June 2022

 Kaylee got to go to her first year of girl's camp! She was so excited she could hardly wait. She didn't sleep at all, as I expected (she got my sleeping genes unfortunately), but had the best time and couldn't stop talking about it. It was a very different experience than girl's camp was for me- they slept in cabins, ate in a mess hall, went canoeing and swimming, and did fun activities like archery and a big hike where they learned basic first aid and had girls stationed on the hike with different injuries that they needed to take care of. She said they were spiritually well fed too and had youth leaders give them mini devotionals each morning and on Thursday night the Bishops all came down (with pizza! What kind of camping is this??) and gave the girls a letter from their parents, did a devotional, and then they ended with a testimony meeting. They did have a very unique experience because there was two tornado warnings on Wednesday night which scared a lot of the girls. The first warning, they all squeezed into the bathrooms and Kaylee said everyone was scared and some of the girls were crying. She got a prompting that they needed to sing. She asked her friend if she would join her in singing "I Love To See The Temple". Kaylee said once they started singing, everyone calmed down and most people joined in and they sang songs for the next hour while they waited it out. I was so proud of Kaylee for listening to that prompting and helping the girls feel peace during a scary time.

McKenna had a chance to perform one more time with Momentum. They performed a smaller version of their spring showcase dance at the Columbus Arts Festival. I was impressed with how well all of the kids knew all the dances when they had changed a bunch of steps they had already practiced all year and learned a few completely new dances. And they only had time to do four practices before the Festival! McKenna knew her dances all perfectly and it's been fun to watch her discover this new talent. I am sad it's over!

McKenna's friend, Reagan, had done a lemonade stand outside of her house and was telling Kenna about it. Kenna really wanted to try it out with her and they set up the stand one evening and stayed out there for a couple of hours. Apparently, they had so many people who were generous and would give them $5, $10, or $20 for a $0.50 cup of lemonade and told them to keep the change. In just a few hours they had made $157! They had so much fun (and made so much money) they decided to paint Reagan's lemonade stand and do it again later this summer. I told her she is going to make all the money for the family now and Richard and I can quit our jobs :)

We haven't been to very many festivals this summer, which is unusual for us. We heard of one that was happening at a big kid sports center so we decided to check it out. They mostly had booths set up selling things but they also had a petting zoo, inflatables, and even a dog show. The kids like anything where they can get candy so it was a hit even though there wasn't a ton for us to do.

I haven't taken a single picture but we have definitely been taking advantage of our pool pass so far this year! The girls are obsessed and we have been multiple times a week every week and they always seem to want more!

One thing that is great about Richard working from home is getting to spend his lunch and break times with the girls. 

We had some friends over for ice cream and we sat outside and chatted long enough that the fireflies started to come out. The kids all worked together to collect as many as they possibly could into an old pan and I couldn't believe how many they got! They were especially good at helping the younger ones figure out how to keep them where they wanted them without hurting the bugs. I love that my kids get the experience of catching fireflies here!

A theater by OSU was showing the new movie, Lightyear for free one day and we had planned on taking the kids. As it got closer, Kaylee and Kenna decided they didn't really want to go but Richard wanted to still take Brooklyn. By the time he got off work and they figured out the plan, it was going to be too late to go and Brooklyn was pretty sad about it. Richard decided to take her on a little date to McDonald's to make up for it. Apparently that was the wrong place to go because they had Lightyear toys, bags, drinks and decorations everywhere! Richard texted me this picture and said that Brooklyn said, "It's like McDonald's is trying to torture us!" She is hilarious.