OtterPops: End of Summer

I have a million things to post on and not a lot of time so you know what they say about pictures being worth a thousand words?? We'll just have to bank on that and bombard you with too many pictures! This list was posted on the side of our fridge to guide our summer schedule. A compilation of everyone's summer wishes and commitments. I can proudly say we accomplished every one of them and even added to them throughout the summer! We stayed local this summer (besides a couple trips up to Dixon to stay with my parents while our kitchen was in the process of being remodeled) and had fun seeing friends, stretching our skills and spending some down time together.

Toward the end of June we had a delivery from IKEA containing all of the materials for our kitchen cabinets. Jared worked evenings and weekends assembling and masterminding the project while the rest of us assisted with demolition, keeping out of the way when necessary, and cooking creatively so we could still eat even when we did not have a functional kitchen or running water. We all survived and although we wore Jared out a little healthwise, we are all enjoying the new functioning kitchen which is, as always, a work in progress. We still need to put up a backsplash, replace the flooring, add the crown molding above the cabinets, etc. BUT we are enjoying it so far. I am especially enjoying the huge drawers. I can fit all my pots/pans and their lids in one huge drawer, all my cooking and baking utensils in another drawer, and all the kitchen gadgets in another drawer. So much better than reaching back in the corner cabinets on your hands and knees!

Kitchen Before

IKEA delivery

Kitchen Demolition

New cabinets

Huge Drawers AKA Heaven!!

One item on our bucket list was Camping which ended up being a lot of fun. I determined we would not go through the effort of camping unless it was at least two nights so we went to a local spot we had been to before. We ended up getting a tent site in between two yurts which made for quiet nights from neighbors, but plenty of kids to play with, a paved circle for the kids to scooter around on and close-by hiking trails. We visited the local reserve for white deer (crazy and unique). Jared worked during the day out of the Watsonville office and joined us in the evenings. Our neighbors also came up to join us for one of the nights. Jared has been reading the "Little House on the Prairie" series to the girls so they acted like they were Laura, Mary, baby Carrie and Jonas was the dog "Jack" while we they played in the tent. We had one unfortunate night involving a very flat air mattress that for Jared and myself and a ton of crying and not sleeping from Jonas but he and I were able to nap the next day to try and recover. We had dutch oven dinner and even acquired a pet Banana Slug that the kids named "Tana" for the duration of the camping trip. She amazingly survived a lot handling and love! They even made her her own habitat. We definitely had a couple potty and scooter accidents but everyone survived amazingly well and it was so much fun to be able to spend some time together! We did not get a picture by our tent because the only 15 minutes it rained the entire trip (the entire summer for that matter) were the 15 minutes that we were collapsing the tent to pack up!! Go figure!

Jared and Girls making s'mores

Seeing the European white deer

Whole Family at our campsite

Making a home for the pet banana slug

Tana, the pet banana slug

Some more Summer Fun!! A trip to the American Girl Doll Store, Sports Camp, Chuck E. Cheese's, Free dinner at Chic-Fil-A, Sleepover on the Trampoline

Dressing up as Cows for free dinner at Chic Fil A

American Girl Doll Store

Kids at American Girl Doll Store

Girls before Sports Camp

Chuck E. Cheese's with friends

Sleepover on Trampoline

Another fun event was our church children's talent show. The kids had fun preparing song performance numbers with their friends and sharing other talents. Lillian had her seascape art piece on display while Jocelyn made some delicious desserts to serve after the talent show. The kids had gone to MAD camp and learned some songs with movements so Jocelyn and our neighbor Sara performed one song while Jonas and Lillian combined with another sibling combo to perform "God is Powerful."

Lillian Seascape art work at talent show

Jocelyn and Sara at Talent Show

Jocelyn and Lillian with Evans at Talent Show

We attempted a trip to Gilroy Gardens with just me taking all 4 kiddos and everyone was pretty good sports! They couldn't go on every ride with the different ages and heights and only one adult but we made the most of it. Even Super Why was visiting that day and we somehow ended up at a spot right when he arrived so we were able to see him without waiting in a huge line. Emma was scared to death and wouldn't go near him, but the rest of the kids were excited. We also made it to the end of summer Library Reading Program party where we earned our books and discovery museum tickets. Yay for reading!
We also had our Church Pioneer Day picnic and moms meet up at the beach. Perfect way to end summer!!