July 2012 In Review

We began July with the Colonial Heritage Festival at Scera Park. We chatted with the cooper, played colonial games, attended colonial school, and had an all-around fun and educational experience.

Once the kids had had enough and were getting whiny (never!) I put them in the stocks to mellow them out.

 

Later, we went to the library so O could die (that's him lying on the ground) at Shakespeare for Kids.

 

We attended our first swim meet (which received a post of its own), and found a great spot to watch the 4th of July parade.

 

On the evening of the 4th, we headed down to the Stadium of Fire and sat on the lawn of the church just outside the stadium. It was a great place to watch the fireworks until the sprinklers turned on. That was fun :)

 

 

A few days later, we coaxed J to shave off his beard for the first time in 12 years. And don't worry -- he promptly began growing it back. I just wanted to see if he could do it. He could. He did.

S was able to attend the Christa McAuliffe Space Center with a group of friends and came home so excited about it, he talked for an hour straight about how awesome it was. The boys had tennis lessons, piano lessons, and swim team throughout the summer. We also went to the library to watch Hayao Miyazaki movies every Friday. We saw Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, Ponyo, Porco Rosso, Howl's Moving Castle, and Kiki's Delivery Service before school started again in August. We also watched My Neighbor Totoro as a family. Great fun.

Later on in July, S (as Claudio)...

 

...got married (in Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare for Kids). He looks a little doubtful about saying, "I love you" to a complete stranger.

And we all decided it was time for a change so we "Pimp[ed] [Our] Hair."

Swim meet #1

S and O have been swimming with the OTAC White team for the Winter/Spring Season. We signed them up for the Summer season, which has been great for keeping them active and busy since school has gotten out. They had their first swim meet on Tuesday, July 3 -- the HAST mini-meet. O swam three events and S four. Here we are at the beginning of the meet, my monkeys worried and anxious about the unknown:

H was so good to hang around in the hot sun with us all day:

O getting ready to start his first event -- the 50 Free:

 

 

 I was so proud that he got in the water and swam, freaked out as he was.

He also swam the 50 Back and 25 Free

S started out with 100 Free.

S getting ready for his 50 Back:

S swimming the 50 Breaststroke:

S finished up with a 50 Free. 

Here are my swimmers, best buddies:

After each of their first events, their nerves calmed down and we had a good time. By the end of the meet, you'd think they'd done this 10 times before. J was able to be there for most of it, which the kids really loved and appreciated. Afterwards, I took them to lunch at the Purple Turtle in Pleasant Grove as a treat. It was a great, long, fun, exhausting, exhilarating day!