Sunday, July 12, 2020

Last day of "school"

 This year because of Covid-19, the end of the school year seemed really anticlimactic.  The kids didn't get to say goodbye to all of their teachers or friends, we had already been at home all the time, and we couldn't really go out and do anything big because most places were still closed.  So I decided to fork out some money to rent a bounce house!!  I've totally never done this before and I wish I could have invited the whole neighborhood to come share it with us, but we couldn't do that either. Thank you Coronavirus. 

I planned it out that we picked it up early on Friday morning.  We didn't tell the kids where we were going, just that we had an errand to run.  Then when we got back we had to run over to the kid's school to pick up their stuff that they had left at school a few months earlier.  Rob's job was to set the whole thing up in the 10 minutes it took us to go to the school and pick up the kid's stuff.  Ha ha.  Since that was definitely not enough time, I wandered around on the way home.  I drove around the park a couple times, we drove past some friends houses etc.  After a while, the kids got restless and were groaning about feeling car sick and wanting to go home.  So I texted Rob that we were on our way home so he had like 3 minutes to finish up.  :)

We pulled up and the kids couldn't see into the backyard, so they went inside and then discovered the bounce house.  They were very surprised and grateful.  They ran and got swimming suits on and spent the rest of the day outside.  We invited just a few friends over in shifts so that we could share the fun.  It was a VERY fun day and the perfect way to kick off the summer!

We got the bounce house plus the double slide with water.  So much fun.

 The slide was the best part.

 And of course...popsicles!

 Emery really enjoyed hers.

 Riley and Charlotte chilling in the pool.

 So happy the Hatch family could come hang out for a bit.

In the evening, the wind really picked up and we had to take the bounce house down.  And it rained a bit.  I don't think this picture was taken that same day, but it was soon after.  I love the beauty of nature.  

We have the best view right from our yard!

This was definitely a school year to remember and its looking like this next year will be too!  

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Churros from Disneyland

 Because of Covid-19, a lot of places have been sharing fun things for free. Disneyland has shared their churro recipe and a handful of others.  We decided to try the churro recipe one day.  I once had delicious churros with my friend in New York and they came with caramel, chocolate and raspberry dipping sauces.  We melted some chocolate chips to dip our churros in.  It was delicious....not as good as Ney York, but it was a yummy afternoon snack.  WE ate them out in the front yard on a blanket.

 Just look how handsome Zac is!  Even with chocolate on his face.

 They were pretty messy, but totally worth getting messy for!

 Finley was the funnest one to watch eat these. She got chocolate EVERYWHERE!

 Before we dug in.

 So yummy.  I think I want to try these again with more dipping sauces!

Saturday, June 6, 2020

Visit from grandma and grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa came to town!  We love it when they come.  They had to postpone this trip because of Covid-19, but better late than never!  Finley is just in heaven when they are here.  She follows them around and talks their ears off.  It's pretty cute.  My mom always brings fun crafts for the kids to do and helps with lots of projects around the house.  Same with my dad.  He helped cut a hole in our ceiling, fix our oven and he fixed a key on our digital piano that was playing too loud.  They also helped us move a real piano into our house which is always a huge job.  Thank you!!  We love that they help us with things but we also just love to visit with them.  

Finley and Grandma shooting the breeze on the front porch.  

The day they got there we did a primary parade where the primary leaders and teachers drove around to wave at the primary kids in the neighborhood.  Since I'm the music leader, I got to participate.  I rode a bike with a friend at the back of the parade and we threw fruit snacks to the kids.  It was fun to see them.  Here are my kids and grandma and grandpa waiting for the parade to get to them.  

Finley loved trying on grandma and grandpa's glasses.  They had to clean so many fingerprints off of them while they were here. 

We did a chin head concert for my primary kids while they were here.  Thanks for the help!

Grandpa brought his marbles!  Every single time we facetimed with them, Finley would ask him to bring out his marbles and dump them out.  So when he brought them with him, it was a great surprise!

Playing legos is a fun Sunday activity around here.  Or any day activity.  It happens daily. 

My mom is so talented.  She painted these peg people to look like our family.  They turned out so great.  Finley loves playing with them and knows who each of them is supposed to be.

From left to right: Grandma and Gramdpa Kevan, Grandma and Grandpa Selin, Rob, Lindsey, Sadie, Zac Emery, Riley, Finley.  I love how Finley's little head is barely sticking out of the cup.


Our family.  Complete with Rob wearing his Kung Fu outfit.

Grandma and grandpa Selin complete with bowtie.

Grandma and grandpa Kevan complete with wheelchair!  

Uncle Scott sent down this doll house that one of his kids wasn't using anymore.  Thank you!  The kids love it!  Finley would talk whoever she could into playing with it with her.  One time I came downstairs and saw her and grandpa relaxing on these pillows.  So cute!

Grandpa and grandma set up a mystery box adventure for the kids.  They loved it!  Thanks for setting it up!

It first led us to the farm at Gardner Village where the kids got to go on a pony ride!  The farmer that worked there was very friendly and invited the kids to make a smore around the fire.  It was a welcome change from all the social distancing we've been having to do to have someone just welcome us in instead of making sure they were staying away.  It felt good.



The kids had a great time on their ponies. 

Then they had to figure out the next clue.  They really impressed me and figured it out all on their own.  Probably faster than I would have!

Riley and Emery wanted to check out the fairy wings.

So fun.

Rob wanted to be a fairy too.  :)

The kids figured out the next clue and then we saw this duck family.  Why are baby animals so adorable?

The mystery box ended up leading us to Dairy Queen for a yummy treat.  Thank you grandma and grandpa.  It was a fun adventure!

This is one of the crafts my mom brought for the kids to do.  I was impressed because they all got one of these things they had to hand sew together and they all put in the work and did it!  It took a few hours and they all stuck with it and finished it.  I'll have to add pictures of the other kids with theirs.  


My dad is so good at figuring things out.  I learned a few things watching him.  He takes pictures as he goes in case he forgets how to put it back together.  Genius!! Thanks for fixing the piano.  It sounds great now!

Grandma even played Mariokart with the kids.  

Here we are loading up the piano into the truck we rented from Home Depot.  My uncle even came and helped.  That was really nice to have all of the extra hands.  When we returned the truck to Home Depot, we talked to the same guy that rented it to us.  He had given us all the rules and had a fun conversation before we got the piano.  I remember Rob making a joke when he said we couldn't even chew gum in the truck.  So when we returned it the guy went out to check on the condition of the truck to make sure we didn't trash it.  When he came back and said everything looked good Rob said "You didn't find the gum then huh?"  He replied "no, you must have hid that good!"  It was so funny.  I couldn't stop laughing all the way home.  Now it doesn't seem as funny, but it really was.  Guess you had to be there!

My mom painted our front door.  I will have to post picture of it all done.  I love it. 

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Ladybugs

 We found a treasure trove of ladybugs near our peach tree one day.  Finley loved finding them and picking them up if they were walking on a piece of bark, but she did NOT want them to touch her.  Ha ha.  Riley on the other hand was not afraid.  She was holding 8 or 10 of them at a time.  It was fun. 

Then we found this little guy who had no spots!