July 2011

This month was dedicated to kid's activities. We started the month with a celebration of the independence of our country. We went to my parents' house for a yummy BBQ. Mom made the food, I made the drinks, and we brought fireworks from Wyoming for the entertainment. It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time with them. My favorite comment was made by my dad. We were using a bunch of matches and couldn't get some of the sparklers to light. My dad went into his shop and came back with a blowtorch. He said, "Why use matches when you can use a blowtorch!" So classic, and it worked!


The very next day, E left for her fourth year hike at girl's camp. It went from Tuesday through Friday and they hiked 20 miles in the mountains. They ended by coming back to the main camp and breaking a board with their hands, just like in karate. They decorated the board with obstacles on the front and goals on the back. E was so scared that she wouldn't be able to break the board, because she has weak wrists. She went into it with a great attitude and broke the board in half on the first try! It was a great experience that helped her believe in her ability to accomplish hard things.


The next week began a summer job for both E and M. They were asked to watch two big boxers for three weeks, with one week of it actually staying at the house and taking care of that too. They cleaned the house, walked the dogs and watered the plants, inside and out. I was so impressed with how hard they worked. Poor T was exhausted though, because any night that they weren't both there, he had to stay over. I have an amazing husband, who is an amazing father and knows how important it is to support your kids through "their" jobs.

Harry Potter has been a part of my kids lives ever since they were babies. The series of books was the major motivator for my dyslexic children to read. We have watched all the movies and own them too, so when we heard that the final movie was opening this month, we knew we had to make it a big deal. When the final book came out, we dressed up and went to all the events, ending with buying the book at midnight. For this one, we started the week watching each of the movies in order, one a night. We ended with having a Harry Potter style banquet and going to the midnight opening, in 3D. I even managed to stay up late and go with them! We had witches' cauldrons for dinner, with fudge covered treacle tarts. We had Bertie Bott's beans, Droobles, Chocolate Frogs, Licorice wands, Fizzie Whizzes, and even Lemon Drops in honor of Dumbledore. The kids all dressed up, but we weren't even the most decked out. It was a party of a night, especially at the theater and we will never forget it!


Next M went on his first all week long scout camp. T again went and helped out by staying over one night. M got his swimming, archery and environmental science merit badges, getting him what he needed for his Life award. He also got bug bites and second degree sunburns, plus a nice case of homesickness. He was glad he went, but was even more glad to be home.


In our final week of the month, E went on a pioneer reenactment trek in Wyoming. She dressed in pioneer clothes that my wonderful mom made and pulled a handcart for 36 miles in central Wyoming. E was voted the "Best Dressed Pioneer" Award! This was a wonderful experience for her and helped her connect to her great, great, great grandmother who did this when she came to this country from England. She came back again with the conviction that she could accomplish anything, but wouldn't want to have been a pioneer.

We also witnesses an amazing site this month. We have had a lot of rain and thunderstorms and B noticed that we had a rainbow. Not only did we have a rainbow, but it was a complete double rainbow over our cul de sac. It was truly beautiful and awe inspiring!

We finished the month with M playing in a basketball tournament with a few of his friends. It was a fun, and active way to finish out the month for him.

B finished the month by being taken to see Winnie the Pooh with our friend M. She has been very good friends with our M since 4th grade and has developed a special relationship with B. It was so nice of her to spend the day with her and B absolutely adores her!

Overall it was a crazy, active month and the summer has flown by. I can't believe that school starts in a week! Where did it all go?