The REST of the Summer: Staying Busy

I hate when I forget about things. Like blogging. (poor journal) It's not like when I forget about the dishes, and they smell iffy and there's no clean spoons. Not that annoying, but still a little overwhelming to think about 2 1/2 months not-written-about yet.

Mostly the summer was hot, and we tried to find things to do to keep from being cooped up inside all the time. We tried a park one or two mornings, but by 8:30 it was pretty much too hot. We went to indoor play-places a few times, but my older two are really too tall for most of the mall ones. I still let them play at Fiesta if it's not busy (because it's a huge area) and we tried Chik-Fil-A and IKEA  (both have play areas for taller kids). But they're all a bit of a drive. We tried to swim a few times a week, and hit the Riverview Splash Pad twice, I think. Four kids is really a crowd! It seems like every time I did it, I always vowed not to take all 4 shopping anymore, but I just kept trying it. Errands are definitely more complex in the summer time, and swimming isn't bad, it's the getting ready and getting cleaned up that kills you. I think the kid's most memorable outing was when we went over to our mechanic's for free snow cones (they had hired a truck for the day). We don't do much in the way of sugary treats or extra dyes and junk, so they though they were in heaven, especially when we let them get seconds. :)

I have lots of memories of us trying to find something to do, but looking back through the pictures, we actually stayed pretty busy. One week we celebrated my niece Carlee's birthday (complete with the mega-Jenga-challenge, dressed like cows for our free Chik-Fil-A meals (and for something to do), and ate free pancakes at IHOP for their birthday celebration. And all this happened while Jeremy was in California at a mini-NUCCA training!

Shawn had a big month. He finally started sitting up (with support), started rolling all over the place (he started on that blanket), turned 7 months old, and we did sleep training. SO hard at first (I stayed with him next to the crib while he tried to figure out how to get to sleep not-attached-to-me) but within a day or two he was sleeping in his crib at night and only waking once to nurse. And two weeks later he dropped the night feeding and started sleeping 10-11 hours a night. After 6+ months of co-sleeping, with increasingly less quality sleep for both of us, this was HEAVENLY. Naps are still iffy some days, but both of us are so much better rested, and I was excited to "move back in" with Jeremy to enjoy our new king-size bed. After having our queen for almost 9.5 years, we were ready for an upgrade.

Another thing that kept me busy in July was our stake service project. I was asked by our RS President to organize and direct our ward's portion, and so I helped coordinate the collection of items to make up 3 "Welcome Home" bins for people moving into new housing for the first time. (mostly from being homeless or women's shelters) It was a lot of crazy, but it turned out pretty well.

I turned 32 in July. :-p Sometimes I feel older than that, but usually I can't believe I'm well into my 30's. My "shiny" hairs attest to it though. It was a nice birthday. I got to go shopping by myself the night before and get a few new things, and on my birthday we met with a few friends and family at Jason's Deli for dinner. And of course Jeremy spoiled me by doing a lot of extra cleaning so I didn't have to for a couple days. Love him. :) The day before my birthday I also got to see 3 of my old roommates from BYU days. Mindy was passing through and had a few hours to spare, Angela lives in the area (though we've never managed to get together) and Christina lives in Prescott Valley. It was so fun to see them and visit for a few hours! All the kids were a little crazy, but that's just how life is during this season.

The day after my birthday I headed down to Pima with the kids for one more visit before school started the next week. David & Nicole were there too, and Emily and her boys. It was fun to get to see Logan (her baby) finally and visit with everyone. The kids always have a blast seeing their Grandmas, Grandpas, aunts, uncles, and cousins! I took a LOT of pictures, but here are just a few.

I headed back to Mesa Saturday morning with just Shawn and Reilly. The girls were staying with Grammy overnight, but Reilly's best friend was having a birthday party Saturday afternoon that he didn't want to miss. It was kind of fun - as soon as he went to his party, we went on a date. (Anything that doesn't involve children who have opinions and questions and the voice to express all of that constantly qualifies) to Lucille's. Super tasty, and fun to just spend time together (with Shawn). :)

Busy, busy times, and Jeremy picked up the girls in Globe Sunday morning before (2 o' clock) church so we could get all settled in and ready for school to start that Tuesday!

4th of July

The kids (and I) have been looking forward to this weekend since we were last at the cabin for Labor Day.even though it took 2 full days of packing, it was worth it once I smelled pine trees. So many of my childhood memories and family connections are tied up with the cabin and Columbine, and I'm so grateful that I get to take my kids there too. 

We left Mesa mid-morning on Thursday, and took a little more time than we hoped getting to Pima, as usual. Once we got up my parent's house I managed to get Shawn down for a nap, Jeremy saw a couple patients, and then we headed up to Safford to have dinner with his mom at Casa. There was a ginormous dust stom on our way up! Visibility was really low. That was fun. I haven't ordered a hamburger there I think ever, but it was easier to avoid dairy and corn that way, and it was super tasty. Shawn entertained us all. :)

We were originally going to stay in Pima Thursday night, but by the time we got there Jeremy wasn't up to unloading half our stuff and loading it again, so after dinner we headed up the mountain. It was a beautiful drive, and we got in shortly before the sun went down. 

None of my siblings were able to come up this time, which was kind of sad. At least we had a little more room than usual, which was nice. Shawn and I got the downstairs room to ourselves, and I was relieved to not worry about dropping His Chunkiness up or down those steep stairs. The first night was a little exciting though, since he and I had just gotten settled in and he was asleep next to me when the carbon monoxide detector started beeping. (No electricity up there except the generator, and the gas fridge is in the downstairs bedroom. Jeremy went and got my dad out of bed, and he figured out that the vent pipe had been knocked askew. Once that was fixed everything seemed fine, but I slept with the window open anyway, just in case.

Friday Shawn was up by about 5:15, happy as can be. That often happens at home, but at least there I can usually feed him a bottle and put him in his swing in our darkened room to get him back to sleep for an hour or two. Not so on vacation. But he DID take two fabulous naps that day. :) that morning during his first nap my parents and I took the kids over to climb Soldier Rock. They were excited about that and about riding in the back of the truck. :) Reilly went up the face with my dad, and did pretty well scrambling around, but my mom and I took the two less-agile girls up the back. Katy on top of that tall rock was a nerve-wracking thing. 

We also enjoyed visiting with Seth and Courtney (at our cabin and then at theirs) and an afternoon rainstorm that was on and off for about 3 hours and dropped over 1.25 inches. We were so grateful for that rain! (Especially since it meant we got baths Saturday...) Reilly and Jaina were excited to play with their second cousins, Chloe and Logan, and went back and forth between our cabins several times. I got brave and took a motorcycle ride with Spencer, which was fun. He's a pretty good driver for 16. :)

By Saturday it was busier up there, but for a holiday weekend it was really quiet. The potluck Saturday night and church on Sunday were some of the smallest gatherings I remember. Saturday Shawn was up at 5. When we finally got him down for a nap at 8, I went down for one too, upstairs. We both slept until after 10, and it was wonderful. While I was asleep Reilly left with Grandpa to home to Webb Peak. That is one of his favorite things to do at the cabin. We also took all the kids to climb another rock, and they really liked it. Shawn even got to climb a little. I don't know what we would have done without Jeremy wearing him in the Moby a lot all weekend. The kid is heavy (over 20 lbs) and strollers don't really work up there.

Sunday Shawn slept all the way until 6:20. Which meant he was ready for a nap right about when church started at 9. Jeremy and the Moby to the rescue. He got him to sleep during most of priesthood and Shawn was mostly happy during Sacrament. Church was pleasant and even mostly overcast. There were some really nice testimonies. I always love being up there in the beautiful mountains for church. You can't help but feel close to heaven up there. 

I'm really glad we were able to go up, and I'm pretty sure it was worth all the packing and traveling and unpacking. :) It means a lot to me to get to take my kids up there where so many generations of my family have spent time each summer. (They are the 6th, since my great-great-grandfather Hyrum Weech) With any luck we'll make it up at least for the day on Labor Day.

I put a bunch of our pictures in our holidays 2014 album on Facebook already:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152320444231075&type=1&l=b3ce29ab83

Family Fun Night, Disney-style

Even though our camping FFN wasn't the greatest success, I decided to go ahead with my plan, figuring if a Going-to-Disneyland night wasn't a hit, we'd scrap the whole concept. Preparation was pretty easy. Just gathering of supplies and organizing mostly.

We kept our "destination"  a secret until we were ready to start, and then I had everyone put on the shirts we made for our trip last March, and found the mouse ears. Obligatory picture time ensued.

We had area music playing and decided that the first ride we wanted to go on was Splash Mountain. I led the kids outside on a warm trek over to. "Critter Country" while Jeremy cued the ride-thru up on the projector via YouTube and our ChromeCast. Then we pretended to all be in the log together and actually ride the whole thing, complete with a spray bottle for the splashdowns.  (Jeremy and Shawn sat out some of the rides...)

We also "rode" Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland, the Matterhorn, big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Screamin', Radiator Springs Racers, Goofy's Sky School, and one or two others. We interspersed the rides with their favorite meal from the park, Power Packs, and Mickey-head Rice Krispie treats.

Ironically, since we never have visitors, we had two sets of visitors. Mostly we just continued on with our trip. Kinzi, Baiden, and Uncle Phil joined us for the last couple of rides and really awesome seats for "Fantasmic!" 

The full-wall HD projector made a big difference in how immersed we felt on the rides.

The kids had an awesome time, and were upset when bedtime hit. They could have "played Disneyland" for several more hours I think. I think their favorite part was that we were actually pretending with them. I don't think Jaina knew that I was capable... ;-)

Busy, busy, busy!

I know it's not true,  but it seems like we spend a lot of time at the pool. Really they have just had swimming lessons 4 days a week for the last 3 weeks (which is only a half hour long, thankfully for Shawn and I, since we're not in the water) and I've been trying to take them to the pool about twice a week. They have definitely made some improvements in that area. Well, Katy still doesn't like to put her head under or jump in, but HAS done them both, so we'll call it progress. Reilly is swimming pretty well, but really has to figure his breathing out still. He is not afraid of trying anything, and will do back flips under water where he can touch the ground.  Jaina is somewhere in between. Shawn loves the water.

I've been meaning to give the girls summer haircuts, and planned to take Jaina, at least, somewhere, because her hair is so straight and fine I was afraid I would mess it up. But then one day after I bath I started cutting on Katy's. And it ended up shorter than I expected. Then Jaina wanted on the same day, and was grumpy I wouldn't make hers any shorter. They aren't perfect, but at least there is less hair to mess with with all this swimming!

We've had several visitors over the last couple weeks, especially since it was Katy's birthday time. Grandmas, Grandpas, and lots of party time.

Katy turned 4 and we had a fun day. She chose Lucky Charms instead of birthday pancakes, then she chose a park to go to before some quick present and then swim lessons. After lunch she picked IKEA as her fun place to go to. She is finally tall enough to go in their play area this year, and she loves it. The wait was nearly 30 minutes, but they had a blast. Shawn hung out with us, and had another first. (sitting in the shopping cart) After IKEA Jeremy had to get back to the office, so we had pasta (I believe) for dinner, at Katy's request and hurried fast to make her cake. It wasn't dairy-free, (since it used a whole stick of butter) but it was gluten-free, and pretty delicious.

The next day we rushed from swim lessons to Kinzi's birthday party and the girls had a blast too. Shawn did too, especially since his other Grandma was there waiting to kiss on him. (The lipstick is actually from Jaina - they were dressing up and doing a fashion show). We also went out to eat with Kinzi's family that night at IHOP (just Katy, Grandma, and I). There was a picture, but Katy looks a little crazy in all of them. Not in a cute way. She is my challenging one when it comes to the camera.

Grandma Weech stayed at our house for a few days, which was really fun. She made us some treats, came to swim lessons with us, took the kids to the Carson pool one afternoon (wearing herself out in the process), helped me get the kids' pictures taken Friday morning (forthcoming), and helped us throw a fun little family birthday swim party. It got a little scary the 24 hours before when we realized our neighborhood pool was temporarily closed, but luckily it opened before we wanted to swim that night!

It has been a little crazy having everyone home all the time. Thankfully up until recently they haven't fought any more than usual. I just have trouble with the constant noise level... things have been getting a little more stir-crazy lately, but the 4th of July and the mountains are coming up soon to break things up! It has been nice for Jeremy to get to spend a little more time with all the kids together. Saturday he took them to the airport to watch the planes, and they liked that. He and Reilly have also been watching little bits of the first Harry Potter movie some evenings since Reilly is currently reading book 5... Today we tried sorting ALL our Legos into sets and colors so we could get the sets put back together and not have Legos stored in 4 different places.

Shawn is growing fast. In the last two weeks he has started giving (open-mouthed, sometimes latched-on, painful, slobbery, adorable) kisses, he's getting much closer to sitting up, sleeps unswaddled -some- of the time, and has tried several foods for the first time (pears, green beans, sweet potatoes, squash). He likes them, mostly. He is still not really rolling (after doing it 5-6 months a few weeks ago) but has his second tooth through. Sleep training will probably be our next hurdle, as getting him to sleep is becoming increasingly difficult sometimes and he is still up every 30-60 minutes many nights. (The longest stretch he's done in weeks is just over 3 hours - I get excited when he does a 2 hour stretch even, and he's still sleeping with me much of the night...) Sigh. He's adorable, though!

These pics were after we took the group ones Friday, and he was not impressed. We'll be going back in a week or two when he's sitting to get some better ones...