Summer Outings

When Tyson arrived we sat down as a family and made a long list of all the things we'd like to do together throughout the summer. We had a pretty tight budget to consider so we took advantage of our awesome location for fun affordable entertainment. It was a good budgeting lesson for the kiddos.
With a little research we found some new cool local attractions. And of coarse the kids wanted to hit a few old favorites...

The St. Louis Science Center: Free, close, and always a few new exhibits.

A class in street safety. Do you know what to do when vicious barking dogs approach you? I didn't. You drop down and cover your head. The girls always talk about this cause they are terrified of dogs. We obviously need to dog sit for someone.

Which structure is more stable during an earthquake?

At the St Louis Zoo there was a new Stingray and shark exhibit that the kids loved. Tyson touched a few sharks and fed the stingrays. Heath is not a big fan of fish in general, but braved feeding the stingrays. Unfortunately, he missed the how-to spill and instead of sucking up the minnow it sucked in Heath's thumb. Freaked him out and he was done with that experience.

The girls were fascinated but content to look.

Another favorite spot at the Zoo

So fun until it was time to go without seeing the Elephants. We never attempt to see everything.

Warm summer days

Let's not sugar coat this, it was hot. Luckily water dampens heat and the kids still loved going outside.

Elli's Happy Birthday!

Elliana turned 3 in June. We have some dear friends with a daughter who turned 2 around the same time. They're buds and we threw them a joint birthday party at the park. It was so fun and very relaxed. No gifts, just some yummy food and lots of friends and fun. One of our friends brought a huge water balloon launcher and some other toys. He even learned to make balloon animals for the event. Anyway, the party was a big hit. And like always I forgot to take any pictures or even bring my camera. Friend Megan got a shot of the cupcakes I made. I didn't have a cupcake stand, so I took a trip to the dollar store and viola! Tutorials for this all over the web.



We also held a small family party for the birthday girl. Tyson and Grandma Nese arrived just in time. We also invited our friends the Critchlow crew. These kids were pretty much inseparable this past year and we sooo miss their family. They moved a week or two later. This is also the only proof I have that Grandma Nese came for a visit. Any time family comes I forget to take pictures in all our excitement. Elliana had a terrific birthday! And I can't believe our little baby has been 3 since June. Way too fast.

The gap

So, I don't know if anyone who follows this little blog noticed a bit of lapse in time. I am very aware as this blog serves as our family memory book. I definitely can't leave these months out. Tyson was here, birthdays missed, events and reunions left out. So here we go... (and by the way this is the very reason for such a long blog break. It was a wonderful busy time, but I dread backtracking especially this much.) Has this year flown by faster than any other for you? Crazy fast I think.
Back to summer... actually before summer, before Tyson's arrival, we worked on some projects for his room. Storage is a huge problem in our house, especially his room, tiny and with no closet. Heath made a cubby.

The girls always beg to help on projects. They were so happy to dust off the boards we had sanded down. A few little neighbor friends asked to to join our child labor team. And all to happy to be paid in lemonade and cookies.

Some personalized nail art for Tyson's room.

I love the concept, but it needs a different finish. Chunkier or more rustic? I don't know, we let it go for now or back then. Tyson loved it anyway.

The cubby turned out great. This fish was a planter given to us by Heath's co-worker. We spray painted it silver and Tyson thinks it is one of the coolest things in his room. He's a bit of a fish enthusiast and uses it for a piggy bank.

There is still so much on the to do list for his room. Window treatment, refinish his desk and bed, age his storage pails. And I'd love to reupholster the ottoman for his reading nook. Again, like with the girls room who knows what will get done when. Oh well, improvements have been made and Tyson approves.

Collections

Our daughters are little collectors. And like most kids, especially during the warmer months, much of their collecting is done outside. Flowers and leaves and sticks. The rocks border on obsession. Fortunately, they shy away from things that move. A sweet sister in our church helped them make little jewelry boxes to keep their outdoor collections at bay. Works like a charm, usually.

Introspection and the personal

So I spent a few quiet moments in introspection today, always good, usually involving some guilt, a little pain, but then the exciting anticipation of change. I always think I should be doing much more of that.
Anyway, I read a bit in this book, written by and for The Relief Society, an organization for women in my Church. I haven't read very much and I already feel so inspired to be better. This particular quote started the self-evaluating.

Belle S. Spafford, the 9th Relief Society general president, said: "The average woman today, I believe, would do well to appraise her interests, evaluate the activities in which she is engaged, and then take steps to simplify her life, putting things of first importance first, placing emphasis where the rewards will be the greatest and most enduring, ridding herself of the less rewarding activities."
Good stuff eh? Nothing really new and earth shattering. In fact I've heard it worded different ways at least a hundred times. Prioritize and simplify. But it was very well put and I needed to hear it again. It got me thinking.

Its not like I go around doing terrible harmful things. In fact I might characterize my activities as mostly all good, but I often wonder if the good pushes out the best or most important.
I already know I won't be cutting many of those non-essential things completely out. They make me happy. I don't think its all bad to leisurely flip through a magazine, spend a few hours creating things just because they're pretty and not necessarily useful, or sometimes just veg and watch an exciting episode of Leverage.

But at this point in my life I spend all day with our girlies, and I really should take more advantage of that, to teach them openly and maybe a little more discreetly. Everyone can work on being a better example.

I am, always have been, a bit of a procrastinator. And I don't want to pass that on to my kids. So yes, I could plan ahead. I can go to bed earlier and be a little more effective and charming in the early morning hours ;). I can dedicate 20 or 30 minutes a day for some personal scripture study and personal prayer. That has just not been happening for me. Its hit and miss, and I know its important.

These are things I want to instill in my children. I want them to see what is so important to me that they wouldn't doubt where my priorities lie. To create a happy home. That I love and respect their Daddy. That I truly believe what I preach, that Heavenly Father has a plan, that prayer works, repentance is utilized, and we all have potential to do and to be great.

I hope to raise some happy, well-adjusted optimists. And I never want them to doubt in any given moment, just how loved and important each of them is in our family.
So sometimes its a little disheartening to realize how much i have to work on, but its always exciting to implement plans for improvement. After all, I'm not striving for the impossible.

Celebrating America!

We love the 4th of July. We love America and we love that we get to celebrate its independence in the middle of summer. Hooray for a warm, fun-filled holiday. We so wanted to be surrounded by our huge family all celebrating together. Such fun images I conjure up. Alas, those dreams will have to wait...
And while I often look for any excuse to throw a party this year we decided to just relax and spend the weekend celebrating and having fun with our little ones. A nice 'go with the flow' weekend. It was wonderful!

I was caught up in a picture taking mood, which I never regret. So please excuse me as I go into picture overdrive. They'll be nice to have documented in our little blog book.

Saturday night we drove out to Carlyle lake for their firework display. It was supposed to be really hot which scared away the crowds. Lucky us. It ended up being so nice. I really think we got the best seats around.
We brought frisbees, horseshoes and other games to play while we waited for it to get dark. The kids mostly played at the lake's park and down by the water instead. And even though Heath and I agreed the fireworks were the least impressive we've seen, they were beautiful out across the water.

We spent the 4th eating yummy food, playing games, and having water fights. At night we did the traditional sparklers and snaps.

This year we set up an obstacle course in our backyard. We had a blast. There were six challenges and here's how it went down...

Happy 4th of July!