Summer with 5, Everybody Still Alive.

There are a million things to catch up on.  I cannot believe I let three months go by without posting anything at all but there is a reason.  My stupid iphone won't connect to my computer and therefore all of my pictures are stuck on my phone.  They should be uploading to the icloud but they are not.  I do not believe in the cloud.  I think it is mythological.  I usually trust technology but I don't trust the cloud.

So here's what's happened.
Our summer of wonders was a grand success.  We did 6 weeks of camps TWTh 10-1 with up to 30 or more kids.  We had a great nanny who minded the babies while the big kids and I did the activities.  One of the highlights was Football Camp because one of the dads came and instructed.  Soccer camp was also really fun with a pro soccer player.  I know cool people.   Oh!  And the gymnastics part was great because one of the parents built a balance beam and brought over a bunch of mats.  In short, we had a lot of fun and support.  I hope I'll be able to do it again next year!

During the summer Mimi, Jude and Silas got to go to Grandma Pam Camp for a week.  Pam invited first the little girl cousins and then the little boy cousins to stay with she and Grandpa.  In the morning she sponsored their going to Art Camp and Medieval Camp through the city.  In the afternoon they had etiquette and manners classes taught by Grandma.  They learned how to speak to adults, how to write thank you notes, how to set a table, etc.  She was very thorough and they loved it.  Afterward they would swim for hours.  I'm so fortunate to have a mother who is willing to conduct such an enterprise.
In the middle of the summer we drove out to California for our annual extended stay.  Hush drives us there and back and we are very grateful to him for driving all that way and then flying back and going to work the next day.  He did stay for the 4th of July this time, however.  Can't miss the family baseball game!
While there Grandpa and I drove all of my kids down to Disneyland!  We rented a van and met Phil and fam there.  Jim has been having knee problems so he had to get a Lark.  We used Ridemax AND the handicap access and went on every ride.  The following day we went to California Adventure.  I'm not a big fan of that place because it's a ton of walking and few rides, but Phil and I rode the rad rollercoaster.  It was fun hanging out with Phil and Aub and kids.  We haven't spent much time together in the last few years and we get along well.  Val took Philo for part of the time so my load was somewhat lightened.  We then went to Santa Monica for a couple of days and stayed in a lovely Air BnB place in Culver.  It was a grandly successful trip and we loved every minute.  Nobody barfed.  Oh, wait, Jude barfed once.
The rest of the summer was spent in SLC doing camps, going to pools, and laying around sufficient to provoke the children into begging to start school again.
I was really worried that the children would eat me alive this summer.  Summer with five is hard, especially when you don't have any kids old enough to stay home by themselves.  We used an electronics reward chart that helped somewhat.  I planned our days in advance and locked down the kitchen outside of meal times.