Swimming party at the Chapman house.
Dinner with two of my favorite humans!
As the Young Women leader I get to know the youth in so many ways. One of my favorites is taking them out to dinner, so we can just chat as friends. It's not as the President but as me, Lesley. I just adore these two girls more than they know. They are also my kiddo's babysitters. My kids love them as much as I do. Alex and Abby are seriously going to change the world. You wait and see.
Jackson celebrated the end of year baseball season at the Dahle's pool.
The entire team and their families came out to celebrate a fun and successful season of baseball. Jack's team ended up being the number one team for his division. Throughout the season, it was fun watching those that were first time players, like Jack, to progress so much over the months. He was hitting the ball, catching the ball, and making plays. We are very proud of our Jackson Scott.
Coaches handed out awards at the end of the night. Each award came with a baseball with a special nickname on it. The coaches gave each kid a nickname throughout the season. Jack's was "third base or no base". He made plays every time he was on third base. It was his sweet spot :)
One final Giants chant!
We LOVED our coaches this year. They did such a wonderful job with the kids. We had from left to right, Coach Ryan Booher, Coach Michael Dahle, Coach Mike Brown, and Coach Ryan Tanaka.
Jack with his awards :)
Jack with his coaches.
These four coached Jack so well. With it being his first year, they were extremely patient. They took extra time with him when they didn't have to do so. Pres and I will forever be grateful for their kindness and support for our Buddy Bear.
Quinn and her books - once again. I just love these pictures. They melt my heart. Our little reader is just getting better and better. This time she couldn't decide which book to read, so she said she'd read them all, haha. I'm not sure how many she got through before passing out. She loves reading to her animals ;) I pray this never changes. I hope she continues to have this passion for reading forever. Oh the places she will go!
We were counting down the days for Uncle Jimmy, James, and Ava to visit us in California. We waited anxiously on the driveway as their car pulled up. Let the fun times begin!
Water balloons and the trampoline for the win!
Ja-mo!
These two cuties stayed in the pool for hours. They were having so much fun playing together. They came up with several games to keep them entertained. Love these two girlies.
The boys basking in the sunshine :)
We did A LOT of jumping :)
The many faces of Ava Jean :)
One of the crew!
Of course, we had to take a trip to the duck pond. We even saw the ducklings out and about. The kids had a blast feeding them cut up grapes. Apparently ducks love them :) There was also a little addition added to the pond... turtles! If you look close enough you can see their heads popped up above the water.
We also had two pool days at the Chapman house. I am so grateful for incredible friends. These guys let us commandeer their pool during the day so we could get some energy out. We had so much fun! Snacks, pool time, laying out in the sun, playing bags, it was such a fun break.
Two of our swimmers ready to go. The kids had such a fun time diving for toys, splashing around, and floating on the noodles.
Bowling for the win!!
Those that know our family really well, know that we LOVE bowling. The kids have such a fun time. I couldn't believe that I won with a 135! Pres was in second place with 132 and Jim came in third at a 127. We laughed that you wouldn't think 127 would be third place. We all had a great night. I think that's one of my best scores EVER!
Spung Team!
How cute is that?!
Clark Team!
Jack played on the Spung lane to even out the teams. We all had a SUPER fun time. We look forward to our next bowling adventure!
We had a fun time drawing/coloring.
The boys were teaching James how to play a new game on the Switch while the girls colored :)
Lake Tahoe!
One of the things we were hoping to do while Jim and the kids were here was to see Tahoe. We love going to Tahoe every year. It's the perfect getaway. We all packed up our cars and headed northeast.
We hit a little traffic on the way into town. These guys were all troopers. Jim's in the car behind us ;)
One of our first stops was of course Base Camp Pizza. We love this place. They have a live musician, great pizza, and you can enjoy the outdoors while you eat. This is a Clark fave when we come. I think it is safe to say that we ALL loved it :)
After pizza we headed to the crazy awesome candy store. Everyone got to pick out an after lunch time treat. We enjoy hitting up Rocket Fizz every time we come as well. It was fun showing Jim, James, and Ava all of our favorite stops.
After lunch and our candy stop, we headed to our Airbnb. The cleaners were just finishing up so we hung outside. All of sudden Jim says, "Hey guys, there's a bear." Umm what? We turned around and sure enough the bear was headed up the hill our way. We all got in our cars and watched as the bear climbed the hill and came right next to our car. He was looking for any scraps from the dumpster but the dumpsters were bear proof. No luck this time...but we couldn't believe we saw a bear that close! Once our place was ready we took everything in, but kept an eye out for Bruce the Bear.
After hanging at our place for awhile, and after a delicious dinner from Artemis Mediterranean Grill, we went on a hike. The food was AMAZING! We needed a little hike to work that one off, haha. Jim found us a cool hike close by and we were off.
Archer James!
As we hiked up the mountain James was the bow and arrow finder. He loved stopping to find a new or better bow with arrows along the way. This kid has such a great imagination and is full of spunk, energy, and cuteness. There's no one like Ja-mo :)
I hung back behind these two. They talked the entire hike up and down, haha. They stopped to touch different trees and pick up rocks along the way. They had such a fun time together.
Me and my bro!
There is NO ONE like Jimmy. He's such an incredible human being. We had some amazing discussions that opened my mind to new things, and a different way of thinking. I loved every one of our talks and the time we got to spend together. I am so grateful the Lord blessed me with a brother just 13 months younger than myself. I am even more grateful that it was Jimmy that He sent to us. He's a one of kind incredible guy!
Me and my man! Dang, I love him!
This is a shot from where we stopped. It was such a beautiful night. We had to turn around because the sun was going down. It was so peaceful and serene. I could have sat up on those rocks for a long time.
The troops heading back down.
A few more shots before we go :)
Switch backs and boulders.
Beautiful hike.
I loved how everyone just naturally fell into a train. Follow the leader :)
That night we just settled into our Airbnb and enjoyed the hot tub. We loved having a hot tub right on our balcony over looking the mountains. It was the perfect evening. Especially after a hike. We had great company, incredible stars, and the smell of nature all around us. That night we also saw Bruce the bear once again. At least we think it was the same bear. This time he brought a friend, a coyote, haha. It was like sleeping in a zoo, haha. It was fun seeing so much wild life. Luckily we were on the second floor so we could watch from a safe distance.
The next morning we had to say goodbye to the Spung crew.
We were excited that Jim and the kids came our way for the week. We had such a great time with them. The kids loved having cousin time. I loved having my brother around :) I think we spent the perfect amount of time relaxing and finding fun things to do. Pres, Jim, and I also stayed up late nights playing games and laughing until we cried. We had SO much stinkin fun! We hope they all come back again next year!
A trip down by the lake.
After Jim and the kiddos left we headed to breakfast at Red Hut, and then the lake. Pres and I opted to stay one more night. We loved taking in Tahoe for one more day. The kids took off their shoes and enjoyed the sand between their toes.
This kid is getting so grown up so fast. I can't believe he's 8 1/2 years old. Before I know it he will be driving and thinking about colleges and a mission. I am going to soak up every minute we have until then.
One more of our cute boy Jack.
These three are thick as thieves. I truly pray that that will never change. I hope they stay close forever.
Big smiles and toes in the sand :)
Beckham James!
This kid just melts your heart. He is so kind and tries so hard to do the right thing. We love our Beckham boy!
Quinn Marie
This girl is a one of kind. She's smart, funny as all get out, cute as can be, and the sweetest little human you will ever meet. We love our Quinnie girl.
When we got back, my girlfriend Giselle Dahle invited us over for a swim day. We had so much fun in the water and sunshine. There is nothing like a pool, sliced watermelon, and friendship. It's a perfect summer day.
A new book!
We were spoiled by Great-Aunt Nathalie. She sent us her favorite book from her childhood. We read it that night and loved it. The kids loved trying to say the names.
Caught this cute kid meditating so I had to snap a pic.
If you know me, you know that I am a very scheduled/routine mom. I believe that kids don't only enjoy it, but they thrive from it. When they know what to expect and what the day looks like, there is less whining, tantrums, or any sort of negativity. The hardest part is being consistent :) Luckily I've been doing this for years so it tends to work well for me.
For the summer I set up a schedule for my kiddos. I believe in having screen time, but it needs to controlled. Or else you will find kids whine, cry, and get upset/frustrated if it goes for too long. I set up a chart for my kids to follow for this summer. One of them is to do meditation or yoga for 10 minutes. I want to teach them the joy of silence and taking a minute for themselves. They all tend to choose meditation over yoga more often than I had expected. They get to pick their own meditation music and they just sit and relax. Some of the other things on our list are... 30 minutes of education, 30 minutes of play time or reading, make beds, get dressed, brush teeth, clear breakfast plates, help Mom pick up, and once they complete each task they get screens for 2 hours. They can break it up or do it in one lump sum. Once their screen time is done, it's done. Then they have a list to choose from that shows non screen ideas if they need it. That list consists of things that are outdoor activities (side walk chalk, scooters, pool time), quiet activities (puzzles, read, play doh), creative games (hide & seek, invent an animal, create a new board game), pretend play (the floor is lava, vet clinic, restaurant), and engineering tasks (build a boat, build with legos, make a fort).
Every Saturday as a reward for being stellar kiddos from the week and getting all their stars from their tasks and chore, one of the kids gets to pick a fun activity from a cup. We had the kids come up with six things they were hoping to do over the summer. They came up with family movie night, family game night, pick a prize, a YES day, bowling, and camping in the backyard. It was awesome that most things they chose didn't cost much, haha. What I loved was how much family stuff they were hoping to do. It made my momma heart swell :)
So far they have done family movie night, YES day (which is kid favorite haha), and pick a prize. We are looking forward to the final three over the next few weeks. We've never had a kid miss their stars because they want their screen time ;) It's amazing what a schedule and routine can do for a mom. They are life savers in my opinion. It takes some effort but so worth it!
June was full of fun and excitement. We loved having Jim and his crew come visit. We really enjoyed our annual Lake Tahoe trip. There is so much joy being in the mountains and smelling that chilly mountain air. Friend time is always a great time, and of course hanging at home on some lazy days when we can get them. I have a feeling July is going to be just as incredible. Taking every week we have before that August 4th school start date.
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