Hunger Games

Tayson finished reading Hunger Games.  It's a long book so it took him a few months  but as a reward he earned $37 ($10 for every 100 pages) and I took him to go see the movie.  He loved the movie and I am so proud of him for reading the book.  I was also very happy that he knew what was going on in the movie and would say things like "isn't this when .... happens?" Then we would talk about why movies are sometimes different.  Way to go finishing the book kiddo!

 

Final Swim Meet

The boys both swam in the bronze meet.  We got there and they warmed up for a half hour then just like last year a storm blew in and we had over an hour of waiting time because of lightning.  We took the kids over to the school playground while we waited in the rain.  Then the meet started.  I couldn't believe how hot it was the minute the rain stopped.  Tayson swam free, fly and breast stroke.  Luke swam free, back and breast stroke.  Tayson was heat winner for both free and fly and got DQ'd for doing 2 underwater kicks at the start (which we didn't know was a rule).  Luke did great in his free and was leading the back until he hit the side and took a close 2nd in his heat.  He got DQ'd on his breast stroke too for his arms going below his belly button.  Almost every kid swimming got disqualified in the breast stroke - the guy was brutal if you ask me.  I was a bit annoyed that they weren't consistent throughout the summer but I respect the judges in the end.  

 

Luke after warm ups

Tayson after warm ups

Playing at the park in the rain

Claire

Ready for his first race - 25 m freestyle

Luke on the platform

Sophie having some liquid cheese with nachos while she cheers on the boys

After the race - he is so cute

Tayson and Ryan waiting for their first races

Look how far ahead Tayson is!

Heat winner - hilarious picture.

After the butterfly

Claire playing in the pool while waiting for the boys to swim

Sophie fell sound asleep before the meet ended

Tayson in the breaststroke

She is the cutest thing ever!

Tayson's times:

50 Freestyle

seed time: 53:41

race time: 46:22

2nd place overall

25 Butterfly

seed time: 34:01

final time: 30:31

6th overall

Luke's times:

25 Freestyle

seed time: 35:96

final time: 31:35

12th overall

25 Backstroke

seed time: 28:94 (this would have been first overall)

final time: 31:06

3rd overall 

Drive-In Movies

Several of my friends posted about taking their kids to the drive-in movies and we thought it would be a fun family outing.  We were not disappointed.  The kids had a blast.  We popped popcorn, bought drinks and candy and packed lots of pillows and blankets.  We saw Brave then left before the Avengers because it was getting too late for the kids.  Sophie was asleep before the movie ended and the boys were sound asleep before we drove out of the parking lot at 11:00 pm but Claire stayed awake until we got home.  She is such a night owl.  What a fun summer outing.  We need to make this a tradition. 

Double Date

Todd and I went on a double date with Timmy and Megan.  We went to dinner then bowling then out for ice cream.  It was so much fun and I broke 100 both games.  This is a really big deal for me.  I usually get around 60.  

 

 Then when we went out for ice cream Timmy told us the best story.  One time when they went to JCW's for shakes Megan ordered the "hot fudge raspberry cherry oreo shake".  HA HA HA.  I love her!!

The Flood

I decided to water the garden before work and when I turned on the hose there wasn't much pressure so I went over to turn it up then noticed the second hose on the splitter was turned on.  I flipped the switch then went to see where the hose was.....it was in the window sill and had been on all night!!!  I grabbed the hand pump and started pumping out the water (you can see the water line on the concrete that I did by hand) then called Todd.  He said to call David so I called him and he borrowed a neighbors electric pump and came over.  I thought how lucky I was that the window didn't break.  However when we got the water out I noticed the window sill paint wasn't looking so good.  We walked down there and the basement was totally flooded.  UGH!  I called Todd back and he called 911 restoration who came over within an hour to get things drying.  David, Steve, Eric and I got all the furniture out of the room while we waited.  It took a few days for the basement to dry out.  Timmy's old room is the worst (all the walls and the carpet were damaged) and half of the playroom.  Luckily for us our homeowners insurance covered most of it.  

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Grandma was here on her birthday so we got to have a fun celebration.  After hiking the Y we had birthday pancakes for lunch.  We love birthday pancakes with the works - strawberries, whip cream, homemade syrup, sprinkles and candle.  The kids had the works too - except the candle that is. 

 

That night Amy, Todd and the kids came over and we had a bar-b-que then finished with birthday cake.  We sure did love celebrating grandma's birthday with her!

Hiking the Y

While Jan was here with the whole family she really wanted to hike the Y - it's a bucket list item and this was perfect timing.  So for her birthday we headed up the mountain.  The kids were great as long as we stopped at every switchback for them to drink and have a candy.  Sophie walked the entire way up and back - she's getting way too big for me!  She was also hilarious and kept telling me she had to stretch her legs and she would just put one foot in front of her then change.  Classic Soph.    

Most of the kids at the base of the hike.  Don't they look excited?

Off we go

The whole group at the start of the hike

Taking a quick break

Here we are on the Y - we all made it!!

The girls

Hooray!!  Check it off the list!

The boys at the top of the Y

Freedom Run

I didn't run the Freedom Festival 5K this year but Amy & Todd did and so did Trent and his brother Kevin.  I went to the race to run with Amy but never found her but I did see lots of other friends and loved being a part of it.  I just ran up and down University Ave. looking for people I know and running a few blocks with them.  Maybe next time I should actually run the race.

Sidewalk of Fire

Every year our neighborhood puts on a huge party for the 4th - but never on the 4th of July.  This year it was AMAZING!!  Todd's mom and sister came in town to play with us too! 

The party starts with carnival games - I worked the ball throw with my dad.  Everything is free - the kids had cotton candy, got their faces painted, won lots of silly little toys and had a blast for a few hours.  Then they do a kids parade when it is just starting to get dark.  Next was the most amazing neighborhood firework show you've ever seen.  I mean really it was as good as most city firework shows.  Then the DJ put on some dancing tunes and Sophie went wild dancing in the middle of the road.  I couldn't get her to go home because she wanted to dance so much.  It was hilarious.  She was even pulling out Luke's hip hop moves.