Summer in Review

It is amazing how fast the summer can go, yet how the last little bit seems to take it all out of you! This has been a great summer with lots of activities and pretty much everything we wanted to do, we did!

Next week we go to the Upper Peninsula, aka the UP, as we call it around here. This has been like our final week of summer because we have been shopping for school supplies and clothes so we don't have to do it the very last weekend before school.

I'm just going to post pictures of all the random activities we did this summer, or at least the ones I captured, which is most of them.

One downfall of the summer was that we started the summer with the kids sick with fevers, a few days each. Then, about a week after we got back from the cruise, Victoria got a fever and had it for about 12 days! It was low grade, about a hundred degrees sometimes hitting a hundred and one and I was able to give her ibuprofen and help her feel mostly normal, but it was still a big pain! Around that time Karissa got a bad cough. The two of them have been sniffling and coughing, getting over the viruses they had pretty much the rest of the summer. When Victoria finally got over her second fever, I developed a fever for 3 days. It was also low grade and I didn't have it as long, nor any other symptoms. So annoying! The worst part for me is that ever since my fever, my workouts have not been the same. I feel like I have lead in my legs when I run, and I've had random aches and pains. I'm running a 10 mile race this Saturday. I was training really well before my fever, but now I've accepted the fact that I will just run my 10 miles as slow as a snail so that I can feel okay afterwards.

Now for the pictures!!

He passed the swim test!

Strawberry picking

Detroit River Days

Riverwalk carousel

Domino challenge at the library.

Dinosaur museum

Rain storm

Music in the park.

Roller skating with friends.

At the lake

Some cool birds that came to someone's party at the lake.

My girls taught preschool a few times and Karissa taught an art class.

Scout nights

Science Center

Botanical gardens with friends.

Sports

Magic show, Austin got to help.

Safety night.

Parks

Baking and cooking

Erik's black eye from sports camp.

DIA 

Bowling with friends.

Zap zone

We also listened to the last two books of Harry Potter, for Erik, and he watched the movies with his siblings after he finished the books. We were all really into the books on CD!

Karissa attended an art camp for a week and Victoria started driver's training! She passed the written test today, so phase one is almost done! She just needs to drive with the instructor 6 times, which are all scheduled, and then she'll get her permit! She's going to be driving everywhere we go after that so she can get her 50 hours of practice in. Phew, scary!

Week of Camps

A couple of weeks ago, Victoria and Karissa went to Girl's Camp (Karissa's first year) and Austin had Scout camp. Girl's Camp was short this year for some health/physical reasons. It was Tuesday-Friday morning, part of Tuesday traveling there. Austin's scout camp was Tuesday-Thursday and it was just a day camp, as it usually is.

On Tuesday morning, the first thing Erik said when he woke up was, "Are they gone yet?" meaning, his siblings who were all leaving that morning! He was excited for two days with 6 hours of time with me alone. The third day, I was to chaperone at scout camp, so no alone time then.

I forgot to take pictures of the girls before they left for camp and as we left for the ride back (I drove them and some others home), but they had a great time. They went on a hike, a spirit walk, performed skits, did shooting and archery, crafts, sling shots, played at the creek, and attended spiritual classes. They made new friends and strengthened their relationship with old friends. Girl's Camp is the best!

Luke, hiding in a sleeping pad when the girls returned from Girl's Camp.

I got to take pictures of Austin on his last day of scout camp. I brought Erik along since he'll be 8 soon enough and if the church were to still do scouts, he would be in the troop soon. Also, one other boy couldn't go the last day. So it was Austin and Peter, and Erik and Noah, who's his good friend and just recently turned 8 and was baptized.

The two days Erik and I had to ourselves, we lived up life! The first day we went to Menchies to use a coupon I had for their fro-yo, something he had been talking about for weeks, then met up with his friend at Jungle Java to use up his free pass from his birthday party there last year. After all that play fun, it was time to pick up Austin from camp.

The second day, Erik and I went to open swim at the Summit. We played together, practiced swimming, and I got to do a swim workout while he went down the water slide and went around the lazy river. After that, we went to Applebee's to redeem his free kids meal he got for the reading program at the library. He was my only kid who got one, ironically, since he doesn't eat most of that food. He was in the younger reading group and so got different prizes. He actually was very excited to go. He ordered chicken strips with french fries and lemonade. He at one of the strips, most of the fries (which were surprisingly good and had some skin on them), and all of the lemonade, of course. We talked about what he would try, maybe sometime, from the menu. He said broccoli, strawberries, and mac and cheese, in that order. After lunch, it was off to Zap Zone to use our coupons for free glo golf. Then we went to pick up Austin, all tuckered out from fun!

The day at scout camp was great! No one questioned why Erik wasn't there the first day. He fit right in! They played games, made crafts, did archery and bee bee guns, learned about the Coast Guard, and did some science experiments.

Coloring the menu at Applebees.

Glo Golf

The First day of Scout Camp. Austin, Owen, Peter, and Noah

Austin in the relay race on the last day.

Erik in the relay race.

Beach volleyball

Friend Train!

Painting treasure chests.

Archery

 

Since it was Erik's first day and first time, it took him a little longer, but he did very well!

Same with shooting. I think he did better here than with archery.

They made glitter bottles for the science experiments.

 It was fun to have a week of camp. I just wish they were longer!

Summer of Service

This summer I've tried to involve my kids more in service and working on accomplishing goals. For Victoria and Karissa, they've been working hard on Personal Progress for Young Women and for Austin, he's been working on earning his Webelos badges. With the upcoming changes in the church in Scouts and the Personal Progress Program, we're hoping to have completed these by December, though it will be tricky for Karissa, since she's only had this year since she's been 12.

Victoria planted the garden this year for one of her projects. She loves the green beans!

Karissa's been on fire. She's really enjoyed cooking with me for a couple of her goals. She does a great job making dinner and her cookies are fabulous! She and I went to the temple to perform baptisms for some family names that my Aunt Karen sent us to do. Victoria ended up being sick that day, so it was a date with Karissa.

Baking cookies

Peeling carrots

One of her best dinners: chicken, roasted potatoes, and veggies.

It worked out well that Karissa and I went to the temple because the next week, Victoria and I went to the Church Home Storage Center to stock shelves and pack bags of oranges for a couple of hours, while Karissa babysat the boys. It nice to be able to work together in service.

Goofing around on the cart when we were done!

Jason and I have been working with Austin in earning badges toward his Webelo. The main one being his Stronger, Faster, Higher, which was mostly just an exercise program- great during the summer! Both Austin and Erik played with 2 year old Jacob, who's the son of my friend Becky, who I minister to, while she and I had a nice visit at our house. They did such a good job keeping Jacob occupied, that I could see that they will be awesome babysitters one day!

The best service of all, however, was serving Dianne Smith. She was in a nursing home for cellucitis 
in her legs, which I don't really known how long she had it for when we started visiting her, but by the time we started to visit her, she had been in a bed for so long that she had lost all muscle control and couldn't even get out of bed. She had other complications as well. Encouraged by our Bishop to pay her a visit to lift her spirits and give her some exercise, I brought Jason and the kids as well. Karissa brought her a card that brought her to tears and that was the beginning of a strong friendship. Each time we went, my kids brought cards, pictures, origami, and rocks they wanted to show her. They shared stories with her, and she with them, and held her hand bands while she strengthened her arms with some exercises. Jason gave her a blessing one time after she had to go to the hospital when she started having some problems with her kidneys and blood pressure. For her birthday, Karissa and I played a violin/viola duet, Victoria danced, Austin made her a bunch of origami, and Erik showed her a Lego set he enjoyed playing with. We brought cards and a clay cake that Karissa had made. She was such a fun person to visit and expressed her love for us each time we went. She told others who visited her how much she loved my kids and their visits. Dianne was an extrovert and was an adventurer, just like my kids.

Origami hat that Austin made her one time.

She really wanted me to post pictures of her on FB.

Her birthday origami.

Holding her "birthday cake".

I'm so glad we got to serve her, for 10 days after her birthday, she passed away very quickly. We were supposed to visit her the day before she died, but since I had a fever the day before and my girls had bad coughs, we didn't want to bring our germs to the hospital where she was. Well, it turns out that she was not good at all that day, and went down fast. Monday morning, her spirit left her body.

Tomorrow is her funeral and we will attend that and then the party held in her honor. They're calling it a Celebration of her life. The celebration will be at the beach at a lake with a taco bar. She always wanted a party there and that was her favorite beach.

I'll always be grateful for the happiness we felt while serving Dianne Smith. It's an experience that none of us will ever forget!