Camp Out at Grandma and Grandpa Benson's

We did our annual Benson family campout July 21-22. Kris's mom planned a few fun games and a scavenger hunt for the kids while we waited for it to be dark enough to watch our outdoor movie. After the movie it was pretty much straight to bed.

The next morning was spent on the boats. We played hard all morning before heading home around 2. We were having so much fun I didn't take a single picture of us playing. It's  sign of a good time when everyone falls asleep during the car ride on the way home right? Tad and Harvey were so tired I think they would have slept straight through until the next day if I let them. Happy exhausted kids. 

Battle Creek Falls

During the summer we have tried to get the kids together once a week to play. We decided one Friday to try a hike instead. We chose to hike Battle Creek falls. It is right up the street from Alicia and a nice short hike with a fun waterfall at the end. We only ended up getting my mom, Alicia's family and mine (everyone else had conflicts come up), but it was still fun.

All the kids were running way ahead of where I was. They seem to have endless energy, running up and doubling back. We packed breakfast so when we got to the falls we ate while the kids played for a little bit before heading back down. It stayed nice and cool the whole hike which was perfect. Definitely a hike that we'll try again. 

Trying New Things

I told my kids that I wanted them to venture out and try a new extracurricular activity this year. I figured there were so many things they hadn't tried how could they know they didn't like it? The thought of starting a new sport was terrifying to them because, "It might be hard, they didn't know the rules, they'd never done it before," etc. So we decided to do a couple sports camps this summer to get our feet wet. The first camp they tried; basketball, soccer, baseball, tennis, and football. The second camp was exclusively tennis. It was nice to have a little something planned for the summer and they even found a few sports they wouldn't mind playing again.

Zoo Sunset Safari

We went to the Sunset Safari at the zoo on July 10th. My favorite part of having a zoo pass is being able to have the members only special hours. I love going when it is cooler outside and less crowds to deal with. The bugzilla displays were really cool and because of the fewer people my kids get right up close to them too.

Happy 4th of July

We had a great time celebrating on the 4th of July. We started at the neighborhood bike parade. My kids love going to this. We ride a little loop around the block and then come back to the park for a flag ceremony/patriotic program and breakfast. This year we opted to not decorate bikes and instead got each of the kids a t-shirt.

After the parade we had some downtime before we headed to Bensons to play on boats. This was our first time playing at the lake this summer. It was the most fun they've had, they all threw on life jackets and were swimming all over. They always love playing in the kayaks and paddle boat, this year Kris's parents also got a paddle board which was really fun to play on too. The kids spent most of the afternoon playing before calling it quits so we could go roast hot dogs and smores. Then we ended the night with fireworks.

Patio of Fire

Every year we go to the patio of fire the music/firework show Kris's friend from high school puts on. They had a band back in the day that comes together once a year just for this. It is tons of fun. They cover old songs and like to dance around with glow sticks. Then to end the night they do a pretty amazing firework show coordinated to music. I don't know if the kids appreciate the music nearly as much as Kris and I do but they always enjoy the fireworks.

More Napping Transitions

Harvey really thought he should be done with naps this summer. I would put him to bed only to have him come out a few minutes later telling me he was awake or we wouldn't even try a nap and then he'd climb on me and fall asleep on me at the most awkward times.

 Then there was the fighting bedtime too, when he napped too late. He was getting pretty sneaky about it too. I would go to put him to bed and he would find reasons for me to stay. My favorite was when he said, "Look mom! I have bubble gum. Take my picture please." Totally stalling for time and it worked.

We finally found a balance where he naps everyday and I wake him after an hour and a half (he would go for 3 and a half if I let him). Now he naps during the day and he still sleeps at night.

Upstart Graduation

Tad graduated from the upstart program and is officially ready for kindergarten. I have loved this program and have used it for all of my kids. 

Don't mind the picture, Tad does not love to be the center of attention and refused to stand and pose when he came out. I finally convinced him to go stand up for a quick picture, which he did, but he was not convinced enough to smile.

Swimming

We bought a little bit bigger backyard pool for the  kids to play in this summer. It's been nice because it's big enough the girls have fun playing and shallow enough that Harvey and Tad can still play. They make up tons of games and would play in there most of the day. 

 Harvey had a near miss the first time he played and it made him a little bit nervous to get in. He had gone to pick up something at the bottom and lost his footing and then couldn't get back up. That'll get your heart racing. He came out saying, "mom, I swimming! It's fun, huh?" Ever since then he only goes in a for a few minutes here and then he's done. Luckily he's just has happy to play around the pool and watch the kids swim.

Playing At the Slough

Kris's mom's side of the family gets together once a month for an extended family home evening, rotating whose house it is at. When it was Kris's uncle Terrell's turn the kids had tons of fun playing in the slough behind his house. Terrell lives in Kris's grandpa's house so it was fun to see the kids doing things that Kris and his siblings had also done growing up. 

The kids were having so much fun back there I think they would have stayed all night. They found tons of clams and were having fun collecting the shells. They never realized the "gooey" stuff was an actual living thing. Tad and Jaxin might have even eaten a few (we never saw it but when they showed us the shells they said, "they only ate the ones with gummies").

June Random Pictures

After our vacations Harvey had a tough time transitioning back to our normal schedule. He went through a spurt where he thought he shouldn't nap anymore. When he did give in and nap, he was so hard to wake up he would be up playing past bedtime. It was a couple weeks of finding him sleeping in random places. All of my kids have napped until almost five but Harvey is my first to be phasing out of naps so early.

 Harvey had to have a little procedure done at the beginning of June that they had to put him under for. He handled it all great but was super cuddly and tired for a while following.

 Harvey is so much fun and so cute, and so entirely exhausting. If he is quiet you can usually guarantee he is getting into trouble. While I was doing piano with my older kids one day he decided to help himself to some cereal and dumped the entire box all over the table.

 While cooking a roast the oil spattered up and across my neck and face. I was lucky  that it only blistered on my neck.

 Harvey kept taking boxes from the pantry and then I'd find them lined up in random spots.

 The kids all really missed Max while we were gone on vacation. After both Moab and the Grand Canyon we had to wait until the next morning to pick him up from the boarders and the kids were super sad about it. They were all so excited when we picked him up the next morning.

Kids Pictures

Demzi got a kindle for her birthday that has a camera on it. One Sunday morning the girls ocupied themselves by taking a ton of selfies. They had so many  pictures at the end I had to laugh. They were taking pictures with their favorite things and then wanted to print them out and decorate their walls with them.