Behemoth Dandelion

Happy Birthday To Me

It's my birthday! I've spent most of the day driving places, but there has been some celebrating. Topher and Phoebe took a birthday walk with me. I took the younger three to eat lunch and watch Meet Me in St. Louis with some friends. I spent the evening getting to know some of the women in our new ward at a Relief Society Activity and when they found out it was my birthday (a friend who switched wards with us brought me flowers at the activity) they all sang me Happy Birthday. I came home and opened a few cards and a gift from a friend.

And Bryan got me a gift. It's something I've needed so I'm really excited about it.

Guys, I have my own sliding compound miter saw!

The Ukulele Makes Me Happy

Sophie and I performed in a Ukulele Orchestra concert last night. The performance included us singing a duet of I Don't Want to Live on the Moon. I love that this is something she and I can share.

Happy Campers

Phoebe returned on Saturday from an exceptionally hot week at Girls Camp. The girls weren't allowed to have their phones so Phoebe didn't take any pictures. The leaders have said pictures from the official camp photographer will be forthcoming. Until they actually arrive, I have this picture of Phoebe and her friend Kenzie that Kenzie's mom sent me when she dropped them off. 

She had a great week, except for the heat. And except for a major thunderstorm that hit the last night of camp.

Keep It Cool

All last week it was extremely hot here. The temperature was in the 90s, but it felt like it was in the low 100s. We spent most of the week inside with the blinds closed to keep the heat out and the cool in. But on Friday morning we joined some friends at a nearby state park and splashed around. It was delightful.

Impressive...but Creepy

Sophie said she wants to be a stop motion animator when she grows up. This looks like a good way to start.

Get Outside

Phoebe is at Girls Camp right now. It's her first time going. She was really anxious, but she agreed to attend because Sophie would be there for one of the days. Girls Camp is a week long church camp for young women ages 11-18. The 10-year-olds were invited to join for the second day. That was yesterday. Sophie was as excited as Phoebe was anxious.

We carpooled so I didn't have to take Sophie up in the morning, but I was responsible for picking them up in the evening. It took me about an hour to drive to the camp. Sophie had an amazing time and didn't want to leave. She and her friend chatted the entire ride home about how fantastic it was. They swam in a pool and paddled canoes in a lake and tried archery and played games and did several other awesome things. I like being the pickup driver for activities because I get to hear all the details about what happened during their adventure.

Before I had a chance to locate Sophie, Phoebe spotted me. She was looking out the window of the dining hall when I walked up. She came barreling out and nearly knocked me over with her hug. She said she missed me and was so glad I was there and that she was ready to go home. She was partially kidding.

When I finally found Sophie and convinced her to leave, Phoebe followed us out. She ultimately stayed behind for a few more days of camp, but she did seem tempted to hop in the van and head home.

Hopefully she has a positive report when the week is over.

I love that Sophie had such a great day!

The Beach: Day 2

On day two we visited a local zoo, played at a cool playground, then hit the beach again. I took way fewer pictures on day two, mostly because I was in the water with the kids. After the beach we all hurried back to the hotel, got cleaned up, then went to meet Peter's girlfriend's family. They were lovely. The last picture of Cooper was taken at the beach less than a mile from their house.

The next morning we drove home. I stopped at a carwash and did my best to vacuum out all the sand we had with us. We had a fun few days, but we were so glad to be home.

The Beach: Day 1

Last week I took the kids down to the beach! The real reason for the trip was so Peter could see the girl he met at church prom back in April. They've been talking nearly every night since. Spoiler: Peter officially has a girlfriend now. This is new territory for us as a family.

Unfortunately Bryan wasn't able to join us. He had too many meetings that he couldn't get out of. So he had a quiet house for a few days and we all missed him.

While Peter spent time with his girlfriend, the other kids and I spent time in the Atlantic Ocean.

We brought sooooooooo much sand back to the hotel that night. It was fun though.

The New Place

We had our first Sunday in our new ward.

It was...tricky.

The new ward is much bigger than our old ward. It was a regular church meeting with regular classes. I wanted at least a little time dedicated to introductions. In Sunday School we were split into groups and I asked that we take a moment to say our names before we started on the assignment the teacher had given us.

The building is old and Bryan and I both had some trouble breathing while inside. Rather, I kept having to cough and Bryan had to walk outside a few times to get air.

There are a lot of youth, at least for an east coast ward. So, maybe twenty kids? That's about the number we had in our old ward as well. We brought nine of those kids from the old congregation. There aren't many Primary kids. We brought ten kids from our old ward, I think we more than doubled their numbers. Sophie is the only kid her age in the ward. She felt pretty lonely today.

Apparently there were only sixty-eight people in our old ward today. My friends told me it was a small and quiet group. And they said we were missed.

We missed them too.