Summer Soccer

It's been a crazy-busy summer already and just to add more chaos, summer soccer leagues have started. Zaric has been begging us for months to play soccer again so I finally gave in and signed him up. And to our surprise, Faith asked to play too. We had our first practice for Zaric and the first games for both of them on Thursday night.

Faith got put on the Neon Ninjas team, and looks seriously adorable in soccer garb. 

Zaric got put on the Blue Flames, and is also seriously adorable. 

Both of the games this week were at the same time luckily the fields were right next to each other, so I spent a lot of time going back and forth trying to watch them both play. Zaric had a great game and scored the first goal of the game then got to play goalie for a bit which he loved.  His team ended up winning 3-2. Way to go Flames!

Faith did really well in the warm ups and spent most of the time in the game just chasing the ball back and forth up and down the field with a giant smile on her face. It was so cute. I kept trying to tell her to get in there and actually try to kick the ball and take it away from the other team if they had it. But she was just happy to be out there. And for it being the first time she played ever and not having a practice before, I was pleased enough with that.  I think everyone lost track of the score and both teams scored goals in the other teams goals.  It's seriously hilarious to watch the 3-4 year olds play. The best part for me was that it didn't matter which team scored, Faith's or the other team, she would raise her hands and celebrate with a Yay! She's too funny.

It's made our lives even crazier and the summer doesn't seem to be letting up any time soon. But I'm glad we could squeeze this in there for at least a few weeks.

Take a Hike- For Father's Day

I hope all of you father's out there had a great Father's Day. I know we did.  We started off the morning with cards and gifts for Mike, a new Huskers camping chair and some personalized golf balls, and then we headed out early to meet up with my family for this year's Father's Day activity.  We decided to once again make grueling hike up to Timpanogos Cave since some of my family has been wanting to do it for a while now.  It was slow-going at times but I'm proud to say, we all made it to the top.

Once inside the cave, we listened and learned a thing or two from our tour guide Mark as we navigated through the 3-cave system.

After making the trek back down the mountain, we then drove to Silver Lake for a picnic and to dip our toes in the water.

 Then sadly, it was time for all of us to make our long journeys home. Once home, we relaxed some then grilled some burgers for dinner and Mike enjoyed the rest of his Father's Day requests, cheesecake!   Another great holiday come and gone in the Ouren household.

Mike's Chalk Art Festival Debut

Every year on Father's Day weekend, we go downtown and check out the chalk art festival at he Gateway mall. Every year this same weekend, we remark to each other how Mike should give it a try one of these times. I'm so very happy to say that this year he did give it a try and entered the festival for the first time along with a friend of ours who was (thankfully) willing to assist.

They started on Friday afternoon around 2. And he sent me some pics of the progress throughout the night until about 9:30 pm when they called it a night.

And I happened across this pic in a local newspaper showing him (or at least his hand) in action on the scene. (article here http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865631095/Utah-Foster-Care-holding-annual-chalk-art-fest.html) 

He was up early and back at it by about 7:30 am. The kids and I went down around 11 to cheer them on and check on their progress. This is what we got there to.

The kids played around while we visited with Laurel's husband and daughter who had come about the same time and while her in-laws came to check it out.

We made them take a break and we all had some lunch together before we sent them back out there to finish up.  It didn't take them long to lay down the finishing touches.

The chalk art festival is a charity event for the Utah Foster Care Foundation and the theme this year was "Families Foster _____"  So they went with a Family Game Night mural, and personally I think they nailed it.

I am so proud of these two. It's rather impressive for the first time at the festival and they received hundreds of compliments from passer-by's and people were snapping tons of pics of it as they passed as well.  Mike also reported many people stopped by to chat with them about it and ask questions and comment to them as well. Pretty great showing, I would say.

Little Tumbler

Faith has sure been missing dance class during the break and was so excited that it started back up this week. And not only that, but she also asked to start taking a tumbling class as well. She loved it!

We were a little worried about how well she'd do with both classes being back to back on the same night but with a little encouragement, she managed to power through this first time. Here's hoping that keeps up all summer long.

Ninja Brick Turtles Camp

An old friend of mine recently started a new Bricks for Kids franchise with her family here in town and they are currently hosting a ton of summer camps to keep kids busy. We were excited when she invited the boys to come to one of their Ninja turtle themed camps and try it out. Mike was able to drop them off and then I was able to go check it out and watch and visit with her once I was off of work that day. Faith even joined in on some of the fun at the end. They had a great time and came home with loads of goodies.  We hope to try out another one some time this summer if we can squeeze it in.