Six Flags over Texas

I guess instead of zoo pictures this year we have Six Flag pictures, and these will not be the end of them!  Scott's mission/now BYU friend Adam Corless (son of a missionary from my mission), who lives near Fort Worth, had invited Scott over earlier in the summer for his birthday, and now they wanted to meet up at Six Flags.  They graciously allowed us to come, too!  (We had wanted to get a family picture at the old time photography studio, but it had closed down, so we'll have to make a new family picture plan.)

It was a HOT day, as all days this summer were, but not overly crowded, and we had some good times.  Thank goodness for the water misters throughout the park!  Everyone was exceptionally brave, inspired by our guest and Scott, and rode all the big rides.  Also, we were impressed with the mossy turtles. 

Sunday Fun Day

Pioneer Day was on Sunday this year, so we had a nice after church activity making the pioneer wagons.  (PS--I got a new calling, in addition to my Primary Activity for Boys calling.  They split the Sunbeam class and I'm a co-teacher of the new class!  Yay!  These two callings are pretty much my wish list callings.  Plus I like my co-teacher, Cecil Davis.  I've been her ministering sister for the last four years or so.  She's nervous, but she'll do great.)

And speaking of the Primary Activity Boys, we tied a blanket for our Primary President who is due to have a baby soon.  I had some extra fabric, so I made a little bunny to go with it.  Not perfect, but snuggly!

 

After the Day at the Lake

 OOPS.

Senior Pictures--WHAT??

Gracie took her yearbook photos mid-July.  She is a stunning person, inside and out.

Tell me again how we got here?

 (PS--she still enjoys a good nap)

Busy Tuesday

We were able to schedule a temple baptism session on a Tuesday afternoon, and Ben came over from his office to join us!  We tried to get a few squinty sunny pictures after, including the little wilting plants (it's SO HOT!) the girls planted for their Youth Conference service project.

We got home in time to prepare for the Court of Honor where the girls got everything they earned at scout camp.

These girls are working hard!  Ben is, too!

S'more Summer Fun

More summer flowers from my neighborhood walks--id's thanks to Google Lens:

Common sunflower

(with a green lynx spider and a bumblebee!)

Wavyleaf thistle

That's about all that I see now.  It's way too hot for other flowers.  Everything is still nice and green, though.

Letter of the Day activities were still going strong.  We tried our hand at making pretzels on P day.  While they weren't all beautiful, they were all delicious!  (Except for that flat hard one.  Gross.)

Our living room became a fortress for a couple days.  Gracie and I went through our food storage and emergency supplies under the stairs for one of her merit badges, and the expired cans made good "nails" for the fort.

S day was on 7/11, so we tried to get some free Slurpees--but the Seven Eleven we went to was out of cups!  So we went to Bahama Bucks instead for their snow cones, and were quite satisfied.  Benson got a Shark Blood one, made in honor of Shark Week.

Of course we had Upside Down Cake for U day!  Thanks, Caytie!

We went to the water for W day!  The Danielsons invited us for a day at the lake, and we had a great time with them and Jarret, Karyna, and their baby Raelyn, who recently moved near Fort Worth. I had to take a picture with the baby to send to my sister Jenny.  (How can I have sisters who are grandparents??)

Speaking of W, we harvested our one watermelon.  It was tiny and seedy, but very tasty!  Thanks, garden.

Y day called for a trip to get frozen yogurt.  I think their décor is a little Halloween-y, but we overlooked that and enjoyed our treat.  (Tessa's friend Lauren was with us for the day.)

We were going to do a final fun day at the zoo for Z day, but thought we'd wait for the weekend when Dad and Emma could come, but somehow that trip kept getting postponed and we never went.  Our zoo passes have even expired, and I don't think we've been without zoo passes for this long since we've moved to Texas.  Ah, well.

A couple other things of note-- Scott and Emma went to get some fillings.  I had a book I wanted to read, so I drove them and waited there (although I didn't get to read much of my book, since a friend was there too, waiting for her kids, and we chatted).  When they came out and I was paying, Scott said he was feeling light-headed, so he sat down and promptly passed out.  The nurses came out and helped me to revive him, and then walk him out to the car, where he fainted again (after sitting down).  Then I took them to get some shakes to sugar him up quickly.  Turns out he hadn't eaten lunch or had much water after working out just before the appointment.  I'm grateful I decided to go with them so Emma didn't have to take care of him on her own!

Gracie had two jobs this summer--one was driving a boy to and from his wrestling practice four days a week.  Another was that she started teaching piano lessons.  She liked doing that so much she scheduled early release into her schedule for next year so that she can continue teaching in the afternoons.

Emma kept working away each day!  It was hot work, but she was diligent and enjoyed it, mostly.  Scott tried to get a job and was hired at Jamba Juice, but only by an assistant manager, and once he tried to follow up on that, there wasn't really a job available.  But he found out he was going to receive an academic math scholarship for the fall and winter semesters due to his grades, so his worry about money was relieved.

PS--we typically DON'T eat s'mores in the summertime.  No one wants to build a fire in this heat.

America, America!

What better way is there to celebrate the birth of our nation than by dressing like our forefathers and flinging water balloons?  There actually was a reason for both-- Ben and his scout troop (pretty much our girls and Brei) led the flag ceremony at our ward's Fourth of July breakfast, and if you've got the clothes to go along with it, you wear them!  He is also the owner/creator/operator of the water balloon launcher which has now become part of the tradition of this breakfast, and the ward's kids LOVE him for it!

After the breakfast, we came home for naps and to watch National Treasure (Caytie's current favorite movie) and other patriotic shows (probably Nailed It??).  We contemplated going to a firework show, but decided two nights at Six Flags was enough and enjoyed those we could see being shot off around our neighborhood.

 America, America, God shed His grace on thee!  And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!

Traveling at Thirteen!

Sometimes you have to wake up very early on the very day you become a teenager to open your gifts, but that's okay, because then everyone jumps in the car for a road trip to San Antonio, and you get to watch movies and eat snackies until you arrive at Six Flags Fiesta, where you spend the rest of the day riding all the rides, watching the firework show, and indulging in tasty cupcakes at the hotel.

She requested red velvet cupcakes decorated as American flags, and we made it happen late that night.

This Tessalicious (which I do still call her on occasion) is sweetness and spiciness.  This last daughter is a natural leader, a true out-of-the-box thinker, and a determined worker, and we're so blessed to call her ours.  Happy thirteenth birthday, Tessa, and many, many more!

BUT--our trip was not done yet!  We spent the most of the next daytime at the waterpark at Six Flags, and really enjoyed all of the rides, the lazy river, and the Texas-shaped wave pool.  It was very crowded and very hot, but this is to be expected on a Saturday in July.  Our favorite part was probably the waterslide that had parts that pushed you back uphill, but it also had the longest line!  Our least favorite part was probably when Ben and Tessa fell off their tube in the middle of the ride, and it had to be shut down to get their tube which was stuck, but the rest of us were at the top waiting, and had no idea what happened until we got out of line and investigated.  Also, the pavement was super hot, but those without shoes found some to purchase.

After everyone got their fill of the waterpark, we went back to the regular park to ride our favorites again.  Half of the family got brave enough to ride the pendulum ride (and claim it's actually really fun).  We also got to ride the Poltergeist, which had always been closed.  It has a really fun super fast start.

More fireworks to end the day!

We spent one more night at the hotel, and left early Sunday morning, arriving back in town in time for Scott and Emma to head to their YSA ward and the rest of us to go to our ward.  (Sometimes late church is an advantage.)  It was a nice family trip to one of our favorite Texas cities.  Thanks, Tessa, for once again letting us travel on your birthday!