Summer has Begun for the Tempe Thwaits

Last Thursday was Shule's last day of elementary school. In the fall he starts sixth grade at Kyrene Middle School (KMS). To celebrate, the fifth graders had a big party with all kinds of fun activities, including giant bubble making (which Shule really enjoyed), getting soaked by the fire department's hose, and getting to see Jon's juggling/unicycle performance. Unfortunately, I had to stay home with the girls so we don't have any pictures of Jon's performance but I heard it was fantastic and the boys were very proud to be his children (he went and did a little show for Shazer's class as well).

Later that night we continued to celebrate at the Organ Stop Pizza place in Mesa where we met up with the extended Thwaits gang: Grandma Linda and Grandpa Gill, Anne (who has since left for a summer internship at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.), Julie (visiting for a few weeks from Alaska), and Lorin & Brenda and their three kids. Sally couldn't remember the place from our last visit about a year ago and she was thrilled to see the big organ rise up from below the stage and see the lights and pipes as the lady played. Her favorite song was the happy birthday song which was played for those celebrating their birthdays. The boys enjoyed the Star Wars medley. We had a nice time visiting with Julie. Then on Saturday we were able to meet her new boyfriend, Brandon, when his plane arrived in Phoenix and we had them over for dinner (they've actually been dating for more than a year but Anne and Wolfgang were the only ones who'd met him before). We all got together again at Lorin's house for Memorial Day. Thanks to Lorin and Brenda for providing such yummy grub and the Xbox Lips game- a karaoke type competition that Jon and I enjoyed playing (actually I enjoyed it more because I won most of the rounds ;)

It's not officially summer until we go swimming. Last night when Jon came home from work (he just got a new job working for Global Media ) we all went swimming. It was the first time I'd been swimming since I was pregnant with Sophie and I haven't bought a new suit yet so I had to wear my maternity swimsuit, which I was feeling a little funny about, but quickly felt more at ease when Sally saw me and said "Momma, you're wearing your swimsoup! You look so beautiful!" I think she was just really excited that we were all going swimming but it was so sweet and made me feel much better. This morning I took the kids swimming again after Jon left for work. I like to take the kids just about everyday in the summertime but only go in the early morning or evening so we avoid the hottest sun and don't have to worry about sunscreen and/or burning. The water is still a little cold but it will get warmer in no time as we consistently hit three digit temperatures.

Sally is such a hoot! She loves to wear these goggles, even though she doesn't know how to hold her breath under water yet and isn't even trying to learn. She just thinks they're the necessary, stylish accessory to go with your "swimsoup".

I love this picture of Shule making a splash- you've got to click on the picture to appreciate how cool the water looks- sometimes our camera gives us nice surprises.

I accidentally cut Shule's head out of this pic- wasn't expecting him to get so much air-he's constantly surprising me with how big he's getting. I'm expecting him to go through another growth spurt soon. He slept in until 8:30 this morning for the first time in years after having gone to bed at his usual time of 9pm. He and Shazer eat non-stop. We were comparing Shazer's size 6 (in men's) feet with his cousin, Nicholas' smaller feet who is three years older than him. These boys are going to be huge someday.