June Summer Activities

June was busy with lots of camps for the kids and our own family activities. The boys had two weeks of Sports Camp put on by Lehi city. Each day they learned a new sport, which was pretty fun for them to find out what they like. Cruise hated flag football and really enjoyed tennis. Jett loved soccer and basketball. So now I know what to sign them up for this fall. 

I wish I had pictures, but I didn't stay to watch them. The first day was a little hard for Cruise. When we went to pick him up, we were informed that he flipped a kid off. After talking to Cruise, we found out that he had no idea what that meant and that the other kid made a huge deal out of it. So after educating Cruise and notifying the coach of his autism, the rest of the camp days went by much better. 

We have also been doing the summer movie pass at the Megaplex. Each movie is $1 per movie per person, so it is really affordable. We learned after the first movie day (which is at 10 AM) to feed everyone protein for breakfast, otherwise we all feel like puking after some popcorn and soda. We also got to go see Finding Dory on opening day. I absolutely loved it and felt like it resonated a lot with parents of kids with special needs. It's definitely one we'll be buying! 

Cruise got to go to Scout Day Camp for two days and had a blast! On the first day, the boys got to buy something at their little trading post, so I sent him with some money and he bought a rabbit skin. Ha ha! He was weirdly excited about that. He got to learn all kinds of things at camp, including making a marshmallow shooter, playing marbles, and shooting BB guns. I was so nervous that he would have a hard time, especially since it went from 7am-1pm, but he did so great! 

 This year we decided to buy the "Pass of All Passes" which includes unlimited visits to 7 Peaks and free entrance to the Tracy Aviary on Tuesdays. It also includes passes to other venues like baseball games in Orem as well, but we haven't done any of those yet.

The first visit to 7 Peaks was hard because we weren't sure what to expect when it came to taking children along, so it was a little stressful, but the second time was a lot easier and a lot more fun. So we will continue to go back, despite the huge crowds. We also bought tube rental passes, so the boys can get a tube every time we go as well. They really enjoy it there. Miles is happy as long as you are willing to whatever he wants, as many times as he wants. We always finish off the day by going to the Creamery On 9th for dinner.

We decided to visit the Tracy Aviary first thing in the morning before it got too hot. It got hot really fast though. But the birds were amazing! We will have to go back again when it's not so hot so we can enjoy it a little more.

 

 Cruise enjoyed reading about the birds and learning about where they're from.

These ones below are all birds from Argentina. It was fun being able to walk into their cage and take a closer look at them.

 These were my favorite: flamingos!

 Then there was this giant peacock walking around the aviary like he owned the place. He was gorgeous!

Three little birds.

Miles and I left the group towards the end because it was just too hot! We hung out in the gift shop and he found a bunch of stuffed birds that make their sound when you squeeze them. He found a woodpecker and immediately knew what to do with it.

Here are a few other pictures from last month:

Lookout at Squaw Peak for FHE

Trafalga Lehi AKA Seven Peaks Lehi

Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point

More Boating on Utah Lake

Miles playing in the sprinklers on the trampoline.

And finally...

The following is for those with strong stomachs only...

Dave got his right leg cut pretty bad a week ago while at Metal Mart. He was out in their scraps yard when he tripped over a piece of metal sticking out. It cut him really deep and he had to drive home with two of the boys to come get me to take him to the emergency room. Luckily we had a bunch of bandaging stuff in the car, so he was able to wrap it tight before driving. This guys is so tough, he even went to work after getting seven stitches! I would've totally used that excuse.

Okay, here it is:

And that was June.

Get Up 'n' Go Kart

Dave finally finished the go kart last month and so they've taken it out a few times to the church parking lot. Cruise & Jett were a little hesitant at first, but finally got the feel of the blue machine and had a lot of fun driving it. Even Dave tried it out.

 Miles brought his little car too and chased the boys around.

 We brought Camry along and she ended up driving Miles' tiny quad. Ha ha! She is too funny.

 I eventually got too hot and hung out in the car. And Miles eventually joined me too.

Father's Day

Dave had a pretty good Father's Day...I think. Even if he didn't, he wouldn't tell me. The boys wanted to make him breakfast, but I told them that Daddy doesn't like breakfast and would rather sleep. So he first got the gift of sleep. 

Then we woke him up for his presents!

 I had Cruise and Jett fill out "About Dad" papers, which turned out to be pretty funny.

 A few months ago, in anticipation for Father's Day, I ordered this shirt off of Zulily. I had the boys use fabric paint and markers to put their hands and names on the shirt. It turned out pretty cute and it looks "reel" good on Dave.

 Here's my card.

 And I got him a gift card so he could get some new batteries for his drill.

 Cruise brought this home last week of school that they had made in class. Luckily I remembered where I had hid it and he was able to give it to Dave.

 For dinner, I made steak fajitas, which is one of Dave's favorites, and we had IBC rootbeer and pumpkin pie for dessert. Then I let Dave go fly fishing on Provo River and he caught 15 trout.

And that was Father's Day.

Moving Mountains Soccer Camp

My friend, Jenny, along with the help of her awesome family, UVU and a lot of donors, put together a free soccer camp for kids with autism a few weeks ago and Cruise was lucky enough to participate. He was not excited about the fact that I had signed him up for this thing, but once he got there, he really had a great time! I have never seen him have so much fun playing a sport. Each kid was assigned a volunteer buddy who spent the entire time with them, teaching them technique and just having fun with them. The cool thing was that my good friend Eileen's sister, Sib, was assigned Cruise, so she already knew a lot about him. The camp was two days and only an hour each day, which is perfect for this group of kids. They really all had a great experience. And they all got some great swag too (including a ball!).

 Oh, and Batman showed up too. Miles wanted to be near him, but not next to him.

Jenny's husband, Ray, getting sprayed with water. He walked around misting all the kids so they would keep cool. Such a good idea!