Sea Creatures & Ice Cold Ocean

We went to the beach early, since the sun was out. It ended up being very nice ... and hardly any wind. The tide was way out (-1.0 ft), leaving lots of tide pools and stranded sea creatures. The kids spent most of their time catching them and putting them in a bucket. They caught a crab, a clam, and dozens of sand shrimp.

The kids tried the ocean, but it was just too cold. Jillian still did some body surfing, though.

Bridget and Tor spent at least a half hour digging out their sand fort. They worked hard!

Quick Beach Get-away

It's a short trip to the beach this time - just 2 days until Mommy has to work. So, as soon as we arrived, we ate lunch and headed to the beach. We didn't stay too long, though ... it was super windy. Tucked behind the car, the kids dug out their own pits (Daddy's back was hurting) and then set up an economy with shells as currency.

On the way back, the kids got the usual ice cream at Adelaide's.

Right away, we took off on a bike trip to the park for a basketball game.

The kids showed off their skills that they worked on at cousin Brock's basketball camp.

Then, it was time for a football game, with Daddy as all-time quarterback ... everyone had trouble catching his perfectly thrown balls.

Back at the cabin, the kids went to making their gourmet sand creations before having hot dogs and s'mores, and watching Jumanji: The Next Level.

Toutle River-Basketball Camp

On Tuesday when it was 90 degrees, they all wanted to go to the Toutle River. We went to Harry Morgan Park where Aunt takes the twins. The water was very cold and they were pretty hesitant at first until we saw a dad who walked clear across the river with his young child and the water never got above the child's waist, so then they felt pretty confident. Next time we will need to take inner tubes to float down the shallow rapids. 

 Since there aren't any summer camps I had Brock set one up for them. He had drills for an hour with only a short drink break. They listened very well and learned a lot. Tuesday was so hot they were pretty red faced at the end. Wednesday was more comfortable so they worked on advancing their skills even farther. Here is a correct shooting drill.

 Then it was on to foul shots, again with correct form.

 Tor is using his form here but it's a long way to the hoop for him. Brock then gave them an assignment to practice before their camp next week. Brock did a great job!

Ty and Deb Wedding, Father's Day

On Friday we had the family members who couldn't go to Sacramento for Ty and Deb's wedding come to watch it outdoors on the deck. I did not get Lynne in the picture as she was the tech person on the computer helping us keep the show going. It was a nice wedding and everyone cheered when they pronounced Ty and Deb married. It was a perfect day to enjoy pizza and dessert outside.

 Father's Day: Before dinner I guess it's now a tradition to have a tournament of some kind. I picked Ladderball as it was new to us but I guess popular elsewhere. The kids caught on quickly.

 Tor had one set of partners who lost so he switched to Dan and Robin who were doing well and went to the Championships with them.

 Next Rick opened his surprises the kids had made, which were really creative. Jillian made a picture with a big "D" and a picture of Dad, Tor make a Yoda card, and Jillian made a picture frame with rocks around it imprinted with "Dad Rocks!"

 Papa was excited to have all the kids helping him celebrate.

Last Day of School Parade

For the last day of school, the teachers had a drive-by parade set up. The kids made signs, and waved at their teachers as we drove by.

Jillian had lots of teachers to wave at. Later, she watched the virtual 6th grade awards ceremony, and won awards for math and work completion (and narrowly missed winning the PE award).

Tor saw Mr. Wells, and received yet another gift card (Dairy Queen) for completing all his work.

Bridget received a gift bag from Mrs. Wilson, including a water bottle with her name on it.

Boat Contest

Bridget decided to design a boat for the pond made out of popsicle sticks. Soon Brock, Tor, and Jillian were on board designing their own boats but with a twist. They were going to see which one would survive going over the waterfall at the pond. Bridget was the only one doing popsicle sticks and the others used foam and whatever. Tor and Brock even had a passenger on their boat. Jillian named her boat Ship Sally.

 Before the waterfall they decided to see if their boat would even float. They did all float.

 Here is the excitement as Bridget was the first to try the waterfall. She was sad as her boat split in two pieces.

 Tor was watching carefully as his went over. His boat flipped over and he lost his passenger but came through relatively unscathed. Ship Sally ended up in many pieces. A good try!

School Projects

As remote school has gotten close to the end, Bridget and Tor have been assigned some projects, which are always popular.

Here's Bridget's longhouse, as part of her months-long study of Native Americans in social studies.

And here's Tor's diorama of a sloth's habitat, as part of his study of animals in science.