Well. We have some events and pictures up on which to catch, as…er…someone would say. Some notable. Some alarming. Some downright strange. You can click to enlarge any of them, if you dare!
We went to the aquarium for Daisy's birthday. I always feel grumpy about how much it costs, but at least they keep adding to the exhibits—and, of course, the salient feature for this birthday visit was the PENGUINS. Daisy loves them so! Even if it was impossible to get a picture in that dark room.
In the downright strange category: • dressed-up animals including Star the Orangutan (always);
• little goblins cavorting around a hole (it doesn't make any more sense in context);
More of Daisy's birthday. She got a bike seat for Rosie (her dolly), and they look so cute riding all around the neighborhood together! And then she chose a flourless chocolate cake for her dessert, and I made it in the Instant Pot (?!), which was really easy and cooked it perfectly! Who would have thought?! I think Daisy's favorite part of her birthday was the "birthday walk" she and Junie and I went on, though. We walked by the lake and took pictures (and stayed up past bedtime!). Very exciting for a sweet little 9-year-old!
Swimming suits. Daisy matched Goldie's dress (formerly Daisy's dress). She also matched Rosie. And Junie and Goldie were not one whit behind her in things pertaining to swimsuit-cuteness.
• Walking to church. It's always nice when we get our act together enough to do it! We had the whole summer off of Ward Choir (directed by ME, and which practices at 8:15, and which has now resumed, sadly!) so we weren't rushing off frantically EVERY Sunday.
• My dear friend Rachael was in town for our high school reunion, at which we made an appearance, but mostly just enjoyed seeing each other and watching our kids bond! They made such fast friends that my kids are already planning a trip to Edmonton so they can reunite. It was delightful to watch them. And I apparently felt it fitting to document this momentous occasion by taking a single picture of our older boys in The Desk Graveyard at Provo High. Nice.
• Ziggy is tall enough to stand and play at the little kitchen, which is definitely unnerving. I see him there and can almost imagine that he's a real person! Which he isn't, of course.
Seb had a birthday too!
• See pictured his delight at opening a beautifully-wrapped present to receive…Star the Orangutan! My kids have this odd habit of just wrapping up anything and saying it's a birthday present. Frequently they give away their most precious possessions like Blankies and such, which is very sweet, but always leads to me saying, "Oh, how kind, and why don't you let them just BORROW that for awhile?"—knowing that the giver will be sad and wanting his or her Precious Thing back at bedtime!
• Speaking of Seb, though. I don't think I ever showed this amazing model plane he made me. It was quite awhile ago, but I love it so much! He was going through a stage of making model planes out of sticks and dowels all the time. I have no idea how he managed to glue and paint one this tiny! But every detail is perfect. Bunny Airlines! Yellow! The tiny wings! And the tiny box and display stand it came with!
• Seb can also always be counted on to entertain Ziggy and make him laugh. And to make sure his "poik" (that little shock of hair on top) is properly situated. What a great brother he is. Or can be. :)
One evening we went up the canyon for a school-group meeting which turned out to be…somewhat boring. Luckily babies always give one an excuse to wander off, which we did in due course, and then we happened upon this mother and baby moose in a clearing! They were not at all scared of us, and we watched them walk around and nibble on the trees (and the baby nurse on his mama!) for a long time. It was magical! Teddy said he wanted to "go get one and hug it and it can be our pet," but I managed to talk him out of this course of action. Eventually.
The skies were smoky, smoky, smoky through July and August. Everything had a pinkish or orangish tone, especially in the morning and evenings, and the light felt hazy and weak. It made for interesting pictures! And the crepuscular rays through the smoke were spectacular! We also had a few wonderful thunder- and hailstorms that cleared the air and let the golden light through again.
Our house isn't huge, but it is big enough that each person COULD have at least their own square foot of space, in theory. In practice this does not occur. Someone is pretty much always sitting on, lying on, tickling, pinching, annoying, or singing at someone else. But at least they occasionally inhabit the same space in a friendly manner. The middle picture is of the girls standing adoringly round my brother Kenneth. He IS adorable. I adore him myself! He makes us all laugh nonstop. It was so great to see him and Sheila for a little visit on their way back to the airport!
Here is Ziggy trying (and failing) to fall asleep at church. I feel his pain. Kind of. Except that he needs sleep and doesn't want it, and I want sleep and don't get it. So. But this particular day he had his Taggie, so he gave it a good effort during Sunday School. It didn't help that everyone on the row thought he was cute, and tried to play with him and tickle him and so forth! Little beloved child.
At the ward summer party. As you can see, all the elements of a good time were there: Endless bright-red snow cones. Sad, accusing babies wanting you to feed them faster. And a dunk tank which we somehow never remember to dress appropriately for. But seriously. I'm not kidding. It was a great party! I love our ward.
Umm. What are these? The girls standing on a fence to look at a baby goat. Some big sunflowers. And Daisy and Junie competing in the three-legged race at my mom's ward's Pioneer Day party (we go every year!).
• I signed Goldie up for a little Tumbling Class this summer, thinking that she would enjoy doing something on her own and specially for her, for once. The poor younger kids are so often just getting dragged along to everyone else's things! She loved it so much. She explained all about it, very importantly, to her sisters whenever she got home, and demonstrated straddle rolls and handstands and so forth. It was darling.
• She is also at the age where she doesn't really WANT a nap anymore (well—do they ever? But she wants one even less than before)—but she still really needs one. I always insist the children keep lying down and having "quiet time" until they are through kindergarten. And I have to put Goldie on the floor in my room because she and Teddy and Ziggy will giggle and play all through nap otherwise! So, she often stays awake just long enough to put herself in the most ridiculous situations. And then falls asleep like that. I'm always entertained when I see how she's ended up! :)
• Abe, too, is trying new things: running cross-country with the High School team this year. He has worked so hard and I love seeing him run. It gives me heart palpitations just to remember how it felt to race at the meets when I was in high school. But it's way more fun watching him than it was racing myself! He always looks so strong and focused!
And I will leave you with these. "And though the last lights off the black west went." I do so love the place we live!
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