Monday, August 31, 2020

Wrapping Up the Summer!

 What a fun and interesting and crazy summer!  Between redoing our kitchen and Covid-19, it was a summer like no other, for SURE, but we truly did have a great summer full of great family times and good memories.  As we wrapped up our summer, we enjoyed our last weekends in August at both the Kirkwood cabin and the Tommerdahl trailer.  Here are a few pictures.....




Larkyn turned into an avid reader like her big sibs this summer.  This girl loves to read and devours books.



Water skiing


Sewing on the dock

Geocaching on the island


Rock Towers - they are harder to build than they look!  But fun to try!





Driving the boat ;-)

So much fun and SO many giggles with games of trying to "stand" on this alligator!  Even Grandma tried!

One of the kids all time favorites was having Grandpa "try" to tip them off of this raft and trying to hang on!

Tubing

Acorns make fantastic popping noises when tossed into a campfire, and collecting and tossing acorns into the fire created hours of enjoyment for the kids (and maybe the adults too!)

As we exit summer and head toward fall, I am grateful for all the memories we made this summer and the quality time we were able to have with family.



Happy 10th Birthday Summer!

Summer turned 10 on August 3rd, but her birthday honestly lasted all month!  We celebrated together as a family on her actual birthday, she had a "social distance" theme friend party, she celebrated at the cabin with the Kirkwood side, at the trailer with the Tommerdahl side, and she had birthday "dates" to go shopping to pick out room decor and paint her room!  Here are some pictures to document her birthday month :-).


August 3rd


Breakfast in Bed


She got the sweetest videos from family wishing her a happy birthday....this video from Grandma and Grandpa T and Owen definitely wins creativity points!

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So fun to have cousins!  This video was from Teddy and Charlie!

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Summer's first choice activity (given Covid Restrictions) was going to the zoo with Taylor, Jordan's girlfriend who used to work at the zoo!  It was so fun to see her and hear her insights!


Summer's favorite animal - Ringtailed Lemur.



Birthday meal choice: Daddy's smoked pork, "everything" bread, and berries!




We celebrated in our loft this year as our kitchen remodel lasted into September!  Larkyn and Colton made a special banner for Summer:-)


Larkyn chose a fun planner to give to Summer.


Colton picked out a super cute doll school set.

She also opened a rock and gem identification book,

sewing box, 

and a book making/publishing set.


We were dogsitting Grandma and Grandpa's two dogs and Summer was in heaven with a dog and a book :-).

Social Distance Theme Friend Party

About a week after her birthday, Summer planned a social distance theme birthday party.  If social distancing was indeed the only way to make a party happen, she embraced it and made it the theme and made it fun!  We all have crazy memories of this party, as the exact two hours of the party it literally POURED rain, including both thunder and lightning.  We got creative and pulled our emergency plan of stringing a tarp up over our patio....however the volume of water coming down constantly filled the pockets in the tarp and needed to be "emptied" by bumping a broom handle into the pockets that collected water, which resulted in large splashes and girl screams!  It was indeed memorable!  However, the girls were so excited to see each other in person for the first time in months, and they all were fantastic sports and had a great time.  Summer exclaimed that it was "the best ever!!!!" after the party, so I would say it was a success despite the challenges!

Summer created her own invitations, and mailed them all by herself!


She created a little bag for each girl so they would have all they needed for all the games and activities in one bag waiting for them on their own table.

We created mini tables for the girls using tv tables with table cloths for the tables and stumps for the chairs :-).  The wood on the middle table was to hold up the rain tarp!    The first activity was madlibs, and then the girls decorated masks.


The played charades....

and pictionary on a giant whiteboard....

We did McDonalds happy meals for lunch.

We made cupcake decorating tins for each girl with different kinds of sprinkles and frosting.



After the girls decorated their cupcakes, we sang to Summer and she got to blow out a candle on her cupcake.

While the rain didn't stop, we were grateful that the lightning did, so we could do our photo scavenger hunt!  Grandma took one group of girls and I took the other, to try to find the things on their lists.











Cabin Celebration

Grandma told Summer she could pick any meal, and she picked "crazy noodes", where you mix all sorts of different kinds of pasta together!  

Grandma and Summer spent a long time online picking out this new bedding for Summer!  They had some special decorating times together, which also included a shopping trip to a decorating store to pick out aqua things for her new room!




Teddy made a sweet card for Summer :-).

One of her favorite gifts was an aqua picture frame, in which she immediately put a picture of her and Uncle Jordan. She has lovingly displayed on her new nightstand.

Trailer Celebration

Summer was so excited that everyone decorated for her birthday!


Grandma and Grandpa found great aqua accessories to go with Summer's new room!

Summer really wanted a real live plant and was SO excited about this succulent that Grandma grew and gave to her in a beautiful aqua pot!



Thank you Gee Gee Sandy for the beautiful music box!


Room Makeover

Summer spent much of the summer planning how she wanted to redo her room.  It was and is really fun to see her preferences and style take shape!  She did an amazing job planning it all and it turned out so cute!  Huge shout out to the grandparents who spent hours with her planning, dreaming, looking online, shopping, painting, and more, not to mention all their birthday presents that made her room come together!  What a fun 10-year old birthday gift idea - a room makeover - and it wouldn't have happened without her amazing family all pitching in.  SO BLESSED! 

Project list included.....
Painting her desk, 

Looking cute in a shower cap so she didn't get paint in her hair....;)

Sanding her old off white bed in order to repaint as pure white, 

and then painting said bed with stark white paint,
Painting crates to use as shelves (Summer got this idea from a decorating book)

Making smoked meat for the hungry workers....

Painting the ceiling and the trim....

and painting all the walls and the dresser....


Ironing fabric to recover the bulletin board and ironing the valances

recovering the bulletin board

THANK YOU to our amazing grandparents - Summer had such a special birthday filled with fun memories and quality time - and has such a gorgeous 10-year old room!

Its looking soooo good!




We're still getting the final things hung on the walls but the main transformation is done:-).

Summer, we love you!  We are so glad you felt special on your 10 year old birthday, and we are so blessed to have you in our lives.   You love Christ with all your heart and it shows.  And you truly love and care about others.  We are so proud of you!  Happy 10th, kiddo!