We went to the library to return all our books before we started our crazy summer. Richard wanted us to see the sunset from this bench at a nearby park so we followed him out to it. We teased him that he talked it up way too much, but it was nice to sit together as a family for a minute.
Our summer definitely started off with a bang right away. The Wednesday after school ended, Kaylee headed up girls' camp as a YCL and Richard went with as a priesthood leader. The next day, Brooklyn, McKenna and I followed! I got called to be the ward camp director, which I was very nervous about. Because the rest of us were going, Brooklyn got to come too! At first she felt uncomfortable and didn't feel like she fit in anywhere so she just stuck by my side. There wasn't a ton for the adult leaders to do so we sat and played games a bunch the first day. We did go with Kaylee's group to do the first escape room activity and Brooklyn joined them for archery. The first night we also went down to the campfire to sing songs with everyone.
The next day, Brooklyn was feeling a little more comfortable and Kaylee's cabin was so sweet at including her. She went with them on the hike so I chatted with some of the other adult leaders but also hiked alone for part of it. I was worried I would be dead after the hike but I held it together until about 8:00 that night when I was completely wiped. Luckily the girls were just singing songs by the fire again so I was able to go back to my cabin early and rest. After the hike, the girls were busy swimming and having free time so the adults did a lot of crafts in the mess hall, which was fun. I met some really great people!
The last day we were mostly sitting as we had a few speakers, the slideshow, and cabin lip syncs. I was really nervous how my health would do at camp but I was blessed to be able to do just about everything and since we stayed in cabins with A/C (and the mess hall had A/C and chairs), I did pretty good!
The next week Richard, Brooklyn, Kaylee and I went to the Columbus Arts Festival. There was some fun hands on things but it was also just fun to walk around and see all the beautiful things people have created. Kaylee and I even bought matching blown-glass earrings.
A few days later, Kaylee had a murder mystery dinner for her friend's birthday. It was supposed to be a masquerade and she was assigned the character of Mayor DuVall! We thought that was pretty cool. She painted this mask and glued jewels on it- she did a great job!
While Kaylee was at her masquerade, we went to family night at the Clippers. A lot of people from our stake were there, including the Christmans. McKenna also brought Reagan so we had people to chat with and Brooklyn even admitted that it was a lot more fun than she thought it would be!
The Cleveland temple had their openhouse towards the end of June so we decided to go up there with the Christman's. (The Crossley's were out of town). We caravanned up to Cleveland and stopped to show them the famous Grandpa's Cheesebarn. The temple was a darker tan color on the outside that I didn't love but it was beautiful inside. We saw some unusual things we hadn't seen in other temples, and we were surprised how teeny tiny it was, even smaller than our temple!
We went out to lunch with the Christman's and then they continued on to Kirtland. We decided to do something fun in Cleveland before heading back home and found the Museum of Illusions. It was a little small for what we paid and it was mostly fun to just take crazy pictures but we did have a good time and it was something unique we had never done.
Before we got back to the car, we saw this unusual monument in the middle of a plaza. We decided to check it out and saw that it was a monument honoring those who had died in the Civil War. The inside was covered floor to ceiling with names of those who had died and in the middle were 4 relief plaques depicting important moments of Lincoln ended slavery. They were pretty cool!
On Monday, McKenna headed to her first FSY! Kaylee needed more driving hours so she drove up with us and then drove home. McKenna roomed with Reagan and had the best time!
While she was gone, Richard went to a Pittsburgh Pirates game with Jason and Jared. It's a good thing he has baseball loving friends to go to games with!
Also while she was gone, Kaylee, Brooklyn and I headed to Utah! The day we arrived, everyone who could met at the Taylorsville temple to do baptisms. I haven't done baptisms for years and it was so good to be there with Scott, Holly and the kids. Mom got to come down and be with us in the baptistry and Dad came right at the end of confirmations. They took us back so the kids could see their office too!
Madsy brought a Henna kit and loved doing Henna on all of the cousins too. It gave them something fun and unique to do during any down time we had.
Kristi and Tony were at Youth Conference so we got to have Tess stay with us for a few days and her and Brooklyn were inseparable! Emily got to join them quite a bit too and it was really fun to see these cousins have the best time together.
On Friday, we went to see Emily in a performance she did at the end of a theater camp. Then we ran a bunch of errands and went to two different stores for us to try- one was a new kind of bread that Holly has been wanting to try and the other was a gluten free bakery that had the most amazing gluten free crepes, muffins, and bread I've ever tried! Holly went to Maddie's and we stayed home and had Scott, Emily and Peter join us for dinner.
On Saturday, we went to the Taylorsville Dayzz parade! It was fun to go to a real parade with multiple floats and people cheering, unlike the one we go to in Ohio. Not to mention, the kids got SO much candy, popsicles, and coupons that they were thrilled!
We rested for a little bit afterwards but then gathered everyone to go help at Scott's while Jen was in Europe. Kaylee and Madsy fixed some broken shelves in the storage room, the other kids went through the pantry and threw out expired food and reorganized, Mom and Holly tackled the kitchen, Scott cleaned out the basement and the garage, and I worked on the bathrooms. We got so much done and the kids were so great! Nobody complained and everyone was happy and helpful.
That night Scott and I took the kids to see the T-Ville Dayzz fireworks so they could see the best firework show ever! The music was a little weird at times but it did not disappoint.
Richard and McKenna flew in Sunday morning and we all headed to American Fork for Kimmy's missionary farewell and then we hung out at the Awerkamp's after. For a little bit, McKenna was outside with the chickens by herself. We could see her from the window and she would pick up a chicken and sing to it and then sit and rock it in a chair. It was sooooo sweet! We also went into Julie's library and sang songs together. The acoustics were incredible and it sounded absolutely beautiful!
We drove down to Provo the next day to drop off Kaylee and Madsy to start their EFY adventure! They took a bus to Moab where they spent the next 6 days camping, rock climbing, mountain biking, canyoneering, and white water rafting. They had the most amazing time and kept making plans to do another one next year!
While Kaylee was gone, we didn't slow down. After dropping her off, we met up with Bryant, Cheri and Sharon and played some games. Then we went out to lunch and went bowling where more family members were able to come join us.
Unfortunately, Richard had to be back to teach his online class so we left that afternoon. After dinner, we went to Scott's house to make American themed Rice Krispy treats, which we then delivered to some of his neighbors. The kids loved being able to sit in the trunk while the car was driving and then jumping out to take them up to the door.
The next day we took everyone downtown to meet up with Sarah for lunch. We were lucky we got to spend time with her before she flew out the next day for a trip to DC. After lunch, we took a tour of the new temple visitor's center, which was amazing! They built replicas of each room in a temple so they can always take visitors through and explain what goes on in the temples. They also had a dozen or so mini temples as well as a detailed replica of the Salt Lake Temple of all the rooms as well.
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