls to the temple. They invited the Palmer girls and we enjoyed a lunch out afterwards. 

Saturday Dad went in to work a few extra hours in preparation for our upcoming vacation and Ryan went to hang out at Derek's house. The girls agreed to come with me to do a little service at the house of someone in our ward who is moving. They helped clean the cupboards, and when they couldn't reach, they got creative. 

Rachel riding Megan's hoverboard the WRONG way:  😂