It's Summer!

But it sure doesn't feel like it because it's so cold!  It's a cool 67 degrees inside the house right now because I refuse to turn on the heat.  But it's kind of nice that the kids can play outside all day long without melting.  I even took/dragged the boys on a bike ride the other day, smack in the middle of the afternoon just because we could.  The Utah girl in me will never take for granted an opportunity to play outside in the summer when I don't melt into a big puddle of sweat.

Anyway, school ended and I did something I've never done before.....I threw a neighborhood party to celebrate summer.  It was a BYOSC Party {Bring Your Own Shaving Cream}.  I invited all our neighbors who have kids and only one family (the Mormons next door) could come.  So I invited another family to join us and we had a great time eating pizza and snacks before making a huge shaving cream mess in the yard.  It was fun and I'm considering making it a tradition to add to our other last-day-of-school traditions of rainbow pancakes for breakfast and ice cream sandwiches after the bus stop. 

 Last summer was a bad one due to the whole pregnancy/newborn thing.  The boys spent countless hours in front of the TV and I couldn't do much about it.  But it was bad.  And long.  And made us all really happy when school started.  So this summer I have been stressing about how to make it a great summer even if we aren't doing a whole lot and even if I have a baby that needs two naps a day and a teenager who is too old to do things with the family without throwing major attitude.  I told the boys about their new summer schedule of jobs/piano practicing/reading/exercise and they were furious.  I tried to get them to help me come up with a summer bucket list and they would have none of it.  Basically they were anticipating a summer of screen time and spending as little time together as possible and I quickly informed them the horrible summer of 2017 would never be repeated.  A couple hours later I locked all the boys out of the house.  I was mad.  They were mad.  Landon told me I was ruining his life.  The next day was almost as bad.  Ethan told me this was the worst summer EVER!  But I persevered and made a few changes.  I threw in 1 hour of screen time in the afternoon IF their jobs are done and IF the kitchen is clean and IF they are being good.  Oh, and they are only allowed a snack at 10:00 and 3:00.  GAME CHANGER!  I knew I was onto something good when the moment I announced it I almost had a mutiny on my hands.  Landon instantly started to cry.  Apparently limiting their access to the kitchen was hitting below the belt and it made me so happy.  Now I don't have to constantly clean the kitchen or nag someone to do it and the boys stay out of my way or I put them to work.  It's lovely.  I haven't locked anyone outside except that one time, been yelled at, or had to hide in my closet so that's a serious win.  But I'm giving most of the credit to our next door neighbors.  This is the first time since Okinawa that my kids have had friends they can play with at the drop of a hat and it sure makes it great that their mom doesn't allow any screen time so my kids think I'm pretty generous for allowing them their one hour. 

Ethan made matching bracelets for him and Henry to wear.  It's amazing what he can do when he doesn't watch TV!

We've spent some time at Pine Lake where the boys swim/kayak/paddle board while I follow Henry around while he eats dirt.  It's so boring.  But at least I don't have to put on a swim suit so that a major thumbs up.

Landon and Parker have discovered the freedom of the kayak.  Pretty soon they're going to paddle off into the sunset and I'll be turned in to social services.

 Henry is my entertainment at the lake.

The tradition of biking for sushi and donuts lives on.  Unfortunately a couple miles into the ride Landon's chain kept falling off his bike so after lots of tears, yelling, and drama, we turned around and went home.  Then I drove everyone to the store and gave Ethan a little hug for being so patient with Landon.  And Wednesday's are $5 sushi days so this will be a weekly tradition.

I forced everyone to go on a Sunday walk with me through a nearby preserve that we've never been to.  It was gorgeous and my boys could probably be heard for miles around as they yelled, wrestled, broke tree branches, sang songs, whined, teased, and even had fun.  And they wonder why they never see any wild life.  They're so loud they scare it away!  Parker held my hand on the steep parts and told me all about the things he's looking forward to doing in kindergarten.  Made my heart melt.

 I dropped Marcus and his friend off at EFY, a week-long church camp.  I loved that they both brought their stuff in garbage bags because why not?  Marcus is having a great time and I can't wait to hear all about it.  I have a feeling if I blink he'll be all grown up and graduating.