July

 We had a fun birthday play day with cousins. As you can see there was some deep play going on.

 This book from Aunty Jenny soon  became Hazel's favorite- 

nudist drawings of wild forest children followed soon thereafter...

 Henry and Hazel are only a month apart. 

 We've all enjoyed getting to know Max better this summer. He's such a cool little dude.

 Do all 4 year olds get this excited about a fieldguide to seashells?

 Scarlet picked out these cute beads for Hazel's birthday bead kit.

 Happy 4th Birthday Hazel!

 Jane brings her book journal to the library and then proceeds to chit chat with the librarians about anything books.  

We had a fun beach day with our pals. We made a sweat hut on the sand and played the day away.

Triathlon

Charlie and Jacob did their first kids triathlon. We made a training schedule months before and they recorded their times to track their improvement. We also did several practise runs so they'd be familiar with the routes. It was rewarding for them to see how their training benefitted them. Jacob even got first place in his run!

Fieldtrips

We had a fun fieldtrip to Apple Jack Farm, the most beautiful farm. We wanted to learn more about dexter cows, in hopes of having our own milk cow. 

 Jane started her own business this summer. She started face painting for birthdays and events and made more money than she ever imagined! It was neat to see her learn how to keep track of income and expenses, order supplies, advertise, deal with all kinds of people and keep her skills up to date. She has learned a lot!

One day Hazel surprised us by folding an entire load of laundry. 

We didn't know she could fold so well. 

Little pattern makers. 

 We had a spectacular time learning about incubating eggs and watching ducks hatch. 

What a miracle!

This is our exciting fieldtrip to Tumblewood Lapidary Club to finish up our geology unit. We learned about rocks, fossils, and gems.

Jacob is always inventing some kind of game. 

 Timmy planned a nice date for us- we got ice cream and read our book, 

"Keeper of the Bees" together. 

Life is Good

 Charlie was eager for this day. It was really nice to be at the temple together.

Ezra got a trophy for finishing 40 piano pieces this year!

 Jane took her Royal Conservatory Cello Theory exam this spring.

We learn so much from these friends and always enjoy our visits so much.

I read our "Year in Review" for our graduation celebration. Everyone looks through their binders from the year and we astonish ourselves with how much work we did. This year we had a silly string war, went to the Devonian Gardens for a field trip, then stopped at the taco truck.

Grammy invited us over to watch her pool be dropped in to the ground with a crane. It was quite a process. The best part was watching Eli and Dad in action. They both amaze me.

 Found these eggs in our neighborhood. 

Sunday buddies. 

Fresh cut flowers make Sundays even better. 

I love finding Ezra in the garden snacking.