July 4th, and Hollywood

We participated in a children's parade on the Fourth of July.  The kids from our ward and the surrounding neighborhood were all invited to decorate themselves and their bikes, and rode/marched down the main street of a nearby subdivision.  It was pretty awesome.  Ryan decided to decorate Wiley by mixing food coloring into some lotion - he assumed the food coloring would wash out later (it didn't).  The ward newsletter guy got a great picture of everybody, which makes all my phone pictures look lousy by comparison!

  

There was a potluck at the end.

On the fifth, we did our first trip to the Hollywood Bowl, courtesy of Ryan's work.  It was their "Bugs Bunny at the Symphony" show, and the kids were really well behaved.  Even Corinne was mostly quiet the whole time.  Evan was singing "Kill the Wabbit" for days afterward.

  

Box Seats - It's a tradition to eat dinner there, I guess.

  

We finished up our swim lessons - Elise was doing a great crawl and backstroke, and Evan was totally over his fears.  We ended up having Miss Lisa back a few more times, just to help Evan retain what he'd learned.

  

Evan was invited to his first (I think) birthday party.  It was one of those amazing kid parties that I could never pull off - super fun but not quite over-the-top.  They led the kids on a Dora the Explorer themed quest at the park, including a crocodile infested river, a dark tunnel, and a sandbox filled with treasure.  The dad even dressed up as "swiper" to steal his daughter's birthday candle (thus beginning the quest to retrieve it.)  That week was also special because I had all three kids in day camp: Connor at Sports Blitz Camp, Elise at Camp Runamuk, and Evan at Little Gym Camp.

  

Moments Before Swiper Strikes

"Rainbow Treasure"

Binny's First Cupcake

   

We had a goal this summer to go to the beach at least three times.  Once was on a Saturday, so Ryan could go with us.  Corinne loved it, and ate less sand than I expected.

  

We dared Evan to chase those birds, but he wimped out.

Stealing Glasses

  

One of our friends works for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.  He asked us at the beginning of the year if there were any Walk of Fame ceremonies we were interested in attending, and ran down a list of stars, most of whom I didn't recognize (I'm kinda out of the loop anymore.)  But, luckily, Ryan did recognize one - Bryan Cranston, the guy from Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad.  So, in mid-July Ryan took the day off, we got a sitter, and went to see Bryan Cranston get his star.  It definitely exceeded our expectations!  We had been put on the list to get inside the barriers and hang out (in the blazing hot sun) right next to all the famous people.  Ryan got a lot of good pictures on his phone, but I always feel too silly to bother people for autographs or anything!

  

Aaron Paul (In the Gray Jacket)

Speeches

I guess most of those guys are regulars - they sell autographed merchandise on ebay.

Bryan Cranston

More Aaron Paul

    

And...cute pictures!

  

Baby Jacuzzi

Dad's Clothes

Summer

As soon as we got back from Utah (and recovered from the stomach flu,) Elise and Evan started swim lessons here at our pool.  I had purchased a lesson package from this swim company last fall, after the scare where Evan stepped off the steps and sank to the bottom.  He was okay, but it freaked us out enough to sign up for intensive lessons.  Unfortunately, after a couple days the weather turned cold, so we had to wait until spring.  Anyway, the teacher we got this time was amazing.  I think she was magic.  Evan, who had cried his way through two weeks of other lessons in May, was putting his face in the water and "swimming" by day four.  And he liked it!  Other than crying a bit one day, he was always happy and excited for "Miss Lisa" to come.  We also included our friends' two daughters, plus Elise, and they all made huge progress, too.  After twelve lessons, Evan is almost pool safe, but I think he'll need some touch-ups before I can really let him take off his floaty.  (The top picture is of his first lesson, the rest were much later on.)
     

Notice the deer eating trees behind the fence!

  

  
The week after swim lessons started (they ran for three weeks,) the kids all had summer camps.  Connor and Evan went to the home of some friends for a science/craft camp, and loved it.  They made all kinds of science-y things, and Connor got to burn his name in wood with a magnifying glass.  Elise went to "Dazzle Camp," where they practiced and put on a musical version of the three pigs called "The Three-Piggy Opera."  I can't do any justice to how cute this was.  She was the sticks pig, and had to sing two solos.  When it was her turn, she nailed it - she didn't seem nervous at all!  It's funny to me that my shy little girl is so un-shy when performing.
  

  
Oh, and while we're talking about Elise, I have to mention that she lost her first tooth!  She had been so worried about it, but it just popped out on its own after a snack of granola bars.  The tooth fairy gave her a Sacajawea dollar.
  

  
Little Corinney has become a big fan of table food lately.  None of my other kids were as quick as her to ditch baby food.  I mean, she'll still eat it (she eats everything,) but she demands her share of whatever we're having, and does a pretty good job of not choking on it.  Here she is getting her very first skeddy-face!
  

  
Other than swimming and camps, we pretty much stayed home and played.
   

Homemade, bean-filled boat.  It actually floats!

Corinne likes to climb up on this pedestal to sit.

Elise got a tea set for her birthday - beloved by all.

Actually, any toy food is always a hit at our house.

Aspen Grove

On the afternoon of my mom's birthday, we went up Provo Canyon for our third trip to Aspen Grove Family Camp.  This was our first year doing a full week camp, and our first time going with friends.  Three other families from our ward went with us, as part of the "Verdugo Hills Family Reunion" (the staff always assumes any group is a family reunion.)  The full week was great, not too long at all.  The going with friends was incredibly fun, but the down side was that I spent very little time alone with my husband.  We'll probably do it both ways in the future, since I'm sure we'll be going back.

This year, Connor was a Cub again (although one of the oldest ones,) Elise was a Bobcat, Evan was a Stomper, and Corinne was in the little Romper room.  They absolutely loved having all their best friends at camp with them.  One nice perk was that, since three of the four families were staying on the same floor of the lodge, we could put our kids to bed and stay up talking and playing board games in the common area.  
 

Sunday-Afternoon Family Photos

  

Phil is very competitive, so this year we were actually trying to win these contests.

  

"VH Bears . . .Grrrr"

Paintball

Make-A-Rocket

Evan shot his rocket like twenty times.

The bad thing about this year was that Elise and Corinne both got the stomach flu.  Elise threw up Monday night, and missed group on Tuesday.  Corinne got sick Tuesday, so she was stuck with us the remainder of the week, although Elise had relapses as well.  We were able to work around it for the most part, and still had a lot of fun.

  

Elise wanted to do Frontier Night despite having been sick all day.

Screening for gold and gems (Elise's can't-miss activity.)

Connor Doing the Same

(Ryan and the boys were on their own that night.)

Frontier Night Cured Her! (Temporarily)

Stewart Falls Hike

One of Many Volleyball Games

Yes, he fell asleep in front of chocolate cake.

  
This year we did a ton of crafts, thanks to the influence of the other moms who came with us!  Ryan and I made wood pens and threw pottery, I did a ceramic oil lamp and a leather bracelet, and the older kids painted figurines.  We were all pretty proud of ourselves.

   

Camouflage Tank and Sparkly Unicorn

Evan Getting Ready to Perform

Stompers and Trompers, Singing "Knapsack on my Back"

Elise - BYU Fight Song

Connor - "50 Nifty United States"

    

Last-Night Family Dance

Jump-Dancing with Ashton

At the end of the week, we all packed up and went our separate ways.  I spent Friday taking Corinne to the doctor (we were worried she had an earache on top of the stomach bug, but she didn't,) and I had the chance to attend a homeschool conference in Provo that afternoon.  Our family spent the night at my mom's, planning to drive back the next day, but we were awakened late at night by the sound of Ryan puking.  Connor got it the next day, and I got it Saturday night.  We finally left Sunday afternoon, with a bib tied around Evan in case the inevitable happened to him, too.  Bleh.  Anyway, we made it home eventually.  Many thanks to my parents for hosting our diseased family!