Summer Days

What would Summer be without parades, yard exploration, camping, and reunions? Here is what we were up to for the month of June.

BUG DETECTIVES: Peter decided to hunt for bugs one afternoon, but wore some netting around his head to protect him from any bees. It wasn't too long before Elsie joined in. It was pretty cute watching them explore the neighborhood with magnifying glass in hand.





PARADE: What would summer be without a parade? Our town has one of the smallest annual parades ever, but it never lacks candy! Peter had the opportunity to decorate his bike and ride in the parade with other Primary children. He loved the decorating and the bike ride. That boy never passes up a spotlight. Meanwhile, Elsie, Mom, Dad, and Kimball watched along the sides and gathered extra candy for him. Elsie decided she was a big fan of parades after she filled her bag full of tootsie rolls and salt water taffy.


RAGNAR RELAY: There are many of these Ragnar Relay races throughout the country, and we happen to live close to where one takes place. It is a running race composed of 12 people that trade off running legs as the team travels through a mountain range. It happens to be about 200 miles of grueling road, full of steep inclines and declines. The teams start on a Friday and run all through the night until they cross the finish line sometime Saturday. It is sponsored by ICON, the business that builds Nordic Tracks. A friend of ours that works there, had been working hard at putting together a "virtual" team to run the relay. This means a team that would run the whole relay on a treadmill that was hooked up to a GPS so it would follow the exact terrain. I was impressed by the whole idea. The week of the race, some people from the virtual team fell through and ICON was scrapping to find a couple extra people to run for their team. So this friend of ours thought of Mike and I and called to see if we'd be interested. We said sure. It was a lot of fun, and our team got the most sleep out of any other, so it was well worth it. Under any other condition, I think I would have pass it up. I love my sleep. ICON hooked us up with lots of running outfits to wear as we ran, which was a great bonus! Running on a treadmill is quite a bit easier, so Mike and I were able to do just fine. We ended up running an extra leg for other people on the team who's knees gave out on them. It was a spontaneous adventure, which is something we rarely get any of. For that reason alone, it was worth it (plus I've got some great running clothes now)!
Here is us at the "finish" line. Our team crossed it carrying a treadmill.


These gondolas were great fun for the kids. We went up and down several times just to entertain them.


CHESTERFIELD: Mike's family had a reunion in this small ghost town. Mike and I traveled there and camped out the night before. The kids had a blast camping. Peter said he wanted to live in the tent. Mike even took him fishing in a little pond with maybe 3 fish in the whole thing. He didn't catch anything, but Peter sure loves to fish! Chesterfield was a lot of fun for the kids - there was room to run, mice to catch, outhouses to try, and food to eat. Mike and I had fun as well. It's always fun being with family and getting to know your family history better.
Below, Peter is talking to another Peter. He bonded instantly to his older cousin. You guessed it - it's a family name.


We had a picnic there, and Mike's Mom brought olives. I'm afraid Elsie helped herself to the majority of them. She sure had fun!


In one of the areas of the historic ghost town, they had a lot of old farm equipment. Mike's dad had a lot of fun seeing the old equipment he grew up using. We enjoyed listening to him explain how everything worked and watch him as he reminisced of his days as a young boy. They also had an area where the kids could make their own rope. Peter thought this was sooooo cool!


I don't know what was more exciting for Peter than using this outhouse!