Some July Things...

SUMMER IS SPEEDING BY!  The kids go back to school August 13th, there just isn't enough time in the summer.  Sigh.

At the start of the Summer, Will helped each kid set a Summer goal.  Upon completion, he took them on a special outing.  Colter finished his goal first (reading 10 books and answering a question page about each book).  Will took Colter to see the Monster Trucks!  The guys usually go in February or April in our neck of the woods but this year the Monster Truck Rally came and went before Will could get tickets.  So, Will got tickets to the show in Southern California.  As plans were being made for the trip, Colter insisted that it wouldn't be a Monster Truck Rally without Wyatt coming along.  He was really sweet about it.  Even though it wasn't part of Wyatt's goal/reward, Wyatt got to go south with the guys and spend the day busting his eardrums to the sound of engine roars.  

They were close enough to the action to get dirt from the tires flung in their faces.  Exciting!

Lorien and I drove into San Francisco one night to watch her friend, Erik, perform in an all-ages Drag show.  Erik has a Drag Queen persona named Creme Brule Queen.  He makes his costumes, does his makeup, cuts and colors his wigs, and puts together his own routine as his Drag character.  It is quite the transformation!  He has attended every high school formal dance as Creme Brule for the last three years.  This was his first time performing in a Drag show in San Francisco!

It was wild!  We had a blast cheering Creme Brule on.  I left Lorien at the table with her friends and went to sit with my friend (Erik's mom) for most of the show.  I've never been to a Drag Show.  It was wild I tell you, wild. 

We've had loads of playdates with friends.  Some of our best friends are a family of daughters.  When they come over it is an afternoon of imagination and fun!  Colter and Alicia usually build forts with stuffed animals.  Adell and Maggie usually craft or have a tea party.  On this day, Adell and Maggie made a carnival for Colter and Alicia.  They made games for the kids to earn tickets.  Then they could turn the tickets in for rocks and a certain number of rocks got you a prize.  It was so creative and fun!  The kids played carnival all afternoon.

Clare celebrated one of her very best friend's birthday.

Ohhhhh, the number one item on my projects list for this summer was to clean out and organize the girl's room.  They have so much literal garbage in there!  We finally spent the day hauling every single thing (except their beds and dresser) out of the room, sorting, organizing, tossing, cleaning, and replacing what was wanted.  It was a whole day project but worth every minute of time.  The before and after pictures speak for themselves.

Closets BEFORE:

Closets AFTER:

Adell's bed BEFORE:

Adell's Bed AFTER:

Clare's Bed BEFORE:

Clare's Bed AFTER:

Colter's business stayed the same.  He sleeps in the girl's room but all of his stuff is still in Wyatt's room.  We can fit three kids in a room but not three kids and three kid's stuff. 

Here's a fun adventure!  While Will and I were in Vegas in June (on the 13th to be exact), Lorien drove dance carpool for me.  Traffic was terrible so google maps had routed her a back way to avoid some of the freeway traffic.  The road was windy and narrow.  Misjudging the width and location of a certain telephone pole, Lorien smashed the passenger's side mirror off the van.  She proceeded to spread the smashed mirror down the side of the van like jelly.  Woof.  A few inches further and it would have been a different story for a lot of kids.  New drivers get in accidents and this was Lorien's first.  Not too bad. 

A couple of weeks later, Wyatt got his permit.  Oy, I am not ready to teach another kid how to drive.  It is madness and way harder than potty training.  Wyatt couldn't practice driving for almost a month while the van was in the shop.  We had a rental, he couldn't drive that and we weren't great at remembering to have him practice in Will's car.  So, once we got the van back (mid-July) Wyatt has been able to practice driving! 

Wyatt and his friend, Adam, inherited a window washing gig from Adam's older brother and his friend when they left on their missions.  I got to be one of their "test" houses.  They are up and running for business!  They do a fantastic job and I love being able to see out crystal clean windows every day.