The post vacation rhythm

After such a big vacation, coming home was initially hard.  We were all thoroughly exhausted from the trip and needed to recover.  And then the reality hit that life at home is not as exciting as it was on vacation.  But we have slowly worked our way back into life.  Kai has been continuing with piano and swim lessons (about every other week or so for swim--maybe a little less) and Finn has gone to one tennis lesson.  Bree has weekly swim lessons.  Other than that, we have started a family cooking class together.  We do it at home and work on cooking skills together.  It's been fun to see them grow in independence in the kitchen and I've been grateful that the class emphasizes kitchen skills, instead of just learning how to cook one particular thing.  We have had weekly play dates with friends at parks and even friends at our house.  And we have participated in the ward hiking group.  I've found that we haven't had a lot of spare time, but the occasions that we do have free time I've heard the phrase "I'm bored" and I've found some satisfaction in that.  This summer is going fast and is feeling productive.

Here's some pictures from after our trip (June 11th) to before I went to Girls' Camp (June 26th).

That first week home we were all tired and cleaning and doing laundry, etc.  On Wednesday afternoon we needed to get out of the house so we drove over to school, parked the car and got out to take a walk.  The best part of this trip was that we ended at a playground and Finn learned how to pump for himself on the swings.  And Kai almost figured it out.  Yippee!  I know this is something they should have learned by now but we really don't have anywhere for them to practice or learn.  I'm so glad that they have this skill now though!

Day 1 of our cooking class was Thursday the 15th.  They were all excited for this.  Finn and Bree love to help me in the kitchen so this was right up their alley.  Kai had no interest at all, but when I told him it was a class with a real "online" teacher I was able to pull him in.  Admittedly the skills are easy for him right now but, of all of my kids, he is the one with no foundation in the kitchen, so I'm making him do the first few lessons of the beginner level to get some basic skills.  He is just about ready to start cruising through the intermediate level now though!  The skill for this first class was spreading.  The kids had bread and butter to practice with and celery for ants on a log.

Finn loves "logs".  That's what he calls them without the "ants".  He actually takes these for lunch at school nearly daily.  It's funny to me because he won't eat peanut butter by itself or on a sandwich but he loves it on celery.  Whatever works, right?!

Funny shot from lounging around.  See those teeth?  The dentist says we need a few more teeth to come in before visiting the orthodontist.  We are looking at braces in about a year or so.  Ugghhh!

Our first outing with the ward hiking group on June 19th was to Green Mountain Falls.  I was told it was a kid friendly trail.  It turned out to be much harder than I had bargained for and I was glad that I had brought the hiking backpack for Bree.  There was a lot of scrambling across rocks and walking on a narrow trail on the edge of a cliff.  Bree and I ended up being at the end of the pack and a sweet woman from our old ward (who used to be my VTing teacher) stayed with us to make sure we were doing ok.  The boys went ahead with the majority of the group.  I'm so glad Finn didn't fall off of the mountain and that the other moms took good care of him.  They eventually sent out a rescue party for me, Bree and Sister Fowler and as we were arriving there was a second rescue party going out.  It was a comedy of errors as there was just not cell phone reception in the area at all. But the boys discovered a love for hiking with their friends this day!  The girl to the left of Finn is Kai's good friend Reese.  And the other two boys are her brothers.  We love this family and I'm so glad that Kai has a friend like Reese.  They are very much birds of a feather!

Later that week while doing chores with the boys I left the nebulizers on the stove to sterilize.  I forgot about them until I smelt the plastic burning.  OOOPS!

Cooking class two was working on knife skills

The kids made a large fruit salad for dinner.  We had so much that we shared some with Kai's piano teacher.

On Thursday the 22nd we met friends at the Miller Activity Complex in Castle Rock.  We played at the playground for a bit and then went to the splash pad area where we were playing and eating lunch when an afternoon storm rolled in.  We tried to wait it out but eventually gave up and headed home.

At home we found our monthly supply waiting for us at the door as well as an Amazon delivery.  Seriously, our UPS driver gets quite a work out at our house.

For a combined birthday/Father's Day present Reid got the new Lego Space Shuttle set.  He worked on it for a few days with some help.  You can't tell from this picture but she was so cute with her head barely reaching over the table as they worked.

The kids playing outside the day before I left for girls' camp.  Girls' Camp was the first time in over 10 years that I was going to spend a night without at least one of my own kids.  I was excited and nervous and knew I would miss the kids.  So, I was a little more camera happy this day!  Haha!

I love the sheer joy on her face here!