Trip to Huntsville

Our friends moved to Huntsville about a year ago.  We have been trying to get together for months, but things like coronavirus got in the way.  We finally were able to make it happen and had a great time despite grumpy kids and parents on the way there and on the way home.  Kids got angry about what seat they had to sit in and that we left before we had a fire and made smores.  It was an hour drive, so the drives were not very fun at all.  Just keeping it real over here.  

But besides that, it was fun to hang out with old friends again.  They live really close to a reservoir so we walked down there after we ate dinner and enjoyed the water.  

The scenery on the walk there and back was so pretty!

We all got in and enjoyed the water for a while before the sun set and it got cold.  

Zac had a blast with his friend Dylan.  

Finley loved playing in the mud.  

By this time we had gotten over the grumpies from the car drive there.  :)

Emery stayed in the water the longest.  Here she is with her friend Claire.  They loved just walking around and exploring.  

I thought the water would be freezing, but it wasn't too bad.  We dodged the boats and swam over to the island and jumped into the water over and over.  

Tree climbing.  Zac was in heaven.

Emery was comforting Finely.  She was terrified of their dogs so she needed lots of hugs.

They also own a couple horses and a mini horse.  The girls helped London give her horse a bath because she had a show the next morning.

You could always find Riley wherever the dogs were.  She loves them!

 Sadie had a blast helping with the horse!  

It was a great time with friends even if the ride to and from was not very fun.  It makes me question why I even try to do fun things with the kids sometimes.  But then I think about how amazing they all are and forgive them and do it all over again.  :)  Life is fun isn't it?

The dirt pile is gone!

It's funny.  You wish for something to happen...and when it finally does, it's a little bit sad.  Ever since April or so, we have had a massive dirt pile in the corner of our driveway.  The kids played in it all the time.  They got dirty, they got muddy and then they would track it into the house.  Blech.  Most of the time I loved that they played out there and used their imagination and got dirty, but then on other days when I would walk into the bathroom and find mud all over the counter and sink and floor, I couldn't wait to get it outta there!

So on Saturday, we noticed that our neighbor had a bobcat over at his house and was digging dirt out of their lawn and putting it into a trailer.  Rob walked over there and talked to him for a minute...then came home and told me the good news.  They were going to help us get rid of our dirt later that day!!  Hooray!

I was so ready for it to be gone.  But then as the day went on, I started to feel sad.  Especially after I talked to a neighbor and told her the good news and she responded "what are you doing with it....where are your kids going to play?"  ha ha.  But it was definitely fun while it lasted.  It was a good reminder that it's good for our kids to get dirty and muddy every once in a while!

Just look at Finley...fortunately the Elsa dress has been washed and looks brand new now!

Her hands were so messy...

As I was taking this picture, she lost her balance and put her muddy hands right on Emery's head.  They all got hosed off before coming inside and went straight to the bath.  The bath had a dirt ring around it when they were done!

Emery and Riley set up this balance beam and made up routines on it.  They would duck down and step over each other and then bow.  IT was cute.

 

They spent so much time on the dirt pile.  Maybe we need a sandbox...or just another project that will make another dirt pile in our driveway.  ha ha

They had so many fun afternoons here.  

Zac and his friend dug this hole.  It stayed until the very end. 

I don't know what my kids are going to do now in their spare time.  I guess I better think of another project soon!  I'm thinking of building a pergola and putting it in the backyard.  We might have to remove some dirt for that...

A fun Sunday afternoon

There was a chalk the walk even at the library near our house this last weekend so on Sunday we took our kids to go see the pictures that the artists drew.  We were all very impressed by what we saw.  I took a few pictures of our favorites.

My dad actually sent me a text of a news article that had this picture showing in it.  It's the actor who recently passed away from colon cancer who played Black Panther.  Next to his picture it said "Rest in Power."

This one looked 3-D.  The picture doesn't do it justice because of the shadows.  But it was really cool.

We really liked this one of Baymax from the Big Hero 6 movie.  Finley loved this one.

I really liked this one of a hedge hog.  

Finley also loved this one because years ago when my ipad was new (probably about 8 years ago) I got a free download of Grover and Elmo reading this book.  It is one of her favorite things to watch. 

 

After we looked at the chalk art, we stopped in a field of rocks so the kids could find good skipper rocks and put them in their grocery bags that they brought.  Then we stopped at a little pond and practiced skipping rocks.  Sadie and Zac are getting pretty good at it.  

 

After the pond, we came back and sat on the front porch while the kids played outside.  It was the perfect temperature and weather outside for sitting on the porch!  And Finley was rocking this hat with a blond wig.  I told Rob watching her waddle around with that on reminded me of ET when they dressed him up in a wig and a hat.  :)

Kids staying up too late...but I'm not too mad about it

Zac and Emery share a room.  Most nights they stay up way too late talking and giggling.  I think it is great...I know they will have to stop sharing a room soon, but for now I love that they get new ideas and brainstorm what they are going to do the next day together. 

 One morning they came out very excited about what they had planned out for the day.  They asked if I had any treats they could have to deliver to their friends.  I told them I probably had some Starbursts somewhere.  Then they brought me to their room to show me what had kept them up late the night before.  They had written notes to a bunch of their friends so they could deliver them anonymously.  :)  I can't really get mad about them staying up late for that.  A few of my friends whose kids they delivered to had Ring cameras and thanked me later for the deliveries they had made.  I let them know that it was all their idea.  

They got sticky notes a few nights earlier in a bingo game that we were playing.  It was one of the prizes.  

A lot of the notes were these name poems.  They were so sweet.

 

Sadie's second round of braces

Sadie got braces!!! When we went in for her appointment, we didn't know if she was getting her braces that day.  She hadn't gotten the spacers for the bands that go around her back teeth yet or the molds of her teeth.  But when we walked into the office, we saw this sign:

So then I was confused because I wasn't expecting her to get her braces that day.  But I guess now, they don't even put those bands on the back teeth anymore, they just use regular brackets.  So they got her braces on lickety split.  And she looks great!

 It's amazing how much her teeth have already moved!  

First day of school- Covid 19 style

Obviously, the first day of school was different this year than it has been any other year because of Covid.  :(  We decided to keep our kids home and do virtual learning for the first semester because the kids really didn't want to have to wear a mask at school all day.  Then Sadie decided that she wanted to go to school since it is her first year in middle school and her best friend moved away so she needs to make some new friends.  So 3 out of the 4 stay home and do virtual school, and Sadie can pick and choose when she goes in to school.  It's nice.  The other day she stayed home because she had a well check at the doctor and I didn't want to have to deal with going in and checking her out of school.  It worked out great.  

As for the other kids, we are getting into a good schedule and they are getting their work done and figuring out how to submit assignments.  

Sadie talked me into doing a back to school feast.  I didn't do much, but I did pick a theme for the year.  It is the quote by President Nelson that says: The Lord loves effort, because effort brings rewards that can't come without.  I also found a quote that said "Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds." by Gordon B. Hinckley that I really liked.  Anyway, we decorated the table and had some yummy food and had a great night.  

Sadie started school the day before the other kids did.  It was just a half day because it was just the 7th graders. She came home and said she loved it.  She found all of her classes (she had to ask a few people where they were) but she did it.  

With and without the mask.  And since the start of the year, she has only forgotten to bring a mask once but we had one in the car that she could use.  

Zac- 5th grade, Emery- 3rd grade, Riley- 1st grade.

Finley likes to come with me to pick Sadie up from school.  She fell asleep one day and I couldn't wake her up.  So she napped on my chest for a good 30 minutes or so.  I'm not too upset about it.  :)