The Always Crazy Soderholm Family: July 2015

Summer playdate

I didn't get a picture of these guys on Twin day, but better late than never! This is Grant's good buddy, Israel. They sat together on the bus every day of kindergarten! His mom and I became friends too, chatting at the Y, the school, the pool, field trips, and when the boys played. Unfortunately, this was their last play date, at least for a while, as their sweet family had to move to Maryland! That is one of the hardest things about living here. Our friends move way too much! But the good thing is, we will have friends all over the country.

Oops, steamy camera lens.

Katherine was glad that Aiden and Ezra stayed to play too!

We will miss you too, R fam!

Hyche's moved. Boo!

We have some great friends, who lived behind us and then 2 doors down when we moved to their street, the Hyche's. We love their family and played often. Victoria and Amy, were especially great friends- sharing clothes and going back and forth from each other's houses. They took ballet together too. Kris and I enjoyed working out together from time to time, chatting at dance, and going out (though not nearly enough). We love Eric, aka Batman, Sydney and J.T. too. We were sad to say so long, but they needed to move to Florida. Here a few shots of a last minute block party that we had to say farewell.

Movie in the driveway for the kids

Cooper and JT

V and Amy

There were some tears when we had to say see ya.

Pool with friends

Thanks, Ashley, for inviting us to the pool! We have been to her Aunt Barbara's pool a few times over the past few summers and it is a lot of fun. Being the only ones at a pool somehow makes it way better! I wish we had one in our back yard. I love to play with the kids in the water and jump off the diving board too.

I love that Katherine loves the diving board!

Canonball! He really can make a big splash!

And how about these guys? They are so funny!

Aren't Ashley and little Gracie just adorable?

Fun, laid back times. Ashley is one of my good buddies around here! The thing I love most about her is that she makes me feel safe, comfortable, and completely myself.

Mariners Musuem

I entered a contest from Moe's to win tickets to the Mariner's Museum and I was selected as a winner! Yay! Thank you, Moe's, for being delicious and for sending us these fun tickets! The package included Mariner's Museum tickets, I-Max tickets, and a paddle boat ticket.

Although we live nearby, we had never been to the beautiful Mariner's Museum.

We had a great time and learned a lot of new things!

We also enjoyed the 3-D movie, James Cameron's Deepsea Challenge. I didn't know if my younger kids would be able to sit still and pay attention the whole time, but they did! It was exciting to learn about this mission to the extreme deep. It was also inspiring to see someone so passionate about learning and discovery. It was neat to see the process, the trials, and the success!

7-11 day!

We still love free slurpees!

Christian turns 10!

I love this guy so much! He loves reading and legos and video games. He tells really funny jokes. H sets and accomplishes goals and helps with a lot of chores around the house. He loves his siblings and is often very sweet to them. He has a caring heart and shows a lot of empathy and compassion for others. We are enjoying watching him grow up and we happy to celebrate his big day.

He enjoyed bacon and eggs for breakfast. Then, he opened his presents! He got a boogie board, a skylander, and a Lego set.

Geemaw stopped by that morning to bring him a present. He was working on his Lego Chima set when she came, so it was cool of her to watch him put it together.

She gave him a pretty neat Swiss Army knife to use for scouting.

Danny was home that day and so the family went to Golden Corral for lunch. C-bass loves it! He is a food fan. He likes both cooking and eating. He decided that instead of a cake, he could just have a couple desserts there. He is a logical kid. I notice that he often does things to make life easier for the family.

Later, we went to Barnes and Noble to use a gift card.

The rest of day was pretty chill. I just called Christian in to see if he could remember what happened next, but he thinks we just went home and played. I remember that Danny had class and/or a school board meeting that night.

We went to Water Country the next day and that was fun!