Swimming and Service

While their older sibs were camping and working this weekend . . .

. . . Todd and Anna went swimming . . .

. . . and watched a Church broadcast for children.

Its message about following the Savior and preparing to worship in the temple

inspired them to do something kind for someone else . . .

. . . so they made a fun card to mail to Uncle Rob, who is recovering from surgery right now.

I know I'd be cheered up if I got a handmade card

with my name spelled out in rainbow balloons. 

Youth Camp 2022

Joy and Daniel had youth camp this week.

Like last year, the girls got the campsite for the first few days, 

then the boys got it for the rest of the week.

Joy and the other young women decorated pillowcases

to make their camp bunks look more inviting. :)

I drove Daniel and some of the other boys up to camp yesterday,

then I drove Joy and some of the girls home.

The boys spent the ride up looking at videos on their phones and barely saying a word.

The girls spent the drive home discussing dances and poetry,

and giving each other tips and encouragement about novels they are working on.

I was so engrossed in the conversation that I made a wrong turn and almost drove us to Boston,

but no one seemed to mind that the trip took 20 minutes longer than it should have.

Daniel doubted he would have much fun at camp,

but a friend sent me this picture of him having a good time at the archery range.

I hope he enjoys the rest of the activities too.

Monsters Like Cake

I recently came out of Dungeon Master retirement

to lead a short adventure for one of Joy's friends who wanted to give D&D a try.

That has led to a resurgence of D&D interest in our household.

This afternoon, Daniel led us in a short encounter with a fire elemental

which was trying to burn down an enchanted forest.

Fighting didn't work very well, so Anna's warlock (who is a proficient baker)

gave the elemental a cupcake.

Then she decorated a cake showing her and the elemental with a big heart

and lots of flames.

The cake caught on fire when the monster picked it up

but it was still happy with the gift,

so it went back to the mystical realm it came from

and left the forest magically unharmed.

Huzzah for creative solutions to potentially devastating problems!

Todd's working on an adventure too.

He even drew an elaborate blueprint of a monster-infested mansion.

You think having skeletons in the closet is bad?

Try a harpy and a magma mephit.

I think we're gonna need lots of cake.

Gas Station Life Hack

One of my new favorite life hacks

is searching "gas stations" on Google Maps.

In addition to showing where gas stations are located,

the website also shows what most of them charge

for regular grade of gasoline.

I recently discovered that instead of paying this

at my local gas station . . .

. . . I could pay $0.71 less per gallon

at a gas station up near Aldi.

Score!!!

Fun Ways to Stay Cool

We're having a heat wave lately,

so we've been looking for ways to have fun indoors.

Like using a friend's mom's phone after church

to send random texts to his dad.

Friend: I'm going to hack your account.

Friend's Dad: Oh really? 

Anna: Bananas are fuzzy and cuddly.

Our friends the Blosils heard that we have no air conditioning at our house,

so they invited us over to dinner today.

We had a friendly dessert-making competition

(Tollhouse Cookie Bars with butterscotch chips for the win!) . . .

. . . then Sophie braided the girls' hair.

It was nice to spend a summer afternoon with good friends

who have air conditioning . . .

. . . and impressive braiding skills.

Joy at the Temple

Joy really likes going to the temple lately.

She enjoys the beautiful grounds

full of flowers and trees . . .

. . . and hawks on lampposts. 

Sometimes Joy does baptisms for the dead while we're here,

but other times she just spends a while reflecting outside

or in the waiting room next to the lobby.

I'm glad she's learning to love the temple.

It's been a place of refuge and revelation in my life,

and I'm glad it's becoming that for her too.

Anna Gets Braces

A few weeks ago . . .

. . . I took Anna to the orthodontist

to prepare to get braces.

(By the way, it was kind of weird to see a picture of my sweet little daughter's skull.)

The consultation also included some quality time 

with cheek stretchers.

"Ow! That hurt."

Anna got her braces put on today. She says they feel really weird.

Aw, Anna!  You look so grown up!

Bonding with Birdies

Our parakeets were pretty skittish during their first few months in our home . . .

. . . but since summer vacation started,

they've become a bit more comfortable with being picked up

and eating the millet seeds we offer them.

Anna especially has enjoyed training and bonding with our cute little birdies.

When Daniel saw all of the progress Anna was making,

he decided to try working with the birds too.

Tia: Does it worry you that that boy has a sword?

Cici: I thought he just had a blue tail. 

Don't Eat the Planet

I tend to use a virtual background image of the Boston Temple on Zoom calls

because I figure no one wants to see our cluttered basement when they talk with me.

When I went downstairs for my weekly chat with my mom today,

the kids thought it was hilarious to make their faces appear next to the temple.

It was easy for the boys to pop in and out of the image,

but for some reason, it was hard for Anna to make her face visible . . .

. . . until we switched to a satellite view of Earth.

Then the kids started pretending to eat the planet.

Silly kids!

My Catered Birthday

This year, I spent my birthday happily weeding flowerbeds

while my family took care of cooking meals . . .

. . . and baked me some yummy cookies which they served with ice cream

and those irritating candles that you can't blow out.

(Thanks, guys.)

Here's to the old,

and the old at heart!

Daniel's Sword

Daniel's been reading some books about Vikings lately . . .

. . . which is probably why he spent most of today

with his plastic Minecraft sword sheathed on his back

(i.e. stuck down the back collar of his shirt).

Maybe he liked feeling prepared to fend off any fearsome beasts he might encounter . . .

. . . like this toad we saw at our swim lesson.

He probably also thought his sword would come in handy

when he played One Deck Dungeon with his siblings.

Daniel's noble blade might have intimidated the giant scorpion . . .

. . . if his sister's fairy adventurer hadn't made an epic magic roll

and finished the thing off with a single spell.

I guess there's more than one way to kill a scorpion.

(Fun fact: Red Grandma swears that hairspray is a scorpion hunter's best friend.)

Crunchy Carrots at the Beach

Some moms at church organized a ward playgroup

so we can meet up with friends at different parks each week this summer.

Today's destination was Sargisson Beach on the shore of a small local lake.

(I know it's a pond by New England standards, but in my head a pond is an oversized puddle,

not something 30 feet deep you can drive ski boats on.)

The kids decided to toss a ball around in the water,

and somehow Daniel persuaded his friend to give him a boost.

Think fast, Anna!

Before we left, we ate a little picnic lunch on the shore.

One of our carrots dropped on the sand, and Daniel decided to eat it anyway.

He swears that his extra-crunchy carrot was very tasty.

I'll take his word for it.

Birds of All Shapes and Sizes

I recently put a bird feeder out back to attract cute little birds.

I didn't expect a visit from this really BIG bird . . .

. . . but I wasn't surprised that we also attracted a four-footed "bird"

with a furry tail.

Back to Pool Day

We had our first swim lesson of the summer this afternoon.

We're crossing our fingers that summer rainfall will be more moderate this year

so the water won't be so chilly.

Today was warm and a little overcast--perfect swimming weather!

 

Anna took to the water like a fish, but Todd took to it like . . . a nervous human.

He spent the first half of the lesson walking across the shallow end instead of swimming . . .

. . . but our teacher eventually got him paddling into the deep end.

I'd call that a win for the first lesson.