Will it smore?

Please ignore the mess in the back.  Broken dishwasher means lots of dishes drying on the counters.  We decided to pull out our smore maker and let Ada have free reign.  She cut up strawberries and bananas, pulled out Jer's good chocolate, pulled out the oreos and other cookies... Then we experimented with different combinations of oreos. 

July 4th

The morning of the 4th, we dressed up to cheer our neighbors as they put on a 4th of July parade.  It was super cute.  Then we enjoyed egg thingers for breakfast and did chores for the first half of the day.  We got all the tests from the COVID tests that we did earlier in the week.  They are all negative, which is awesome.  Then we went to the cemetery to shoot off rockets, played games together, had root beer floats, made hamburgers and shot off our fireworks.  Jer does a great job picking fireworks every year.  This year was no exception.  Extra bonus?  Since they aren't holding the Stadium of Fire this year, they put on three different firework shows all through Provo and Orem.  From our front porch, we had a direct view of the one that they did near Mountain View.  Our neighbors went a little extra in their fireworks too.  I think that the pandemic + civil unrest + everything that goes with them + local fires = very exuberant displays of patriotism and family parties.  It was quite the show.

4th of July

For our social distancing 4th of July, we went to a field next to the cemetery and shot off our new rockets.  It was hot so no one else was in the entire place and everyone had a blast, literally.  All the kids got to shoot off a rocket and Jer had fun with his new two stage rocket.  

This is Evelyn and Jer recovering from all our partying yesterday.

Hobbit door continued

Yesterday morning, Jer was able to get a sturdy base put in and all the pieces cut out.  The kids and I primed all the pieces.... next we're going to put it all together. 

Building the Hobbit door

While we're quarantining kids, we're building a Hobbit door for our bush.  It's definitely a bigger project than the last door, but I'm so excited.  All the kids have done something.  Sam was a great help while he dug.  We'll see how far we get this weekend.

Grandpa Wilcox hotdogs

Cold Monday swim

Monday was in the upper 60s.  It was cold, but the pool was in the 80s.  They loved it.  I also looked up if swimming was a safe covid activity.  Everything I read said that the chemicals in the pool would kill the virus, so I think this might be one of the best cousin activities to do together.

Robertsons Pre 4th

Ada, Mariah, Jonathan, Joseph(who is quite tall, but in this picture doesn't look it)

Maisy, Millie

Evelyn, Seth, Ellie, Cyrus, Eli, Samuel

We got to see the Hansens and the Tarkingtons before everything went crazy.  The kids were all happy to see each other.  There's something special about connection with cousins.  So, after my 2 weeks being open with the daycare, I went and got a COVID test done just in case I was asymptomatic and we were see lots of cousins this week.  The doctor's office didn't want me to take the test and the hotline only let me do it because I run a daycare and I have a chronic cough.  They wouldn't approve Jer to take one.  So, I took one on Friday and went on my merry way.  On Monday we mowed the lawn at Jim and Judy's and the kids came to swim in the pool.  It was cold, but the kids had a blast.  Tuesday was Jer and my anniversary.  All our 15th anniversary plans got overturned yet again, and Jer had a hard day at work.  I just ordered PF Chang's and we had a family feast for our anniversary.  Then Jer and I took a walk.  On our walk we ran into my day care partner who wanted to show us her new playset in the backyard.  She casually mentioned that one of our families that we daycare for had to take the COVID test that day because their grandma took one that came back positive even though she had no symptoms.  Since we'd been in contact with the Robertsons and Walter had a surgery coming up, we called them and let them know the situation.  We don't even know IF we'd been in direct contact with the virus, but we know that it would be bad if Walter or Grandma were exposed.  We ended up getting all the rest of our family tested.  4 crying kids and two bloody noses later.... we finally got all the results back today.  All negative.  We were going to go to Bear Lake to take pictures for the Harding Family Reunion this year for the 4th, but we didn't dare go up and get Great-Aunts and Uncle sick.  Instead, we've been working on our Hobbit door for the backyard.  Jer really is marvelous.  It's going to be adorable.  I'll post pictures of it later.

Walter.  This kid is the sweetest ever.  I love him so much!

Hal.  This smiley kid loves to watch anyone driving the lawn mower (which has been me.)  I make sure to wave at him as I drive by.  He was such a smiley baby.  He was a hard toddler, but now that he can talk he is the happiest kid again.  I asked him about his shark hat and he started singing Baby Shark for me.  

Unconventional dance recital

So Evelyn had her dance recital.  They had each class record their pieces and then we went to the park to watch it on the screen.  It was fun.  We sat way off in the corner and only talked to Evelyn's teacher.  We've been trying so hard to be careful during this pandemic and still let our kids experience things.  

Air hugs with her teacher.

Reading Winnie the Pooh

This is one of my favorite things that Jer has continued from his childhood with our kids.  He occasionally will convince them to let him read the classic Winne the Pooh stories.  They are so witty.  And Evelyn is just the perfect age for them.

Ellis Bear Lake

My parents took my kids up to the lake a couple weeks ago.  It was a cold week, but my kids are always up for the lake no matter how cold.  Evelyn loves her cousin Kat and says that she's going to name her daughter Kat.  Ada loved spending time with Ellen.

The boys had a sand war.

Ada loved being Thea's buddy.

My mom said that Seth spent hours in "his hole".

And Evelyn always does Evelyn with style.

Burying is a must.  I don't know how Michelle felt about it, but everyone else looks pleased with themselves.