Summer Recap: June

After our trip to Park City we got busy trying to do fun summer activities in the midst of working.  The boys all tried out for club soccer teams.  Elliott and Emmett both made the top team for their age group and are really excited about that.  Ezra has the skill but not the size and missed half of his try outs to go to his Hope of America Awards Reception.  He doesn't seem to have much passion for soccer currently and he decided that he'd rather not play soccer this year.  It will be a good break and hopefully he will find something that he feels a little more excited about.  

The Hope of America reception was for all the award recipients throughout the area.  We heard an inspiring talk by the mom of a Special Olympian who has pushed her limits in swimming.  All the kids introduced themselves and said where they attended elementary school and where they were headed for middle school.  There were some refreshments and then Ezra got interviewed by a reporter for the local newspaper.  

We also had a little moment of honor for Emmett for finishing middle school and moving on to high school.  The school didn't have any sort of graduation and we felt that all of Emmett's hard work deserved some recognition.  He finished 8th grade with all As and has honestly made middle school be so much smoother than I was expecting.  We got him a massage gun and also gave him a book that has been signed by all his teachers since pre-school.  It was a surprise for him and he had fun looking back and seeing what all of his teachers have said to/about him.  He is on his own for getting signatures in high school if he wants them, once they rotate teachers it becomes very difficult to get the book signed!

Elliott was interested in trying some acting and he participated in a one afternoon acting camp where they ended with performing some scenes from the Wizard of Oz.  He was a munchkin and had a pretty good time.  We'll see if he decides to pursue more acting in the future.  He should have the opportunity to do some acting with his school starting in 4th grade.
 

We went to the zoo and we went to Bear World.  We hadn't been to Bear World in quite a few years.  We drove through the enclosures and saw mountain goats, elk, deer, bison, grizzly bears and black bears.  There are some fun little carnival type rides and a petting zoo.  The baby bears are always fun to see and we watched them get bottle fed. 

We did a hike with some friends and brought Everest along.  We also did some of the Ashton-Tetonia bike trail.  We tried to get our dog to run part of it and ride in our bike trailer some.  He wouldn't ride in the trailer so he ended up running about 4 miles.  Thunderstorms were moving in and we got loaded into the car just as it started to rain.

Cress Creek Trail

Hiking is more fun with friends!

Playing in the creek

Ashton-Tetonia Bike Trailhead

Jim's work had a company picnic at Melaleuca Field, our local minor league baseball field.  Emmett couldn't come, but the other boys got try out a batting cage, get their pitches clocked for speed, played yard games and got lunch and snowcones.  Elliott also got his face painted.

Meanwhile Emmett was down in Pocatello at the Youth Roundnet Nationals.  A friend from his soccer team and his dad have gotten really involved with Spikeball and I believe his dad had something to do with making the rules for tournament play.  Emmett had been playing some with friends and with his natural athletic ability was pretty good.  So he got put on a team for the tournament and they did pretty good.  It lasted all day and I went down to watch in the afternoon.  

In June we also floated the Teton River and saw a moose.  We had VBS week at our church.  Elliott is the only one young enough to still do it and Ezra came and helped me run crafts.  And we went to Lava Hot Springs with some friends and enjoyed their pools, slides and diving platforms.

Lava Hot Springs Speed Slides

More Slides and Diving Platforms