The heat rocketed to 95+ degrees at the beginning of July and stayed there for most of the month. I am a heat seeker and a summer lover, but it was a bit much, even for me. Besides melting, the month included . . .
Spending . . . an evening at BYU. There was a Lego exhibit at the library we couldn't pass up. It featured models of several temples, recreations of famous paintings of Jesus, and an interactive wall of original Lego creations from visitors. We went with Mike's cousin, Brent, and his family and ate dinner at the creamery beforehand and ice cream afterwards. We randomly ran into a couple who was in our married student ward almost twenty years ago, which was fun. The creamery was so packed when we went back for ice cream that we ended up just buying a quart and dishing it up ourselves outside. Mike happened to notice another family who was also looking very intimidated by the crowds inside the creamery and offered them the rest of our ice cream, which they happily accepted. Only at BYU.
Honoring . . . the red, white, and blue. We spent the 4th at Gordy's house. He smoked a brisket, and the rest of us contributed sides. The kids played in water for most of the afternoon, including having a water fight. When we got home, Aaron went to hang out with friends, and the rest of us went to see Inside Out 2. We followed that with sparklers and then sitting on our roof to watch the fireworks across the valley.
Wishing . . . for rain. July was so hot and so dry. Day after day the forecast was the exact same: sunny, 95 degrees, no chance of showers. Occasionally, we would get a little hint at a thunderstorm, but it only materialized into something real one time.
Gathering . . . together for a family reunion. We spent a few days with all of Mike's family. We are getting to be such a large group (60+) that it is difficult to find a place that will fit all of us. So instead, we slept at our own houses (but did have a cousins sleepover one of the nights) and then spent the days at either a church or the institute building at UVU. The reunion was Olympics themed, so we had an opening ceremony with the parade of nations (each family represented a different country; we were very unoriginal and represented the USA). Mike organized a bunch of Olympic events, including javelin, rhythmic gymnastics, ax throwing, and, my favorite, curling (minus the ice). We had our annual film festival, ate lots of yummy food, played many games, and ended with a closing ceremony. In addition to that reunion, we also had an afternoon reunion with Mike's mom side of the family, hosted at Mike's cousin's house.
Having . . . an impromptu birthday party. Remember all of Silas' unbirthday parties last month? Well, his love of birthdays extends to other people as well. My mom was out of town on her birthday, but Silas was not going to miss out on a party. We went to hang out with my parents for the day, and the first thing Silas said when he got out of the car was, "Happy birthday, Bamboo! Where's your birthday cake?" Before we knew it, we were at the store buying ice cream, my mom was making a peach crumble, and we were lighting candles and singing happy birthday. That boy knows how to get a party in motion.
Camping . . . for a few days. Mike and Bradley went to deacon's camp in Ogden Canyon. Most of their activities included the water because it was so hot. They kayaked, paddle boarded, swam, and built (unsuccessful) rafts.
Competing . . . at Date Night. When Mike was a teenager and young adult, his Uncle Rob hosted Date Night for all the nieces and nephews. It was a full scale competition with many events in a variety of categories. The winning couple got their names added to a coveted plaque. (I only competed with Mike at Date Night once, and we lost abysmally.) Mike's brother, Matt, decided to carry on the Date Night tradition with the next generation. This was Aaron's first year in attendance. He took his friend, Jillian, and they got fourth overall, which was pretty good, especially considering how competitive some of his cousins are.
Immersing . . . myself in some enjoyable books. Here's what I read during the month:
The Road Back to You: an Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron (After going to Mike's cousin's workshop on the Enneagram and also reading this book, I feel like I have a pretty thorough understanding of this personality framework.)
Ferris . . . by Kate DiCamillo (Oh, my heart. I loved this book. I loved it so much I made Mike and all the boys read it so we could discuss it for our family book club--stay tuned for next month.)
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters (It wrapped up a little too neatly at the end to be believable to me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (I'm not going to admit how long it took me to get through this readaloud with Clark and Ian.)
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser (It has some Penderwick and All-of-a-Kind family vibes, but stands on its own in a really delightful way.)
Learning . . . how to rollerblade. Ian found Clark's old pair of rollerblades and took his first shaky steps on them. After a couple of days of practice, he was cruising around confidently and having the best time. It's at times like these that I miss our old street, which was perfectly quiet and flat for getting used to new wheels. Instead, Ian practiced on the back patio, the circle across the street, and the church parking lot.
Tearing . . . down the school. We've had an exciting, and much anticipated, development in our neighborhood. After several years of construction, the new academic building of our high school is finally ready to welcome students into it this fall. This has been a long time coming. Originally, the academic building was supposed to be done for Aaron's freshman year. But it's actually Maxwell who will be a freshman, and Aaron will be a junior. The athletic complex was finished a couple of years ago, and construction on the fine arts building has yet to be started. But I'm so grateful they have a new space to go to school in this year, and we've spent this summer walking or driving past and watching the slow demolition of the old school. Exciting stuff, even for us who don't have a long history in that school like so many in our neighborhood do.
Kayaking . . . and paddle boarding at the reservoir. We spent one of Mike's off-Fridays at Jordanelle Reservoir. Mike took the five older boys up in the morning, and then Silas and I joined them after lunch. This worked out so well. We had to take two vehicles no matter what since the truck was needed to haul all the watercraft, and it only seats six. And this way, Silas didn't tire out faster than everyone else. It was so much fun and not too crowded. I loved watching Clark experiment on the paddle board, trying all kinds of crazy things without tipping over; later, he and Aaron shared a paddle board and spent a good long while out on the water together; Ian turned out to be quite the good little kayaker; everyone took a turn with Silas, either on the water or on the beach; and Mike paddled me around like a queen. Such a good day.
Finding . . . random selfies on my phone. I am far too trusting and leave my phone in places where my kids find it and leave me little gifts of their charming faces. Aaron is the biggest culprit, and I can't believe how often he finds my phone unattended.
Attending . . . a local production of Matilda. It's a favorite play of ours, so we couldn't pass up a chance to see it performed by the Lehi Arts Council. This is a small but mighty theater company, and we are always blown away by the amount of talent they are able to curate. The only downside was that it was a lengthy play, and we had left Silas with my parents, and he wasn't okay with it getting to bedtime without us.
Having . . . a water fight. My brother, Christian, was so disappointed that he missed the water fight on the 4th, so we went to their house one morning to make that right.
Swimming . . . at the pool. I spent lots of time this month at our local pool with the three younger boys, but I finally convinced the whole family to go one evening. We picked up pizza on our way there and ate dinner before diving in. Silas has spent most of his time at the pool hanging out on the shallow steps, but Mike finally got him to come out into the deeper water, and by the end of the night, he was jumping off the edge with joyful confidence.
Bursting . . . with creative energy. There are so many things I want to sew or knit right now. It's difficult to prioritize my ever-growing list of possibilities. This month, I sewed a pair of Chanterelle pants (which I absolutely love) and Agustina blouse. I knitted several things for my sister's baby: a sweater, pair of socks, and little mouse.
Taking . . . and passing(!) his driver's test. Aaron took his driver's test about a week before his birthday, which meant that all he had to do on his actual birthday was show up for a bright and early appointment at the DMV with all of his paperwork, and within minutes, he had his driver's license in hand. And what did he do on his inaugural drive? He drove to Taco Bell with Bradley where Bradley treated him to a birthday lunch.
Celebrating . . . sweet 16. It feels unreal to me that Aaron is sixteen. The years have flown by, and I feel like I'm being very precious about these last couple of years with him at home. Sometimes when he leaves to go hang out with his friends, I just look at him with sad eyes and say, "Really? Why don't you just want to do stuff with us instead?" But really, I'm happy that he has a good group of friends, many of whom were at our house for a big 16th birthday celebration for him. This might come as a surprise to those of you who know I'm not one to throw big birthday parties for my kids, but the good thing about teenagers is that if you provide the food, they take care of the rest. Aaron did all of the inviting and hosting and activity planning. Gordy generously smoked a brisket for us so we could serve brisket tacos. Mike also made a bunch of key lime pies. And other than that, we stayed in the basement and let the teenagers have free reign in the house and yard and just asked them to come in around 10:00 so they weren't disturbing all of our neighbors. On his actual birthday, he had a pretty chill day with cinnamon rolls made by Max, driving around with his new license, opening presents that he had pretty much picked out himself, and having fallen chocolate cake for dessert. At the end of the day, he said, "There's just nothing like turning 16. It's the best feeling." We're entering a new phase of parenthood, and although I quite enjoy hanging out with 16-year-old Aaron, I still really miss the little boy he once was.
Flying . . . over the handlebars of the scooter. Wrapping up this month's recap with a bit of a bummer. Poor Clark took a tumble and got pretty scraped up. Luckily, he was wearing a helmet, and he wasn't too far from home when it happened. He had quite a bit of pain in one of his wrists, but since it wasn't obviously broken, I held off taking him to the doctor, which seemed to be the right decision since he was back to normal movement in just a few days.
And that's another month done and dusted. Until next time . . .
