June Post: Summer Fun

 I don't know blogger sometimes uploads pictures chronologically forwards and sometimes backwards. This time, it did backwards, so we will review the month of June in reverse. 

During the last week of June, Hannah attended a theater music camp where she performed some Taylor Swift songs. During that week, Hailey had martial arts camp. Nathan, you and I spent the mornings at home cleaning and playing board games. On Friday of that week, we tried to have fun without using a lot of money. We used up a lot of gift cards, like the one from Pluckers that we all got during the baseball game that we attended the week before...but about that later. 

We bought a membership to the Thinkery back in December and we have not had a chance to go back since then. We've used the membership at many other science/children's museums, but just not the Thinkery. 

You kids always love playing at the park next to the Thinkery, so we made sure we got there early to do so. 

After lunch, we visited the Austin aqua dome for the first time ever and saw some really neat looking exotic fish. We were hoping to see an axolotl, but they didn't carry them. Then, we went to see Hannah's show (but we were not allowed to take pictures, so we don't have anything to show here.) 

Nathan, if people asked you what your dream day of fun would be, it would look like this: 

We had 4 mornings to ourselves and I asked you if you wanted to do anything special. You just wanted to stay home to read and play board games. We had long mornings to spend playing the more complicated games that we just don't typically have the time to do. 

We went to a Round Rock express game with our church. We got a party pavilion and got to watch the game while kids got to run around and play. It was children's day, so they also had blow ups and a rock wall for the kids to climb. At the end of the game, the kids even got to run the field! 

Auntie Momo visited with Justin for a few days in June. We went on a hike around the trails one morning and saw all of these muscat grapes ripe along the trails. 

The hike got hot, someone was not happy. 

The next morning, you 3 kids brought buckets, went out by yourselves, and collected all of these grapes for jelly making. Who knew that the acidity of the juice irritates skin with prolonged contact. Hailey your and my fingers felt like pins and needles for a day before it got better, but the grape jelly that we made was totally worth it. 

We also visited Wonderspaces, an interactive art installation. Afterwards, we went and got yummy dumplings. 

Artificial Intelligence drawing Auntie Momo. 

Virtual reality. 

In martial arts, Hailey, you earned your first club star patch to put on your uniform. You had to do 25 jumping jacks to earn this. 

VBS went well. I was put in charge of games again this year and since the church was getting renovations done, we had to bring the games outside in 90-95 degree weather. The good part was that we were able to play some games that involved water, which we usually can't do in an air conditioned gym, but we survived. You 3 as participants had fun. You 3 got to spend most of your day in a nice, air-conditioned environment and did crafts, experiments, and learned about God. 

After we got back from Chicago (which we will talk about at the end of the post) I had to teach for a week. While I worked, you 3 attended camp. On Friday after camp, we went and got bubble tea! Ya'll started talking about how a kid threw up that day from being too hot and then Nathan ended up throwing up all of his bubble tea in the car. Eew. Lesson learned. 

It's been a hot summer! We've had multiple days where the heat index has reached over 110 degrees. One of our favorite things to do is to eat large slices of watermelon to cool off. They are good this year too! 

Chicago Trip 

We took a quick trip to Chicago to visit the family. The Orlando cousins were there the same time we were, so we got to spend some quality time with them. We did work together and finished this puzzle over the course of the week. 

We got lots of great-grandparent hugs. 

And spent lots of time at the lake. Paddle boating, kayaking, fishing, and playing by the beach are among the favorite past times there. 

You all spent hours just scooping water from the lake and pouring it down a chute you all dug in the sand. 

One day, we went to Santa's village, which is old-timey amusement parks for kids. Nathan is probably at the upper limit of who would have fun there. Hailey, you loved this spaceship ride, which is much like the Dumbo ride at Disney, which you enjoyed a lot. The weather was hovered in the 70s, which was perfect for a day at the park. 

Another morning we went to the Brookfield zoo and they had...... 

Sea lions!!!

One afternoon, we went mini-golfing as a big family. We had to split into 3 teams because we had so many people. 

We visited Uncle Timmy's house and we made s'mores by his fire pit. We were all wearing hoodies, which at the time of writing, is 104 degrees and completely inconceivable! 

That wraps up the Chicago Trip. Now rewind to the brief weekend between school getting out and leaving for our trip. 

Hailey and Hannah are always using random objects destined for the recycling bin or trash and making useless wonderful creations with them. The latest was this mask and a candy dispenser. 

One day Nathan woke up and wanted to make pancakes for everyone. You looked up the recipe yourself, and made a whole big batch for the whole family...all by yourself. 

Hannah got into the burpee club and the splits club in martial arts. 

Hailey had a playdate with a friend from your class (from last year). We met up at an indoor playground and ya'll picked up with the playing like you were old pals. 

I just had to take this picture of all 3 of you playing so nicely. This RARELY every happens. It is always 2 kids playing together, but all 3 were fully invested in the world of stuffed hamsters named after fruity desserts. 

Before the weather got too hot, we would sometimes go bike riding in the mornings. Hailey, you are now big enough to ride the bike attached to dad's bike. 

Hailey, with the help of an app, you can now brush your teeth all by yourself! 

EPIC came for an end-of year celebration and we had a goofy afternoon with our friends at church. 

You 2 asked me to take this picture of the 2 of you. 

Before school got out, we had a week where it was just you and me. I asked you what you wanted to do the most, and you said to eat shrimp from the caterpillar restaurant (conveyor belt sushi). So we did. 

We have a July post to make and that will catch us up for now. This next school year should be hopefully less crazy, but who knows. We just enjoy every minute and praise God along the way. 

Until next time, 

Love, 

Mom