Cannons of Carolina: August 2015

June was a fun month. I love that school lets out and I get to have my kids back for the summer. The end of school events also make it extra fun. June 5th was the last day of school for Lake Norman Charter. Matthew (Nick's best buddy ever) came home with us and we went to lunch at Steak N Shake to celebrate. Jeremy came with us and was ecstatic to find out that he could have a few things on the menu. The vinegar and salt fries were his favorite. We took an alternate route home in hopes of being able to drive the new portion of I-485 which was supposed to have opened at 2:00. Apparently the governor was late getting to the ceremony due to all the cars lining up to be the first to drive on the new road. We had a good laugh about it. People had even parked and were standing on the overpasses waiting to watch all the cars. We have been waiting for this new section for 13 years now, but..... REALLY??? As I said earlier, it was good for a laugh.

School is out for the summer!

Beginning of summer selfie.

June 10th I got to help with the Field Day at Highland Creek Elementary. Last year I yelled myself hoarse at one of the relays so I signed up for the slide this year. It was fun to watch the kids just be silly. One of the 3rd grade classes had a student with some learning deficiencies and it took him a long time to climb the ladder on the inflatable slide. Instead of getting mad that he was holding up the line, the class started cheering him on because they knew this was not easy for him (out of shape and scared of heights). He made it to the top and they all cheered even louder. The smile on his face was totally worth it.

Ava, Anusha, Rachel and Naomi ready for the slide.

Sliding

Bouncing

Mrs. Bloomquist even went down.

Naomi didn't put on sunscreen before field day (I sent some with her, I promise) and she had a sunburn. Being the internet wiz that she is, she quickly came up with a solution for her sunburn (yogurt and blueberries) which made her feel much better.

June 11th was the last day of school for Naomi. I took her to lunch. We then hit the pool for a couple of hours and went to Rita's Ice with the family to officially start the summer.

June 12th was a weed the yard day. We had all neglected this chore because we were enjoying the last few days of school so much. As a reward we went out for Slurpees and then to see the new Jurassic World movie. It was EXCELLENT!

June 13th I purchased the last bit of food needed for girls camp. We sorted it all and got it loaded into the trailer that was hauling all the extra stuff needed to keep the girls happy for the week.

June 18th the kids helped me get all the meats ready for the chili the last night of camp. We also chopped the veggies and made 10 pans of corn bread. It was a long day.

June 19th and 20th I drove up to camp with Tabitha Tufts and Rachel Renshaw to spend the last night with the girls and to help pack up and get them all home again. The girls were so cute when we drove up. All of them wanted to help prepare the last dinner and so I put them all to work. We ended up not having nearly enough spoons to stir everything so I told them all to wash their hands REALLY well and we would just mix by hand. They thought that was the coolest, most fun thing in the whole world. I loved the help and dinner was ready on time. It was definitely a WIN-WIN. Also, there wasn't much left after dinner was over. Sabrina and I stayed behind while the girls and the leaders went to the testimony meeting. We got all the dishes done and food put away. It was fun to just sit and talk to Sabrina. The campsite was beautiful and it wasn't hot. Perfect weather. That night is started to rain and rained until just before breakfast. We got all packed up and on our way home before the rain started to really come down.

Me and the other stake leaders at camp.

Since all the food I had brought up the night before had been eaten and I had more room, I took all the wet tents from our ward and the girls were going to meet me at my house to get them dried out and cleaned up. The plan worked perfectly and we got the tents set up, cleaned up, dried off and were about to take them down when I noticed a line of black clouds rapidly approaching. We took the tents down in record time and were just throwing the last tent into the garage when the wind started whipping everything around. Shelli, the youth leader, got everyone in the car and left to take them home while Steve and I watched the clouds start to swirl. We saw the start of a funnel cloud and then had to take cover because it started raining HARD. We ran into the garage and closed the door before the rain could get all our hard work wet. After the storm passed we opened the garage door again to let in some air while we folded the tents and one of our neighbors came over asking who took our tree down for us. We told him we did it ourselves and he then told us that one of the new neighbors down the street (they had only been in the house for 5 days) had a tree on their house from the microburst/mini-tornado that had gone down our street. Steve got his chain saw and we all headed down the street to see what we could do to help. One of our neighbors had lost a couple sections of their fence. Another neighbor was cleaning up the glass from where his patio table had shattered when it tipped over. Another neighbor was telling the story about how his trampoline had flown into the air before landing in the neighbors yard. We also saw a couple of smashed basketball standards that had blown over. When we got to our new neighbors' house it looked like someone had twisted the tree, yanked it straight upwards and leaned it against the house. It was really weird and cool at the same time. Several other neighbors came over with their chainsaws and the tree was off the house in a matter of 30 minutes. I love our neighborhood/neighbors.

June 21st through the 25th Steve was at his national conference in Washington D.C. Naomi and I took advantage of this time and painted the master bedroom. After being in the house for 13 years it was about time that my bedroom got a makeover. It took one whole day just to empty the closet and get all the furniture moved so we could paint. We also had some cosmetic repair to complete before painting. Naomi is now a pro at plastering, sanding and spraying the texturing. We even patched up a few holes in the hallway from when we had our new furnaces and AC units put in last summer. It took the full four days, but it is absolutely gorgeous. I love the color.

Nick found this egg pan while we were shopping for scout camp food. He loves that it is just the right size for one egg.

June 26th we threw a birthday party for Julie Todd. It was so much fun. We all brought an appetizer and drinks (non-alcoholic, of course) and sang crazy karaoke late into the night. It was fun to just let go and enjoy being together. No kids were allowed to witness!

Julie and me at her karaoke birthday bash.

June 28th through July 4th the boys were at scout camp. Naomi and I decided to live it up while they were gone. One day we helped at the Croshaw's new house getting a few construction and redecorating messes cleaned up. We took the girls to the library with us and then ended the day with a taco bar at our house. The next day was a bike ride day, craft day and hair cut day. We spent a day feeding the ducks, going to the fabric store and playing at the pool with friends. We even ran into one of the teachers from Lake Norman and talked with her for a bit. One day was spent sewing all sorts of fun creations (new tablet cover, book covers and shorts). We shopped for fireworks and BBQ ingredients and got ready for the boys and Steve to come home on the 4th.