Summer keeps on flying by. Andrew spent the last weekend in June (well Wed to Saturday) at Deacon's camp. He really enjoyed his time camping with the group. The leaders do a fabulous job. Andrew enjoyed fishing and hanging out with the boys. We sent a wiffle ball set because they had a blast playing it last year but this year there were only 5-6 boys there so a much smaller group. He also came home with a bag full of dirty clothes which meant he changed his clothes more frequently than last year, yay! It was cooler this time around since they went in June instead of July which meant he was layering up. So grateful for all the leaders that make camps happen.
Marcus did a round of swim lessons while Andrew was at Deacon's camp. Swim lessons were great for him. He and I even got in our pool Monday after the first day to practice a few skills and he really improved. His teacher said he was really coachable and tried everything and did really well. WAY TO GO!
Marcus also got braces on June 23rd. Lila was a trooper and cut up his food for him that first night as Steve and I had tickets to a play at Hale Center theater as a date night. We ordered Chic-Fil-A for the kids to support the Dance Company fundraiser.
We took the kids to Bountiful Pond to paddleboard, Thursday, July 2nd because Andrew had the day off from prep. It was a fun new location to explore. However we did see a kid get a fish hook stuck in his foot so I told everyone to make sure they put their shoes on as they were getting off their boards.
Steve and I went in to see Lila towards the end of her shift one Saturday and order food for dinner that night. She was crushing it and we tell her that every time she gets ready for work (she still has some major anxiety about going).
I've been trying to do a little exercise with the kids in the morning like walking or bike riding and Lila decided she really likes riding a bike on pavement (she was clear that she doesn't like mountain biking😂but she would like to ride bikes more often).
Steve and Marcus made a car ramp during lunch one day.
Lila enjoying my favorite couch out on the patio that got a new cushion for the summer making it even more comfortable and Steve just installed a fan out there too.
More swim parties with friends. We try to do it once a week and it seems to be a different group every time but so much fun.
Steve, Ellie, and I were able to do sealings with Stephanie, Doug, and Carole while she was in town on June 25th. Carole also came up to visit for Sunday afternoon which was nice.
We managed to sneak in an hour at Lagoon. I suggested it earlier in the evening but everyone was dragging their feet and by the time we got there it was 8pm so we hit a few rides then headed home. It was still fun.
Steve and Andrew have done the new mountain biking course at Snowbasin which is free with their ski passes we bought this season so they have done it a couple of times when the team has practice there on Thursdays (it's only open on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays).
Big news for us is we bought a car. It's the newest car we have ever owned. We are just out growing the Tesla with the jump seats in the back the boys don't fit back there any more. Andrew is growing like a weed this summer, seriously taller than Ellie and closing in on me fast. We have been looking at an electric SUV for a few years, researching and test driving and finally found a ripping good deal on a Hyundai Ioniq 9 in Carson City. It was preowned has 539 miles on it and has a few scratches on the bumpers so they gave us a good deal. On July 3rd Steve flew to Reno, took an Uber to Carson and finalized everything with the car and drove it home. He had a good time. The car has an average range of 330 miles when fully charged and will go from 10-80% in 24 minutes so charging only added 50 minutes to his drive time. We're still learning some of the quirks of the car but are really truly enjoying it. We thought it was crazy that he more than doubled the miles on the car getting it home and he took pictures of it at 999 turning over to 1000 miles. The other funny thing to note is after the first week of having it he said, "wow, Brit you put almost 200 miles on it in the last couple of days." Yep just normal driving the kids around, I wasn't even joy riding like I want to in my new car 😂we've just never had a new enough car to notice how many miles we put on it. We have decided to call it Q since it's name ends in a Q and it is techy like Q in James Bond.
We didn't tell the boys about the car and towards the end of Friday, Marcus said, where is Dad because all the cars are in the garage. I looked at Steve's location and told them he was almost home and Marcus said, "I think the surprise is big, like a new car because how else would Dad be getting home." Oh Marcus using his skills of deduction.
Earlier that Friday, July 3rd we were dog sitting Kodiak while Ellie went away with some friends for the holiday weekend.
And I took the boys to see the new Minions and Monsters movie while Lila was at work. We had a Fandango giftcard from some friends to use up (really we never go to the movies and now I've been 3 times within a few months so crazy!)
There you have some of our recent excitement.