The rest of June

I've been too tired at night to write but we are having a fun and busy June.  Lots of baseball, a dance recital, gardens in bloom and work have been filling up our time. We've had a roller coaster of weather too - super hot days at baseball and then at the end of the week we are wearing sweatshirts and closing the windows at night. So here's the rest of our month in pictures.  

Baseball!  Will's team has had games a few nights a week with a few weekend tournaments.  The season ends on July 18 so we have some hectic schedules coming up but boy do we love watching this kid play.

Dance recital time!  I have enough pictures for a whole post but here's a picture of our girl in her ballet costume.  She also danced modern and hip-hop this year and more pictures of that coming soon!

Cousin time ! We had a summer kick-off bbq at Fry Farm with the cousins and Hansen grandparents.  Baby cousin doesn't want to snuggle like he used to but he's still pretty darn cute.  

It wouldn't be a summer picture without hail in the backyard.  We had a heckuva storm a few Fridays ago.  The good news is that our hail tent did it's job even though it collapsed in the middle.  Surprisingly, the fabric held and even with the center collapsed, the plants underneath survived.  The flowers and veggies that weren't protected took a beating but, as always, it could have been worse.  We also need a new roof and paint on the house.  Yah for insurance?!

Pauley men!!  Will is about two inches taller than me and as you can see, is creeping up on Will.  They wear the same size shoe now and I wear Will's shoes when I go out into the backyard and don't want to get mine dirty.  Shhh, don't tell him.  

First jam of 2021!  The weather was delightfully cool enough this weekend that I fired up the stove and made some strawberry jam.  Supplies are much easier to find this summer compared to last year so I hope to have a bunch of batches in the cupboard soon.  

Hail from the earlier picture.  Some of those pieces were annoyingly gigantic. 

Will headed off to football camp with the high school team (gasp).  Will traveled to Nebraska with his teammates for a few days.  He had a great time and informed me that he's practically ready for college now because he's stayed in the dorms and gone to practice without us there.  He might be ready but I am most certainly not.  

Charlie and his very favorite bunny slipper chew toy.  It's hard to be a tough guy when you really love chewing on a squeaky fake slipper.  

Reina's Track Meet

A few weeks ago, Reina participated in her last elementary school track meet.  It was the first one that I got to see because I missed 4th grade's event because I was traveling for work and last year it was canceled when school shut down.  But this year, the sun was shining and our girl was at a track meet!  Reina ran the hurdles, did the high jump and was part of the shuttle relay team.  Reina was pretty nervous the night before (she gets that from me!) but she was so much fun to watch.  

Getting ready to hurdle while wearing a mask!  

Post hurdle chit-chat and if you look closely you can see a smile.  

Deep breath before the high jump 

Planning the strategy for the relay.  Just run as fast as you can!  

Reina was disappointed that she missed out on the ribbons but we were so proud of her for getting out of her comfort zone and competing.  That kid is fast when she turns on the heat.  I'm still holding out hope that she'll become my running partner one of these days...even though she's probably too fast for me already.  

8th Grade Promotion

Yesterday was the last day of school (more pictures of that later!) which almost meant the last day of junior high/middle school for Will and the last day of elementary school for Reina.  Yikes!  More lamenting from me later but here are a bunch of pictures of Will dressed up for the 8th grade promotion. 

Handsome boy.  I ironed three different shirts yesterday afternoon until he landed on a combination that worked.  

Will rode to the dance in a giant limo with 13 other 8th grade boys.  I don't think we paid the limo driver enough to put up with this crew.  

Most of the parents met beforehand so that we could take some pictures of their big night.  They cooperated about as well as you can imagine. 

Let's climb the windmill!  No 8th graders were harmed in the taking of this photo.  Will is on the ground to the left. 

Will and Payson have been friends since kindergarten and it's fun to see them head off to high school together.