ONE is the loneliest number

Week ONE is under our belts. Are you even ready for all the crazy fun we pack into one week?
Monday, we were still in Idaho partying with the Cazier's for Memorial Day, and if you recall that day didn't end well. I should have added last time that I was really glad we were able to go over and see Kathryn's family at the BBQ, because they decided not to attend FHE to stay away from the sickies. Good call on that one, because besides Tyler and Pearl, it sounds like J.R. got it as well. Fortunately, the K's avoided it entirely. Phew.

Tuesday was library day. I am doing the school library again this year. I only take a couple kids and they go over to piano for half the time. This first time was pretty slow since most people didn't know it was going to be open the first week after school. So mostly I shelved books and hung out with my kiddos.

We went to the city library afterwards. (Sans Pearl who remained with Dad at home.) It was the summer reading program kick-off. I knew it would be pretty busy, but I figured we could all find a place to hunker down and read. Turns out, it was the best time to go. The Teen program (which we have never done before) has activities every Tuesday. June got there just in time to join a team of girls and play games for an hour. It ended with donuts. Smart idea. Food and teens seem to go together. I was so proud of June. She didn't know anyone, but she made several friends by the time she was done. It isn't easy to go into a setting where you don't know anyone.

The rest of us sat and read. It was delightful. Here are the girls by the balloon animals. The reading theme this year is Train Your Brain. (Hence the weird animal athletes.)

Tuesday evening I ran away into the canyon for a relaxing stroll with Tricia. We went to Bridal Veil Falls and walked the Provo River Trail. The evening was so mild and wonderful. We walked and talked until we decided it was time to turn around. It is so nice to have trails like that not far from home. We stopped for a selfie on a bridge.

Looking around, I noticed all the fantastic webs on the bridge. The spiders like to build there to capture all the bugs flying over the river. I saw this spider in her web and thought she looked great backlit against the river. (Can you find the second spider?)

The more I looked, the more spiders I saw, and then I decided to make a quick getaway. I can only appreciate spiders so much. I'm surprised there wasn't a large web in the middle to catch stray people crossing over the bridge.

Wednesday was swimming. We had a blast. You know I am terrible about taking pictures when we go swimming. I got this one before we left, (putting sunscreen on is a ritual) but no more when we arrived.

 We played and had such a good time. Although Pearl had thrown up once more that morning, she seemed find by afternoon and she was in good spirits. She loved the slide and we went down together many times.

Wednesday evening I was invited to Face Paint at an event. It was for another ward's Mother/Daughter activity. I'm not professional, but I do have some supplies, so I'm a good choice. Plus, I think most of my art is recognizable. (See this awesome post where I am unkind to bad face painters.) I thought it would be fun to take June and Robyn and they weren't busy that evening, so I stole them away. Good thing too. There were a LOT of girls there. With all three of us, there was still an good sized line to get your face painted. What I learned that night was that my girls have out-classed me at painting. I can jealousy say that all their designs looked better than mine. Robyn did such cute ones. She did a teddy bear and an awesome flamingo. Her anchors were in demand. June was amazing as well. She got some strange requests but it didn't slow her down. My phone was almost out of juice, but June snagged a couple of pictures that are worth showing. The weirdest request she got was for a squirrel. But check out her handiwork. (I could not have done that.)

She also borrowed the phone to draw a rose. This looks awesome!

I wish I had taken more pictures. They are such good artists. If you need someone to paint for your next party...we are available.

Thursday was treat day. We chose some chocolatey goodness for our first treat. Oh look...I'm there. Sometimes I fail to get in any pictures.

June is quite a good cook these days. She can follow almost any recipe.

We made Cookie Dough Brownie Bombs. They are as scrumptious as they sound. And easy. First, buy brownie bites from your local bakery. Next, make some cookie dough. Here is Pearl adding ingredients. Remember, there are no eggs in this cookie dough, so it will be a bit crumblier than usual, but free of salmonella.

Now, grab a brownie bite and a scoop of dough.

Shape your dough nicely so you can put another brownie on top.

Watch out for dads who are sneaking your brownie bites.

Looks at these mouthfuls of heaven.

You are actually supposed to dip them in chocolate now, but we decided to skip that step. It would be too much, and since I don't like CandiQuik, I use chocolate chips, but those give Tyler wicked heartburn. So instead, we froze them for 20 minutes and then scarfed them down. (I do find it interesting that Tyler just 'happened' to come home on treat day. It helps that Chocolate Chip Brownie Bombs was written in the calendar.)

Delicious and so richous. Too rich almost. They are best eaten one at a time with a nice glass of milk and at least a half hour in between to moderate all the goodness. We saved them in the fridge and everyone was snacking on them for days. Here is the official recipe should you like to try them.

Thursday was the first day that I had any time to myself. Tuesday and Wednesday were insane with activities, dentist appointment (no cavities), orthodontist appointments (3 more months of braces), piano and other. I finally had some time to blog, although it wasn't really by myself as you can see.

I'm sure those postage stamp pictures will get old...in a year or so.

Friday, we headed to the MOA for our field trip. When we arrived, there were balloons outside. We seemed to have stumbled on to some kind of exciting activity day.

It was a mad house inside. Kids everywhere. It was some kind of recognition of the national parks or something. Each child was given a pamphlet and they were supposed to attend different stations and collect stickers. We didn't get to view the art like we normally would have, but we did plenty of fun stuff. We met up with Tricia and her girls and started outside doing field journals, while moms waited in line for face paint. (Yep...more face paint.)

When it was our turn, the girls each got a nature item on their cheek.

Inside, some stations involved animals, and another was about ancient cultures. These puzzles were fun, but harder than they looked at first glance. Camille and Annalise are super cute and focused here.

I really liked the rainbow in the atrium. It was made from some kind of string and I spent time looking at it while kids listened to short presentations.

Downstairs, we learned about health and safety, we pledged to keep Utah clean, we fished, and explored the gallery with art of Utah's breathtaking landscapes. Depending on what fish you caught, you were supposed to look for different things. (June looked for waterfalls, Daisy and I searched for places to sleep indoors, Tricia was searching for hiking boots, and Robyn and Ivory kept their eyes peeled for sunsets.) We also made our own constellations to earn another sticker.

The highlight of the day was the live animal show put on by the Bean Museum. We finished our sticker collection right before the last show, so we found seats and listened to interesting facts about Utah's native animals and plants. And of course, we got to see three animals, although none of them were from Utah. First a box turtle, then a red tegu lizard, and finally a ball python.

It was very fun. At the end, we voted to touch Simon, the lizard, on the way out. I tried to catch his tongue in motion. He was very cool.

Finally, we were headed home. As we left, they were giving away the balloons we saw as we entered. Got to love balloons.

Whew. What a fun week. On Saturday, Ivory and June ran a 5k, but I'm going to write about that later. We watched A Dolphin Tale as a family, and we face painted. (Yep...even more face paint.) I bought some more online. Although the paint my dad bought me when I was about 13 is still going strong, I figured it was time to augment the supply. But when new face paint comes in the mail, you have to use it. Check out these fun designs. (First two by Robyn, second two by June, and last two by me.)

I would call the first week a success. The real question is do I have the energy to keep up with my own schedule?