hello july

It has been my plan to send the kids to camp/VBS every other week. So far it is working out pretty well. They get time with the family and then when everyone is sick of each other, we get a little break. They have one more VBS next week. I'm not sure I've told them about it. It's fine. I plan on bribing them if there's a fuss. All four are signed up. Let's all cross our fingers Angus agrees to go. As long as they don't turn off the lights in the worship center I think he'll be okay.

It's been a while since I've posted. Summer is a busy time man. Camp aftermath is extreme. I think it's mainly girls but I could be wrong. I've talked to boy moms and they don't have an issue with crying and nonsense and the world coming to an end. Girl moms all have some good stories. It's fine. I'm not complaining. The girls had a blast. This was last Saturday.

The expression 'dead asleep' must come from kids when they get back from camp. 

Can you find Addie?

This pair ❤️

Addie is all in when she does anything. She always gets fully suited up in the house before we head out to the pool. 

❤️

Park visit.

Mya washed the car.

Auntie Scarleth came to visit!

Our friends took the big girls to a near-by community pool with them. We've never been. But I hear the slide is amazing. And they have a snack bar.

Otter turned 11 this week! Happy birthday old girl. She's finally just started to mellow out.

We went to the Kidspace Museum free day for the first and last time. The kids had fun but there were way too many people there. But a lady in line for the tricycles with me made a good point. She said, "Hey I'll take free crowded Kidspace over Disneyland any day." I agreed. I bought them ice creams from a guy with a little cart to keep them from whining in the big line to get in. There were lines for everything. Winter didn't get to go because Dan had to perform a splinterectomy. She had a birthday party the day before and a play date that morning so I didn't feel too bad about it. Mya made sure to tell her just how much fun it was, however. 

Winter's play date polaroids. 

The best ways to avoid me yelling at bickering children is to get out of the house, or invite people over. So that's pretty much what we've been doing lately. Next week all the kids go to another VBS. I have plans to get rid of toys while they're there. Not their favorites of course.

We invaded the Higerds for the fourth of July. I love the 4th. It's one of my favorite holidays. BBQ food, sun, swimming, fireworks. Love it all. 

I really wanted a dramatic pic of the kids looking up at our flag. But the sun was too bright. So I told them to look up and then close their eyes. It definitely has potential.

Meowrica.

Angus started dancing around because he had to go pee. There weren't bathrooms anywhere nearby so I told him to go pee in the ocean. His reply was, WHATT?! I guess he's never done that before. He reluctantly walked to the water, pulled down his pants, held his little weenie and started to pee. But then the waves started coming toward him and he got scared so he turned around and ran toward the people sitting on the beach, pants around his ankles, hands in the air. Relizing I should have been more specific, I walked over and pulled up his pants and told him to leave them on when he pees in the ocean. His response again was WHATT?! 

I love me some fireworks. Angus complained the whole time.

If I have to "make dinner" for company or take someone dinner, I love this stuff from Costco. It's a crowd-pleaser for sure. Dan's not big on pasta and the kids like their pasta pretty plain so I rarely get to eat it. But when I do, it's a party for my taste buds. (Find it in the frozen section)

Another Costco fave. I throw these in the car in case I forget to eat breakfast or lunch, which happens way more than you'd think. And the kids like the peanuts and cashews. Not almonds. I think that's more of a grownup nut.

My new addiction. Wordscapes. It's a free game app that I finally downloaded after lots of ads on Facebook... or was it Instagram? Either way, it worked and I'm hooked. I like it because it's mindless. It's perfectly challenging. And when I get stuck, I call Mya over and she always helps me. It's basically a crossword puzzle with the provided 6 letters. There's no time limit and no limit to wrong guesses. I'm sure everyone has already seen or played this. But I'm always a little behind. I play it in the morning to wake up my brain while drinking my coffee, at the park, during commercial breaks, and when I want to look busy in case I come in contact with a talkative weird stranger at the car wash or something. 

It's a happy lovely Saturday in SoCal. I've had enough of these little earthquakes though, thank you very much.