The Rest of Summer 2017

I thought after all the reunions and church-related camps that I would have that Summer Feeling - lazy, doing what we felt like doing. It never happened. We did some cool stuff, though. Let's start with Bridget.

We had to push a birthday party for Bridget to almost the middle of July! We got it done, though - an afternoon at the outdoor pool with five of her favorite people. I didn't bring a camera. Rude. Then pizza at Pizza Pie Cafe.

 These three (Bridget, Kodi, and Clara) spent a lot of time on the diving boards.

I found a cute picture of my nephew Brennan on my Instagram account and it reminded me that we watched Macey and Brennan overnight in July. I have forgotten EVERYTHING about babies. Almost everything. They were fun and Bridget was the best helper ever, so that made it easy.

 Sweetie Pie Brennan

Sami and Bridget before getting on the bus to Clear Creek.

Months ago I spent an hour on the computer and on the phone with Bridget's friend Sami's Mom, Alicia, trying to get the two of them registered for the same week at Clear Creek Camp. It was very dramatic. The two of us refreshed the page, submitting our information over and over again only to get denied at different points in the process. BAH. Each time we refreshed the page to try again, we could see how many spots were left in the weeks we were hoping to get. We finally chose the week of July 24th since they seemed not to be going as fast. Bridget and Sami were in the Pot Gut Hut at Clear Creek Camp! For MONTHS Bridget talked about Clear Creek. Sometimes she would start in the middle of the conversation in her head that Brian and I couldn't hear. I started assuming she was talking about Clear Creek when that happened. She and Sami did jobs for me and some of the neighbors to earn money for Clear Creek. Two weeks before the camp, Alicia spent EIGHT HOURS braiding Bridget's hair to look like Sami's. Getting ready for Clear Creek was not a joke.

Bridget putting the finishing touches on her critter can.

Let's get real, though, Clear Creek is a five-day camp near Scofield and Bridget has never been great at sleeping in her own bed, nevermind a bed miles away from her parents. The kids stay in cabins and do crafts and activities and go on field trips. They have no contact with their parents and the only word I got was an email from the camp director every night of the camp with a bunch of pictures. I had to find my baby in those photos and let my imagination go crazy, which it did. In the first email I had a hard time finding Bridget in the 30 or so pictures. When I did she was wearing a sweatshirt that doesn't belong to her and it was raining. "Why isn't she wearing the rain jacket she brought?" I wondered. (When I picked her up on Friday the first thing she told me was that she puked all over her jacket after getting off the bus the first day. Oh! That explains it! It's just the worst thing that could happen, nothing to worry about there.)

Bridget fresh off the bus from Clear Creek. Her brothers care.

 

On the last night of the camp I couldn't find Bridget in ANY of the photos from their field trip to a ghost mining town. I totally panicked. Bridget explained to me later that she was "crying so much" that she made sure she wasn't in any pictures so I wouldn't worry. Mission not accomplished. Even with those terrible reports, Bridget LOVED Clear Creek. She chose to focus on all the good stuff - the friends, the sparkly traps, the amazing crafts, the donuts, the awesome camp counselors who could do back flips. She even said she wants to go back and be a counselor herself. That's kind of an awesome idea - she can tell the kids who struggle, "I puked on the first day and I still loved it!"

I signed Emil and Colin up for a week-long soccer camp during the same week Bridget was at Clear Creek. It was sponsored by the Real Salt Lake soccer team. They spent the last 10 minutes every day learning the fight song.

Emil getting his shoe signed on the last day of camp.

Emil's new smile. 

We got through August by going to the outdoor pool a lot and the kids came with me on some of my newspaper assignments. School started on a Tuesday and on Monday was the Total Solar Eclipse. I had decided we could just enjoy our 85% or whatever view and that would be fine. I couldn't get my hands on any glasses, so that was lame. My Mom texted me on Saturday, "You should come." So I did! It was just me and the kids - Brian had started his new job just the week before, so he had zero time off. After church on Sunday, we packed up and headed to Pocatello, Idaho. My Dad's cousin Holly was there with her family, but they were heading to Rexburg on Monday morning so they would be in the totality zone for the eclipse. Holly, her husband and their kids ALMOST made me decide to go to Rexburg and really see the coolest part of the eclipse. The first day of school was the very next day! What if we got stuck in traffic coming home?! (And we would have - it took them almost 7 hours to get from Rexburg to Pocatello after the eclipse.) We made do with our 99% view and eclipse cookies and American Girl Dolls wearing sunglasses. :)

My Mom is the Cookie Grandma and she does not mess around!

Grandma Peggy hooked us up with eclipse glasses. She and Bridget were getting the dolls ready right up until the last minute.

We put jars of water out on the porch during the eclipse to create some magical water. I think it was black magic, though, and I gave mine to the tomatoes when we got home. 

We walked to the playground up the road from my parents' house. This is close to 99% of the eclipse - it was almost noon, but it was eerily dark and our shadows were very stark.

Weird light. 

It was only a moment at 99%, then the moon was on the other side of the sun. When Colin found out that was all we were getting he threw his eclipse glasses to the ground and stomped off. Hahahaha! Grandpa Bob applied the classic quote to that exit, "Fine eclipse this turned out to be!"

We hurried home before the eclipse was totally over and we beat the Idaho Falls/Rexburg crowd. It took us the normal amount of time to get home. I'm so glad we did it! It was weird and wonderful.

The very next day was the first day of school! Bridget started sixth grade and the boys started first grade. They're so big!

 Cutest outfit ever! After we took the braids out her hair was so thick and healthy.

Pencil earrings.

Emil is wearing a shirt that says Don't Trust Atoms, and on the back, They Make Up Everything.

Cute Colin. He is a reading machine! He was READY for first grade to start.

First day of school porch shot.

Posing with Clara and Millie at the bus stop.

Colin is very faithful with goodbye kisses.

Every truck that went by was honking at the kids and I thought it was so cute that they were wishing them luck on their first day. No, just the brothers doing the "honk your horn" gesture.

There they go. 

I miss them, but the time away from each other has been good, I think. Bridget, Emil and Colin all love school. I haven't figured out how to maximize my time yet. I'll get it!

Goodbye, School! Helllooooo, Nurse.

So we all agree that May is worse than December when it comes to kids and programs, right? We had all kinds of stuff every night and all day on Saturdays. It was hard to keep it together sometimes.

I had a piano recital on Saturday, May 13. I had scheduled the library in American Fork, as usual, for a May recital. They called me on the Monday before and said the pedals on the piano had been broken when someone knocked it over (!) and I may want to reconsider having my recital there since they wouldn't be able to fix it in time. I decided I didn't need the pedals that much and to go ahead. On Wednesday the same woman called and told me some of the keys were broken too and I couldn't have my recital there. BAH. I called a few other places (and they laughed at me) before resorting to the Primary room at our church. My students' parents were very understanding about the whole thing. Brian wasn't going to be able to come because of a Scout training meeting he was teaching, but another piano Dad helped him leave a little early to catch his kids' performances. Bridget played the Barber of Seville Overture like a pro. She's done enough of these recitals that she can play through her nerves - and she knows how much she needs to practice to be able to do that. Kodi couldn't make it to the recital, so I filled in for her on the Chopsticks duet with Bridget. I love playing duets with Bridget! Emil and Colin made their debut at my May recital. Colin bobbed his head to keep time and he did very well. Emil didn't make any mistakes and kept perfect time. I've had enough students to know that being able to keep time is a big deal. :)

Emil and Colin played soccer in April and May on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The two games that Bridget and I missed, Colin made lots of goals and their team won. Emil was great on defense, but would overthink kicking the ball. He'd take too many steps and then end up kicking it with his left foot. They were on a team with Micah, which was very fun for them.

I've signed the boys up for a soccer camp later this summer so they can learn some skills. They need more skills, y'all.

Bridget was in the big Hope of America concert at the Marriott Center with all the other fifth graders in the world. Ha! Just Utah County. I covered it for the paper and interviewed the lady, Kathy McDonald, who started this big concert in 1996 (the centennial of Utah becoming a state). She had so much energy! Bridget loved being part of something so big and patriotic.

This is a terrible picture - I should have brought my telephoto lens. Five rows from the bottom of this shot Bridget and Sami are playing a hand-clapping game. They're in white and Sami has a braid down the back of her head.

This was our view. Emil said to Brian, "If they had stars in the blue they would look like a flag." AHAHAHAHAHA! Brian and I laughed and laughed at that. So close. :) The concert was long and the traffic was really bad, but it was inspiring. I love that there are people out there willing to go to so much trouble to help kids have a meaningful experience.

Emil and Colin got to come with me for a lot of cool newspaper stories during May. The coolest was Fire Ops 101. Emil put on all his firefighter gear (Halloween 2015) and the firefighters could not get enough of him. Colin wore a crazy get-up and a bad attitude. They are contractually obligated to not be happy at the same time.

We got to watch them set a car on fire so the civilian volunteers could put it out.

Emil's holding the jaws of life!

He also got to hold that ax and the hose. Like I said, the firefighters couldn't get enough of him.

Bridget had her big state report due in May. She worked on it all the time, researching all the cool stuff in Ohio. We brainstormed together quite a bit, but she did all the work herself. I was so proud of her! She had it done plenty early and when we saw the other tri-folds at the "state fair" at school, I was even more proud. 

Colin and Emil had their Kindergarten Showcase during the last week of school. They were on opposite ends of the stage and I fell into the trap (again) of trying to take pictures when I should have just sat down and enjoyed the moment. They were so cute singing and dancing with their classmates. Colin was standing by his friend Nash and I didn't know it, but I was standing next to Nash's Mom in the audience. They were pointing at us and smiling and talking to each other and I didn't know why until later. How adorable is that! "Look! Our Moms are standing by each other and so are we!!" Awesome.

I'm going to miss this version of Colin and Emil so much. I loved watching them get on the bus every day with their backpacks on. Both boys gave me a kiss as they got out of the van and then Colin would come running back for another hug and kiss as the bus came around the corner to their stop. Can you even stand it?! They are my sweethearts.

Then! It was finally time for the Dance Festival. If you read this blog, you know of my love/hate relationship with the Dance Festival. The principal talks too much, Bridget is always as far away from where we sit as she can possibly be, the boys are usually bonkers. On the other hand, I always start crying for joy and pride when I see the kids dancing together. Why? It's not like they are the best dancers I've ever seen. Maybe knowing they have no inhibitions and that it won't last? I don't know. This year, the boys could be bonkers sitting with the other kindergartners, so I thought we were home free. Then I was asked to do a story about the dance festival for the paper, so I had to take pictures of everything. And I could feel the part in my hair getting sunburned. Still love/hate, I guess.

Bridget's class sang one of their Hope of America songs and I got a sneak peek at where she'd be for the dance. Back row on the left, naturally. Standing next to what looked like grown women. For the love of all that is holy!!!

Bridget is the shortest person in her class. By a lot. She says she was absent (at Bring Your Child to Work Day) the day they were assigned their spot. Really? We can't put her next to someone who isn't a head taller? They danced to Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling" and every time it comes on the radio in the car the boys yell, "Bridget's song!" :)

The kindergarten kids always go last because they are the most anticipated dance. This year they did "Friends are Family" from the Lego Batman movie. Their teachers had them wear black garbage bag capes with the bat signal on the back. So cute! And so very very hot.

Oh my goodness. My favorite part is watching the kids RUN onto the field to take their places. Can you see the girls on the left who fell down and kinda got trampled by their classmates who DID NOT care what their deal was, they were getting to their spot. Colin, as always, looks like a character in a 1960s book. Hahahahahaha!

Signature move, pretending to make a call on a cell phone.

Colton is not a real super hero, so that cape got in his way several times. No capes! (I was sitting RIGHT in front and Colin was on the front row. He's in the 1.88% for kids his age. Sigh.)

Emil can really dance. Look at those fingers!

He could do that dance for you right now, that's how well he learned it. :)

Running in place, the other signature move.

I'm getting stressed out just thinking about the last two weeks of May. It was nice to check things off the list as they happened. Bridget did the rec league track this year with her bff, Sami. They went to practices twice a week and they had a meet once a week. The meets lasted for three hours. (Note to self: three hours.) Bridget ran the 4 x 100 with Sami and two other girls their age, the 100m and the javelin. That's a total of four minutes of action in a three hour meet. Where are my emojis? I need that one eye roll face...

For the first couple of meets they let Sami's little sister, and Emil's dream girl, Lizzy run in the 4 x 100 with them. Pretty adorable. Maybe not three hours of sitting on a bench and freaking out because I can't see Emil or Colin adorable, but adorable.

Toward the end of May the boys started playing T-ball. Brian had sworn off coaching T-ball FOREVER, but the moms of the other kindergarten kids in the ward convinced us that it would be awesome to have all the friends on the same team and Brian could coach them.

Front row: Micah, Colin, Lydia  Back row: Pierce, Weston, Gavin, Emil, Jett, Hazel, and Coach Dad

I love knowing all the kids' names so I can cheer for them. They can get a little crazy waiting to bat, but they all work together and encourage each other. It's sweet. Also, Emil figured out how to hit home runs off the T the last few weeks and he's pretty proud of himself.

This is as close to all of them looking and smiling as I got. (I took the team photo.) We're missing Henry and there is one other little girl who didn't sign up for the team. We have eleven kindergartners in our ward! 

Brian coaching, herding, whatever you want to call it.

Who can't find their hats? Hmmm.

After field day (the second to the last day of school) we whisked the kids away on a little adventure, but I'm going to do a separate post about Capitol Reef. That little End of School Getaway is more for Brian and me than the kids, I discovered. Sometimes you just have to get the heck out of Dodge! So long, May!