start of summer

The first day of summer was also Claire's birthday party, so it was off to a good start!  I didn't stick around like I usually do, but I am very confident in Brooke's swimming abilities and I knew that Brooke was old enough to be there without me.  

Brooke had SO many wonderful things to say about the party, but the highlights definitely included swimming, a visit from the Kona Ice truck, and an epic water balloon fight. 

I took Colby to Chicken-N-Pickle while Brooke was at the party and he loved everything about that place.  We spent time playing foosball, yard games, and finally seized an open table to play ping pong.   I honestly don't remember the last time we played ping pong, but Colby surprised me with his good reflexes and coordination. 

Can you tell that he was a little excited about that ice cream cone? 

Brooke was hired to make cookies (and buy the rest) for Rafaella Ghio's graduation party the Saturday after school got out.  Rafi (and her family) love my chocolate chip cookies, so it was sweet that she wanted them at her party.  Brooke and I had fun making the cookies together, but she was most excited about the prospect of making some money. 

Sister Ghio "hired" Brooke to man the table during the party, but it really wasn't too labor intensive. When she wasn't checking and restocking the cookie table, she was simply enjoying the party! Brother Ghio joked that it was his "Bankruptcy Starter Package" because they had a bounce house, face painting, a mariachi band, a taco truck, and a snow cone machine. But the guests all had a great time!

Brooke even helped make a few snow cones :)

As we were about to leave, Sister Ghio tried to pay Brooke more money.  She had already paid us $300, which was more than we spent on the cookies. I assured her that we didn't need any more money, but she insisted and paid Brooke another $100.  Brooke was thrilled and was very eager to buy herself the new watch/step counter she had been wanting. 

While Brooke and I were at the party (for hours), Colby enjoyed some one-on-one time with Kevin.  He's been asking to go golfing, so that was their first adventure, followed by dinner, walking around Academy Sports, buying books at Half Price books, taking a dip at the pool, and eventually making it home for showers and a movie.  When I asked Colby about his date, he announced that it was EPIC!

Sunday with the littles!  Brooke is majorly loving this dress right now, I think because she feels "like a teenager."  Several of the teenage girls at church have even complimented her on it :)

We went to another graduation party that evening and one of our friends walked the kids down to the lake.  They loved the adventure and I loved the pic!  They even found  the skull of a cow!

Colby's hair was too good not to document after his ride on the OG of knee boards! Kevin thinks he got that board when he was about 11, so it's pushing 30 years old. 

They named themselves "Double Trouble" and were having themselves a great time.  The 20 mph winds were a little crazy, but not as crazy as having a dead battery when you try to head into the marina.  Thankfully, the marina sent some guys out to rescue us!

Since our lake time was cut short, we headed over to the pool.  I'm glad Brooke used the larger tube because after Colby asked me to blow it up, he only played with it for like 2 minutes.  He underestimated how much work it was to blow up, haha. 

One or two days in to summer,  I was already dealing with sibling squabbles.  I decided to get the kids outside and put them to work, which was just what we all needed.  There's a lot of power in working and playing together!  And it was especially fun to have a water balloon fight with Colby when it was all over. I definitely won, but he claims he was "just wet from washing the car."

The summer is off to a good start, but I'm still trying to find the balance between low-key and carefree summer days and the structure of a routine/schedule to help with fighting.  I'll let you know if I find the perfect ratio :)