$17.90 at the Farmer's Market

What a bargain!

July 15th

We have been enjoying summer around here. At the beginning, I admit, I thought we might not survive, but we are surviving, and even more, we are liking it. I can't believe school starts back up in two weeks.

Some of our activities:

Cleaning out under the stove. An addition to being totally disgusting, it was quite a treasure trove. I also cleaned the top of the fridge, wiped down the cabinets, and one day managed to have the whole kitchen clean--mopped, scrubbed, no dishes anywhere, for about 20 minutes.

Sometimes Sylvie puts on her helmet so she can fall down. Jens decided to join her this day.

Our "garden" has been growing things! We have harvested 4 zucchini and 5 cucumbers. Our tomatoes, however, are not working out so well. The leaves are covered in holes and 4 of our 6 green tomatoes have been eaten by some sort of worm. Any suggestions, gardeners out there?

Sylvie is dressing up as a princess daily. Today she actually wore this dress, along with 2 tutus, her fancy black shoes, a necklace, 2 hair clips and a headband when we went out to eat. She did a little dancing also, to the enjoyment of her parents.

July 12th

Sylvie has been very interested in the Disney princesses. I got her one for the flight to FL and she has been hooked ever since. Jill liking them probably fanned the obsession. She recognizes all of them now and loves the Polly Pocket sized princesses. I bought her a book today called "What Makes a Princess" and she has carried it all day. I have read it at least 6 times and tonight Jens read it to her at bedtime. When he paused to figure out a word, Sylvie helpfully jumped in because she already has the book memorized.

Jens has been interested in knives and guns (delightful, I know). His favorite toy at Mati's house was the pretend cake knife, which he used as a weapon whilst pretending to be a pirate. He continues to be a little fish at the pool. He was so disappointed by a bloody nose at the pool yesterday because I wouldn't let him put his head under water for fear he would start bleeding again. Sylvie continues to be the opposite on that, shrieking "Not mine eyes!" every time she jumps into the pool.

Jens "made" fruit punch popsicles for us to enjoy for family home evening last night. He was bursting with pride over how wonderful they were. He also helped me bag all of the groceries, carry them all into the house, and clean the fridge. Then he played nicely with Sylvie while I finished putting all the food away. What a helper!

Sylvie: "I'm makin' progress" (this was while she was brushing her teeth)

"I'm naked!" (followed by streaking around the upstairs)

She also says "You're alright!" if she hurts us by accident (she steps on toes a lot, and for such a soft little person, she has pointy, sharp feet). She is also quick to reassure with "It's okay!" When she has made a mess or broken something.

Jens still says "thankly for . . ." in his prayers.

He takes a big breath and holds it while he is pulling shirts on over his head, sort of like he is preparing for submersion.

He says corner "cornter."

Home Again! July 10th

We got home and Jens immediately checked on our garden. We actually grew something! A huge zucchini, which would probably taste disgusting. I asked someone at church if I could do anything with it and she said "Carve it into a boat and float it in the bath tub!" So we did. I never would have been creative enough to think of it, but Jens was thrilled.

Bike Rides

We brought our bikes this time and Jens and Jacob went for a big bike ride with Aunt Nan to visit our Helquist cousins.

Fun with Friends

On Tuesday, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Joel, and Mike went to Cedar to meet the newest cousin, so I took the kids to the Johnsons' and spent the day. And by day, I mean we stayed there until past bedtime! The kids were all a little tired from 4th of July festivities over the weekend, but they had a good time playing together, and during nap time Kristin and I actually got to sit and talk! We ended at the park, where we ate dinner while the kids played. Jens and Mati made "Bomb Stew" (yum) and Emi and Sylvie wandered around getting dirty. They are a cute little bunch and we had a fun day.

July 4th

I am chagrined to admit that we almost didn't go to the parade this year. No one wanted to get up at 3 am to save a seat and, well, I think the parade is a little boring. Luckily, Uncle John scored us some bleacher tickets and the kids got to go to the parade. We realized immediately that the parade was going to be a huge hit when Sylvie started squealing and waving as soon as she spotted the pre-show while we were walking to the seats. She saw a roller derby girl who was wearing a hot pink wig with a crown and shouted out "THAT girl is FANCY!!"

Contrary to how this picture appears, they both loved watching everything. Sylvie loved the "princesses" on the floats and danced to the bands, Jens loved the guns, the Start Wars contingent, and the George Q. Canon, who ends the parade.

We had a quiet afternoon (Jens took a nap !) and then went swimming with the Bacons and Jacob and Ashlyn and Alia. It was so fun. We ended the day with a cookout, homemade ice cream, and the neighbor's fireworks. It was drizzly, so we didn't get out any of ours. The kids were happy doing poppers and sparklers and watching everyone else's displays. This was the first year aerials were legal in Utah, so things were a little crazy. A lot of people went pretty overboard on fireworks purchases. We stopped at a few high points to overlook the valley and watch all the fireworks going off on our way home.

Sylvie couldn't have the homemade ice cream, so we bought her sorbet. She thought it was pretty great.

Balloons

This year Mike and I rolled our lazy selves out of bed in time to see the hot air balloons fill up. We took Jens, but left Sylvie sleeping peacefully at Grandma and Grandpa's. We didn't think she would fully appreciate being woken up at 6am. The wind was weird that morning, so only half of the balloons inflated and only one did a tethered flight. The rest stayed on the ground and had to be deflated quickly when some big gusts of wind started blowing them around. We got a good place to stand and watch one of the balloons inflate.

Of course, the Darth balloon was a hit. The owners came all the way from Belgium to participate in the Freedom Festival. They played his theme when the owners started heating the air and he rose from the ground. It was pretty funny. Did you know that shaped balloons can cost between 100K-500K? I don't think we will ever have one of those.

Surprise!

We went to Utah for the 4th of July, even though we hadn't planned to. We got home from our FL/NC vacation and had a really rough week. And by really rough, I mean REALLY. I wasn't sure if I could survive the rest of the summer with no trips planned, no break in sight. So. We decided to go to Utah after all. All because my children were being poorly behaved! Luckily, I think it was the result of the two and a half weeks away, plus the 3 hours time change because their behavior has improved dramatically since that terrible week. But we went to Utah anyway.

You know you are in for a long drive when it takes almost 4 hours to get to Reno, and Grandma calls thinking you will be almost halfway and you have to say you are still in California! Everyone in the area seemed to leave early on Friday to head to Tahoe, where I-80 was under construction. It was slow going. But we finally made it and had a great visit. The kids were champions in the car, as usual. Saturday night we watched the fireworks with all the cousins. We had a great view from Uncle Chuck's new house.

Sunday after church we walked to Bridal Veil Falls with Aunt Nan and Cousin Jake. Luckily, Jake and Jens were in full spy mode for our protection.

They made sure we stayed safe, checking out the path and shooting unsuspecting bikers until we decided that might be dangerous. Jens and Sylvie got adventurous with the wading.

Sylvie, of course, fell in and had to walk around sans clothing for the rest of our walk, which didn't seem to bother her at all.

Questionable Taste

That would refer to Sylvie, who seems to gravitate towards some of the ugliest things in the store. I wanted to get her some bigger sandals, but all she wanted were these pink princess water shoes and some pink princess rubber boots. Gah!

Happy belated birthday, Lala Larue!

June 23

We went blueberry picking! Jens, as ever, was a champion picker. I thought Sylvie might be excited about it this year, but she wasn't. It was sort of like picking with the bear in Blueberries for Sal. A lot of loud munching, and the pail was abandoned on the ground. We enjoyed the 8 pounds that we picked so much that we went back the next week and picked 7 more.

North Carolina Part Last: On the Pier

One of the best things about staying on the "Sound side" of Corolla, aside from the walking trail, the trees, the fact that it is quieter, and it is close to the rec center is being by the pier to watch the sunsets and see the light house blink on.

Another of my ultimate favorite pictures of the week:

The kids were very excited about crabbing this year. We did not tell them about bait, so unfortunately, they didn't catch anything. Jens did manage to catch one crab when he and I went out together, but no one else was there to witness it, nor did I have my camera to document it, although Grammy went back with Jens and caught the same crab again. (It wasn't dead, just sitting still for some reason.)

A family picture on the pier. We sure missed Loren!

The last night we did sparklers and sang songs out in the gazebo.

And then it was time to go. We were the first ones to leave this year, driving to Raleigh Friday night to catch our plan Saturday. What a fun time we had.

For the record, this was a completely UNstaged picture, which I know is hard to believe.