Summer Catch-Up

So many days have passed since my last post!  Summer has just flown by.  Bella has been working nearly 40 hours/week trying to make money for college.  Christian has been working on marching band and attending daily cross country practice and gym lifting sessions.  Peter and I have been having a blast doing crafts, visiting library summer programs, and playing in the backyard pool.  We have had a great summer so far.

We've visited Sky Zone and

Greenfield Village:

Peter and Kelly have gone on multiple motorcycle rides just for fun.

He took him up to the temple on one of the rides.

I took Peter to Cleveland to the science museum.  We had a blast down there.  

Although the highlight was the escalator, more than any actual exhibit.  We ran up and down that thing for a solid 20 minutes.  At first I let him do it alone but then I thought, that looks like a lot of fun and I'm just bored here at the top, so I joined him.  He grinned from ear to ear when he saw me coming to join him.  He was right - it was a lot of fun.

The other highlight was the build your own thing with all the wooden pieces.  Peter's favorite creation was his funny guy.  I think it's interesting he chose to build people rather than cars or machines.

Our real reason for visiting Cleveland wasn't the museum, but actually the temple open house.  Peter had been asking to see the inside of a temple, so I took him down there to see one.  He really liked it.  He especially loved the celestial room.  We were all alone in there and after a while I asked him if he wanted to move  on to another room.  "No, I want to stay longer," he said in a quiet whisper.  He said he loved the way he felt in there.  It was really special to share that with him.  This is my effort to "take a picture like I'm holding the top of the temple."  Mom stinks at camera tricks like this.  Dad is much better.

We also visited the science museum in Ann Arbor.  This place is so much more fun each time we go as he gets older and more able to do things on his own and understand things better.  It's awesome.  I am continually amazed as he grows and learns so fast.

The nation wide library summer reading theme this year has to do with dinosaurs so this was the display at one of the libraries we visited.  Peter always wants to take pictures at things like this.  I never ask, he just always runs to them, sticks his head in and begs for a picture.  As you have seen in previous pictures in this post.  He finds them everywhere.

The 4th of July was wonderful.  The 100 degree weather abated for a bit and we were able to attend a church breakfast and then the whole stake went to the Plymouth Parade together.  Afterwards we played at home, had a BBQ, fireworks, and played a completely spontaneously invented baseball game with poppers and a dustpan.  So simple but so fun.  

The first thing this summer was Pioneer Trek.  Kelly and I were in charge (among a few others) of the trek for all the youth of the stake.  It was a time-consuming and overwhelming responsibility, especially for Kelly who took on the brunt of it, but it turned out amazing.  We had about 60 youth for 3 days and it was a blast recreating the handcart trek of the pioneers and playing games and getting to know each other.  Christian and Bella were in different groups and I tried to get some pics of both, but mostly got pics of Christian.  I know we all learned a lot and definitely grew our testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel and an appreciation for all that the pioneers went through so we could have what we have today.

Practicing making whistles out of acorn tops and grass blades.

Christian got to rest in the handcart after having pulled it most of the morning.

We had to take the carts through the river at one point.  I almost went under as I encountered a deep section.  It felt pretty good on that hot day, though.

There were also group building activities - like these group walking sticks Kelly built.  They had to coordinate movements and race across a field against other groups.  It was so fun to watch. 

This was Bella's group.  It's a photo I was texted, so the quality is very poor.  Bella was the only one on trek who refused to wear pioneer clothes.  She felt no guilt or embarrassment that she was the only one and that was not a battle I was going to fight.  It all worked out.  Honestly, I wish I could have just worn normal clothes too, but I got used to it.

Miscellaneous extras:

Peter insisted I buy this aloe vera leaf.  He saw it in the store and had no idea what it did but wanted to wear it like a spear growing from his hand.  So he did that for a few days and then we cut it open and used it.  I thought it was very creative and he had a blast.

This was at the playground.  He had to have a picture with it.

He found this box in the garage and wanted to make a robot.  He drew a face on the front, attached rulers like arms, screwed some wheels he found in the garage to the bottom and attached led lights and a catapult to the top (not pictured) and he had a robot with which he played for days.  He has so many cute ideas.

My buddy Gabe turned one this month.  His mom invited me and Peter to come to the party.  I watch him regularly when she has to work and I adore him.  We get along amazingly well and when I'm alone with him, people always assume he's mine.  I don't correct them.  The girl taking the picture did it while squatting which makes this photo unbelievably unflattering for everyone involved, but oh well, it's the only one I got.

Christian told Peter he'd pay him $5 if he could build a Keva Block tower taller than Christian.  He got his $5.

Peter wanted to make a monster mask.  This was his creation.

Bella works all the time but she still finds ways to hang out with friends doing fun stuff.  Here she went to Chic-fil-A on a day when you got free food if you came dressed as a cow.

Peter has to do 2 chores, practice piano, and do pages in his school work book every day during the summer.  Here he's cleaning the microwave.  Everything is so much harder when you're little.  He did a great job, though.