OMSI Fun

I have been promising the kids we would go to OMSI, but our days got so busy we were unable to go until TODAY!! We started out in the new Video Game exhibit, which is mostly a hands on place to play games from over the years! From there we went to the Narnia exhibit which was fun, the few photos I took are from Narnia! We then visited the critter section where we saw rats, frogs, stick bugs and more. Then the kids built dams and wandered around the other upstairs exhibits. We had lunch outside and then played in the ball room for quite a while. We ended up staying about three hours and had so much fun I think we will go back when some more people can meet us there!

Pool Party

Adrienne has been house sitting for her grandparents out in the country. On Monday she invited us over for a pool party! We had fun splashing and diving and even picking some raspberries! It was supposed to be the warmest day of the week, getting up to 75 or so. I don't think it made it out of the 60's while we were there, but we still had a great time!

Happy Birthday Husband Dear!!

On the 12th we celebrated Richard's birthday! After much negotiating with his boss, he got the day off from work! He was able to go with us to Joseph's soccer camp which Joseph was thrilled about. In the afternoon he took advantage of a Massage gift certificate he had rec'd for Father's Day. He came home very relaxed after 90 minutes of massage time! When he got home he opened some gifts, he got a Chinook RC Helicopter, a certificate for a gun class he has been wanting to take and a gift certificate to LL Bean.

Adrienne made Richard a yummy chocolate cake with cherry frosting and I took him out for a nice Sushi dinner that evening. I think he had a nice day. We all enjoyed having Richard home all day

Safety Town, Clay Camp, and Soccer...oh my!

I saved up last Spring so that the littles could do some fun activities over the summer through the Parks and Rec department. The last week of June, Joseph got to participate in Safety Town, which was three hours each morning. They learned safety, safety, safety...learning how to ask before approaching strange dogs, bus safety, fire safety, pedestrian safety, they worked on memorizing their addresses and phone numbers, they got to ride around in go carts and learned how to call 911 in case of emergency. Through a simulator that was provided, they talked to an actual operator and learned to stay calm and report the problem. Joseph had a great time every single day. On Friday we got to go to a celebration at the end of the day where the safety kids got to present all the things they had been learning. I took all the kids and they got to play in a police car as well as in "Safety Town".

After picking Joseph up each day we headed over to Shadywood Park to have a quick lunch and then headed over to Annalina's Clay Camp. She got to spend 3 hours each day creating with clay, including throwing on the wheel. She made many fun pots and a plate of food she hand crafted. She came home covered in clay smears and dust and had a wonderful time! I was so glad they got to participate in these classes this summer!

We had a week off then Joseph had Soccer Camp! He went every day from 11-12. Some days the kids played at the park while he played soccer, other days they rode bikes and scooters, and a couple days we just sat and watched. It was fun!

We have this week off and then Joseph will have Track Camp where he is hoping to learn to run faster than Jacob! Annalina will have volleyball camp and with her height, she should do fabulously!

We will have a few weeks of quiet time and then Richard and I will take the littles on our annual camping trip to Fort Stevens. It has been a busy, full summer so far, but I am glad the kids are out doing things and having fun!

Summer Sisters

My friend Lori is in town for the summer. She and her family moved to the Boise area a few years ago but she is here working for the summer and brought along her two cute little girls, Claire who is 7 and Grace who is 3 and a half. We have had them in our home 10 hours a day from the beginning of June. When Adrienne first met them, she dubbed them the Summer Sisters and it has stuck! They will be with us through the first week of August and we are enjoying having playmates over on a daily basis.

We have enjoyed LOTS of playtime at the park, many trips to the library, bike rides, swimming and playing with the huge assortment of Playmobile toys we have. We have also taken advantage of free lunches and local schools and parks. We also got to watch the Fourth of July fireworks in banks with them! It has been a fun summer so far!!

Going Cellular

I had a cell phone about a decade ago. Back when they were SO expensive and could only be used for phone calls. It was never charged, or lost, or leaving 3 hour messages on my voicemail(you know, those accidental booty dials). It just wasn't worth it and I had NO problem canceling THAT contract!! I have recently been contemplating getting a cell phone so I could more easily be in contact with my daughter Adrienne. It also seemed like a good idea in case of emergencies, etc. Well I finally took the plunge a couple of weeks ago and ordered a droid phone with Virgin Mobile. Its a great deal and I have found that I absolutely love my new phone! I text Adrienne quite often, its a fun way to keep in touch. I text Richard occasionally to find out how his day is going. I can track ALL activities and appointments in my calendar. I have found list apps that have helped me keep track of daily things I want to incorporate into my life. I can keep grocery lists up to date and have a place to put important info, like free redbox codes!!

I have a general conference app that has over 10 years of general conferences and I am starting with this Spring and will work my way back. I am almost done with Spring and have been enjoying the spiritual thoughts that are in my mind on a daily basis just from reading an article or two a day. It is that uplifting feeling that general conference brings, but I am feeling it every single day! I hope it is helping me be more patient and contemplative in my interactions with others.

I have a daily scripture widget that puts a scripture up on my screen every day. I love to read them and try to figure out exactly how I need to merge them into my life. There are other apps I haven't gotten yet but I don't want to be overwhelmed, next I think I will probably try the scripture mastery app.

I can take pictures with my phone, and video too! I can use it to help find my way around with the navigator feature, I can look up recipes, check my email, keep my mind sharp with Sudoku, OH, and I can even call people(my least favorite thing the phone does)!

Technology is amazing!!! I avoided this for a long time, not really wanting to be available every minute of every day. Turns out the sound is off on my ringer a lot, whether I mean it to be or not. And that is ok. I will get better at this. But for now I am really enjoying learning all the neat things my phone can help me with!

My first two photos with my phone camera! Yay!

Fun On the Fourth!!

We love the fourth of July! We went to the parade again this year. In the past it has been very difficult to find a good spot, so Adrienne, Tim and Jacob spent the night at the park saving us a nice stretch right along the parade route! They did not get a lot of sleep and neither did I, I was worried about them. But when we got there we had a nice spot to share with Megan and her family and friends and our neighbors Jim and Teresa! It was lots of fun to watch and visit. It was a bit shorter this year than usual, which was also nice! It ended right about the time the temperature started to get up near uncomfortable!

We came home and Richard helped me make several flavors of home made ice cream! Yummy! We got some dry ice and took it with us out to Banks for the fireworks display that has become a tradition for our family. This year we got a couple of pizzas from Main Street right there in the parking lot and had fun eating on our grassy spot and waiting for dark! Lori and the girls joined us as well as April, so it was really fun! Not long before dark Marella joined us with mom and dad and Gabe, Zach and Conrad! It was a fun night!