Week of July 20 - July 26

We had another cousin week at our house this past week! We invited my sister, Margaret's, three daughters, Rebecca, 10, Emily, 10, and Elizabeth, 7, to stay for the week. That made 10 little girls in the Skinner house! It takes a lot to overwhelm my dear husband, but I think he did at last feel completely outnumbered. He was a good sport, though, and even watched the plays that were performed for us every night from this talented group of young actresses! On Monday night we watched, "Falling for Rapunzel," and "The Four Bears." On Tuesday night we watched, "Kinderella." On Wednesday night we watched, "Little Red and Blue Riding Hoods." On Thursday we watched, "The Four Little Pigs." The grand finale on Friday night was to have all the plays performed again for their mother who came to stay a night before driving them back home. What fun! They rehearsed during the day and performed for us at night!

Here is a recording of "Falling for Rapunzel:"

Savannah and Megan also performed for us that night. You can also see the tent in the background where the girls slept each night. What could be better than a campout every night??

Somehow, they also found time to go to Activity Days Day Camp on Tuesday from 2 - 8pm where they made necklaces and rowed boats and shot bee-bee guns and arrows and tried to douse each other in the dunking machine and panned for gold. On Thursday we spent all afternoon at the swimming pool and on Saturday we took the canoe to Salem Pond and the girls swam and canoed and tried to hitch rides on the back of the canoe and drove the paddlers crazy, etc. etc. It's beautiful there, isn't it?

Look! It's a boy moment! Margaret brought her youngest, Dylan, when she came to pick up her girls. Kevin was glad that he doubled the male population.

Bye Gillespies!! We loved having you!

I forgot to update you on Bethany! She is now saying, "What's that?" and pointing with her cute little finger. It is really cute. We figure we will count those as her first words. Also, in the last couple of days she has mastered this whole walking thing. She walks from object to object on her own now -- and is just pleased as punch with herself! She walks around just for fun and squeals with delight when she gets to her destination! I am thinking she really enjoyed mastering the challenge. I can't wait to see what else she'll do with her life!

On Saturday morning, we packed up and drove out to a little known place just west of Springville on the shores of Utah Lake known to locals as "Sandy Beach." It has taken us a few tries to discover its true location since it is not at all marked and really off the beaten path. But, it's a nice little spot:

The girls did some swimming and we brought the canoe:

And there was a lot of digging in the sand going on:

There was also a little of this. Does it remind you of anyone?

We had a fun morning and it was a fun adventure.

We also had a fun adventure with Grandma Gazdik this week. On Thursday, we went up Hobblecreek canyon and had a picnic at the park by Jolly's Ranch. Then, as it was very hot, we climbed down the banks of the creek, set up our chairs and watched the kids wade in the water and eventually get themselves completely soaked. It was great fun.

I guess it was a week of enjoying the out-of-doors, free-to-all water around us. We decided we shouldn't go to the Spanish Fork pool (although we really wanted to) because we were attacked by a cold virus that has taken its toll on all of us throughout the week. We've all suffered in turns from its sore throat, runny nose, headache attack. Yuck. Luckily, I think we are now all well.

Hooray!

Week of July 6 - 12

Megan's team placed third in Springville and that meant that her team went to tournament! On Monday her team won, then Tuesday they lost and then lost again. It was an exciting (and hot and tiring) two days at the ball park! Megan got to pitch some and play first base some. She is really good at both. She and her dad have spent a lot of time practicing this season and it really shows in how comfortable Megan is with that softball. Her biggest concern at tournament was making her dad proud. I know that her dad's favorite part of softball season was getting to know Megan better with all the time they spent together. I just think its fun to see such a super cute girl out on the ball field! Look at that imposing stance! Look at those bent knees and hands together and elbow up! She is ready for anything. Look out world!
We were really sad to say goodbye to our dad on Tuesday for the rest of the week. He went to a conference in Orlando and was gone until Sunday afternoon. It was "just us girls" for five days! I'm not sure how we survived especially with all the late-night tears of, "I miss Daddy!"

One thing that helped us get through, though,was an overnight visit from my sister and her family. Amy, Paul, Mandy, Kayla, and Emma arrived in the early afternoon and left in the morning. We had a great time playing with them. Can you tell which ones aren't mine?
We went to the Spanish Fork pool on Friday and the girls had great fun jumping off the diving boards, going down the water slide, and just playing in the pool. It was fun for me, too. It's nice to have older kids to help with the younger ones. I got to go down the slide and off the diving board which I haven't done in a million years (almost)!

We missed our dad, but we had a fun week.

Bethany is 1 year old!! Isn't she beautiful? She got this new dress for her birthday. We, of course, gave her chocolate cake to eat:

And had family over to help us celebrate:

My mom and dad and two of my nieces, Samantha and Piper, stayed with us all last week. It was such fun! We talked and talked and talked. The girls played and learned dances and, of course, went river walking. Kevin and dad went fishing. Mom and I went to the movies. We all watched as Kevin and our neighbors set off fireworks for the fourth of July. It was a great week. We stayed up late every night and slept in late every morning. What a way to play!

The week before last (the only week I have not updated the blog so far this year!), Sarah went to Shadow Mountain -- a three-day camp for fifth-graders. She had a marvelous time!