Summer Chp. 3 - Summer Camp Fun

One of the great things about summer is

the kids can do things

they don't normally get to in the school year.

This year they went to:

Cub Scout Camp

BB guns and archery were again the highlight!

Greg was able to spend a whole day with them

and the boys were SO happy for it.

They love their DAD!

Art Camp

The kids participated in an art camp

along with their friends Avery, Paige and Grace.

Parker loved it

and was really proud

of the work he did.

Although, Lowden said he wanted to go to art camp,

he decided afterwards that

in the future

he would prefer...

pottery camp.

Lauren was a creating machine!

Bennett came to the final art show

all ready for his turn.

"Not this year, you cute thing!"

Writer's Camp

The boys also participated in a writing camp through the Young Writer's Association.

The theme was "Sea Dawgs and Water Gypsies!"

They made ships in a bottle,

wrote sea stories,

acted in a group written play,

set out on a canoeing adventure,

carved sea symbols in soap,

and

made porcelain treasures.

But, their favorite part was the swashbuckling!

On Guard!

Not shown here:

Cheerleading Camp

Swim Lessons

Science Camp

Basketball Camp

We did have lots of lazy days too. But active kids are happy kids and fight-less-with-each-other kids.

Belated 4th of July Post

We went to Grandpa and Grandma's house to celebrate independence day!  They had a fun spread for us. 

The kids enjoyed cooking hot dogs over the fire...

and roasting marshmallows.  Bennett was especially proud of himself!

The kids played with their cousins. 

The boys pretended to eat and drink for the camera.

 

They enjoyed ice cream cones with Grandpa.

I took pictures of my kids...

and their cousins.

I held "my baby"!  It was really nice of Rachel to birth her and all that.  But, when I am with her, she's mine! ♥

The kids enjoyed the sparklers Greg lit for them...

while I enjoyed playing with the shutter speed setting on my camera!

I always have loved celebrating the 4th of July and it's wonderful to relive that through my kids' eyes!

Olympic Track and Field Trials

 

We felt very lucky that our town hosted the Olympic Trials for Track and Field.  We took an opportunity one night to partake in the excitement surrounding this event!

 

Parker and Lauren worked really hard to get themselves into great shape.

 

Bennett was excited to try out his X-Training skills.

 

Lowden challenged a bunch of girls to a dance off.

Lauren was able to show off some of track and field skills.

We didn't buy tickets to go inside the event.  But, we were able to walk all around the stadium.  They had all kinds of booths and activities set up for kids and adults alike.

We watched some of the main events from the jumbo screen.

It was a super great night!  We are looking forward to going to it again in four years!

End of June Summary

We took a day to go to Neptune Beach with some friends. We call it "Tadpole Beach" because we always see tadpoles there. It is one of our favorite beaches on the Oregon coast. We love that it is one of the more sheltered beaches and Cummins Creek runs through it. The creek is warmer than the ocean so the kids like to play in it!

Lauren and Lowden convinced their friends to help bury them in sand.

Bennett made friends with a lifeless sea star.

We also started swim lessons. The kids were all really excited about taking them again. We only did a few weeks last summer due to Parker's accident. Lauren and Parker were happy to be in the same class together.

Bennett had a great time in his Tots class.

Lowden learned how to do a bunch of different strokes was really enjoying it! The highlight for him was learning to dive in the pool.

Lowden's lesson was a half hour after the other kids' lessons. So, he would bring a book daily to read. He's been really into the Hardy Boys books this summer. So, he's reading his book and he says loudly, "Yessss!!!" It was so loud it took me by surprise so I asked, "What?" He said, "THIS BOOK was printed on recycled paper. THIS BOOK may have been important business documents before." I had to smile...I guess the Oregon recycling craze is wearing off on him.

So, an hour later in the car, I hear Lowden say to Parker, "Do you want to know what's cool?! THIS BOOK was printed on recycled paper!" Lowden, the poster child of recycling!

Lauren attended a cheerleading camp at the local high school with her friend, Aly, and her cousins, Olivia and Morgan. She had a great time and got a Cheerleading T-Shirt. It's been hard getting her to wear any other shirt ever since!☺

Lauren has also been helping me with my photography course by being a willing smiler. I get out the camera around the boys and they say, "No! You are going to blog it!" Geez.

While Lauren was at cheer camp, my four boys went to the lake with Martin, Christian, Grandpa Kent, and Grandma Ludene. I sadly have no pictures to share. But I do have some funny tidbits.

When the boys got back, Parker was asking for some ice cream. I said "Knowing grandma, I bet you had some dessert at the lake." He hedged on this for a little bit and then said, "All right!! I had 6 Oatmeal Creme Pies and two chocolate things with vanilla swirl. I only ate 3 good things- 1 grape, 1 carrot, and 1 sandwich." Then, I hear Lowden say from across the room, "I had 7 Creme Pies!"

Then, the next day, we were driving to church and Bennett says "I jumped off a rock!" Surprised at that comment, I said "What?" And, then Parker said "It wasn't very high. Well, I did too....I got WAY up. I wasn't supposed to tell you that!" Can you see why I'm such a nervous momma?!

We ♥ Grandpa Bob

(I'm still doing some catch up blogging.)

When the school year ended, Grandpa Bob came to visit.  Lowden, Parker, Lauren, and Greg were happy to show him the intricacies of laser tag.

They went in excited and emerged smiling and out of breath.  I think it was a success! 

Bennett and I played air hockey...

and a few ticket games.

On June 21st, Lowden and Parker played the last game of the baseball season. The coach gave them an opportunity to do a position they hadn't had a chance to before.  Parker really wanted to try pitching.  I love his form!  It was probably the highlight of the season for Parker.

Lowden got to play catcher and Greg volunteering to be the umpire.  I think they all had fun!  Although, there were some ruffled feathers when daddy had to call Parker out near the end of the game.  It's not easy being the umpire and the daddy.

On Sunday, we strolled over to the park by the river.

It was a really nice day!  We really enjoyed having Grandpa here to visit!  We love you dad! ♥

Parker Got Braces

On June 16th, Parker got braces. Here are the before and after pictures! Lowden, having experienced the metal-mouth phenomenon, gave Parker these wise words: "You know what the best thing about braces is? The girls hound you for days afterwards."

Who knew?