"And I Say Hey —What's Goin' On?"

Summer is cruising along at full speed, so I thought a quick post full of photos and updates from the past month or so was in order.


First, let's start with the park. Our little neighborhood is filled with parks of all shapes and sizes. Shayla and the kids had been to this one before, a short ten minute drive from our house. This time they were nice enough to bring me along with them. We started out on the tire swing, made our way over to the rest of the playground toys, and then went off on a little walk that led us to...

a tunnel! Max and I made our way through this long, dark tunnel, underneath the road and over to a storm drain where we looked up at the creatures above the ground, aka, Shayla and Isla.


When he's not busy cruising the tunnels of the underworld, Max can be found at swimming lessons! This is a little boy who loves water, but hates, HATES getting his face wet. We signed him up for swimming lessons, hoping to help get him over his fear, and while he still doesn't like it, he is a little proud of himself for learning how to "go underwater". A feat he accomplishes by tipping his head back as far as he can, letting the water cover the top of his head, but being careful to not let it get his eyes.

He did however, learn how to successfully jump off the diving board. A huge accomplishment for a boy who routinely lets his little sister show him up when she fearlessly jumps off the edge of the pool and into the arms of her mom or dad, leaving Max standing cold on the side of the pool.


Congratulations Max! Welcome to the wonderful world of jumping into water!

That's not the only accomplishment Max has achieved this summer, he has also become an award winning cake decorator! This kid has talent. We are already working on a new TV deal with the Food Network. Yeah, he's that good!

From picking out his own box of confetti cake mix (nothin' but the good stuff for this kid!) to eating the fondant that he's supposed to be putting on the cake instead, this little boy knows how to make a cake!

So just what is this amazing award he won? It was none other than the bright yellow second place ribbon at our ward's cake decorating and pie making contest party. Max was pretty proud of his little creation. So proud in fact, he ate two pieces all by himself (well, he ate the food coloring painted fondant, anyway)!

Max is not the only recently decorated cake baker in the family. Shayla also won for her fabulous hamburger cake creation. Her prize however, was none other than first place!


Fancy cakes, swimming lessons, and tunnel exploration is not all that we've been up to the past couple of months though. We have also been as busy as a bee, trying to catch all sorts of bugs and things. From fireflies to Luna Moths, giant flies to katydids. Max has loved seeing and catching all sorts of bugs.

Although not a photo of the Luna Moth that Max and Shayla caught (they didn't get a picture of theirs), this one shows just how large and distinct they are. Needless to say, Max was pretty excited about this one. We later learned (courtesy of Wikipedia, the ultimate authority on everything) that Luna Moths only live for seven days. They do not eat as adults, and their only purpose is to reproduce. Since they have such a short life, seeing one is actually quite rare!

The next bug to visit us was a chirping katydid. We kept this one in a little bug cage for a few days before letting it go. Max loved watching it crawl around and occasionally, the bright green bug would sing a little chirp or two.

Isla even got in on the bug catching fun by finding a little red ladybug. She loved watching it crawl around on her little hands, and would shake it off, pick it back up, and watch it crawl all over again.


And finally, we had a one night appearance from the mother of all flies! What's that you say? You didn't know all flies came from a single mother fly? Well, they do. And this mother fly made a stop at our house. Is this a sign of good luck? Or a warning that our house will soon become infested with baby fly larvae? I'll vote for the former.

We didn't catch this one, but I did snap a photo of it next to my index finger. Just so you all can get a good glimpse at the mother fly's enormous size.


You're welcome.


*Post title swiped from 4 Non Blondes
**Luna Moth photo swiped from Wikipedia