Summer 2026!

Summer started out with bang!  Just kidding.  It was so anti-climatic it kinda freaked me out.  The boys didn't want to do anything.  No bucket list, no trips to the lake, no hosting a party in the backyard.  Nothing.  So I took a picture of Henry and a couple random neighbor friends eating popsicles as they tried to figure out what to do.  I think the friends decided to just go home :)

The next day I got out the slip and slides.  They are so old and barely hanging in there and it takes about 30 minutes of sweaty labor to get them set up.  Henry and Jack helped me, like literally helped me and suddenly my love-hate relationship for the slides was mostly love.  Henry's buddies had never been on them before and they were in heaven so all was well with the world and the start to summer.

Marcus made some travel plans while he was in England so he could travel Europe on the weekends.  His itinerary made me so jealous!  So as I post about our family summer events, there will be random pictures of Marcus visiting various countries.

Day 3 of summer looked like Henry falling asleep on the couch.  That's one tired/bored kid!

Henry and his buddies love tubing and have as the summer has progressed they've gotten brave enough that they actually get tossed in the air and brag about not letting go, even if their arms get nearly pulled out of their sockets. 

While nothing was happening here, Marcus was kayaking in caves in Portugal.

Henry got invited to a whiffle ball-themed birthday party.  They played the boys walk-up songs and they had the best time.  Major Sandlot vibes.

This picture is significant for two reasons: first, Henry is wearing a tie.  We are trying to make him do hard things.  Second, he's eating a Lunchable which all have my boys loved when they were little.  They're not even good but whatever.

A new Ball family tradition: Sunday sandwiches after church.  And they are goooood!

Ethan came home for a week and rented a Tesla.  I guess you can do that for free once a year.  Anyway, they are pretty fun and now I know why I hate Tesla drivers.  They aren't even driving their car!

Ethan was kind enough to let Landon nervously drive the Tesla.  The smiles were big!

We took friends out for a date night on Lake Union and it was pure magic.  We had a delicious dinner at Duke's Seafood and talked for hours,  There is no better place to be in the summer than WA

while we were on our date night, I turned off the internet and told my boys if they wanted dinner they had to get off screens and go swimming at Pine Lake.  This was the photo they sent for proof.  I think it's about the only time all three have them have been together this whole summer!

Henry got more x-rays to check his growth plates.  The 'roids are working!  (That's slang for growth steroids). Henry has grown four inches this year and has moved up from the front row for class pictures to the second row.  So he's short but not the shortest.  All his brothers are jealous of his daily "butt shots."

I happily worked my tail off in the kitchen at the open house for my friends.  It's so awesome when your two best friends have kids that marry each other.  The place was packed!  I wish I'd gotten a picture of all of us working in the kitchen, sampling food (the caramel cheesecake will never be forgotten) as we discussed GLP-1's and peri-menopause. 

Utah!

 We went to Utah.  I realized I couldn't remember the last time I'd been with my people and Landon was on board with the idea (you never know with teenagers) so we drove to Utah the day after school got out.  The timing worked great because the weather wasn't great in WA and most of the cousins were around.  It was a quick trip and we wasted no time playing hard.

Pit stop at grandma great's house/pool

Henry living his best road-tripping life

Lagoon with the boys

After Henry warmed up on some kiddie rides we quickly moved on to everything else.  

Henry rode on every roller coaster he was allowed on, even Wicked!  He's a brave kid!

Ethan stopped by on his way home from work.  He's a dental assistant and works at different offices/locations.  And he destroyed Landon in the arm wrestle.

Henry always has fun playing with the Ditto cousins who are closer to his age

We ditched family to hang out with our friends from WA. The kids swam hard while I talked and talked with my friend.  Always my favorite pastime. 

You know vacations are exhausting when this happens :)

During all this, I also managed to buy a used car for Marcus.  He's a smart kid and figured out his Aunt April has a gift for finding great used cars so with her help, we were able to pull this off.  It's a great car and Marcus loves it.  His summer sales paid for it, not me.  

Beating the heat with the cousins at a pool and yes, I actually swam.

Henry and I tried to teach the younger cousins how to play badminton.  We've got some un-athletic cousins!  Henry was getting so frustrated and it was hilarious :)

Human slingshot is always a good time until someone gets hurt

I squeezed in a quick lunch with my high school friends and of course we forgot to get a pic with everyone.  You always think you'll be friends forever but it's pretty great when you actually are.

I took the boys to Music and the Spoken Word.  They've never been in the Conference Center before.  Everyone loved it but Henry.  

We did a little exploring and saw one of my most favorite paintings.  The clouds are actually angels.

I loved this new statue outside the Relief Society building of the Five Wise Virgins with their lamps

Henry can't even remember when the temple wasn't under construction

It was a quick trip and squeezed in a lot of people and a lot of fun!

Last day of School 2025!

School is finally over!  Snow storms and a bomb cyclone meant lots of canceled days of school so the last day of school was June 24th and it feels like it was just yesterday.  Henry is done with 1st grade, Parker finished 6th grade and was thrilled I let him miss the last day, and I didn't get a picture of Landon because he was taking a final.  Yes, a final on the very last day of his freshman year.  Our school district has got some nerve.  

We've been playing hard ever since and this is the first summer in the history of our family that I didn't create any sort of summer job chart system.  I have no regrets.  The boys aren't even doing piano lessons.  We are making the most of our 8 weeks of summer with big hopes that when it's time to go back to school (in exactly one month from today) we will actually want to be there.  It will take a miracle!

And this is Marcus who was sweating to death in the humidity of Florida as he crushed it doing summer sales.  The tan line from his hat is still strong.  Poor guy.  Ethan has been playing hard and working in Logan all summer as a dental assistant.

Three Weeks with Marcus

We had three short weeks with Marcus home from his mission before he left for BYU.  We played so hard!  We ended up spending the first couple days he was home with the Walker family.  Their son Jacob returned from Brazil the day before Marcus.  As soon as Marcus was released from being a missionary, we went to lunch at his favorite place, Q-Doba, then took him to see Jacob.  They were basically inseparable after that.  I think they both loved having someone else to help them navigate all the weird feelings of being home.  They worked out together, saw friends, got caught up on movies, and played hard.  They both spoke in sacrament meeting together (Marcus gave a great talk about how his mission was the best decision he'd ever made and how God is in the details of our lives) and we held a joint homecoming party at the Walker's house.  So many people showed up and there was a ton of good food and of course swimming on the lake.

Q-Doba and his first meal at "home"

We were on Lake Sammamish with the Walkers within few hours of Marcus' return.

The next day we were on Lake Washington watching the Blue Angels.  It's the best day of the year in Seattle.  Randy also managed to get pulled over not once but twice by the Coast Guard police.  Luckily we weren't given a ticket.  I think the cops were sure that a boat with 17 people in it must have some serious partying going on.  

The first of two police after they pulled us over

Dad and Kathy came for Marcus' homecoming talk

We squeezed in a temple trip after boating and before dinner and the homecoming party. 

The only picture of the homecoming party

Elder Snell, Marcus's bestie from Utah was serving here and got permission to hear Marcus speak

Marcus's first nap after the mission.  He was out cold for a few hours.

This is the bear rug that greeted him when he came home.  The boys love to accessorize him.

And this is the disaster area of my bedroom as Marcus unpacked and re-packed for college

These boys are besties and hung out whenever we weren't with Marcus

We played so hard that the only person willing to go to the Mariners game with Randy was Landon.  They had fun and the rest of us had fun not being there.