Since school got out

We started out summer vacation with a BBQ and campout in the back yard.

 Early the next morning I took the kids to pick peaches down at Schepf Farms.

 Because we got there early, the weather was nice and cool and there weren't very many people there yet.  It was perfect!

 I've been trying to figure out different ways to do Camille's hair lately.  I tried these sponge curlers on her.  She sure looks cute with them on her head!

 Sadly, the curls turned out kind of crazy.  I didn't get a picture of that though.  She'd had it, so I sprayed her hair with water and combed out the crazy mess.  We'll try putting them just at the bottom some other time....maybe.

These low pony tails have been a hit with her lately.  I think they're so cute on her!

Keith and I painted the walls all around our backyard.  That was a lot of work!  We moved all the rock away from the walls, then sprayed the walls off, then Keith brushed the paint into the lines, and I followed with a roller.  A paint sprayer would have been WAY faster!  But we had fun chatting while we worked and the kids roamed free in the back yard for a couple days.  Even though we barely had enough energy to finish, it was worth it.  It looks soooooo much better and it's fun to have had that time together.  We slept so good that night that we finished!

 Camille has been in love with these puppets lately.

 The boys built robots.

Any time I get an empty box I just hand it over to them and tell them to make something.

They love it.  They now have a little collection of boxes that they're saving to make something awesome with.  :)

 Sometime during the last week of school Grant lost another tooth!  That's 6 teeth since the beginning of Kindergarten!  Wow!  He stuffed his cheeks full of grapes and smiled big for this shot.

I just love his cute, round, animated face!

 Here's Brett with grapes in his cheeks.  This is typical Brett.  He thinks it's cool to be grumpy.

I hope he gets past this soon because it really isn't cool!!!

 But I can always make him smile by saying, "Don't smile, Brett!"

 We're having our roof redone.  All week long I've been hearing "bang, bang, bang!!!!!" on my roof.  I've kind of gotten used to it.  We knew when we bought the house that we'd need to do this, and so now we are.  At least we won't have to worry about it for another 30 years or so (knock on wood!).

 This is what it looked like last night.  I thought it was really neat how they piled up the tiles so nicely across the roof.  I sure love seeing those tidy piles.  :)

In the midst of all the hoopla going on this past week, Brett has been sick.  His visit to the doctor was so sad!  He gagged when they checked his throat and almost threw up.  He was such a sad boy that day.  Luckily he's doing so much better now that he's on his antibiotic.  Now Camille has had a fever for the past 3 days.  I don't know what's up with her, but hopefully her body can fight off the germ and be feeling better so we can go do some fun things next week! 

Last Day of School

I picked up this cute boy from his last day of school today.

He was sad to say goodbye to his great teacher.  He has really enjoyed the routine of her class.

We picked up some In N Out Burger and went to visit Keith at his office.

Yesterday all of the Kindergarteners got to walk out on a red carpet and get sprinkled with 1st Grade dust (gold glitter).  It was cute.

Grant has learned so much this past school year.  He started out with spelling his name backwards sometimes, and now he's writing stories and sounding out words and reading and writing really well.  It's amazing! 

He loves math!  He says it's his favorite subject because "it's hard and I'm good at it!"  It will be fun to see how much he'll learn next year.  Until then we are going to soak up this summer vacation! 

Quick trip to Utah

We made a quick trip to Utah last week for the funeral for Keith's grandma.

The kids did awesome in the car.  We stopped at the dam in Page to run around on the grass and climb the big tree.

 The next morning we went on a beautiful hike with some of Keith's siblings and their families.

 So glad we could borrow this pack for Camille!

 There was a pretty reservoir at the top.  We spent time there eating lunch and playing on the rocks.

 Ha!

 The kids had fun throwing rocks in the lake and then tried to find the biggest rocks they could lift to through in.

 I love how excited Grant was when he launched that big rock in.

 After the hike we drove up the canyon a little bit.  It started to rain a little and it was really pretty out.  We tried to get a picture of the kids, but somebody wouldn't cooperate!  :)

 The next day was the funeral.  It rained all day long.

The funeral was really nice, with family participating in the whole thing.

 We took a little detour to check out this awesome neighborhood down the street from the church building where the funeral was held.  Look at those trees!  You just don't see this kind of stuff in AZ.

 We had a luncheon at the church building.  We took a bunch of family pics.  Here's one of Keith's grandpa with a bunch of his great grandchildren.

 We all got together at Keith's cousin's house that night and ate pizza and played.  It was sure a fun time in their beautiful home.

We headed home the next day (Mother's Day).  The kids were almost as well behaved as they were on the way up.  We ran on the grass at the dam again.  We were so happy to crawl into our own beds that night.

Right now

Right now all three kids are playing in the tepee out back.

Camille feels so big playing out there with the boys.  She usually does pretty good.  Until she eats sand or garden dirt.  Bleh!

One of our neighbors is barbecuing and it smells like heaven outside!

I'm getting dinner started.  Tonight will be BLT's and Butternut squash soup.

Camille had a doctor's appointment this morning and fell asleep on the way back home.

Brett and I ate lunch and then both took a nap.

We all slept until just before Grant got dropped off after school!  Wow, it felt great!

From the kitchen

Every now and then I get creative with Grant's lunch and do something a little crazy like cut his sandwich into a Christmas tree or a heart.  This week I felt that a star would be appropriate.  And the candy eyes that I've had in my cabinet sitting next to my sprinkles needed to be used.  I think they look perfect!  And, of course, Grant thought it was awesome.

Today I decided to try one of my recipes that's been waiting in my Pinterest file.  Pink Lemonade Macarons.  I've never even tasted a macaron before!  They were a lot of work, probably because I was so unfamiliar with them.  They were a lot sweeter and less cookie-like than I expected.  My family loved them.  Not sure if I'll make them again, but they were fun to try.  I might stick to star shaped sandwiches for a while.  :)

This Week

This week started out great with a trip to the pool with cousins on Monday.

Then we struggled to get to Grant's baseball game (Mr. 3 year old was not a happy boy).  Luckily Keith is the coach and takes Grant to the games early.  As soon as I finally arrived with the two little kids, Camille threw up all over herself and her car seat!  What?!

She continued throwing up for the next 3 days.

And I came down with a cold myself which left me with aches and a terrible headache.

So we've been watching a lot of Mighty Machines here this week and sitting around reading books while trying to fit it enough chores so that the house isn't a complete wreck when daddy comes home.

Speaking of that fine man of mine, he really has been a great help this week.  He has cleaned the kitchen and gotten the boys to pick up the house before bedtime!  What a keeper!

Also, Keith's grandma passed away this week.

She will be missed for her wit, cheek kisses, and mad skills at card games.

It is sad to see her go, but we are so glad that she can be a whole lot more comfortable now.

She lived a good, full life.