June Celebrations (June 2022)

 

June kicks off all of our many summer birthdays.  But first up - Father's Day.  The girls each made their Dad a card at young women's and made him a lot of yummy food.

I was unable to get pictures of Kate on her actual birthday because she was at her first FSY (which she loved!) that week.  Luckily, Lise had it covered with a couple of pics on Instagram.  Happy birthday, Kater! 15 years old!

Next up was Lise turning 18!!!  So crazy.  Now I have two adult daughters.  I also can't believe she's about to head off to college.  Time goes too fast.

Once Kate came back we had some presents waiting for her (yes, she asked for the "Let's Go Fishin Game) and went out for Froyo as a family to celebrate birthdays. YUM!

Florida Summer Fun (and a little work) (June 2022)

One of the things Chris and I love about living at MacDill Air Force Base is taking walks on the path along the bay.  The clouds are beautiful and it's a great after-dinner activity.  

Stacy was still progressing with her schoolwork - writing papers, taking tests, and making PowerPoint presentations.  Self-paced is a great fit for someone still trying to also be a stay-at-home mom, but it also means that there are no built-in breaks and the work never stops.  Luckily Stacy had a fabulous view of Tampa Bay (below) to look at while doing her homework.  At the same time, Stacy wanted her girls to still have a good summer, so she set aside one day a week to go do something fun with the girls and friends from the ward ...

... it might be getting Kylie's haircut and a trip to Walmart (and maybe a Chick-fil-A shake!) ...

... a trip to the beach ...

... inviting friends over for a 4th of July movie (Sandlot, of course!) ...

... making homemade ice cream cones and tye-dye shirts ...

... or going kayaking down a natural spring river.

We had heard about the Weeki Wachi Springs and the adjacent water park and decided to try it out.  It did not disappoint!  The water was a beautiful emerald green and nice and refreshing in the humid Florida heat.

After our kayak run, we headed next door to the water park (basically where the spring forms a pool and a couple of waterslides.)  The water is the same temperature year-round, but it felt really refreshing.  Definitely a good find.

Girls Camp Double Feature (June 2022)

So, the girls were starting to make friends in Tampa, but they still missed their old friends and had asked me if they could attend Girls Camp with their Niceville peeps.  I told them that as long as it didn't conflict with our Tampa ward's girls camp then I would see what I could do.  Lucky for them, the stars aligned - Niceville's Girls' Camp was the week after school got out, and Tampa's was the week following.  This meant a lot of driving for me.  I had driven Lise up the week before to have her last hurrah with friends during Niceville's graduation, drove up Kate and Kylie to go to Girls' Camp, picked up Lise and drove her back down to Tampa, then picked up Kate and Kylie that Friday and drove back down to Tampa again.  Phew!  The sacrifices we make for our kids.  But it was worth it to see the smiles on their faces.  

The way the timing of everything worked out, the girls got to spend Memorial Day with their friends before heading to camp the next day.  You know what that means?  Party at Turkey Creek!

And they're off!  There were campfires, crafts, spiritual stuff, classes, lip-syncs, goofy games, and of course, more water fun - all the good stuff.

The girls had a blast - I could tell by their excitement and all the fun stories they had to tell when I picked them up.   Luckily they had a 5 hour drive home to catch up on their sleep because when we got home we had to unpack, do laundry, repack, and get ready for the next adventure - Tampa Girls Camp!

As a stake (and ward) young women's leader, I was able to attend the Tampa camp with my girls.  Lise, Kate, and Kylie were all at this one.  Lise was a YCL and Kylie was a 1st year greenie.  We were in air-conditioned (hallelujah!) bunk houses.

Lise took it upon herself to teach all the Tampa peeps the Mormon Boy Rap to add to their girls' camp song repertoire.  It was a treat for everyone involved.

This camp had its own fla-va of fun and activities.  There were skits and devotionals, Zumba classes and karate lessons, zip lines, free time at the lake, spiritual classes, service projects, crafts, snow cones, and Book of Mormon cupcake wars.

I love getting to go to camp with my girls (and the other leaders), getting to watch them bond with the other young women, and seeing their testimonies grow.  Two back-to-back girls' camps were a great way to kick off the summer.