The Thornley Family Reunion - only held every 2 years - and this year it was in St. George. My girls were super excited for this vacation because we decided to fly there, to save time and money. This was a first flight for both girls and they could barely contain themselves . . . and apparently, Ken was excited too ;)
St. George in August, is not a great place to be if you'd like to spend much time outside. On our first day, we went to the historic part of St. George and decided to walk from the St. George Tabernacle to the St. George temple, 6 blocks away. It was 110F. This is what my girls did when we made it to the air-conditioned visitor center at the temple 😂
It is a beautiful temple . . . maybe someday we'll come visit again when it's cooler.
The next 2 mornings, we got a jump on the heat and went hiking before it got too hot. Out the door by 7:30am when it was only 80F and back home by 10:30a, by the time it had reached 100F.
The red rocks are beautiful and it was so much fun to be hiking with family.
The girls were enthusiastic . . .
and enjoying it . . .
. . . until it started to get hot again . . .
and then they "melted" again.
The next morning, Ken and I left the girls at the house with Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Buddy, while we went hiking. . . and everyone was happier ;)
Besides hiking, we played Minute to Win It games (Amelia won this one).
Went swimming at night when it was "only" 95F outside.
Played ping-pong . . . put together puzzles . . .
played games . . .
and did crafts.
The best part of a family reunion is just hanging out with cousins . . .
and siblings (one not pictured) . . .
and of course, being with Dad/ Grandpa.
Family reunions are always too short . . . especially since we only get together every 2 years, but I love my family and am so grateful for any time that we get to spend together.
July - oh you crazy month! On the 4th of July, we lit sparklers and a few fireworks that Ken bought on his way home from work.
This video probably only cracks me up . . . I was so surprised by the firework and was afraid I was going to get hit, but just kept recording, rather than moving away ;)
On July 8th, we hosted our 3rd annual neighbor BBQ . . . and Amelia made the sign :)
The work of re-shingling our roof started on the 10th and they finished on the 11th. It's hard to see from the pictures, but I love that our roof is no longer mossy!
While they were up on our roof, we arranged for them to install 2 solar-tubes. One in the hallway,
and one in the bathroom. I love all the additional light we have upstairs. Now to get rid of the green linoleum. . .
As mentioned in last month's blog, we go to the concerts in the park and one week, Amelia got to go on stage. The man asked her if she knew a song that she could sing and she did, but then she got nervous and forgot the words, so he told her to just make something up . . . so she did!
I don't celebrate it annually, but this year we remembered to get free Slurpees at 7-Eleven on 7/11.
Bowling has been a fun weekly activity - win or lose! I especially love Amelia's "bowling face" and Sophie's "bowling posture".😂 And it was fun one week to have our friends with us to shake things up.
And then it was time for Trek. This is the picture of our "family" as we started out on Day 1. What a great group of kids! (We didn't have our cameras with us, so all photos are courtesy of the Trek photographers.)
We Treked 8 miles the first day, 10 miles the 2nd day, got a rest on the 3rd day, and finished up with 8 miles the last day. These kids were strong. There were lots of hills to go up . . .
which of course meant hills to go back down (that was just as hard as going up). Notice how everyone but the ones who are steering are behind the handcart . . . the rest of the family is being the "brake".
And at the end, they not only finished strong, they ran to the end! It was a great experience being with these kids.
Next it was time for Cub Scout Day Camp. We didn't get enough volunteers in our ward, and so even though I didn't have a Cub Scout at the camp, I came to volunteer, and brought my girls to play along.
One last "concert" in the park - this time a reptile and other creatures show. The girls sure weren't squeemish petting everything at the end . . . I stood back and just watched ;)
Can you believe it? I'm all caught up and ready for the adventures that will come in August. Stay tuned!
How can it be July already? May and June were so busy with so much going on. Mother's Day has always been a nice day, but now that the girls are getting older, their notes to me are more precious . . . especially Amelia's "because she is so nice to me". I'm glad she feels that way . . . I know I'm not always nice. Being a mother is hard!
Mother's Day was a hot day, and while I relaxed in the shade, the girls (and neighbor) ran through the sprinkler . . . with goggles on . . . because apparently that's required 😂
I took the girls to the last STEM night of the year at the school. Amelia loved flying the kite she made . . .
And Sophie had fun playing with the sling-shot.
I was lucky enough to be a chaperone at both of Amelia's field trips. Her first one was to the "prairie". I loved it . . . except that I was outside walking around in grasses for hours. . . achoo! Amelia had a hard time restraining herself not to pick the flowers . . . so I took pictures of them for her.
My favorite part was watching Amelia sketch her prairie experiences.
The Lacey Spring Fun Fair was next . . . and we enjoyed a ride, multiple vendor booths, and an ice cream treat from the ice cream truck.
Amelia's 2nd field trip was to a Pioneer Farm . . . with multiple hands-on experiences, including milking a cow. Only a few kids were brave enough to try it - Amelia included - but she said she definitely didn't enjoy it, ha-ha.
We did our annual Memorial Day beach trip - this time to Ruby Beach. It's over a 2-hr drive from our house to the beach, but it's sure worth it . . . even if it was freezing while we were there, (I had one of Ken's jacket on underneath mine!).
The Science Fair at the elementary came next. The girls were so excited to participate and Ken was a great Dad and helped them each with a project. Who knew they'd have to spend the entire day sitting in front of their exhibit explaining it to all the other kids. As you can see, Sophie was worn out by the time I came to pick her up at the end of school.
Amelia thought it was fun . . . her favorite part was "skipping class all day". Oye that girl!
All during the school year I have been volunteering in Sophie's class once a week. On my last week there, the teacher presented me with this potted plant which all the kids had signed. I love it! And the kids were so excited to show me their signature.
In the midst of my busyness, I decided to have a garage sale - who knows why! By the time I decided I didn't have energy or much to sell, it was too late, because the girls were super excited to have their lemonade stand. I love the sign that Amelia made . . . and was surprised by people's generosity.
I knew I didn't have much to sell (I just don't keep a lot), so it was a pretty small garage sale once everything was out on display. Still, we made about $100, so I'll call it a success.
The last week of school was dress up days. On "Career Day" Amelia dressed up as a dancer/ movie star . . .
And Sophie dressed up as a cowgirl.
Amelia has a very creative, imaginative mind. She made this "house/ playland" in the middle of her bedroom floor. It might not look like much, but she spends a lot of time playing with her small dolls in this playland made of seashells, etc. I love her creativity, but it takes all my will power every time I go into her room not to gather it all up and move it out of the way. It doesn't bother her at all that she has to step over it to get into and out of her room. 😜
June 21 - the last day of school! Finally! And this year, I remembered to take a last day of school picture to compare with the first day of school. Both girls really grew up! I'm not sure how I feel about Amelia being in 3rd grade next year. That sounds so grown up.
And my dear Sophie. She is SO ready to be done with Kindergarten. The poor thing was so bored the last few months of Kindergarten . . . and now she thinks she's ready for 2nd grade. Hopefully her 1st grade teacher will be able to keep her busy and learning, since she's already reading chapter books and doing 1st grade math. 😮
We all wore our Evergreen Forest t-shirts to celebrate the last day of school. I was able to go to the Awards Assembly at the school and see the kids get some fun awards. And I was pleasantly surprised to be given an award for volunteering over 100 hours during the school year. Not sure if I can keep up with that next year, but I volunteer because I enjoy it. It's my "happy place" and I love that my work schedule allows me to spend so much time with my kids.
The day after school got out - no sleeping in for us - up early to pick strawberries! My awesome helpers and I picked 2 overflowing flats in just over an hour, which ended up being 4 batches of strawberry freezer jam and endless bags of frozen strawberries to last us for another year.
There is so much to do on my "Summer To Do" list, but one of our favorites and low-key events is the city's concerts in the park. Amelia was thrilled to be up on stage helping the singer.
Another activity we added to our summer list was bowling, as part of the "Kids Bowl Free" program. Since neither girl has ever bowled before, I wasn't sure how it would go, but they didn't do too bad for their first try (and the gutter bumpers didn't hurt either).
3rd times the charm, hopefully! Amelia finally decided that she was ready to get her 2nd ear re-pierced. She said it didn't hurt as bad as the 2nd time and we're all hoping there is no drama involved in this round!
I am grateful for good neighbors that my girls love to play with. We have a neighbor boy who is 13 years old that would rather do outdoor activities with 2 young girls than be bored at home. Everyone is active and happy, jumping on the trampoline, swinging on swings, or playing at the park, which makes me happy because I don't hear "I'm bored" too much.
July 3 - the city of Lacey celebrates on the 3rd, in order to not complete with neighboring cities. We went early enough to the celebration to get faces painted, play in the kids area, watch a fun trampoline aerial show, and get great seats for the fireworks.
And now I'm finally caught-up. I feel so free and independent, ha-ha. I am grateful for any of you who are still reading this :) Happy July 4th!
