Saturday, July 28, 2012

Lego Camp

Mac went to Lego camp.  He had some frustrations in trying to get his ideas into those Legos.  The picture above is of a destruction derby car he made.  It actually works!  The forklift can get under other cars and then lift up.  Well, it would work if the car had more power.  It was an incredible idea, though! 
Overall, I was a bit disappointed in the Lego camps, I'm not sure we'll do those again next year.

Chandler at Shriner's

We went to visit Chandler at Shriner's Hospital in Sacramento.  He had a major surgery to help him to retain his ability to walk, and hopefully to improve his walking.  He is one tough kid and I admire him so much.  They had Christmas in July while we were there.  Chandler got to see Santa and even one of his reindeer (a gigantic white dog with antlers!). 
Shriner's is an absolutely amazing place.  We are so grateful for their generosity and their support of children with CP. 

John's New Buddy

My friend from school came over for dinner.  We got to meet her husband and little boy, Bradley.  Bradley and John had a great time playing together.  I think it will be great to see how these boys grow up while their moms are in school.

Park Fun

 We took the kids over to the park to play.  John can now ride his bike the whole way.

 The kids had great fun jumping off of the swings.
 Ryan was like a ninja!!!

Maddie got some great air!

Happy Birthday Eliza!

 We hosted Eliza's birthday again this year.  I LOVE Eliza's birthday.  Julie throws the best parties!!
 We got a snow cone machine that made delicious treats!
 The swimming pool was FULL of kids.
 Eliza was happy.
 It was windy, so it was very tough to blow out the candles, but Julie worked it out!

 Here is most of the kids at the party!

CARD Party at DeGarmo

 This year the community party was at DeGarmo.  The kids had a great time as usual.  Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Jeff joined us.  We took a picnic dinner and watched the kids play their hearts out.  The really enjoyed this inflated slip and slide.  They also love the art projects.  Ryan's favorite was probably dunking the police officer in the dunk tank.  When it got dark, we got ice cream and watched Despicable Me on a big screen outside.  It was really super.





Miniature Golf

 We found ourselves with a bit of free time, so I took two of the boys and went to play miniature golf.  I don't think Ryan had gone before.  We had a great time.  I won!  Mac was tough to beat.  Ryan was just plain hilarious.  He really wanted to swing the club high!  But, he did a great job.

The Pope's Table

 We took the kids to our ward temple day.  The kids had a blast.  Maddie caught frogs at the temple.  It was really gross, but she was very happy.  After the day at the temple, we went with the Dimmitts to Buca di Beppo.  We LOVE that place.  It was tricky with so many kids - next time just adults!!

We were lucky and got to sit at the Pope's table.  I thought for sure the kids would ask about the guy on the table, or all the pictures, but the kids didn't ask anything about it...

Chico Creek Nature Center Camp

Ryan went to the Chico Creek Nature Center Camp all about mammals.  He loved it.  He went with his Decker buddies.  This was one of my favorite camps this summer.  He worked hard, swam in the creek each day, and came home tired!!  I think we'll do it again next year!

Cousins with Braces

After Mac got his braces, I wanted to make sure to keep a shot of Mac and Jaycee together with their braces.  What happy cousins!!

Exploratorium

 For our summer reading challenge, the kids had to read like crazy in order to earn a trip to the Exploratorium in SF.  Chandler read enough to come too, so we were quite the party!!  The kids all had a blast.  We really missed our Uncle Steve, though. 
 Chandler wore his best outfit for the day.  He fit right in!!


 This screen was so neat - it turned your shadow into colors!

 We had a mid-trip ice cream break.  Chandler got what he thought was water, but it was actually nasty seltzer. 

 We watched a demonstration about carnivorous plants.  Yuck!






Summer Fun

 Here is Uncle Steve in the pool with John.  John is quite a good swimmer now, although he looks like he needs a break in this photo!!
Maddie got a ice cream making kit for her birthday.  Shelby was helping her to make her first batch of ice cream.  They ended up with thick chocolatey milk, but no ice cream. 

Macky Gets Braces

 Before braces.
 Here he is getting the brackets placed.
 The technician used a special mouth piece to help her keep Macky's mouth open.
Here he is with all of the brackets placed.
Here he is with his braces on!