My Cute Little Monkeys: Summer is BUSY!

I missed an entire month of blogging! Whoooopsie! You know how you know you are getting older? Everything just happens too fast. I can't keep up with the kids and life and they are growing too fast and it stinks. Whomp whomp. I am making an effort, four posts in one day should last... like... another month?

But enough complaining.

The kids are great and super cute and like I said, growing too fast. I hate that part. It's summer so we have been really busy, trying to keep busy and not get bored. I was getting a little nuts so I made them a list of things that we need to do every day:

1. Eat breakfast
2. Get dressed
3. Brush teeth
4. Homework sheet
5. Math
6. Read 20 minutes
7. Be creative
8. Be active
9. Family chore

Then they "earn" a reward that we do once a week. The family chore changes every day and I have decided that child labor is my new favorite thing. I have been slacking lately but with this reminder, tomorrow I will have them clean the basement! We have vacuumed, cleaned rooms, cleaned the car out and more! No wonder why people have so many kids! This place is going to be so clean in a few years! That's how this works right?

Doesn't matter though, I still can't keep them entertained and not fighting. They need an outlet. I am trying!

We have gone to the cabin this summer and started alternating cabin/Kristen's for swimming on Sundays. Thank goodness someone is usually in Kristen's house with Dylan while we swim, there are too many things there that she can hurt! And the stairs that's a fun risk too... But it's nice to be able to take the other kids swimming. I wish we could go every other day, I am not even making it once a week and I would like to. Whomp whomp. Some things are just harder to do with Dylan, or at the very least pricier! At the cabin it's nice and cool and she just busies herself inside, I like to busy myself inside too, so it's perfect, Matthew has the boys when they are outside. You know, lighting things on fire and coming dangerously close to the ice cold river. Not scary at all.

Duncan really wants to learn how to swim... the other kids play but he wants to swim fast like me! (Fast, haha) So I started looking into swim lessons and they are all full during the summer, of course, but maybe we can keep the momentum going and he will be able to sign up for some in the fall and do some indoor swimming? My mom said she would help (since it's yet another thing that's harder with Dylan...) so we need to figure out where and what time. It's a life skill so I can put Ian, Asher and Greyson in lessons in the fall when they have a half day of school but Duncan is the only one that is really interested in it! We will figure it out, we need to figure it out, he asks like every day!

In June we were able to go to Dream Night at the Zoo and somehow were walking at the right place at the right time and someone asked us if we wanted to feed the rhinos. What?! Yea apparently you can pay a lot of money for this experience (well, one that likely lasts a bit longer and comes with more information) and it was the coolest thing!! They basically stuck a quarter of an orange on a stick and let you hold it in the cage. We were like 18 inches from the rhinos face! It was amazing! I was far more impressed than the kids but I think they liked it a little.

At the beginning of July we had our annual Front Yard of Fire party in the yard where Matthew goes WAY over board with fireworks and we have friends over and eat yummy food. I have conflicting accounts but I do believe this is the sixth year in a row? Yes, let's go with that. This time it was bigger than ever with TWO bounce houses. Which was actually perfect, who knew? Tons of kids. Lots of faces of the people I love. Fantastic!

Dylan slept through the entire thing, I literally put her in bed as I went out to socialize and she went right to sleep and snoozed. Which is good. I don't know that she's all about fireworks.

We had a special guest, Liam, who has Holoprosencephaly like Dylan. He is such a cutie - I had just seen him and another little peanut with HPE in the hospital in June so it was fun seeing them again. Would be fun to see the Utah ones somewhat frequently. I am supposed to see several of them this weekend at a little "event" or something? Charlie Dawn and her mom are coming into town on their way from Arizona to Idaho and are meeting people on the way! Fun!

I am getting really impatient for the wheel chair that I reluctantly went to get. I think we could have easily put her in that as a stroller and had her be fine at FYOF but also I want to take the boys to a splash pad and she won't stay (or be cool enough) on a blanket but if I had that to do circles around the place? Perfect. Impatient... I just keep thinking of great ways and places to use it. I called this morning and haven't heard anything, it's been two months, I expected three... so let's see what we can find out shall we? Insurance... for real.

Dylan has a Spina Bifida Clinic appointment on September 11th, that would be four months since the wheel chair clinic, I am hoping to hear back before that appointment!

We hit the broken kid jackpot and received one year of respite care - paid service, like a sitter, for up to $10,000 in the calendar year that we sign up. If signing up wasn't so complicated we would have already done it but it's on the list of things to do. In the mean time, Dylan's cute aide from school, Megan, has been coming over a couple hours once a week to let me be able to take the bigger kids to do something fun, swimming, or a movie... things Dylan doesn't particularly enjoy. And Greyson for that matter... and for the right price, she watches both of them. Greyson LOVES her. We told him we were going somewhere the other day and he said "Noooo, want to stay with Megan!" Oh yea you little punk!? I am glad he likes her so much! She is at Disney with her family this week so I am out of luck but next week she will be back.

Races - Our race schedule kept us busy in June but it wasn't me!! For a change... Matthew did two Spartan races to finish the trifecta that he started last fall. I guess TECHNICALLY it doesn't count because it's not all in the same calendar year but *whatever* it counts in my book and the medals fit together so it's all good. Spartan races are the ones that involve, mud, obstacles, fire... lots of not-fun things so yea, I am not interested and it can be his thing. He loves it and is now looking for the next challenge.

I did, however, do the Ragnar Wasatch Back with Sara and a group from her business. It was almost all paid for (except food) and I wanted to do it to try it, get a Ragnar under my belt, and see if I ever wanted to do it again. I will be honest, it was not nearly as fun as it would have been had everyone in the van been friends... We had to listen to one runner refer to himself as an "Elite Endurance Athlete" more than once. Yea, you're fast and strong and yea, I am sure the shaved arms and legs are very helpful in the cause, but please... stop, just stop. No one cares. When we went to spray off runners with our water bottle (genius idea btw, it was HOT) it was just me or just Sara and I and in my opinion, we all should have been out there having fun! It's fun right? Cheering in each runner in to the chute. Shoot, at the end of one of my legs, not only was the other van late meeting us but no one from my van was even there. It was fun standing by myself for a while until they came (they won't let you leave!). Two people told me how I didn't even need to pass them, thanks people... thanks. I am looking forward to a redemption Ragnar in Vegas in November! Our van will have Sara, my Disney friend Bonnie, Heidi (Matthew's friend who has done the Spartans with Matthew), Sara's sister and Sara's Bestie. It's going to be a good time. I will make it so! Party! No phones! Everyone out of the van!

I was trying to take it easy this year but I am not so good at it and am easily swayed. My next race is on the first of August - Sara and I will be doing a half together-ish. She will likely be much faster, I am comfortable with that. I have been running quite a bit... mainly during the weekdays getting up at 5:30 - because the weekends are so full but this weekend Sara wants to run 16 (that's not going to happen) and I will join her for some of it. It's going to be hot, ugh.

Matthew has next week off to use some of his vacation and he has a busy week planned apparently. All I know is that they all have dentist appointments, Dylan is getting her AFOs looked at, and everyone gets hair cuts. So far... I think it will get filled up quickly! I know he is looking at taking them to a water park too! Fun! Maybe I will blog about that in September... I kid!

Mason - At the cabin... well, and my leg. I am not sure if he was trying to stop me from going or trying to hitch a ride. Neither worked, even with that cute face.

The D's Last day of school. Only this was the day after because I spaced it the day of.

The zoo crew for Dream Night. Kali went along to help!

Seriously, so stinking cool!!

Boys who sleep with dolls <3 nbsp="">

We played in a down pour one night. It was Mason, Owen and the kids all in the back yard. None of the pictures turned out. It was hilarious, they were SHOOTING off the slide.

In the Ragnar van - The "Elite Endurance Athlete" must have been running at the time. The big van was PERFECT. We were traveling in STYLE! Parking wasn't all that much fun, imagine hundreds of huge vans. Yes that... at least I had practice navigating mine!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

The medals are all engraved on the back to fit together. Would have been a great photo op had the other van not already taken off (most of them) and had our van been a little more fun! November! Ragnar rematch!