May Recap

Summer break is here and in full swing as I come to type this. And, it is wonderful. We have had a quiet two days but outside of that it has been so busy and chaotic. Full of all the things we love though. 

To start off this recap, we were back in school though. For a little over half the month. Then we went sprinting into summer and never looked back. So, here are some school year related things we did as we wrapped up the year:

The kids had their concert:

                                                  

Some of their artwork (they all had theirs on display):

                                                

I chaperoned on the field trip Riley's class took. It was a great day just to see one of my children doing their own thing with their class:

Avery and I still spent days together while the kids were at school. During summer break that feels like a thing of the past:

A picture a sibling must have taken:

She loves her chickens:

Her little toes:

And posing outside:

Gosh, this girl. We are so thankful for her.

And we do some light preschool activities:

We love to goof around while we do laundry. Avery especially loves dressing up randomly with warm items she finds. And then she will dress me up:

She loves to wave at people driving by and especially loves to wave or greet family as they come and go:

She has come to love dolls that her grandmother gives to her. They can be a bit scary looking:

She is also always on the move. Always. And has fantastic runner's form.

Payton had her father/daughter dance awhile back but we finally got the picture:

One last storm for the books:

The kids all went to the dentist and got a clean bill of health. Then we got to make a trip back a few weeks later for a chipped tooth Riley got. No more wrestling roughly with your brother!

We attended one last story time for this half of the school year. Jayden found people to talk to and didn't complete a project so Payton did for him. Riley spent his time finding new books to check out.

Jayden took a mental health day from school and we were not the least bit sad about it:

We snuck out for a movie on a random Sunday while Avery napped and Daddy stayed home with her:

It was a cute movie but I am sad to say the kids don't remember much from me reading them these stories. We actually read the books and chapter books but they were all very, very young. Jayden was probably a baby, Riley age 2 and Payton age 4. 


We got a picture of Avery in the air. I should share all 4 pictures of this sometime. I have daddy throwing each of them in the air at this age, all in black and white and all during the evening. The other 3 have their pictures printed and in their room. 

Remember to dream big and fly my babies! We will be there to catch you if you fall.

And speaking of babies, it is spring still and the best time to watch the cycle of life: 

A random photo of our property:

The first night of this year we had smores: 

Another random visit to the park, I believe the older kids were fishing:

The kids had their track day. Avery loved coming to support their siblings at school:

This is always such a busy day. I didn't get very many pictures as I was chasing 3 kids at continuous events all across the fields. Oh, and keeping up with a 2 year old is no joke.

For mother's day the kids (and Monte) made me a pie. It was delicious. 

A random but pretty picture of the moon one night. 

And a hot tub sunset picture. A perfect way to end the day:

This was the first year we were convinced to take on baseball. Outside of trying tball for one year and making it to 2 games, we have not done this. It involves a huge commitment and lots of travel. Riley really wanted to try and we decided to give it a go. It has been a lot. A lot. We have done it though and he has had a fantastic season. 

Grand champions at both of their tournaments. 

He also got the GOAT award after one game:

One of my favorite pictures of the whole season though was this:

We are doing it. We did it together as a family and took this sport on for one of our kids. We drove all the miles together, ate meals in the parking lot, and sat in the bleachers to support our own. It was a huge commitment but we did it as a family. That is very important to us is that we still get the family time in and make it a priority. This picture says so much about this season. 

I lost count of how many games we played or how many practices there were but, as I type this, we are about to play our last game. It is an all stars game so just for fun with players randomly mixed up. I am excited to end the season though and maybe find some time for boredom this summer.

Because life isn't crazy busy enough, we decided to take on one more thing! Chicken hatching. We hatched our first eggs and it was so fun and such a special experience:

I sat and watched several eggs hatch. So much patience was needed but so worth the wait. We also got a few babies from Riley's class that he hatched. We have 8 babies in total. 

A random selfie my daughter took:

And then it was here! The last day of school! We were so excited to see this day come. 

We went the next day, the first full day of summer, and met Dad for his lunch break in the park:

I also have just a bunch of random park pictures. We have gone to the park a ton this summer already and it's only June. We just love a good playground, fishing, and/or a picnic:

And then around our house. Always something going on. Here the boys are sun bathing. I think this was the second day of vacation and the weather wasn't even that warm. But they ran through the sprinklers and then decided to sun themselves:

I grabbed a water table for Avery to keep her entertained.

Avery's first hair cut. Just a quick trim but she was super excited:

We got some new curtains for Avery's room and they are just so fun:

Payton sometimes watches Avery for me (the bonus of having an older kid, they will watch the younger ones at times):

We also let her lay in Payton's bed one night. She looked so big:

Payton had her dance recital and we said goodbye to dance. Maybe forever? Maybe until next year? Time will tell but I was thankful for her to try again after taking many years (5 maybe) off. Her grandparents now live in town (here) so they were able to make it, too. This is also new for us as we don't always have relatives at all the activities. 

One of the first summer activities we did was our libraries kick off to summer program. And then that weekend they hosted an entertainer that juggled and performed tricks and some carnival acts. He was fantastic and the kids loved. Riley volunteered to be part of the show and that was so brave of him and fun for me to see. They are all growing up so fast.

I mentioned above that my father-in-law and mother-in-law moved to the area. They were living in a rental at first while they built a house. This picture is of Payton and Avery playing together in the backyard of the house they are building. It was just so sweet to watch the two of them playing so well together:

We decided to finally take a camping trip! It has been a few years since we did that. But, it landed on the same weekend that Payton had a volleyball camp. Since we aren't sure we can commit to another camping trip weekend we decided to pursue this time anyways. Highly recommend as we do not regret!

Because of the volleyball camp though, we decided to split up for one night so that we could ensure Payton got a good nights sleep. So the boys headed off for a night of camping and the girls stayed back. Of course, we had to sneak out for treats that evening:

What would a night on our own be without a little coffee shop date. Then we went to bed early while the boys were out camping and enjoying nature. We went to camp that next day:

Payton had a blast. Then, we went and met up with the boys. We were all so glad to be back together and to slow way down:

We walked and saw a deer with a brand new baby:

We kayaked and enjoyed the scenery:

The kids caught so many fish:

We played in the water, which was still very cold:

A picture I took on the kayak. The kids are fishing on the dock:

A few days after we came home, we let the kids have their first sleepover together:

They did awesome and fell right to sleep. They have done a few together since.

To wrap this post up, we love summer. Everything about it feels so good to me. We started this summer off with no screens, outside of audiobooks (and that was even limited). And it felt so good and so right. 

Cheers to one amazing summer! We're making it a good one.