June Wildflowers and Housesitting

June, in no particular order, included Airborne with Owen's buddy, Hayes.  Owen spent his own money for 2 minutes in the wind tunnel.

Weddings!  We attended Kaden Keep's wedding reception and ran into all our old Kaua'i friends--Jeff and Dawn, Curtis and Courtney, John and Wendy, and of course Dale and Genevieve.  It was so incredibly refreshing to relieve our glory years.

Kate joined Comp Soccer with Surf!  It was a brave act and she showed up to each practice knowing she was not the best on the team but working to connect and learn each practice.  It was always after XC practice and her legs were beat.  She continued to feel apprehensive about the experience, especially going into the two tournaments in July.  We were proud of her for going after it despite her insecurities.

Another brave act: going to FSY!  She absolutely dreaded the week and could barely sleep, worried about the nights away from us.  Coming home, though, she said it was the absolute best week of her life and every person should go.  Her counselor and roommate made the experience even sweeter.

A Sunday stroll/hike ton Timpooneke trail.  My feet were finally feeling healthy enough for a few miles on trails in the wildflowers.  

I took Kate's friends on a trip up the Canyon for a bonfire one summer night.  It was fun to get this group of girls to myself and watch them explore and chat.

Brick!  Oh how we wish we had gone with a red brick from the start, so our roof and finishes would match.  It will be gorgeous when we paint it, but we love the dark brick up right now.

Brady took solo rides for June while I took off time to heal from Ischial Bursitis (sit bone inflammation from biking every single day while I waited for my foot to heal!).  It is a real pain in the a--.  Har har har.  I love that he feels limitless with biking but definitely hope someone is around on the trail if he ever crashes!

Me, on a mission to heal my behind.

The first Saturday in June, Brady's company sponsored a day at Lagoon.

So fun.  So dizzy.

We finished off the day with a trip to Mongolian BBQ, complete with a soft serve ice cream machine.  Owen was in heaven.

Kate and Owen stay entertained in our condo pool for hours.  Sometimes this pool is packed but most often, it is just us.  I spent hours studying Trig, listening to them laugh together.

Ashley invited Owen to hang out with her and Ella to make watermelon sorbet while I took Kate to soccer.  He talked her ear off and loved entertaining Ella.

One thing I learned this summer is that my kids are plenty busy with their normal sports and don't need the extra camps.  But.  I had already signed up Owen for soccer and basketball camp and he loved them both.

The day before Father's Day.  Never have I ever seen such an intense line at Costco.  Shockingly, I was through it in 10 min.

Meeting up at Costa Vida with the Hadleys and Summerhays was a June highlight.  Will and Karen Summerhays are serving as Mission Presidents in Peru now, hanging out with the Amazonian wildlife.  Lucas went to Madrid shortly after the meet-up, and Garrett is in New Zealand.  

Zachary returned from his humanitarian trip to Brazil!  Cory made this mammoth sign and Zac loved/hated the attention.  Ha!  He talked to us for hours about his experience, highlighting how much he loved the local culture and people.  He was as happy and animated as I have ever seen him.

He mentioned that he wished there were no phones.  Three weeks without a phone, he said, was some of the happiest of his life.  Such an interesting observation from a 17 year old.

Celebrating his return and hearing his stories at Casa De Tamal.

Brady, Cory and Kristen took an adventure day to hike past Second Hamongog to Lake Hardy, and 13 mile, strenuous adventure.  I was happy for them and also envious.

We went to Kaua'i (see summer vacay post).  Brady ran into high school buddy Tony Rodriguez in the airport.

For the next week, we stayed at Cory and Kristen's.  Up to this point, our condo has seemed perfectly fine, but after living in their bright, beautiful home for week, we were all very excited to finish our house and move from our dark condo.

This was the hardest week of our year as we worked through issues with Zachary.

Owen had friend after friend over pool, trampoline, and basement play.  

Kate hosted her own friend hangouts, too.

Owen's summer centered on Pleasant Grove swim team.  Kate had XC practice every morning at 7am, and he was swimming at 8:15am.  He is a speedy swimmer.

More traveling for house finishes.

Owen, Brady, Roxy, and I took a quick hike one Friday night.

Owen loved it up until the fall.  Like mother, like son.  I trip all the time, too, Owen!  He bravely finished up and had dinner with us as our plus one date night.  (I write this as I'm covered in Neosporin and goopy knees from my most recent trail fall.)