Finishing School

When Aubree gets together with her friends, they're just as likely to be sewing as to be playing.  We parents jokingly refer to them as the "old ladies."  When the school year was ending, and summer beckoned near and free, we decided it would be fun to organize a few sewing and cooking classes for them.  We tossed around a few name ideas ("Old Lady School" received a big fat "NO!," and  though "Princess Academy" was quite popular, it was vetoed because we wanted boys to participate in a certain way) before finally deciding on "Finishing School."

Aubree had three sewing classes taught by her friend's mom (who did a pretty spectacular job).  The first week the girl's made reversible headbands, the second week they made skirts, and the final week they made purse-bags.  Aubree loved every single second of those classes.  Not only did she get to spend long periods of time with her best buddy and use a real sewing machine, she came home with impressive final products.  

She's especially fond of the skirt and wears it at all possible opportunities (don't be surprised to see it again on First Day of School photos).  

While the girls did sewing (and the "babies" napped), I took the other siblings and had crafts and activities special for them.  

While they were excited to try new things, they were equally happy to have long stretches of play time.  

When the sewing classes finished, I took a turn teaching the big girls (cooking this time), and the other mom took the younger siblings.  The girls were so enthusiastic about making their own pancakes and quesadillas and brownies...

but I think they liked making cinnamon rolls best of all.

Ever since the cooking classes, Aubree has been over-eager to help in the kitchen.  "What are you making for dinner?" she asks, "Can I make something?"  I call that a win-win.

Summer o' Camps

Last summer, Aubree attended Violin Camp, but other than that, my kids had never participated in summer camps.  That changed in dramatic fashion this year!  I already mentioned the two soccer camps I helped organize, and here's a quick run-down on the others...

First, I signed Aubree and Bryce up for a Sport's Camp run by our neighbor's church.  I had a few reservations, the main one being that it went from 7-9 PM!  If you know me, you're aware that I'm kind of a bedtime nazi, so it was a big deal to push back bedtime for a whole week.  

A and B had a great time!  Both were in groups with good friends, so that helped a lot.  

Each night they got to play two or three different sports and spent lots of time running, playing, and being loud.  They came home equal parts wild and exhausted.  

The final night of the sport's camp the church hosted a family BBQ and carnival.  Thane was excited to get to go and participate after watching his older siblings leave every evening of the week.  There were games, crafts, and face painting, but my kids liked the treats the best.

Next on the docket was Aubree's violin camp.  She had such a great time last year that she could not wait for this year's camp to begin.  She was a bit disappointed that some of the friends she made last year didn't return this time around, but she still insisted that she "loved it!"  The dress-up days were particularly fun for her.

Wacky Wednesday

Friday night she was excited to perform in the finale concert.  This year the beginner kids (those with 2 years or less playing experience) got to perform their own songs.  Aubree really loves the performance aspect of playing the violin (even if the practicing part isn't joyous), and she did a great job!

Her brothers in the audience, however, did not do a great job.  Just like last year, I got to take them to the foyer halfway through the evening.  

Last but not least, Aubree went with our neighbors to a 4-day choir camp.  She loves to sing and was thrilled to discover that this camp had dress-up days as well.

Pajama Day

Crazy Hair Day

All went calmly till Thursday morning, when I got a call saying Aubree had thrown up.  Say what?  By the time I arrived to pick her up, she was still pale-faced, but starting to feel better.  By the time we got halfway home, she was chipper and chatty and asking for lunch.  My best guess is she got dehydrated, because the rest of the day she was perfectly healthy.  

Since she was looking completely recovered, we took her to that night's concert, where she and her buddies gave a wonderful performance.  

Phew! Altogether we had 5 weeks of camp this summer.  I'm not sure that's a good thing, but the kids enjoyed them immensely.

UT-most Excursion, pt. LAST

A recent conversation at our house...

Me: "Mark, did you see I wrote a new blog post?"

Mark: "Was it Utah, part 57?"

********

Saturday was a BIG day; my mom got re-married!  She met her now-husband, Steve, last year through one of her community college classes (he was her anatomy lab instructor...they didn't start dating till after the class concluded).

As is typical for Graff-style weddings, the morning was totally chaotic and busy, but everything managed to get done (semi) on time.  Cousin Tina set up a mini-barber shop in Kira's kitchen and cut hair left and right.

Dallin getting his first hair cut... So long rat's tail!

Mom decided to get married in Utah because we'd already planned the family reunion and we were all together that week.  That decision, however, meant she didn't have much time to pull everything together.  My sisters (rock stars that they are), helped put all the pieces together.  

I was supposed to help with the food, but Lauren had that well under control.  Instead, I kept thinking about how mom had said, "There's so little time, so don't worry about clothes, everyone can just wear their Sunday dress and that will be good enough."  

I'm sure it would have been fine, but I thought it might be a nice surprise and gesture of affection if we arranged for all the kids and grandkids to wear coordinating outfits.  The idea was sound, but the implementation proved much trickier than I'd expected.  We were scrambling right up till the night before to get all we needed, but in the end I think it turned out well (alas, I have little photo evidence of this claim, since I haven't yet gotten copies of the wedding photos).

The wedding was held at the local art museum.  Many old family friends made the trip out to attend, which was quite heart-warming.  It's wonderful to know my mom is so well-loved.

My grandparents and aunts came too!

Grandma Joni, Steve, & Mom

G'ma Lis, Mom, & G'pa Bunker

Mom & her terrific sisters

Lauren (with lots of help) organized a lovely lunch, and everyone enjoyed one final afternoon spending time together and celebrating with Mom and Steve.

Soon, however, it was time for us to hit the road.  We needed to be back in Washington for the start of my first co-op soccer camp by Monday morning, and were worried about hitting terrible post-holiday traffic through Snoqualmie Pass (a la Memorial Day).  With no time to lose, we started the homeward trek at 2 pm and drove and drove and drove.  We left the question of stopping unanswered, figuring we'd go as long as was safe.  With Mark (who doesn't like to drive at night because of poor eyesight and night blindness issues) keeping me company, we somehow managed to make it all.the.way.home, finally pulling in at 4 a.m. Washington time.  I get tired just thinking about that drive!

UT-most Excursion, Family Pictures

Here are just a sampling of the many, many family pictures taken on the 4th of July.  We started with a whole-group shot, which is why most of the kids are still relatively happy in this picture:

Mom & all the kids/spouses

The grandma/grandkids picture, while a must-have, is a logistical nightmare!  Lots of babies, not enough capable hands.... little ones wanting their parents.... parents standing behind the photographers doing their best jester impersonations.  I'm pretty sure there is at least one adult hiding behind that couch...

When all my sisters went to Kira's ward on Sunday, the ward members kept saying, "You all look just like Kira!"  Really?

Seesters!

Getting a decent picture of the brothers wasn't quite as simple a task, not because my brothers aren't handsome, but rather because anytime the three of them got in close proximity they immediately devolved into Wrestle-Fest 2014.

 Next individual families had their pictures taken.  Here's the best of our mini-session:

And this one is more realistic (who taught Thane to make bunny ears?!):

I wasn't overly thrilled with how the sibling shots turned out.

 At the end of the long hour, we had the idea to take cousin pictures.  Most of the kids have similar-aged cousins, so we rounded them up and tried (mostly in vain) to get them to cooperate one last time.

The 6-year old group

The four-year olds were, remarkably, the most willing to grin... 100% cheesy!

Piper and Jameson were too cute!

The one-year olds were 100% d.o.n.e.

Except for Graham.  He'd finally caught on to the "stay-still-for-the-camera" game, and stuck around long after his upset cousins fled to their mother's arms.  

Aubree doesn't have same-aged cousins, but was thrilled with the idea that she could hold the babies.  Jameson and Dallin, however, were not thrilled with the idea of staying in one place.

 And an extra, cute picture just for fun!

Farm School Fun, by Aubree

Our first adventure in farm school is.......

Swimming! About two minutes after I got to the Frank's house I went swimming at the pond (my mom doesn't have pictures of it).

That night Shaina came over and she (with Ashlee's help of course) curled my hair along with Maggie's, Jaylen's, and Gracee's hair.

The next day I went to church in Jaylen's ward. Shaina gave a talk so Megan got to come to Jaylen's ward with us. It was fun having both Megan and Jaylen in my class.

That afternoon, we did a lot of cooking.  It was really fun because all the girls did it.

Us making M&M bars

Monday, we picked peaches in the same place as last year.  They tasted delicious, just like last year.

After picking peaches, we went swimming at Grandma K's indoor pool.  I had never been there before, so it was extra fun.

Then, early in the morning the next day we made mud pies.  We made a humongous mud puddle and tried to make a humongous mud cake, but it didn't turn out too well.

Right before it was time leave to go back home, Maggie and I picked potatoes.  We found the jack-pot. We pulled up a potato plant and started digging and found tons of huge potatoes.  I cleaned them off and got to take them home for my mom.

Farm School was super awesome and fun and I can't wait to do it again next year.  

*Note from Erin... due to logistics of pick-up/drop-off, Aubree got to spend an extra long time at Farm School (5 days, 4 nights).  Towards the end of this time I spoke to her on the phone and had the following conversation...

Me: "You've been gone a really long time, have you missed us at all?"

Aubree:  "Well, I would miss you, except I've been so busy and having so much fun, that I really haven't had a chance."

That about sums it up. Thanks to the Franks for making her experiences unforgettable!

UT-most Excursion, Pt. 4

A train track runs right behind Kira's home, but trains only come by on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  We were gone the whole day on Tuesday, so Bryce got up bright and early Thursday morning and staked out a spot near the window to make sure he didn't miss seeing the train.  His diligence was rewarded when the train came by and blew it's whistle in greeting. 

Once we checked this most-important task off our vacation to-do list, we headed to a local park to meet Mark's sister Amy and her husband Nathan, for lunch.  There never seems to be enough time to spend with Amy, but it was great to have a few minutes to catch up and see her cute, tiny baby bump.  Hurray for a new nephew in December!

After Amy and Nathan went back to work, we got back to the serious business of play... and this particular park had a seriously amazing splash pad/river.

Splash pads are always fun, but the added super shallow river was especially appealing to my kids, all of whom ran up and down the length of it innumerable times.  

Soon all the rest of the cousins arrived, which made it doubly fun.  

The kids played till they wore themselves out.

Then we took them home to rest.  

Just kidding!  We put the babies down to rest, and everyone else went outside for Kid Olympics, hosted by Grandma.  

GiGi organized all kinds of exciting events, races, and activities.

She even provided medals for the winners of each activity.  

Despite the blistering heat, the kids put forth their best efforts and had a blast.

The culminating event was the "child carry."  Each child was instructed to run to their parent, who would then carry all his/her children back to the finish line.  Even with Graham asleep, I was at a definite disadvantage.  

Haha!  Believe it or not, we all somehow managed to make it to the finish line with no major injuries.  Kid Olympics might just need to be an annual event.

Not long after Kid Olympics wrapped up, a couple babysitters arrived to take over childcare for the evening so the adults could go out to dinner.  I must be pretty old because all of my siblings are adults now.  

Friday was the 4th of July, and we were up early to get to the Murray parade by 8:30 a.m.  It was another extremely hot day, but thankfully smart sisters thought to bring a big umbrella.  

The parade was cute, and of course the kids loved all the candy and goodies they were tossed.  Thane made it a point to share all his bounty with his cousin Piper.  

After the parade, we headed south again to prepare for family pictures.  I'll show some of those on a separate post, but suffice it to say it took a lot of time and patience to get all the pictures taken.  Bless those photographers!  Thankfully the studio was indoors with nice air conditioning and a place for the kids to play when they weren't called upon to smile.

As you've probably noticed, our week was packed quite full, so of course as soon as pictures were over we sprinted back to Kira's to get ready for the 4th of July picnic.  For Kira and Stew, having all the Graff crew wasn't enough of a party.  No, they invited their neighbors and we had many more extended family arrive for the following day's wedding.  Talk about a crowd!

Stew put together this "kid car-wash," and that's where the little ones spent most of their evening.  

As it began to get darker, I put Graham and Thane to bed (both were so tired they were more than happy to lie down), and the crowd outside prepped for the neighborhood fireworks show.  Aubree and Bryce stayed up late and both reported enjoying the explosions.

While there was a large crowd outside, we had a smaller crowd inside prepping for the wedding luncheon.   I loved the opportunity to work with my sisters, cousins, Aunt Becky, and Grandma Joni.  Lauren was our excellent leader and put us to work cutting fruit, testing drinks, and and preparing salads.