Cornelius Chronicles

 Check out who lost his first baby tooth!  This kid has been excitedly wiggling his bottom front baby tooth and then he finally lost patience and just twisted that puppy right out!  He was super excited to show me his tooth and loved my squeal of disgust at the blood.  :D Nothing is more fun than making your mother squirm.  This kid is growing up too fast and is such a joy.  We can't wait to see what riches the Tooth Fairy will bring! Also, with these growing up mile stones I couldn't help but share this awesome picture Owen drew of himself as an adult for a First Grade "All About Me" poster project.  Owen is working as a game designer in this picture.  But, my absolute favorite part of this future aspirational self portrait is the incredibly manly beard he is sporting that looks just like Uncle Royal's beard of manly awesomeness!  It's too cute!

John is currently going through an excavator and other big trucks phase where he is crazy excited by these big machines.  So, when we saw one conveniently parked by the River Burger restaurant we just had to run over and get our picture!  "I'm an excavator!  Hey dirt!  See you later!" We broke down from all of this unrelenting head from heat wave after heat wave and bought a blow-up swimming pool to splash around in in the back yard.  It's so fun! The garden is starting to fill in! Some of the first zuccini's and crook necked yellow squashes from our garden!  Yum! CiCi Bunny enjoying her favorite time of year in her favorite place, the vegetable garden. Big bunny feet!! Her favorite hiding place is under the giant zucchini and sugar pie pumpkin leaves.   Spending a fun afternoon at the playground at the Ogden Nature Center Water slide fun with the cousins!!  Whee!

We're ticking our summer activities wish list off and have two more fun activities to add to the list.  This year the kids got to experience 4-H for the first time.  Xavier had an awesome 2 day "Lego Robotics" camp, Loyd made an impressive list of menu items in his "Cooking with Dairy" camp (he even made mozzarella cheese from scratch!), and Maeve and Owen had a blast at 2 days of "Craft Camp."   Plus, everyone got a snazzy new t-shirt perfect for St. Patrick's day!    W also managed to squeeze in a week of swimming lessons at the North Summit swimming pool.  It is the same pace I took swimming lessons as a kid!   John had a super fun time playing in the water with the Preschool class.  Can you spot him in front of the green basket in the picture above? Owen rocked "Swimming 1" with lots of great bobs under the water and even some very brave and fun trips down the water slide.   Maeve declined the water slide, but gave her best...

My sisters, Mom and I took a 2 day Girls' trip to Cedar City July 1st and 2nd.  We saw 3 great shows at the Shakespeare Festival.  We saw Pericles by Shakespeare, The Seafarers Green Show, and Pirate of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan.  We punctuated all of that great theater with a morning hike on the Cascade Falls Trail in the Dixie National Forest.  The company was fun, the shows were superb, and the hike had sublime views.  It was a super fun trip for everyone! Wildflowers along the trail.

Xavier and Loyd participated in a week long Track and Field camp at the high school. They had fun trying the difference events, but mostly they had fun meeting and making new friends.   Rocking the High Jump, Loyd is putting those long legs to good use.  Check out that form on the hurdles from Xavier!  He's the one on the far right in the green shorts Taking his turn on the hurdles, Loyd.  Bringing home 2nd place in the High Jump and 3rd Place in the Hurdles, Loyd did great in his age group.   Xavier was awesome at giving his all and doing his best.  No ribbons for him this year, but there is always next year.

I think my favorite discovery this summer is the Ogden Nature Center.  Maeve and Owen were both able to participate in week long camps exploring nature and science in this beautiful place.  The rest of us get to enjoy many fun hikes and time in this beautiful place with our family annual pass.  What a beautiful gem in Ogden.   Wondering down the "Birdhouse Trail" on our way to camp check-in.   John's all time favorite birdhouse. Cool Star Wars themed bird house! THE is better with a good stick. Maeve next to one of her cool bird-themed crafts from camp.  Maeve in the Meadow at the Ogden Nature Center after camp.