So we created a Summer Bucket List. Everyone threw out ideas, and I wrote *most* of them down (there were a few weird ones that made no sense from the younger quarter of the room). We've been doing all sorts of fun things this summer because of our list! Things we probably wouldn't have done or wouldn't do.
We've done a picnic in the park and play park games.
We've had zoo days at the LA Zoo.
We went to the Santa Barbara Zoo.
We went to the Natural History Museum and the CA Science Center.
I also created a separate list of things to do in LA before we leave. That's a whole other story, though. After busy season ended this year, Daniel said that he felt like it was time for him to find a new job and that he wanted to start looking in Utah. Obviously, I'm fully supportive of that. We miss having him around, and this year has been really busy and stressful for him. But, ... it puts a quick timer on our time in LA County, and there are still a myriad of things that we haven't done that we probably should do. I had to draw up a list of possible things to do in the area. I looked up a bunch of lists online about things to do in LA, and I was surprised by how many of the things we actually have already done! It'll be fun, though, doing more before we're gone.
One downside to all of this good stuff is that we're all a little tired and worn out. Especially Jack, poor baby. He hasn't been napping well, probably he's transitioning down to one nap, and because of all our activities, he's learned to fall asleep in the car real quick. In the last couple of weeks, he's gotten really grumpy, though. So, I should probably spend some time at home helping him to sleep better.
This week, ... what did we do? Tuesday, we invited Alarie and her kids to come down and go to a movie with us. We left the babies with Ella Delhoyo, and took the older kids to a dollar movie. We saw Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was Camille's first movie in a movie theater. We all had a really fun time.
Wednesday was Independence Day, and it was an all day party, really. The girls and I rode bikes and walked down to where the parade would come by, and we watched the 4th of July Parade while Dad stayed home so Jack could nap. It was quite warm, and Camille and I were done with the parade far before it ended. But Brooke loved it and wanted to wait for her friend Violet, who was in the parade. So we stayed. For the whole thing. After we walked and rode home, we cleaned and played and waited for Jack to wake up so that we could go to the Faucette's for a little get-together. We ate and the kids swam, and we visited. We had a great time. And when we were done there, we just shifted the party to the Fischer's house, and ate and swam and visited. They had water games for the kids. I took Jack home for bedtime, and then Daniel and I switched, and I took the girls up to the Whitmore's big house on the hill to watch fireworks. They had never seen fireworks in real life before, and they were so excited. We could see fireworks from all around the valley, and Brooke and Camille and their friends got really into it. It was so fun to be there. There were a ton of people up at the Whitmore's house, chatting, watching fireworks and roasting mallows. Spending time with friends and family is the reason I love 4th of July so much.
Thursday, we had the carpets cleaned, so we just did shopping, movie day (while Jack slept) and went to the pool for a bit in the afternoon.
I took the kids to the CA Science Center on Friday, because it was a super hot day, and I figured a big museum would be nice and cool. Everyone else had the same idea. It was really busy at the Science Center. We took a lunch in, walked around to look at different things. There were some activities for the kids, but not many, and at one point, Brooke asked, "Mom, why is there so much space stuff?" I told her that a lot of people get really interested in space stuff, and she said, "Oh. I'm not very interested in it." 😂 When we left, I asked them if they liked that, and Brooke said, "Ya, I liked it, but it was a little boring." We probably won't be going back, haha!
Yesterday, we went to the beach (it was another hot day, and again, everyone had the same idea. The beach we went to was packed), all of us. Even Daniel!!! (WHA?!) It was quite a warm day at the beach. We all got a little roasty. But we had fun playing in the waves and the sand. Brooke and I had a lot of fun chasing the waves and building a little island in the sand. Jack took a long time to warm up to the beach ... like, a really long time ... he was quite grumpy. But then when he did, he loved it, digging his fingers into the wet sand, walking in the water. On the way home, we stopped and got a big flat of fresh strawberries. Which we made into a delicious pie today (another thing from our bucket list).
Other things I've been working on the last couple of months:
- working out and eating more clean -- especially weight training, since finishing my half; I feel so much stronger just in the last few weeks, and I've lost some weight
- putting together our family emergency binder and food storage
- reading -- almost done with my newbury book reading goal for the year!
- listening to some good books; I've gotten Brooke into listening to audio books. We like to listen to them in the car when we have a long drive, and we've really loved the Ramona books
- going to the temple more; I finally got my recommend renewed a few months ago. It expired right after Jack was born, so I wasn't in a frame of mind to take care of it. Now that it is taken care of, I've been trying to go every month
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