Fun with cousins

A week after we got back from California our family we had been traveling with came into town. Warren had been missing his cousins and from what I hear his cousins were super excited to see him and come to "Warren's house." We had made previous arrangements for the cousins to get together and play the day that Warren was riding in the rodeo. We got together at our house went to the Crepery for lunch, then went to Gossners to get some milk and cheese, then we drove past some of my favorite old homes in Logan and went to USU to see the skull of Old Ephraim where the kids got to ride on a golf cart which I am sure was their favorite part of the day. After visiting the university we headed to my favorite park in Logan, Merlin Olsen Park. It has lots of shade, a small river running through it, lots of grass, a volleyball, basketball, and tennis courts along with the playground. We decided to have a boat building contest and let the kids build their own boats and float them down the river, oh man this was a  HUGE  hit! All the kids ages  5 to 17 were engaged and created a boat. They were so excited to race them and we had lots of extra spectators. Roscoe's boat won and he was super excited about that fact. We had dinner at the park then made our way to Angie's a local diner where the kids worked on "cleaning the sink." It is an RV sized kitchen sink filled with ice cream and bananas and toppings and if you clean the sink, eat all the ice cream you get a bumper sticker. I think they took pity on our group and even though the sinks weren't cleaned they gave us two bumper stickers which we sent home with the Brunson and Smith families. Finally we were headed to our main event the reason for the entire day in Logan, Warren was going to Mutton Bust in the local rodeo. We were so excited for him, and I was nervous that he wouldn't get on or that he would get hurt. But, he rode, it was only for a couple seconds but he rode.

Hanging out at the Crepery

Gossners Milk with Grandma

This is the patio area of the Crepery where we ate lunch. Oh and what an awesome uncle Mark is, always playing with his nieces and nephews.

Making boats.

These three worked hard and cleaned about half the sink themselves.

And, practiced hanging spoons on their noses.

10 of the 14 Ludlow cousins getting ready to race their boats.

The race is on....

visiting the campus

The teenagers and their sink

Oh boy did these three love the ice cream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We even got to make a stop at the Logan Temple.

We were so glad to have family come into town to see Warren ride and support him. We had so much fun with our family that morning and now onto the rodeo. And thanks to Jessica for taking such great pictures of all of our adventures in California and Utah, I used many of her photos to document our trip.

June 2016

June was the beginning of summer break. Well I did a math training where I spent two weeks working with students until noon each day so I guess you could say I eased into summer vacation, is that even a thing.?! June was filled with lots of fun activities and lots of time spent relaxing and playing at the park. I loved that when I was working Warren and I would spend 2-3 hours a day at a park somewhere in Logan or a splash pad just reading and playing. Those were the best days and what summer is made of.

Warren's mud bath at the Merlin Olsen Park. We love this park. It is my favorite because of the variety of things it has. A stream, SHADE, a playground, tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts, as well as pavilions, a baseball diamond and lots of grass. We also meet the nicest people at this park. Zack and Warren  have been working on building a boat to run down the stream soon.

June 15th we met Amy and her kids in Brigham to hang out and play. Warren loved  their dog Bruce and wanted him to ride in our car. Jasper (Amy's son who is Warren's age) let Bruce ride in the car so Warren decided to try and ride his bike while walking Bruce to find Jasper. 

We spent lots of time in June at some local splash pads. I think we have visited 4 so far.

June also brought the beginning of Warren's second year of swim lessons. He loves swimming and loves the water and this year was another successful year. He graduated from Level C and will be in Level 1 next year. We have been swimming quite a bit lately and he has been doing a really great job swimming for several lengths with his face in the water. I am so proud to see him working on a skill and learning new things.

Warren's first day of swim lessons.

Last day of swim lessons means he gets to jump off the diving board. He loved it and had to fear.

June was the month of Warren's first Fathers and Sons camp out. He was looking forward to it for months. He kept asking about it and when it was. Zack worked his schedule so he could go, and they went. Not so sure if they had an amazing time but they went. It was super hot until about 4:30 in the morning so they didn't sleep well and missed breakfast and then went to help out at the service project about 10 minutes after it started and it was over. Zack did say Warren had fun running around with the other kids and loved it when someone widdled him a pencil during the devotional. I am glad they had this time together and that Zack is taking Warren on activities just the two of them. It is also fun to see the Father and Son camping tradition continue onto the next generation.

Yay for his first Fathers and Sons Campout

In June my youngest brother Ben went to the Temple for the first time. He received his mission call to serve in the Virginia Chesapeake Mission. He left June 22 will serve for two years. I was able to go with him to the Brigham City Temple about a week after the first time he went through. That weekend I was able to go to  two different temples in about a 24  hour period, Logan while Zack and Warren were at Fathers and Sons and then Brigham City with Ben, my dad and Diann. Zack and Warren went to a movie while we were inside. Ben has prepared as best I think that anyone could. He spends time really getting to know the scriptures and even asked his bishop how he could better prepare for his mission. He has also worked hard and earned all the money he needed for his mission. He is a great example for pressing forward, working hard, and treating others with kindness and respect. I hope Warren will follow Ben's example in many ways. Ben spoke in church on Father's Day so we went to Idaho Saturday to spend some extra time with him. We stayed at my dad's house and helped prepare the food, roasted marshmallows, made hobo dinners that were super yummy, and played with cousins. My dad lives in a very rural setting and has lots of farm animals. they kids chased the turkeys and chickens back into their pens at night, climbing, playing with bunnies and enjoying the space to run and be kids. Ben did a great job speaking in church on Father's Day and we loved visiting with family after.

These two boys enjoyed hanging out together twice in one week.

Little K

Love this brother of mine, he will make a great missionary.

Outside the Brigham City Temple after attending a session with Diann, Ben and my dad.

I just had to throw this one in here because the tabernacle was so beautiful that night.

We went for dinner that night and Ben wanted to try and complete their challenge to eat three large pancakes. Those pancakes to the left of him are what he had to eat.

He dove right in and ate a lot...

but in the end decided he was too full to finish. Maybe after the mission.

Father's Day marked nine years since Zack's brother Warren passed away, we are so grateful for the Plan of Happiness and that we know we will see Warren again one day.

Warren also started tennis lessons the end of June. We started playing with him a little last year and he seemed pretty good so we thought we would put him in. The group setting has been good for him and he makes friends very quickly. He is learning some different ways of hitting the ball, how to serve, and follow directions from others. He plays a lot of games to learn the concepts but that is how kids at his age learn best. We are hoping to keep him in lessons and help him improve over the years. He enjoys it and says he wants to take lessons until he is 90 so he can beat mom and dad. It has also been great to get out and play a few games as a family.

First day of his very first tennis lesson ever1

Look at that shot!

 Warren and I also went swimming on day at the local aquatic center where he had his swim lessons. It was the first time I had ever taken him swimming completely alone. I am capable of doing so we had just always been with family or friends. It was different to be the only adult but nice to spend some time together just the  two of us. 

He wanted a picture of the little  prints his wet feet made on the cement and I am grateful to have them frozen in time.

I am not sure what caused his hair to look so red here but it is cool.