50 cents a ticket

One of the greatest things about living in Utah is how cheap so many things are. Tonight we went to the dollar theater as a family. On Monday night they charge 50 cents a ticket! It only cost our family $3.00 to see "Nim's Island." It was cheaper than renting a movie at Hollywood!

Shaved Ice

Today Grammy and Grandpa Mike made a surprise visit and brought us this snow cone maker. Thy also brought 5 flavors to top this super summer treat. We all enjoyed a cool snow cone after dinner. Yum!! Thanks Grammy and Grandpa!

Family Reunion, Day 2

Today the reunion was held up in the mountains in Mill Creek Canyon. The weather was beautiful, and the surroundings even better. There was a shallow stream and fun trails and waterfalls nearby. We enjoyed a group hike, a stream boat relay, and great company. The kids played hard and got filthy. Isaac started the day with blue jeans and ended up with brown jeans. (He was so dirty we made him ride home in his underwear.) The reunion was a great success. We enjoyed reconnecting with many of the clan we hadn't seen in a while and with those we have. Good people. Good times.

The contestants and their "all natural" boats for the stream relay.

Ruby fell into the freezing stream. I didn't bring her any extra clothes. We wrapped her in a blanket and set her in a chair to warm up. Two minutes later, she was out!


Check out the color of Isaac's BLUE jeans and shoes. I had to wash them 5 times to get all the dirt out!

Family Reunion, Day 1

Today we had the first day of our two day Family Reunion. It included Adam's grandparents, their 8 children, 44 grandchildren and over 20 great grandchildren. Not everyone could make it but most will make it to some part of the next two days.
Today the festivities were at Copperton Park. It was the perfect place for a family reunion. The park was was full of beautiful trees and had a huge pavilion that kept things very cool. It also had an AWESOME playground, tennis courts, a basketball court, and a horse shoe pit. In addition to playing with all the the things the park provided, the kids threw footballs & baseballs, enjoyed a game of tug o' war, and played a long game of kickball. The kids had a BLAST!!

Popcorn and a Movie

Today the kids earned a movie party.

When Leah was here last month, she made us some yummy peanut butter/caramel popcorn. She was kind enough to e-mail me the recipe on very short notice so that we could make it for our "party."

We made the popcorn and watched "Spiderwick." It was a good night all around. Thanks Leah!

Play Dates

Today was a day of play dates. Aaron got to play at his good friend Alex's (from preschool) house. The other kids played with kids in the neighborhood/ward. Ruby got to have Mallary over (almost all day). Caleb went to his friend Caleb's house. And Isaac had his friend Thomas over. They played all afternoon. The playroom bears the proof. Bet you can guess what the kids will be doing tonight!!!

The Sleep Over Without Sleeping

Caleb and one of his best friends from school wanted to have a sleep over. I am not a big fan of sleep overs. I actually don't mind friends spending the night; but I don't like my kids spending the night at other people's house unless they are family or like family. However, it can be tricky to say your friend can stay over, but you can't stay over there. So to keep it simple, we just don't do it all. Anyway, I told the kids that Dillan and his sister could come over and stay really late and then I would take them home around 10:00pm. They are great kids and everyone had a fun time. They played Star Wars, built legos, rode bikes, made their own pizza, ate ice cream and played the new Indiana Jones Star Wars Lego game. Then everyone went to sleep . . . at their own house.

See Aaron Read

Aaron read his first talk in Primary today. He was determined to do it himself. I drew a few pictures and used phrases he was familiar with. At the end, he held up pictures that showed different things the kids can do to prepare now to go to the temple. He did a super job. He got stuck once, but pulled out great. It was so cute. I wish I could have video taped it. Here is a copy of his talk.

Super Hero Camp

Today, was day two of Cub Scout Camp. Yesterday they went to "Jurassic Journey" and today they have "Super Hero" camp. It's a day camp. They don't spend the night until they become Boy Scouts. I went as a leader with Caleb last year. The Utah Cub Scout Council does a fantastic job. Because of my back, I couldn't make it this year but . . .Adam did. He was exhausted from just coming home from Youth Conference, but the boys were really excited to have him come. It's not very often you get to go to camp with 2 of your own boys.


When I was about 10, I remember hearing my grandpa complain that it wasn't fair the church had scouting for boys and nothing for girls. I could have cared less. Scouting didn't sound very fun to me. But after going last year, he was right. Look at all the fun they have!!

splish splash and put put

Caleb and Isaac have Cub Scout camp for the next two days. With the big boys gone, I took the opportunity to take the little two to the Children's Discover Garden at Thanksgiving Point. The older boys thought it would be boring but I knew Ruby and Aaron would love it. Here they are in the Noah's Ark splash pool. Fun in the Sun!


After a while, Ruby got cold. I told her to sit on her towel in the sun. This was her interpretation.

Then this evening, we had a fun ward activity at "Golf on the Round." One of our ward members is a professional golf instructor from England. He is a fantastic guy - one of my favorite in the ward. He got the whole ward in for free put put and then gave a short golf lesson. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car while we were golfing but here is a picture of the mini lesson.

Dinsosaurs and Ice Cream

Today we went the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving point. The museum has a lot of "hands on" exhibits so they all had a great time.


On our way home, Caleb mentioned that Ice Cream was a big part of summer and that they hadn't had any yet . . hint hint. I told them if they were VERY good we could stop at the grocery store on the way home. However, only under the condition that after they all had their say, I made the ultimate decision on what we purchased; and only angelic behavior would be demonstrated in the store. Half of the condition was kept. I picked ice cream bars.

After dinner, I sent all four of them gleefully outside to eat their "summer treat." Isaac came back in about two minutes later.

"There is an ice cream truck outside and she said we could have any ice cream we want for free! Caleb said OK and the other kids are going too!"

A lot of things flashed through my mind. I ran outside to find that Ruby and Aaron had discarded the generic crunch ice cream bars I had bought, and were eating huge spider man ice cream bars with bubble gum eyes. There was no trace of Caleb. But I could see an ice cream truck parked in front of our neighbor's house. I also noticed several of our neighbors with ice cream bars of their own strolling down the street.

I began to prod Isaac for more information. "Who said you could have that ice cream for free?"

"Ruby T.'s mom. She said it was Sam's birthday so everyone could have ice cream!"

I began to feel the calm after the storm. Still, ice cream from an ice cream truck is NEVER free. The Bishop and his family, who live directly across from us, all had summer treats. I called over to the mother, Denise, and asked if she had paid for my kid's ice cream. She wandered over and said that is it was her son Sam's birthday. Our other neighbors, the T family, threw a surprise Birthday party for him and got an ice cream truck for the party.

Nice neighbors.

Caleb reappeared with a Reeses peanut butter bar for himself and Adam; and an Oreo bar for me.

My kids have never got ice cream from and ice cream truck before. It was very exciting. They sat out on the grass munching and talking with all their neighborhood friends. Pure summer bliss.

Super Star Aunts

When we lived in Boston, Aunt Leah would take the kids out to Friendly's for ice cream whenever it was their Birthday. I believe the monster mash was the consistent favorite. It boasted a scoop of ice cream with peanut butter cup ears, m&m eyes, whip cream hair and a cherry nose. Yum! It was a fun tradition that the kids really looked forward to.



Here, Aunt Becca has started a tradition where she takes the birthday kid to a movie. Isaac was the first to to participate in this new tradition (much to the envy of all his siblings). Yesterday, Aunt Becca took him to see "Kung Fu Panda." He has been excitedly talking about it all week. When the day finally arrived, he kept asking "How long 'till Becca comes?" He came home very happy and said the movie was "Super Funny!"

What lucky kids to have Super Stars for Aunts.

Basketball

One of the number one requirements on Adam's list for a new home was a place to hang a Basketball Hoop. Unfortunately, this house didn't meet the requirement. Adam has spend the last few months thinking about how he could change that. He decided the garage was the best choice. Today, Caleb and Adam assembled our first Basketball Hoop. Caleb is one happy kid. (and so is Adam). Here's a picture of his one of his first shots. Caleb and Isaac said they are going to get up early and play every morning. The call of homework and chores hasn't been too successful in calling them out of bed, maybe this basketball hoop is just what we need.

Party, Party, Party

We have had a party every night for the last 3 nights! Meatfest at Grandpa's on Saturday, Father's Day Party for Grandpa at our house on Sunday, and Father's Day Party for Grandpa Mike/birthday party for Mackenna and Jen at Grammy's pool tonight. That's a lot of parties and a lot of fun.

Happy Fathers Day!

This was Adam's Father's Day breakfast. He only wanted eggs and toast. We made homemade bread so at least it would be really good toast. The kids decorated the room and table with paintings, drawings and things they loved about their dad. It was a nice morning.

Last night we got home really late from the meat fest and Ruby was exhausted and in an AWFUL mood. She was being obstinate and crying about everything. I told her she needed to hurry and get to sleep because tomorrow was Father's Day and we had to get up early to do nice things for Daddy. (I thought this would calm her because she doesn't just love her dad, she ADORES him. He is much preferred over me.) It didn't. The following was our conversation.

Ruby: Why don't we do the nice things for me.
Me: We will on your Birthday in November, but tomorrow is Father's Day. It's the day we show Daddy how much we love and appreciate him.
Ruby: We don't have a Father. We have a Daddy.
Me: Daddy is a Father. But we can call it Daddy Day if you want. Hurry and go to sleep so we can get ready for Daddy Day.
Ruby: Tomorrow's not Daddy Day. Daddy Day is when Daddy goes to preschool with you.

That's when I knew it was time to give up. I told her I loved her, then walked out and shut the door.

Happy Daddy's Day to the best Dad I know.

All Work and No Play, Make the Coxes Dull Kids

The last couple of days, the kids have gotten a little ripped off on summer fun. We have pushed through a lot of school work, made serious progress in piano, completed a lot of chores, and worked on a ton of extra work projects. We made great progress in the garage, finished 75% of reorganizing the storage room, detailed Grandpa's truck, cleaned his back patio and back yard, cleaned the van, and mowed our lawn. I would say that is pretty good for 2 days. Today Caleb told me he didn't even care that he didn't get to play; he enjoyed working. That is definitely not a normal Caleb comment. But I was pleased he was able to feel the joy that comes from a good day of hard work. I told him if he can learn that now, things are going to be a lot easier later. The rest of the kids truly needed a break from the child labor infringed on them and rode their bikes with the neighborhood kids between assignments. But they all worked hard. Tonight, they will finally get to have a little fun. We are going over to one of Grandpa Cox's "meat fests." There will be a trampoline, good food, fun cousins and a blow up water slide. Let the fun begin!

VanCox

Painting won for today's "fun" activity. It was unanimous.

They all needed a good scrub down by the end, but isn't there some saying about the dirtier the activity the more fun it is? If that's true, they had a lot of fun! Now we'll have some nice artwork for our walls downstairs.

The Crack Down

Yesterday we started our real summer schedule. We revamped our charts on Sunday night and began the grind yesterday. Our first day went well. We finished our morning list around 11:30am. We have a point system that rewards the kids for everything they do with a good attitude. They also can't be asked to do something more than once if they are going to receive a point. Once they hit 80 points, they can choose from a list of activities like one dollar of nickles for the Nicklecaid, go to a dollar movie, get a movie from Redbox, pick out a toy at the dollar store, etc. If they get 80 points at least 5 times this summer, we will go on a fun family weekend trip.

Today, I realized that if we were going to get through our whole math program, Caleb was going to have to do 9 pages of math a day (Monday-Friday) and Isaac was going to have to do 6 pages. When I told Isaac he said, "I am going to write in my journal about this. This is not normal!!!"

Whatever gave him the idea that we were normal????

Caleb obviously had a similar thought because he read me this journal entry tonight. "Today my mom made me do HOMEWORK and it is summer vacation!!!!! I had to do four pages of math, one page of writing and read one chapter in a book!!!!! She said I have to do nine pages of math for the rest of the summer! And guess what? I am not very happy about that!! She also made me do chores!!! Today she made me do my brother's bathroom which is sooo much bigger than mine.
Now I bet you guys are thinking that my mom is mean and works us to death. But you're wrong, She is so sweet and does ten times the amount of work I do."

AHHH, the happy ending. The brain washing must be working.

Ham it up Aaron

Aaron is the only one still in school. Today he had his end of the year singing program. It was fantastic. The kids sang for about 40 minutes and then had a short graduation at the end. It was held in the town's historic theater so the kids felt like professionals up on the modest stage. It added a nice feeling to the program. It was also nice because they only had two classes performing at a time. So you weren't hunting through hundreds of kids on stage hoping to see a small glimpse of your child. I am sure it's not convenient for the teachers and staff. They have 5 different performances just for the Pre-K classes - but it was sure nice for us.

Grammy and Grandpa Mike came too. Grandpa came extra early and got us seats in the front row in front of Aaron. Thanks Grandpa!! Aaron was hilarious. He was thrilled to have us so close and he put all of his nutty personality into the songs. The program was delightful and all the kids did a super job. It was definitely one of the best preschool music programs I have ever seen. Here are a few pictures from the program.