Summer has been in full swing here the last month and we have been having a good time! It mostly feels like we have been waiting to go to Utah (tomorrow!!), but we have had so much fun in the meantime!
Hold on tight, this is our entire month of June in one post!
Triathlon
Two days after school got out, Michael Duke hosted another children's triathlon and it was another success! Wes almost said he didn't want to participate and we couldn't figure out why, but when I told him he would just be competing against Annie and Tagg, he agreed and said, "Ok, I'll do it cause I can win." What?! How did he know he could win for sure and why is that the only reason he wants to participate? We'll be working on that one, don't worry.
Wes did end up taking first place out of the three of them and was as pleased as punch about it.
I have to give him all the credit for giving it his all and not stopping even when he was hot and tired!
And how can I be bothered by that cute smile and muscle arm?
Thad did really well, too! His age division is much more difficult (6 years - 11 years) and even though he didn't win, he did not give up or get discouraged and pushed hard to the end.
Michael told him he improved his time by 2+ minutes and he was pretty happy with that!
I love our little racers!
We love the Dukes and all their efforts to bring joy to all!
Scout Camp
We didn't have much planned the first official week of summer, but Thad did have scout camp Tuesday-Friday from 3:30pm - 8:30pm. It wasn't too far from our house, but it was really well done and he came home loving it every single night! Brian got to go help out the last night and watch Thad participate in all the fun skills and activities he had learned over the week.
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Homemade slime
Walsh Ranch Ward Cub Scouts
BB Gun Shooting
Fishing
Wes was lucky enough to go hangout at the "Tot Lot" while Brian was volunteering (mostly because I was losing my marbles with them being home all day fighting, being lazy, and only wanting to watch TV), and at the end of the night got to join in on a few things including fishing. Thad was more than happy to show him the ropes and even though they didn't catch anything, I know it was a great time for both of them.
While the boys played at scout camp, Eve and I headed to Marian's dance concert and had a wonderful time watching her. Eve loves Marian so much!
Here is Thad a couple weeks later at Pack Meeting receiving the awards he earned while at camp
They also did an "Indy 500" race with the boys in homemade cardboard cars!
Please notice Thad's patches on his sleeve. After five months of scouts I finally pulled out my sewing machine and put his patches on...better late than never!
Rocky
The Rocky movies came up with the boys and they decided they really wanted to watch them. I have never seen them either, so we have been trying to find times to watch them together. We showed them the first one and even though there was a lot of talking (and a few more kisses than they had hoped for) leading up to the main fight at the end with Apollo Creed, they loved it!
This was the boys right after we watched it trying to implement the moves they had seen on the movie. They kept asking for Rocky II, so we finally watched it last weekend. We are all really anxious to watch Rocky III now! We love good movies around here!
Water Fun
Brookie and Eve just being besties at Brody's birthday party at the pool! Somehow I didn't get any pictures of the boys with their friends, but these cute girls cannon-balling off the stairs was just too cute to pass up-
I love that Eve loves the water and doesn't hesitate one second about jumping in the water or being in the deep end. She is a gem.
We also had some fun with the Brennans at the pool and Eve was able to try out the mermaid tail Mila had shown her a few days earlier.
She was in heaven!
The kids always have more fun playing outside when water is involved-
Thad and Wes have now both completed their separate swim lessons.
I knew I wanted Wes to be able to swim without floaties this summer so I booked lessons with Ms. Laura because several friends from the ward have used her and said their kids were swimming at the end of the three day lessons. Well, they were right!
Five minutes in this boy was literally swimming across the pool!
I know he was ready, but it was very comforting knowing he had an experienced teacher making sure he learned the right way.
My sweet ward friend Tracey Lowe was kind enough to let us do the lessons in her backyard pool and one of the three days Eve and Thad were lucky enough to swim in the tiny unheated hot tub while Wes got his lessons-
The other days Eve and Thad were kind of complaining that there was nothing to do and Eve was only happy if she had goggles on her face. She is a nut job.
A cute nut job, but a nut job.
Wes said one of his favorite things was learning the "dead man float" and as you can see, he rocked it-
Ms. Laura explained that this is a very important skill to learn in case he gets tired or in a scary situation and he practiced it a lot with her.
It is so cute to see Wes interact with adults because he converses so well with him. Ms. Laura was so cute with him, and I know he loves feeling loved and praised for doing well, so this was overall an awesome experience for him!
Thad finished Stroke Clinic today and learned so much over the two weeks! He went M-F for 45 minutes the past two weeks and learned all the strokes. He wasn't too excited about starting because he said he already knew how to swim, but after the first day he was so excited about how much better of a swimmer he could become! He made so much progress and and I hope we can help him become a stronger and stronger swimmer each summer!
I'm so proud of this boy and his hard work at stroke clinic!
And all our fun in the water and sun has led to some pretty dark skin for my blondies-
It amazes me how quickly this happens with these two! Haha!
Summer Camps
The second week of summer Thad and Wes were lucky enough to have camp in the mornings! I signed Thad up for Stony Point High School's basketball camp back in April, and I was a little sad Wes wouldn't have something. Right before school got out the Duke boys announced they would host a sports camp the same week! Cha-ching! Both boys were in summer camp heaven that week.
These cute boys got to bring home a basketball and a cute t-shirt!
Each day of Wes' summer camp was a different theme and soccer was of course his favorite.
(And I have a ton of awesome pictures from Kristen, so enjoy!)
Wes got to spend these mornings with Evan, so that was just the cherry on top for him!
Basketball wasn't Wes' favorite day, but he survived.
Water day was the last day and I sent Thad since his basketball camp ended on Thursday. Kristen was kind enough to let Eve hang out for it too and I got a few hours to myself. I love the Dukes.
Hooray for an awesome week at sports camp!
Deloitte Doctoral Consortium
Brian had the opportunity to spend a few days in Dallas at Deloitte University with one Accounting PhD student from each university. I didn't realize until he was there that it is a pretty amazing opportunity (he doesn't like to toot his own horn), and he had such a good time and it made him so excited for the job market next year.
Brian is the short guy in a white shirt between two giants on the third row from the back.
I am so proud of our guy and how he makes things happen by being the amazing, smart person that he is.
Father's Day
He made it home from the consortium on Sunday afternoon on Father's Day about the same time I got back from stake conference with the kids. We were so happy to see him after five days!
We took it pretty easy and spoiled him as much as we could. This guy is by far the favorite around here and it was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our favorite dad.
Block Party
Last weekend Abby put together an awesome block party and we had a blast hanging with our neighbors! Pizza, friends, movies and games! And even though it was crazy hot we had so much fun.
We always love to have a big hoo-rah with our neighbors before heading out of town.
Sunday Dinner with the Monsens
We had our cousins down for dinner before heading to Utah because we're so sad we won't see them for the month of July and wish they were able to come to Utah with us!.
We got a fun game of bocce going even though we had to keep re-placing the balls - Christian really wanted them!
He wasn't too happy when mama tried to keep him out of the game...
But then he found the airplane again and put that cutest smile back on his face!
We sure love having these guys close!
Goodbye Harrison
We had to have dinner with the Hatches before we left because Harrison is leaving on his mission on July 25 and we will move from Texas before he comes home. It is so hard to think about saying goodbye to our Texas family. It is the beginning of the end...
I am so grateful my boys have examples like Harrison in their life, we are so blessed. After dinner Brian was able to go to their house and helped confer the Melchizedek priesthood on him. We are so lucky to participate in great things with great friends!
Mommy-Daughter Flamingo Party
Kristen threw an AMAZING party, partly for mommy-daughter bonding and partly for her birthday on July 7. This gal does nothing halfway and Eve and I had an amazing time hanging out with her and some other awesome ladies!
I love this Eve girl of mine!
Schlitterbahn
While Eve and I were at our party, Brian and Thad headed to Schlitterbahn to experience the water park of all water parks! Thad earned his ticket through the school library this winter by reading 600 minutes in 6 weeks and he is so happy he did!
Brian said it was pretty incredible and was that Seven Peaks and Raging Waters doesn't even touch how awesome Schlitterbahn was. I am really hoping we can go as a family next summer!
Finn
Abby had her baby Finn and I am just so happy she had him before we leave tomorrow! I got to go see him yesterday and it was perfect.
I didn't get to hold him because he is in the NICU for a little while (he has Down Syndrome) while he works on getting his oxygen levels up and while they keep a close eye on his heart. I got to hang with him and Abby for an hour and it was just a special thing to be with him so fresh from heaven. I sure love Abby and know she is going to be an amazing mama to this special boy.
Car Wash
The boys decided they want to join their Wilson cousins at Lagoon while we are in Utah and I told them they can go if they earn the money for it. I gave them some ideas to earn some money and they chose car wash/detailing. We have been trying to teach them that if they are going to ask people for money that they need to offer services or products that people need or want, something above and beyond elastic bracelets and lemonade stands. Well, Thad made an awesome flier (with Wes close by) and both of them went around and passed them out to our neighbors and got five people (the max amount) to sign up!
We "trained" the boys a bit on our cars and decided they could do it for others and they were so excited! Until it rained all day Saturday and Sunday and we had to reschedule all of the appointments...It's ok, though! We made it happen and they did an awesome job and worked hard!
Go Thad and Wes!
And even though all of this stuff we have had going on has us all like...
(Yes, Wes fell asleep like this)
We are so excited for the next month of our summer in UTAH!!! We can't wait and I have GOT TO GO and get us packed and ready to leave bright and early tomorrow morning. Wish us luck and happy summer to all!
