Sleepy Hot Fudge Sundaes

July 25 was National Hot Fudge Sundae Day. We were too busy to celebrate so we celebrated it observed the Monday afterward for Family Home Evening Treat. 

 

That night we also had a lesson about Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and we got out LEGOs to build our own walls. Jet insisted on doing it himself. He was so proud of what he built. 

Earlier that day, July 27, we celebrated National Sleepyhead Day. I told the kids the last one up would get thrown in the lake because we don't have an ocean nearby. I thought for a moment Jet would be the last one but nope, he got up and got going before a couple of the others. I finally threatened (without any intention of actually squirting him) the last child with a squirt bottle. It's become tradition. 

A few of us actually squirted ourselves because it was refreshing in the heat. 

 

Pacific Northwest Trip 2026- Part 12

Tuesday morning we headed to the coast.

We stopped to see the sea lions at Cape Arago then headed to Shore Acres. 

Nichole got pictures of the sea lions. 

We had a lovely picnic in the mist and wind.

We spent some time in the botanical garden. 

Look at the teeny tiny leaves.

I got to take pictures of and with the monkey puzzle tree I grew up visiting when we would go to Shore Acres as children. 

My parents headed home so they could make dinner. The rest of us headed down to Simpson Beach. Because of the weather, we thought we might not even dip our toes in the cold Pacific Ocean, even though it's tradition. By the time we got down to the beach, though, the weather was beautiful and we spent more than a little time with our feet in the water. 

 

Beach! 

 

Make me a mermaid! 

Sand Angel! 

And of course we got juggling pictures and videos.

 

We had an absolute blast. I love the ocean. I love the Oregon Coast. 

Pacific Northwest Trip 2026- part 9

For our Utah County Birders newsletter, I wrote a "Bird of the Month" article about the Green Heron. I wrote it while we were in Oregon and spent so much time trying to find photos on our external hard drive that would work.

Since we were in Oregon, Nichole and I decided to go out and see if we could find a Green Heron to photograph since we always see a Green Heron or several when we go to the nature park near where my parents live.

The forecast was for rain and we had plenty during the night. My dad sent us out with a couple umbrellas that stayed in our bags. We didn't get a lot of new rain while we were out but got great pictures of nature after a storm.

If you look very carefully you can see a spider web with rain drops on it. 

 

Unfortunately we didn't see any Green Herons but we did see something I didn't expect- a spotted sandpiper in a wooded area. 

Nichole's picture of the spotted sandpiper

 

I had to send my article in with a good picture of a juvenile Green Heron Nichole took years ago and a not so good picture I (or Jeremy) took of an adult Green Heron years ago. Sigh.

 

I was able to console myself with brownies (even though June 26 was Chocolate Pudding Day. It's still chocolate, right? I'm not going to complain) and playing another game with Todd that night. 

The next day, Nichole and I went to the nature park again and this time we didn't bother with umbrellas.

Guess what. There was a light rain while we were there. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. Enough that we didn't stay out long after seeing... a Green Heron. This one was closer to adulthood (more the coloring I wanted) so when we got back I asked if we could use the picture Nichole got that morning instead of the not so great one we had sent in previously for the newsletter. No problem. Yay.  

That day, June 27, was National Sunglasses Day, which we did not wear. One, it wasn't bright enough. Two, they would have gotten wet. 

That evening, instead of playing a game, we introduced my mom and my brother to Seeking Persephone. I needed to watch it in June and introduce someone new. This monthly tradition has been going since December. 

I still love that movie. 

I was wearing my Gentlemen's Gamble shirt earlier that day. "That's a romance shirt." I needed to do laundry, though, so I changed to a different "romance" shirt: my Jurassic Park shirt. C'mon, it's my date shirt.

Pacific Northwest Trip 2026- part 6

June 23 was National Hydration Day. I reminded everyone to say hydrated.

It was also Detroit Style Pizza Day. We had regular pizza.

It was National Pink Day. We had pink jello salad.

 

The kids were put to work in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard that day. They picked up fir cones, lots of fir cones, so many fir cones.

Lucky and Jr. Jr. became so competitive that at the end after everyone else was done, they had to get just a few more picked up so they ended up with the same amount and many more than the rest of the kids. Silly boys. 

That day we also stuck with tradition and had root beer floats at Grandma and Grandpa's house. 

Usually that's Jeremy's thing. He always has a big root beer float (sometimes multiple depending on how many days he's there) when he visits but since he wasn't able to go this time, Grandpa made sure to tell him to have one in Utah. So he did.