June

 We went in shifts to the rededication of the Oakland Temple. The girls offered to babysit for a couple families so they could go to one of the sessions. We had a busy and uplifting day!

 The last day of school for emery and the little homeschoolers! One little homeschooler takes a little longer than the others to get out of her pajammies.

 Katie and I quickly booked a beach day before summer got crazy. The beach day is what ended up being crazy! It was a hot day inland so everyone else wanted to go to the beach...we may have ended up parking on the side of hwy 1 in the only spots we could find. No worries though! Our cars were still there and in one piece when we returned to them.

 And the kids did a pretty good job devouring all the food we brought so we had very little to haul back to our cars.

 Joel-y and I hung out in the shade.

 emery got to sing in the youth choir for the youth devotional the day before the Oakland Temple rededication. She had practice every Saturday for a while and they sounded like angels. My friend and I dropped the kids off at the devotional and raced over to a broadcast at a neighboring church so we could watch them perform. Emery's in the front middle.

 cousin swim time

 The kids finally made it to Sunsplash after driving by it for years and years! We went in the evening when it's cheaper, less hot/sunny and less crowded.
The cousins all roamed around the park and had a great evening.

Spencer went on a work trip to New York for a few days in June and I tagged along! I haven't walked around the city since high school and it was so fun! I really wanted to see the World Trade Center memorial. It was powerful and emotional to have all those feelings flooding back and remembering the great loss that happened that day.

The subway system in NYC is cheap, fast and convenient so I rode it a few times but mostly I wanted to walk. You only have to go a few blocks between all the different sites. Plus, I was stopping quite often for delicious food so burning calories was necessary.

 We went to the Alameda County Fair this year to pet some animals, watch the horse races and eat fair food.

 Quinn turned 8 this year and her big party celebration was her baptism! She was excited to turn 8 and now everyone in our family has been baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.

 Everyone requests angel food cake with whipped cream and strawberries for their birthday dessert.

 The little cub scouts went to a police shooting range and the had some activities afterward.

 Emery and Campbell got to be junior helpers again this year and quinn is in her own group too.

 Crown Beach

 The kids love jumping off the "cliff" into the water below. It's about 3 feet tall.

 emery's in on the cape action too. I took a few videos that I hope to use in her future wedding video.

 My friend and I were in charge of the science classes during scout camp. All 4 groups had different science requirements for their badges so that made for A LOT of different experiments. 8 classes and 18 projects/experiments. The girl group (who are all sisters of the cub scouters) got to do the most fun projects since they had no requirements. Quinny and her friend are doing the colored vinegar and baking soda volcanoes.

 Griffin and his buddy writing with bleach. I was terrified we were going to do permanent damage to the church building with about 50% of our projects. We only ended up with 1 dyed vinegar spill. We did have to clean the tables with bleach to get all the stains out of those.

I think it was worth it and everything is more fun when you're doing it with a friend so we had a lot of laughs while teaching these kids.