Time with the Christensen kids

We're devastated that our best friends are moving to Seattle, but we were glad to be able to spend the last few days watching them while Emily house hunted. The kids caught wild animals (a toad and lots of bugs), tie dyed and played outside a ton we will sure miss these guys.

Baby cave!

Nearly every time we put Fiona down on the living room floor, she makes her way under this chair. She can't crawl yet, but she's a pro at crawling.

Sitting!

Look who can sit all by herself!

Burke Lake Park

Today we went to Burke Lake Park to play with some food friends we haven't seen in awhile. The kids had a great time playing on the playground and riding the carousel and the "choo-choo."  My how things have changed since the last time I blogged about going to Burke Lake Park.

Bowling night!

Tonight for family home evening, we went bowling. It was Isla's first time bowling and she loved it so much.

Pioneer Day

For Pioneer Day, I thought it would be fun to give my kids a Utah meal. We ate Navajo tacos, green jello salad and BYU brownies for dessert. Over dinner, we talked about pioneers and our ancestors. Best lines from dinner:

Donovan: "Who are my aunt's sisters?" (ancestors)

Donovan, who has never seen nor eaten green jello salad. He looked at it and said it looked gross and he didn't want any. Avery, after hearing this said "Donovan, that is so rude! You are insulting mom AND Utah!"

Lollipop meet!

Donovan has been working so hard on his swimming this year. He gas been on the Little Vikings team, which is the developmental part of our neighborhood swim team. He started the year not really knowing how to swim much at all. Each week, at the swim meets, the Little Vikings would have a "race" across the deep end (about 12 meters). He started out with a coach swimming with him, but by the end, he could do it all by himself. On Thursday this week, he participated in the "Lollipop Meet," which is a mini swim meet with 3 other teams. He did fantastic. He swam 25 meters all by himself, no coach even in the pool with him. He swam the 25 meter freestyle and also the noodle relay. I was so proud of him, and he was proud of himself! The Little Vikings were so adorable, and stood along the fence and cheered for their teammates nonstop throughout the entire race, which was nearly 3 hours long!

Our cold summer day

After a hot, hot few weeks, we were so glad to get a break today. High of 69, cloudy and drizzly, I felt like I was in Oregon. It was a good day though. Avery had her last swim meet this morning and did a great job. This afternoon, we went to watch the youth conference dance festival. There were about 1300 LDS kids from the Northern Virginia dancing in the festival and the kids did such a great job. On the way home, we stopped and ate at Pei Wei, which we love. It was a great day!

6 Months Old!

Our little Fiona (or Fee-Fona, as Isla calls her) turned 6 months old today. I can hardly believe it has been 6 months, but at the same time, we feel like she has always been with us. She is such a joy to have in our home and is such a happy, easy going girl. We love her red hair and her big smiles. We celebrated Fiona's "birthday" by having a 2 night (and hopefully no more) family slumber party in the basement because of a power outage and 100 degree temperatures.

Does this cellulite make me look fat?

First Swim Meet

Tonight was avery and Donovan's first swim meet of the season. Donovan swam with he little kids at the beginning. Thy swam across the deep end and he did great! Avery got to swim in 2 events. She got to pick her events and she picked freestyle and butterfly, which are the first and last events of the night, so we had to be there the whole night, which was a bit painful because Scott is out of town. She did great though, an shaved over 9 seconds off her freestyle time. I'm not sure of her butterfly time, because it seems she was disqualified for accidentally touching the bottom of the pool.

5k

Avery and I participated in our first 5k this spring. We did not have a fast time (at all!), but it was super fun. I'm really proud of Avery for doing this at age 9!

Swim team

We love having out neighborhood pool 2 blocks from our house. We love our new neighborhood, and most of the neighbors also go to the pool. There are neighborhood pool parties most weekends, and our kids have joined the swim team. It is our first experience with swim team. Avery is on the actual team and will swim in meets every week, and Donovan is on the developmental team, the Little Vikings, and they have one meet at the end of the season. Avery has swam an hour everyday since Memorial Day and it has been amazing to see her improve every week.

Dance recital!

Avery was in her 5th dance recital today. She danced to "You Can't Stop the Beat" from "Hairspray" and "Nadia's Theme.". Both were so cute, but I especially loved her tap dance. She is in a class with her dear friend Emma, and also a friend named Mattie, who she has danced with since age 4.

Donovan gets a summer haircut

Before and after

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