June Fun 2019

June was probably the craziest month we have had in a while! We started the month out with me going to Sacramento the last week of school for Clara (for some reason not being there on her last day made me really sad), followed by being home one night before heading to New Orleans. We had recitals and VBS when we got back, followed by a trip to the coast. Throw in lots of activities in between and it was enough to make my head spin!

I got to catch up with Sarah while in
Sacramento for work

We celebrated Cam's birthday the night I got home

I was pretty bummed to be out of town for most of the last week of school. It was a fun filled week and I got to help with a couple of activities before I left. I also got lots of pictures sent to me by people who were there. Clara had such a great first year and was definitely sad to say goodbye to kindergarten and Ms. Resendez.

 

Best teacher around!

The graduating seniors came to kindergarten and they
got to give them high fives!

Clara and Olive = friends forever!

Goodbye Room 16

We had the Johnsons, Kauks, and Suemotos over for dinner. It was too cold to swim but they had a blast playing, making up dances, and pretending to be zombies.

Unfortunately the dance recital is always the weekend of Father's Day. This year Clara was in the last show so we couldn't leave for the cabin until it ended. Needless to say we got up there pretty late. The kids fell asleep in the car and went straight to bed. Sunday they were up bright and early! Dada and I went on a run while Fafa made breakfast. We couldn't do our annual Weaver Lake hike because there was too much snow. We went to Tokopah Falls instead. It was a pretty easy 4 mile hike and the kids did great. At the top we had a great view of the falls and saw a ton of marmots! They were not at all afraid of us and kept trying to steal our food! We hiked back down, got some ice cream, and enjoyed a nice dinner before heading back to the heat. It was a nice, relaxing day celebrating our favorite Dada and Fafa!

Super Dada crossing the creek

They fought over who got to wear my
water backpack

Collecting sticks to build a house!

Clarita got a much needed trim and a visit to Bri's Beauty Bar! She always requests to go and loves to see Bri and ride in the car.

Before

Trick driving

After

We went to princess/pirate day at the Grizzlies. Clara dressed up as a princess and Emmett spent a lot of time picking out the perfect pirate outfit. Clara wanted to take pictures with all the princesses and then take her outfit off. Emmett didn't want anything to do with the characters and kept his outfit on a lot longer. They both had fun eating Dippin' Dots and watching the game.

The scariest mermaid I've ever seen

Who doesn't dress their bunnies up as pirates?

 We had a fun play date with the Siegals complete with swimming and a trip to a local pizza parlor.

The kids had lots of fun playing outside since it was a super mild June! While I was out of town, they had dinner in the park, went to Tristan's eighth grade graduation (how is that possible), and even took Baby Hotdog for a ride in the car!

Throw in milkshakes, farmer's markets, and Dada's giant sunflower forest and it was a great month!

We even managed to squeeze in a trip to the zoo with Aba, Tia, and the girls. They had just opened Zoorassic Park, an exhibit with giant dinosaurs that move and roar, and we had to check it out! Elise was terrified of the dinosaurs, and even Emmett was a little scared. There were some baby dinosaurs that they all loved and even I had to admit were pretty cute!

Recitals Summer 2019

Clara started violin in April and I was not expecting to have a recital. Originally, we were going to be out of town for the recital and I was not sad since she hadn't even been taking lessons for two months. Then the recital got changed and her teacher strong armed me into doing the recital. Clara literally got to make her first sound on the violin, had one more week of lessons, and then headed to New Orleans. Not really ideal for a recital. I wasn't at her last lesson prior to leaving so I had no idea what she was supposed to do for the recital and did not prepare her. We got back from New Orleans later than expected, headed home where she took a bath and I put her hair in curlers for her dance dress rehearsal. I had her play her "Mississippi stop stop" a couple times on the A and E strings and we headed to the recital. Of course her hair did not dry so I literally took the curlers out right before she went on stage and put them back in when she finished. Clara had never played the violin accompanied by the piano and I didn't realize that was going to happen so I didn't practice it with her. She was definitely a little confused when her teacher started to play, but figured it out eventually. Her part lasted a whole minute and I didn't even tell anyone about it since we were leaving right after to go to her dress rehearsal. Clarita did a great job and was actually sad to leave the recital as she wanted to watch the older kids.

Literally the only picture I got of her at
the violin recital

We literally headed straight to her dress rehearsal for dance and she did a great job with that one. Clara loves dance so much and it is the one thing I never have to argue with her about. She jumps out of the car and runs into the studio wanting to be the first person in the room. She is able to memorize the dances, and although she rarely practices at home, seems to get the different rhythms and beats (I credit her piano class). 

The recital was extra fun this year because we also got to watch Bailey and we knew quite a few other kids from school. Since I had originally booked our tickets to New Orleans coming home the Saturday of the recital (oops), I requested to be in the last show (I later regretted that) so she didn't go on until 6:45. We had fun watching Bailey's gymnastics/hip hop class earlier in the day and she did a great job. Then the girls came back to our house and played while Emmett napped. It was hilarious listening to their conversations! They literally laid on my bed for at least an hour imagining things. Clara's hair had to go back into curlers during this time because it does not like to be curly.

Clara did great job and her class was cute! Bailey brought her flowers and she was so excited. As much as I dislike dance and the big production that is the recital, I have to admit the recital is cute and fun to watch! I'm sure we have a lot more in our future.

VBS 2019

As always, VBS was great fun! This year I didn't have to lead the singing, but it was my turn to be in charge so that was definitely more work! Couple it with being out of town the week and a half before it started and you get a crazy person! Luckily I had a lot of help and kept everything as basic as possible. The theme was Roar and we learned about God's goodness with the help of safari animal friends. We had such a great time singing, making crafts, eating snacks, and of course learning about God's love for us! Each day there was an animal Bible Buddy who taught the kids a new way God was good. My favorite was, "When life is unfair, God is good!" Clara's favorite thing has been saying everything is unfair so now whenever she says that I remind her that God is good! The most amazing thing about VBS was that the kids and I were able to get there before 8:00 to set up each day! God really is good!

Elise was a trooper

Aarne and Jason are the best!

Aba led the Bible lesson 

Mary, Lottie, and Kay were everyone's favorites since
they supplied the goodies!

Emmett made a new best friend!