Sick July

Earlier in the summer, a poutine restaurant opened up about ten blocks from our house.  Ryan and I finally made a point of going there to check it out, and I have to admit, it was very authentic Quebecois poutine!  It took me back to my mission, and helped me remember that I never actually liked poutine in the first place.
  

Cheese Curd and Gravy

We did the neighborhood Fourth of July Bike Parade in Glenwood Oaks again.  Connor got to be in charge of the flag ceremony at the end, for which he was kind of nervous, but he did a great job.  Elise stayed home because she wasn't feeling well.
   

We got the kids' taekwondo pictures back.  They were pretty cute, but blurry for some reason.  Maybe I didn't download them right or something.
  

Our friends the Bartys had been working on creating a mystery-themed card game for months, and finally launched their Kickstarter campaign with a party on 7/7/17.  We helped test "Murder at Blood Mansion" a couple of times, and it really is an awesome game.
    

So, this is why July, overall, was lame.  Elise got sick on July 4th, and was in bed with a fever for several days.  Then Connor came down with the same thing, by which time Elise had recovered, then become sick again.  I got suspicious, and took her to the doctor where we discovered she had pneumonia!  Connor, also, developed pneumonia about a week after his illness, which took a week of antibiotics to get over.  Then, just when things were starting to look okay, I came down with their "summer flu", which the doctor explained to me was technically an enterovirus.  Whatever.  I have never, in my adult life anyway, been so sick for so long.  I was feverish, freezing, constantly coughing, and couldn't get out of bed for an entire week.  That didn't keep the kids from climbing all over me, of course, which was sweet I guess.
  

Doctor's Office

Sick Mama...

During this long month of plague, people entertained themselves the best they could around the house.
  

Corinne - "Rainbow"

Five Nights at Freddy's is forbidden in our house, but Corinne knows all the characters anyway.

Pizza Guy

Choking Hazards are Delicious

Playing in the TuffShed

Elise made a spa for Corinne.  It included PB&J and a sound machine.

    
Our friends the Vances came over one last time to swim and play before their move to Michigan.  They helped start the co-op/school our kids attend today, and were some of our best homeschooling buddies.  We'll miss them!
  

All throughout July, most of our available attention was put towards preparing for the SYMF (Southwestern Youth Music Festival.)  Whoever wasn't sick was travelling to piano lessons multiple times per week, and practicing their pieces at home.  It was kind of too much, actually.  We took a break one evening after lessons to eat pizza and ice cream at a park near Roza's house.
   

The last weekend in July was highlighted by Analytic Investor's Summer Event, and the kids' competition days (each one was scheduled on a different day in Long Beach.)  Ryan had to leave the work party early to take Elise, but we all had fun.  Connor was sick again with a cold.  Yeah.
   

Sick Connor

At the party, Celeste met a grown-up Celeste, who was wearing a necklace of her name!

Elise in Long Beach (She got Fourth Place)

The party had a magician, a kids' music group, and an animal show!

Connor performed Sunday, and came late to church.  He didn't want to go to Deacons, so ended up staying with me in Primary.

Evan performed the next day.  Thank you Ryan, for taking everyone!

June

The week after school got out, Elise had a palate expander put in at the orthodontist's office.  She had sore teeth and a hard time talking for a couple days, but was fine after that.  I had to turn the key every other day or so, which brought back weird memories of doing the exact same thing to myself when I was a teenager!
   

Connor helped babysit the youngest Kenny kids while their mom went to a graduation program at the middle school.  They spent a lot of time looking at Large Marge from the PeeWee movie.
  

 

Elise had her birthday party at Armstrong Climbing Gym down in Los Angeles.  I was amazed at how fast and high she could climb!  Not sure where she learned to do that.
  

  

Corinne, Celeste, Sarah, Vivian, Eleni, Meili, Elise, Lydia, Ava, Evan

We were running late to a barbecue with the Walches when we discovered a flat tire on our van.  Hopefully the kids learned something about cars, but at any rate, we did make it to the barbecue.  The Walches were yet another family planning to move out of state that summer.
  

Ryan and Connor spent a week doing Scout Camp, both at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and in Zion National Park.  They had a great time despite a lot of hiking (Connor felt a lot of pressure to do the 20-mile hike, but ended up with two very respectable 10-milers.)  They saw some beautiful places, earned a bunch of merit badges, goofed off, and caught tadpoles!  Connor's best friend Daniel Kenny was able to go, which was fun but bittersweet, since we'd be dropping him off at his new house in Alpine at the end of it all.
  

In the meantime, I supervised the installation of our new TuffShed, and watched deer set up camp under our apricot tree.  They seemed to be there at all hours of the day and night.
  

The kids got their final report cards from the school year.  Everyone did an amazing job!  I love that Corinne got "outstanding" in every subject, but basically failed Lunch for being too messy.
  

As Scout Camp was nearing its end, I packed up the other kids and drove to meet Ryan and Connor. We had to wait an extra day for my parents to return from a dog show, so we stayed at an Air BnB in Lehi, went to church, and played with cousins!  Then we spent about a week at my mom's house just enjoying summertime.
   

Driving is Boring

Cousins!

I waited in the van with Celeste while the others played at Yuba Lake.  As predicted, someone got hurt on the inner tube.

Each year, my mom's neighbors raise show lambs for the Fair.

We spent an afternoon at the "Museum of Curiosity" with the Kennys

I finally bought some new church clothes!

Grandma Cloe's Special Baby Song

Sprinklers

Grandma's New Screened Tent

When we got home from Utah, the apricots were going crazy!  We filled bags and bags, and ended up making freezer jam.  I'm glad the tree recovered from its traumatic pruning a few years back.
   

Our friends the Palmers came down to play with us for a few days!  On the morning after they arrived, the kids were showing me a giant beetle near our cedar tree when I spied this bat on the trunk.  We carefully showed everyone, then left it alone, expecting it to fly away at nightfall.  When I went to check it that evening, it got spooked by the flashlight and flopped down onto the ground, hissing and baring its teeth, but it didn't seem able to fly away.  I wasn't sure what to do, but I ended up killing it with a shovel.  I felt bad about that, until I looked online and saw that the La Crescenta area had been having a spike in rabid bats over the previous few months.

Despite the rabies, we had a great week with the Palmers, including a smoked-brisket picnic in the Universal Studios parking lot (sorry I didn't get any pictures.)
    

Dippin' Dots!

And here are the leftover cute pictures...Celeste started doing her now-famous "kissy face"!  She's such a goof.
   

Clean Baby

Still Planning the Bathroom Remodel