Hazel gave me a fresh ray of hope bringing home this essay about what she imagines her life will be like 20 years from now. It sounded a lot like my life, and made me feel like she likes and admires me. Sometimes I feel like I'm doing such a poor job with her, so it's a relief to see that I'm not doing as badly as I think I am. I really am trying so hard with her.
We said a sad goodbye to Mrs. Allen, who was such a fabulous kindergarten teacher and retired this year. It won't be the end of her, however. She picked out a new labradoodle puppy, named her Hazel (yes, in honor of my kid!) and invited us over to meet her. She has told me I need to learn to call her Elise. I'll work on it! She's a good friend to our family, and made such a positive impact on my kids.
I was touched to see Hazel's teacher, Mrs. Bernal, giving each student in her class a personal goodbye on the last day of school. She called them up one by one, gave them their report card, and shared some quiet, private words of encouragement and love with each and every child. I'm so impressed with her. Hazel had a good, strong, challenging, and happy year in her class.
Hazel grew close to two girls in her class, Kaitlyn and Aarna. The three of them were inseparable, and even had rotating playdates each Monday at one of their houses. We have continued to see them into the summer. It has been so good for Hazel's confidence to have a set of true friends. I think Hazel is like me; she doesn't like being a part of the crowd, but rather needs one or two sincere friends she can share everything with.
We decided to try out a new last day of school tradition, and set up the tent in our backyard. We played lots of games, Hazel made us scrambled eggs and toast for dinner, we made a bonfire and roasted s'mores, and the kids slept outside. They stayed up late, but they made up for it the next night, so it turned out to be well worth the memories and fun!
That first Saturday after school got out, we had the Hope's and Dix's up for a summer kickoff. We barbecued and let the kids run wild and visited all afternoon long. It was satisfying to use the new backyard; there was plenty of space to play and entertain, and people wanted to be outdoors more than inside, which helped with the noise and the amount of people we had, and made it really fun to have everyone over.
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| Nova, Spencer, Hazel, Griffon |
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| Suzanne, Angie, Chrissy |
Summer hasn't felt too lazy yet. Hazel and Jack are doing swim team practice nearly every morning, and all three kids are still enrolled in their fun gymnastics class. Hazel is still doing piano lessons. We've got a couple of friends with HOA pools that have been so generous to share them with us, so we go swimming whenever we want, usually once or twice a week. We've hit a nature center and a handful of parks, and my game club is still up and running. We've had a couple of potlucks and birthday parties, Hazel had a piano recital, and the kids had their first swim meet.
Oh, and we got a couple of bunnies. Yes, you heard me right. Somehow the kids guilted me into our first pets. I did a million hours of research, trying to find an animal that would be simple to take care of, not too much of an investment or an inconvenience, and we came up with bunnies. Two weeks down now. Ask me how I feel about them... They are so, so cute, but more work than I thought they would be, and while they don't stink, they do have a smell, and there's always hay falling out of their cage onto the floor and whenever I see them in the cage, I feel a mixture of annoyance and guilt. We got a dog pen to keep them contained and let them run around, but they can fit through the bars, so that's not working yet. Maybe in a month or two they'll be too big to squeeze through and then that'll work better? In the meantime. I'm finding I'm a lot happier if the kids take them outside to play, so my floors stay clean. I'd rather have them run away and get lost than have them chew up my computer cords and leather couch, so there you have it. So far, so good. They like to munch on our grass, but the kids have to be on bunny-watch all the time when they're out of the cage, make sure they don't eat the flowers or get lost or anything, and I'm kind of hoping it'll get so annoying they'll eventually admit they don't want bunnies anymore. Who knows? But they are very, very soft, and it is mentally soothing to sit and pet them. It really is. I think if I really stay hands-off and make the kids step up to the job of keeping the cage sanitary, I might be able to stand keeping them. Maybe. We shall see.
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| Carmel and Cocoa |
We went to Utah for a couple of days for a Bonner family reunion. It was short and sweet and tons of fun. Lots of cousin time, with the kids running around in Ellen's backyard till late every night, playing night games, and the adults inside playing games as well. The whole gang was there, except for Erika's husband Steve.
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| the traditional tractor ride - happens every time all the kids are together |
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| Gemma with baby Luna |
We ran amuck at Seven Peaks water park day one, and Todd and I took our kids on a grand tour of BYU before heading back to Midway. Gotta make them fall in love with that place!
Day two was boating at Deer Creek Reservoir. It was a great set-up, because I don't really like boating, but Todd loves it. I was able to hang out on the beach, read my book and hang out with all the peeps, and there was only one ski boat, so the group rotated through the day. There was also a paddle boat that was fun to play with, and Laura brought up her kids' paddle boards and kayak. Man, Jack loved that kiddie kayak!
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| Todd loves boating, so much |
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| Hazel and Gemma with Shaylee and Rylee |
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| Jack on the kayak |
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| Jack with his cousins Carly and Kenley |
And I'm not kidding when I call it short and sweet. We flew, so there wasn't even the exhausting drive back and forth. It literally felt like we'd just had a couple fun day trip days at home. We were gone about 72 hours total. Everyone had a good time. I wish we could travel that way always! Seriously, so much easier than driving! The kids each packed some pajamas and swimsuits, a book and one toy for the plane in a backpack, and called it good. So. Easy.
