July Misc

 Our family was vacationing for a good portion of July this summer. We still had a few adventures while at home that month, though, too. Here are some miscellaneous July photos:

July 4th

Can't miss our annual flag pic!

On the afternoon of the 4th, we visited a new-to-us bakery and bought some delicious cookies. I didn't get any pictures of the actual cookies, but here we are waiting in the store. 

A couple nights prior to the 4th, we joined my parents at their subdivision's annual fireworks display. We are always so impressed by the fireworks here! Jon and Chelsea's family came along as well. Adley especially enjoyed hanging out with Noah before the fireworks began.

We were so thankful that we ended up attending this early 4th celebration. Due to the severe drought in our area, the community fireworks we were planning to attend on the 4th ended up being canceled. Our July wouldn't have seemed quite complete if we hadn't attended any fireworks show. We loved celebrating on this night and relaxing with family.

Building Workshop

In early July, Adley attended her first kids' workshop at Home Depot. She actually accompanied her brothers to two workshops just before the pandemic in late 2019 and early 2020, but since she has no memories of these builds, we'll count this one as her official first! This month's project was a constellation viewer. Adley was particularly excited about painting her completed project and decorating it with stickers.

Birthday Celebrations

The night before my birthday, Grammy and Papa graciously offered to keep our kids overnight. Cody, Jaden, and Adley had a fabulous time with their grandparents, and Jason and I enjoyed one of the best gifts of all-- sleeping in!! Jason and I also saw the Top Gun movie in the theaters and went out to dinner together. What a wonderful, relaxing way to celebrate! When we picked up the kids from Grammy and Papa's house, we got to enjoy a delicious birthday cake that all three kids had helped to make. What a treat!

That afternoon, Grandpa and Grandma stopped by our house with another special treat--brownies and ice cream. Can you see how spoiled I am on my birthday?! Such kind gestures from both sets of parents.

On Jason's birthday later in the month, we were actually traveling in the car all day, so we celebrated his 41st a few days later with a dinner of stuffed shells and scotcheroos. We sure are thankful for this amazing guy!

Summer Fun

As I mentioned before, we had many, many days go by without rain this summer. The temperatures were constantly in the high 90s or over 100. There was even a stretch of at least ten days in a row when the temperatures reached over 100 every day. Yikes! Not surprisingly, we visited the pool quite a bit this summer to help cool off. Sometimes the kids asked me to take videos of them doing special tricks in the pool.

LEGO Exhibit

My sister tipped us off to this great LEGO display at a small museum near their house. I took the kids to see the exhibit, and we were all so impressed.

Yep, even these portraits are all made out of small Lego dots. So amazing!

We enjoyed seeing a few Houston-specific displays: San Jacinto Monument,

Houston downtown,

and the Imperial Sugar Factory in SugarLand.

My favorite was this impressive cathedral. Even the inside was filled with pews, a pulpit, an organ loft, stained glass windows, and many parishoners. So cool!

At the end of the exhibit, there was a room full of Legos where kids could build their own creations. We didn't stay too long in this section, but we had an overall great visit to this museum.

Hornets Highlights

 Over the summer, Cody and Jaden played on a basketball league for their first ever time. Both boys have played basketball quite a bit in our driveway with their dad and with neighborhood kids, but this was their first experience on an official team. It was a great opportunity for them to hone their skills and to focus on the finer rules of the game. They each made amazing progress over the course of the season. It was so fun to watch them play!

We signed the boys up to play on a team with their cousin Ryan and some of his school friends. Not all their team was present for this photo, but it was taken before the team's very first game. Go Hornets!

JADEN

Jaden showed a lot of focus as he played. He seemed to be aware of the game's big picture and was a smart player. He was a fairly accurate shooter and typically scored 4-8 points per game. He started off the season a little tentative defensively but became much more aggressive as the season went on. Jaden made the most progress in his rebounding abilities. He gave his all on the court and never gave up. We were so proud of our #4! 

Jaden was often chosen to do the tip-off at the start of the game. He had an amazing vertical jump!

Jaden grew to be very consistent in his free throw shots.

CODY

Cody was our man-of-action on the court! He was always moving and was an aggressive defender. Cody watched his opponents carefully and loved getting steals. He had tons of fast breaks during the season and would fly down the court for layups. He was also a good shooter, averaging 6-8 points each game. Cody was a tough competitor and continued to grow in his abilities. Way to play, #2. We're so proud of you!

I have quite a few blurry shots like this of Cody streaming down the court. He was going too fast for me to get a clear photo! Ha!

Cody, also, was chosen to do the tip-off for a couple games. He did a great job!

Look at our #2, zipping off away from the competition!

I missed most of the action on this video, but you can just barely catch Cody's layup falling in for a basket. Whoop, whoop!

HORNETS TEAM

It was so fun watching Jaden and Cody's twin connection (and their cousin connection, too!) on the court. We'd often see them look to pass to each other, screen for each other, and set one another up for a shot.

The Hornets team was made up of some very talented players. These guys won all but one of their regular season games. One of their most exciting games was when they clawed their way up from behind to beat a very tough, undefeated team. The Hornets ended up winning by 8!

By the end of the season, the Hornets were tied for first place with two other teams (each team having lost just one game). In the post-season tournament, the Hornets ended up losing against that same tough team we were so proud to beat earlier in the season. These boys definitely gave their all throughout the whole season and learned to work together really well. It was a wonderful season overall and a perfect growing experience for Jaden and Cody.

Coach Hansen, Taiyang, Jaden, Ryan, Cody, Coach Wooster
Quentin, Keo, Slade, Ommy