Cow Appreciation Day

 You know it is pretty much my favorite day of they year!  I don't really like fast food, not even chick filet.  But free is a whole other ballgame.  I love free!  I also love not cooking dinner! I did the same thing as last year.  Random sized pieces of typing paper, taped on black clothes with painters tape.  I did step it up a notch by using old headbands and attempting cow head things.  Just before we left Holly called in a pickle with the girls.  No worries though, we just took them along with us.  This year was even better than last.  There were no menu restrictions.  You could pick whatever meal you wanted.  Our bill was over $50.00, we paid 0.  Then we decided to make it an all out night and went to the dollar theatre, on dollar day.  All seven of us had dinner and a movie for the grand total of $7.00.  Woo Hooo!

 This was our third year at the Boise city swim meet.  We have come a very l..o...n...g way.  First year- no shade tent, no food, no idea what to expect.  This year- shade tent set up at 6:30 a.m. for the very best spot at the meet.  That way you can see the line up tent and know when it is time to go.  You can hear when it is your turn to line up and you can see the kids move forward, which ensures you don't miss their race and don't have to wait inside for an hour.  Food- check!  For the last couple of years we have done a co-op dinner with Rob and Sarah.  This year was taco salad- delicious!  We got our program, hung towels to maximize our shade, had entertainment for Ridge, and we were off!  We even got GG and GPa to join us this year. Both girls won blue ribbons in one or more of their heats.  Katelyn hadn't gotten a poster from her "big."  A big is an older kid that is teamed up with a "little."  They exchange a candy poster at practice and another treat at the city meet.  Her big didn't have her poster done at practice but boy was Katelyn excited when she got it at the city meet.  It is so fun having the Christensen's at the city meet.  I especially love Riley's photo bomb in the picture below.  The girls work so hard on swim team every summer.  We are out of the house before we would be for school and they are swimming come rain or shine every single morning.  It provides so many things for us, including a schedule to adhere to in the summer, time outside, exercise, and fun.  I am so grateful we stumbled upon swim team when we did.  It has revolutionized summer in such a great way.  Go Dolphins!

Arches National Park

 On our way to New Mexico we stopped for a quick visit to Arches National Park.  We climbed up into some arches, slithered under some rocks, took lots of pictures, and got back on the road.  I have no idea where my NM pics are.  While we were there we went to the Cliff Dwellings (and saw a brand new still wet baby deer on the drive), swam at Faywood hot springs, went to the City of Rocks, had a hot dog roasting night with the Porters, went on a few mountain bike rides and hung out with the Fam.  Always a good time to be had in NM.

Summer Bike Ride

 We spend a lot of time riding bikes on the greenbelt.  Our favorite place to ride to is Powells candy store at Bown Crossing.  It is about 14 miles from our starting point and the kids have motivation because the ride involves candy.  This particular July day was an especially notable bike ride.  On the way to the candy store we stopped at the MK Nature center and saw a fawn resting nearby in the shade.  On the way back we stopped for a candy break and Kyleigh lost a tooth while chewing on a piece of bit o honey.  She bit down and her tooth came right out.

No More School!

 To celebrate the last day of school I made three posters for the kids to run through.  When they got home we made a big deal about busting through the poster and celebrating the start of summer.  The kids loved it enough that we will do it again next year.

Night of the Cardboard Boat

 Another irrigation night adventure.  Endless fun with a cardboard box, markers, tape, imagination, and lots of water.

Hike to Jenny Lake

 I was asked to be one of the leaders to accompany the stake young women on their backpacking trip for girls camp.  I wanted to have an idea of where I was taking the girls so we went on a family hike to Jenny Lake.  It was 9 miles round trip.  We went up and back in one day.  It was our second big hike of the summer and the kids were amazing.  We spent some time at the lake fishing.  Only one fish was caught and Miss Katelyn was the fisherman.  This was also the first trip Ridge wore a backpack and carried his own water.  He was pretty proud of himself.  On the way back down I was holding the fishing poles. We sat down to take a rest and Russ took them from me and layed them against a tree.  We forgot them and walked away.  We remembered when we were about a mile to the car.  Russ booked it back up the trail and got almost all of the way back to the lake looking for them.  He remembered on the way back down where he had put them.  He got back all sweaty and tired but feeling pretty good about himself.  In his words, "I still have it!"  We were tired (especially Russ) but always happy to have had an adventure.

Letters

During fifth grade Kyleigh's teacher encouraged the class to write letters to all types of establishments.  He himself had written to colleges over the summer before they started fifth grade and had banners hung all around his room from the colleges that sent them to him.  Kyleigh had written to the US Olympic team and they sent a few things to her.  Once school ended she decided to write letters to candy companies.  She got letters back from most of them but the Albanese candy company sent her not only a letter but a box full of candy.  She was SOOOO excited.  It came just before we left on a road trip so we had extra treats.  The Albanese candy company is my new favorite.

Fathers Day weekend was the weekend we went to City of Rocks with the Giles.  After we got home we cleaned up and celebrated Fathers Day.  Here are the details in Rusty's words from his journal...

We opened some father’s day presents (water guns) and had a water fight.  That was very fun too.  When we finished we all took a shower.  Mandie made some dinner and we ate.  It was awesome.  It was crab legs, corn on the cob and potatoes.  Then we played the ice cream game.  Ridge won.  It was so cute.  He was jumping up and down.  He was so excited.  Then we opened some more father’s day presents.  I got some Kern’s and some shorts.  The kids got ready for bed and watched a scripture movie.  It was very fun.  I had a great father’s day.  My family is so special and good to me. 

Back to me....

The water fight he wrote about was a blast.  We got the big syringe like water guns from the dollar store and two 5 gallon buckets of water.  We split up in teams and had a huge water fight.  It was a blast and perfect timing.  We were cleaned up from camping but hadn't showered yet so it was no big deal to get all wet.  The ice cream game is now a classic.  No going back, but who would want to?

Happy Fathers Day to a really great Dad!  

City of Rocks with the Giles

 The Giles proposed a meet in the middle camping trip for the City of Rocks.  We scheduled it months in advance on several weekends in hopes that one of them would work when the time rolled around.  We were able to make it work and met on a Friday in June.  We set up tents, arranged who was actually sleeping in which tent (more work than one might think), and went to bed with visions of rock climbing dancing in our heads.  We spent the day hiking and climbing.  I think everyone got a turn and everyone improved in the short time we were there.  The pollen was terrible and Wendi's allergies were raging.  We also had a mishap with the dogs when Tank's leash wrapped around poor little Macy's leg and pulled her over.  She was traumatized.  Note to self- don't bring the dogs on a camping trip with the Giles. Despite the mishaps we had a great time, so... Another note to self- go camping with the Giles again!