Aprilmaycember + summer begins!

You’ve heard about Maycember and that busy end of school year season, but after this year I really think it all starts in April! It has been a whirlwind! So many fun experiences though, that I want to record and remember. I’m sure there is so much not even pictured here, but this is what I have!

But first a selfie from Ana: 

Russell and Ricardo did a sprint triathlon! Russell did great! He’s been swimming all year and joined the school track spring this spring so he was pretty prepared.

He got fourth in his age division, but it was quite the range of ages (and heights as you can see!) I think the next youngest after him was a 15 year old. He was excited to make it onto the podium.

Caroline and I had our own little race that day, a mud run with a bunch of our friends. It was lots of fun too! My parents were kind to watch Ana and Thomas during all the races that morning.

Russell and his friend made it to the state science fair contest and it was the same day as all of this! Ricardo and Russell raced off to USF after the triathlon and Russell was able to participate in the judging with his partner. It was a crazy day! They actually won first place and qualified for nationals!

On Sunday we had a Passover dinner because we have been learning about Moses in our scripture study this year. We all loved it!

Killing time at piano lessons. She’s ready for it to be her turn for lessons.

Russell made the track team this spring and was so excited. It was a fun season for him. He learned hurdles which was what he wanted to do. He got shin splints halfway through the season which was a bummer, but he’s hoping to run again next year! We learned that if you’re in a relay you stay until the very end of the meet. There were a few late nights. Brought back memories from going to my older sister’s track meets many years ago!

Preschool field day! She loved every moment. And Caroline and Thomas got to join in the fun too!

Fun times with their babysitter one Friday night! And Caroline in her soccer jersey reminded me that she played soccer this spring too. She had a great season!

The boys were off on a youth boys campout at the springs, they had a blast! On the way they got sushi because Thomas was there and he always wants sushi! He has such an expensive palate.

Cute friend’s birthday party at the park!

Last parent lunches of the school year.

We took care of some monarch caterpillars this spring, always a fun time!

The pool is finally warm enough for this little fish.

Temple trip weekend with friends in Tallahassee, which are always the best. And somehow they ran into the brothers from the triathlon podium while they were there and connected the dots that they had met before! 

Yoga class with Caroline before bed.

School habitat project-she did a dolphin habitat and was so proud.

The crows got into our blueberries this year but the ones we did get were so delicious. We have now figured out how to protect them from crows so we are ready for a big crop next year! Luckily most of our plants came back from the big freeze we had in January and are all doing well!

The butterflies hatched!

Russell and I went back to Tallahassee for the state history fair again. He went last year too. This year’s skit was about Ulysses S Grant. We drove up Sunday and stopped to walk around the temple grounds.

His group did great and just barely missed the cutoff for nationals. Amazing kids!

Touring the old Florida state capitol during our downtime.

More end of school year things. Battle of the bands followed by a traditional band concert where he played the flute. Ana did great for the 4 hour combo concert! Russell was the lead singer in battle of the bands and did so well!

Ana at the very end of all the concerts.

Playing doctor with Caroline-they really get into it with casts and everything!

Thomas got a perfect score on his end of year big reading test, so we celebrated with molten lava cakes! Great job Tommy!

Fun to see these two playing together more and more!

More sheep at our house, this time we have twins! So far so good, they are nothing like the challenging Cinnamon we had over Christmas break. They are a big hit with all the kids who come over.

Comedy show with our friends one night! We really enjoyed Kellen Erksine-go check him out!

School water day, another day she looked forward to for so long! Preschool is now over and she misses it every day!

Our kids did the Adventure Island triathlon again this year, it was so fun! Lots of friends did it too and we enjoyed time at the water park after with everyone. It’s a great tradition! 

On Mother’s Day I was so incredibly spoiled with breakfast, gifts, and an amazing dinner where the boys turned the house into an Italian restaurant! Ricardo’s parents joined too and all the boys served all the girls. It was so fun. 

They even curtained off the kitchen so we couldn’t see what was happening back there.

Ana was really excited about the menu but she kept asking for the things that they said were out of stock. Ricardo suggested they pad the menu so it looked more official. :) It was hilarious. She kept saying “Excuse me, waiter….”

They played some songs during dinner too, on the guitar and the piano! Love these boys.

Our baby boy turned 13 the next day! Since he got a new 3D printer he is suddenly super easy to wake up for school in the morning, it’s a miracle! He had a great day revolving around his favorite foods. That’s how we do birthdays around here.

His best friend when he was 3 was a little girl who also turned 13 that same week. They live across the country now, but we still keep in touch and her mom sent me this sweet photo of them. 10 years goes by way too fast!

Working on her rock collection.

Shenanigans one Sunday after church. Thomas had the idea to put Ana on his shoulders and try on lots of old costumes. All 4 kids had a blast battling her and taking videos of their exploits.

We had a going away party for our great friends who just moved away to Utah. We will miss them!

School talent show! He and his little group of friends solved a bunch of rubix cubes. They are so fast and the elementary crowd loved it!

She loves taking care of her little babies. She fully expects Ricardo to bring home a real baby from work one of these days-probably because he said something along those lines. He is definitely at the phase of life where he steals everyone else’s baby to hold for a few minutes. 😂 He said he would never be that guy but here we are.

The girls went on a daddy daughter campout one weekend in May. Russell was busy working with his friend on their science project so I told Thomas we could have a little date. He chose sushi of course!

Meanwhile the girls had a blast with their dad and some friends at the springs! 

A frog was under our oven! Thomas was so glad he could rescue it.

Russell had a fun pool party for his birthday!

The next day Ricardo’s good childhood friend came in town and we had a fun Sunday dinner!

The cardboard box creations live on. Ana loves gluing together boxes to make trains and pirate ships.

Last day of school picnic!

Summer and pool days are here! Enjoying a friend’s birthday!

We are doing some construction in their rooms so they were just enjoying a smoothie out in the hallway together after ripping out lots of carpet.

Ana taking some photos after church. Everyone doing the things they love. Thomas eating his favorite thing to make: spicy ramen.

Caroline trying to learn Thomas’ rubix cubes (and Ricardo napping in the background-definitely his favorite thing).

And Russell at the piano!

After school got out the kids and I headed to DC for some festivities with my sister’s family. We haven’t been there in 4 years and we had so much fun.

Air and Space Museum

Gelato!

Russell and his teammate made it to the national Invention Convention. Since it fell during the week of our DC trip my dad was kind enough to take Russell to Detroit for it for a few days (my parents were in DC for several weeks so he didn’t mind the little side trip). They had a great experience!

They got to ride in a real Model T at the Henry Ford museum!

Back in DC: Watching cousins play baseball. The weather was amazing while we were there.

Another fun day in the city. We did the botanical gardens and the American history museum this day. 

Their featured plant, a stinky one!

Russell loves American history so we were sad to come to the American history museum without him. Taking a picture of Saratoga for him because we remembered him talking about the battle of Saratoga last year for his National History day project.

Caroline always says she loves George Washington. He was everywhere and she loved it!

Seeing the real Star Spangled Banner (not pictured because it’s not allowed) was so cool!

The next day we went to the National Zoo!

Hanging out at the cousins’ pool. It was cold for these Florida kids but they all went in, even Ana!

Picked up Russell and my dad from the airport at 11 PM and this is what he was wearing.

On Saturday I got to go to the temple with my dad! It’s been a long time since we have gone together.

That night we went to graduation for my oldest niece. She went to a very prestigious high school and we are so proud of her. Russell appointed himself “photo manager” and took about 100 photos that night.

My kids had so much fun playing with their cousins’ cousins that weekend.

“Photo manager” getting out of control by this point:

Post-ceremony ice cream. Everyone deserves a treat after sitting through a long ceremony, right?

Rubix Cubers.

On Sunday my nephew got baptized. It was great to be there for his special day.

On Monday we went to Mount Vernon which was super fun. We ran out of time to see it all. Russell really wants to go back.

The baby pigs were a huge hit.

The view from Washington’s home. Still unobstructed, so cool.

Last day in DC. Native American museum and going up the Washington monument!

Wall sitting at the Washington monument-apparently was a goal of Thomas’.

Made it to the top!

Quick stop by the World War 2 memorial (the feet in the water is sanctioned there since American soldiers waded in the fountains in Europe to celebrate the war ending)

My grandmother passed away a few weeks ago and so once we found out when the funeral would be we decided I would just fly to Utah from DC to attend. Ricardo loved my grandma and was sad to miss. My sister flew with us from DC which was great. The service was really sweet, I loved hearing stories of my grandma that I had never heard before. She loved her family so much and it was nice to have everyone together to honor her. 

All the girls wore jewelry of hers for the funeral and lunch.

She grew up on a dairy farm and was obsessed with cows. Loved the cute cow vases at her funeral.

Her backyard was iconic-I have so many memories there and my kids do too. She’s had this swing my grandpa built for years and we have many photos on the swing, so it was nice to go by her house and take our last photos here. Everyone also got to pick out some cow decor from her home to take home which my kids loved.

We had dinner at a restaurant up in the mountains that was special to my grandma and to my sister (my grandma took her there once when she was in college and having a hard day). It was a nice way to end the day.

Then my parents and sister wanted more photos at the swing.

They are all fighting over this cow. I love that they’re remembering my sweet grandma.

We had a quick breakfast with some FL friends who happened to move to the town where my grandma was from!

Park and lunch with my younger sister and her family. So much cousin time already this summer!

Not pictured but we visited and stayed with one of my good college friends that night and had a great time with her and her family! Then headed to BYU the next day for a fun little visit.

Last stop was to Ricardo’s cousins’ house. The kids have played several times before when these second cousins have come to FL so it was fun to get them back together. Fun times on the boat!

They had a blast! We also watched the opening World Cup games with them and my boys are now obsessed.

We had a LONG travel day home which it feels like we are still recovering from, but we made it back! Poor Ricardo was home alone for almost 2 weeks but he did accomplish a crazy amount of house projects while we were gone, for which I am so grateful!

Happy Summer!