Four.Four Years

 4.4 Years

• Summer official kicked off this month with the big kids finishing up the school year. We celebrated by signing up for the summer reading program and getting drinks at creme cafe. This summer, you have made the switch to wanting me to read you your own chapter books. You really like Princess in Black and The Fairyland Series. 
• You have loved having the big kids home, especially during quiet time. You and Maggie will put on an audio book and play legos together. Legos has become so popular in our house that just today, we rearranged the whole playroom so you guys can have a lego area, along with a table to store all your creations that JoJo can't reach. I love seeing you start to build your own houses. 
• Usually, June is rainy and on the cooler side, but this year it has been hot and dry. We got a really bad heat wave come through and we had temps over 100 for five days in a row. We haven't dipped much below 90 this whole month. Because of this, we have been in our swim suits for one reason or another almost every day. We have been to the river a lot, our new favorite spot being Schookumchuck. We got a pool pass. We have done lots of sprinklers, even a water balloon fight. We are in the middle of setting up a slip in slide. We have used it twice now, but if you go without a tub, bruises will be left on your hips. I had you set the goal of floating on your back for 30 seconds this year. You were doing great at the beginning of the season, but something flipped in you one day, and you refused to go in the water, literally crying for over an hour one day. Then suddenly, it clicked in your head that you can stand in the shallow side and all of a sudden, you started trying again. You reached you goal and we were able to go out for ice cream as a family and you got the double scoop. 
• We were suppose to go Silverwood, but it was during the heat wave so we decided to re schedule and go camping up past Elk City on the Red River. We are getting this whole trailer camping thing down. We had the whole camp are to ourselves. As we were exploring, we found so many wild flowers. I had you kids go and make a "museum" of all the different types of flowers that you could find. We ended up with 19 different types of flowers. We did a lot of fishing in the river, but being so hot, you just jumped in the water and played (which made for not as successful in the fishing department, on well). We ended the night with burgers from Elk City. It was good to get away as a family and just play with each other. 
• Fourth of July is awesome here. Your matching outfits still fit from last year. We went to the parade twice. On Saturday, Dad joined us for a full day of fun. We got into town just as the foot races were starting. You partnered up with Laynee Strasser for the egg toss (lasted about two rows). We walked up to the park and visited all the booths. We had lunch at home and got a quick rest in before the parade started. It was so hot that we made a last minute trip to the pool. It is always fun when Dad gets to go with us. We ate Korean food for dinner from the food trucks. While we were eating, you keeping keep your head up. We planned on going to the rodeo, but we were all so tired from the dad that we bought a big bag of kettle corn, brought it home, and ended the night watching Sandlot. 
• Favorites! You are actually at a friend's birthday party right now so I can't ask you, but I will write down from what I have observed. Book-fairyland series, movie-Spirit, TV Show- Mira, food-berries, treat-everything, indoor activity-playing with your siblings, outdoor activity-jumping on the trampoline, friend-Laynee and Annie, song-Perfect by Ed Sheren.