250th Birthday of the USA

We made it back from the Pacific Northwest in time for 4th of July weekend.

Friday the 3rd of July, I watched hot air balloons even driving to a nearby park to see them closer and to get juggling videos and pictures. 

Jet, Nichole, and I went to do a story trail at the new Delta Gateway Park. "How the Beaver Got His Tail" is one we read back in 2023.

Then we went to the library (libraries?) and picked up some Summer Reading prizes. 

Jet earned a trilobite fossil.

 

That day was Chocolate Wafer Day. Jr. Jr. told me, "We're having them after scripture study to remind us to never wafer in our faith."

Have I mentioned I love that kid?

The kids watched Pooh's Heffalump Movie to celebrate Drop a Rock Day and Eat Beans Day because rocks drop on the trap to catch the heffalump and Pooh ate jelly beans. 

 

Saturday, the 4th of July, was the 250th birthday of the USA and our celebration of it was kind of chill.

We were still recovering from vacation so there were some naps going on.

I did look at the hot air balloons from our front lawn first thing in the morning.

We played with bubbles and shadow puppets while waiting for a jet flyover. 

We watched jets with Jet like we did in 2020.

Then it was time for sidewalk chalk before going in and relaxing.

It was Play Outside Day. 

I did have a drink with a red, white, and blue straw.

For dinner we had hot dogs and salad with Caesar dressing because it was Caesar Salad Day.

For dessert we had red, white, and blue ice cream.

The funny thing is a different day we needed to get ice cream for Nichole's birthday and ice cream was on sale so one of the types of ice cream we got was red, white, and blue ice cream. It was so good.

On Independence Day we heard no fireworks, no sirens, and no dogs barking. This year there was a fireworks ban because of too many fires.

We were planning on more activities, but I'm okay that it was kind of laid back.

 

Sunday, the 5th of July, the kids and I went out for an evening drive and saw the giant flag flying in Grove Creek Canyon. They used a different flag this year. This year it was a Betsy Ross flag, which you can't really tell in the pictures Nichole took as I was driving. Oh well.

Summer Reading Update

We've been doing some Summer Reading activities so I'll mention a few of them.

I did another Story Trail, this time by myself. I've been so busy I haven't gotten out for my morning walks so I made myself on this day. This one was "The Husband of the Rat's Daughter," at Lions Park. A few of us read this one back in 2021. 

Jet and I watched a video about dinosaurs of the Cretaceous Period. 

He and I also did sun art prints, where we took leaves and taped them to construction paper then left them out in the sun for a few hours. Since we started later in the afternoon, we had to move the paper as the sun moved.

When we took the tape and leaves off (and rocks so they wouldn't blow away), our prints looked like this.

Jet's is the darker paper. Mine is the lighter paper. 

 

I also did some quick trips to the libraries to drop off and pick up things.

I got my completion prize for Provo Library because I read enough minutes (and listened- go, audiobooks). 

A 25th anniversary water bottle!

 

At Orem Library I saw that the triceratops skeleton was still up. 

It has shrunk quite a bit but is still mostly intact so the stands are being pulled toward the middle now. Look at my tail. Ha Ha. 

 Ah, Summer Reading is great.

Another Palindrome Day

6-2-26 was another palindrome day. I wrote the date on bags I was filling with rotisserie chicken Nichole divided up. Thanks, Nichole. 6-2-26 was National Rotisserie Chicken Day.

It was also the anniversary of when Babe Ruth retired. We talked about Ruth in the Bible for scripture study.

 

6-3-26 was not a palindrome day. It was Repeat Day. I asked Jeremy, "Pete and Repeat were in a boat. Pete fell out. Who was left?" He did not have a satisfying answer. 

I wore the same shirt as the day before. I did have to go back and do some things over that day. Sigh.

The day before I took Nichole and Jet to the Provo Library for some library activities. On Repeat Day, I took Jeremy to the library to do a story trail with me. "Crocodile's Treason." The kids and I read that one on a story trail back in 2022.

Lots of Summer Reading activities going on.

Summer Reading part 1

For the past couple of months we have done a lot of Summer reading and related activities. 

Woohoo! Summer Reading! You know we love it. 

The theme for both Provo and Orem libraries was "Colour Our World." Here are some things we did in no particular order:

 

Story Trails 

Provo Library had a Story Trail along the outside of the library. 

"How the Brazilian Beetles Got Their Gorgeous Coats"

We went to that one on National Trails Day, June 7. It was also Play Outside Day. Both worked to celebrate.

 

Lion's Park

"The Nightingale"

Jr., Nichole, and I found the end of the story first so I walked backward until we reached the beginning of the story. Luckily it was a well known story so there were no surprises reading it back to front. I went another day on a walk there to read it front to back. You know I like going for walks.

 

Lakeview Park

"How the Kangaroo Got Her Pouch" 

We had to dodge sprinklers for our "title page" picture.

 

Kiwanis Park 

"Dotson' Sa, Great Raven, Makes the World" 

Jeremy and Nichole got to read this one while I watched Jet on a playground. I had to come back another day so I could finish it.

 

Quail Orchard Park

"How the Finch Got Her Colors" 

As we were reading this one we were trying to figure out how the finch could be considered really colorful. We're used to house finches, goldfinches. They have colors but not lots of colors like the story was describing. Happily, the story explained that it was a Gouldian finch and we were content. We'd never heard of that finch before. We have now. Look it up. It is a very colorful bird. 

 

Crafts

Jet and I had some fun doing crafts from the Provo Library.

Pumpkin Friend

Wooden Spoon Butterfly  

 

Some of the kids and I made bookmarks. 

 

We spent plenty of time in the libraries. Besides sitting down to read, there are so many different activities and programs at the library. 

I'll talk about more Summer Reading later.