Oh, what do you do in the summertime,
When all the world is green?
Do you fish in a stream,Or lazily dream
On the banks as the clouds go by?
Is that what you do?
So do I!Oh, what do you do in the summertime,
When all the world is green?
Do you swim in a pool,
To keep yourself cool,
Or swing in a tree up high?
Is that what you do?
So do I!
Oh, what do you do in the summertime,
When all the world is green?
Do you march in parades,
Or drink lemonades,
Or count all the stars in the sky?
Is that what you do?
So do I!We have had
such a fun summer this year and I haven't really posted ANY of it!! I let life get to busy and I forget to remember all the fun we have in between the craziness.
So here's to all the fun!! Because there has been quite a bit!!
**I should warn you. This post will contain quite a few pictures, the majority of which are taken from my phone. I have a hard time remembering to carry my camera around with me wherever I go, but my phone is generally in my purse or pocket. They are lousy quality taken by a terribly amateur photographer. But regardless, they are our memories and I love them!**Between weddings, family reunions, and temple trips we've been back and forth to Utah quite a lot in the last few months.
One trip down, we spent the afternoon playing with friends. Kristin and I had a LOT of catching up to do, and I can't even tell you how much Payson and Jack missed Ethan and Camden!
(They are our favorites!!) The kids were playing outside in the rain while Kristin and I watched from the porch. Jack headed down the sloped sidewalk on a big wheel and I ran after him, but caught up just as he went off the curb and biffed it hard in the street. :( We had to document the owie and send a picture to Daddy who was at work.
That night was the first night of
Strawberry Days in Pleasant Grove! Kristin and I ventured out in the crazy crowds and the rain to let the kids ride a few rides. It was the cheap night (rides were fifty cents each) and the lines were ridiculous. But you have to choose either ridiculous lines or ridiculous prices. :) So I would stand in line while my little sisters and Kristin would go occupy the kids on a ride with a shorter line and then they'd meet me toward the front of the line. It was a pretty good system until the rain started to really pour! But the kids wanted to keep on going, and Kristin and I allowed it. The kids were exhausted and soaked when we finally called it a night, but they were still asking to keep going!! Crazies!!
Here are Maren and Jack, then Eathan, Madison and Payson on the carousel.
Payson, Jack and I, then Kristin, Camden and Ethan on the Ferris Wheel.
We've pulled out the crafts a few times this summer, although probably not as much as we should. However, if you look at the kitchen wall in the background of the next photo, you'll notice that the kids pulled out the crafts on their own one day and gave the kitchen a makeover! No worries, Mr. Clean and his Magic Eraser took care of that mess later that day. :)
Here are the kids in Dad's old t-shirts playing with the finger paints.
We complained all winter that the wind NEVER stops here! Now that it's warmed up, we complain when the wind stops. :) But the wind makes kite-flying great fun!! The kids got kites for Easter and we FINALLY pulled them out.
This is on the trail up the hill from our backyard. It's the perfect spot to get the kites up above any phone lines and the apartments.
The day after I was called as Primary President we made a trip to Utah to go to the temple. My dad was taking the girls out on the boat and invited us along. After a few minutes on Deer Creek a huge storm hit. We tried to head in to the dock, but the rain was pelting us so hard!! The kids and the girls were all hiding under seats, but my dad and Jason and I got hit pretty hard. We laughed through the entire thing. But the storm passed quickly and we went for some fun tube rides. My dad promised not to throw me off the tube, however he whipped me around a couple of times and I just couldn't hang on. I was
freezing but it was a blast!! I felt like a kid again and just kept thinking, "This is
not how Primary Presidents should behave!" Most of our pictures from that must be on Jason's phone because I can't find any other than this one.
Madison and I took Jack and Payson out on a slower ride on the tube. Jack loved it and would stand up and wave to everyone on the boat. Payson was a little more nervous. :)
Madison and Maren stayed with us for a week in June and we had a BLAST!! I loved having them here and had a hard, hard time letting them go. One day while they were here we had been at the local splash park and decided to head over for a walk along the Green Belt, which is a pathway that runs along the Green River. There are swings and playgrounds and park benches all along the pathway and it is so beautiful! During June we got so much rain that the river had actually flooded this portion of the Green Belt, but we decided to play in it anyway!!
The kids couldn't quite keep up with the current, so we would hold their hands and just drag them through the water. :) There was one spot that was pretty muddy and the kids had a blast getting filthy sinking into it.
Every now and then we just hook our sprinkler up in the backyard to play. I'll pull out a camping chair and read or lay out while the kids giggle and run around the lawn.
This little sprinkler shoots little balls out of it and the kids usually try to catch them, but this day they were just sticking their heads on the water and cracking up. :)
I think I mentioned the Splash Park earlier. The kids LOVE the splash park! They love running through the water and then heading over to the dry playground next to it for a break and then coming back over to cool off. I love it because 1) I don't have to worry about anyone drowning! and 2) it's free!!
These two ask to go to the Splash Park just about every day! They can't get enough!! How about that picture of Jack squatting over the sprayer?? Crazy kiddos!!
We also head over to Rock Springs, about 15 minutes away, for some water fun. There are several water parks near us. The first picture is Century Park. The slide is a little steeper, but the kids love to play on the rock wall. The second picture is Blairtown Park. The slide is much slower, but multiple kids can go down at a time. Both parks have lifeguards on duty, have an age limit so there are no older kids taking over, are adjacent to grassy fields and playgrounds perfect for a lunch break, are 3 feet deep at the deepest point, and are 100% FREE!! We can't get enough!!
I don't have pictures of my kids at these two because I'm usually in the water with them, so I stole these off the city website. :) I'll have to get pictures next time we're there!
With all the time we're spending outdoors, we've had lots of baths!! They always beg me to dump every single bath toy we own in. Some days I just want to bathe them quickly and get it over with, but every now and then we take our time and have a bath party!! I usually end up soaked, but we all end up laughing.
Payson loves to mohawk Jack's hair. :)
And last, I can't believe I hadn't already posted this one!! In June we celebrated Jack's
2nd birthday!! He is absolutely obsessed with Cars, so, of course, we had a Cars themed party. We took the kids to see UP! earlier that day and then headed home for presents and cake!
The very happy birthday boy!
I saw a cake on a friend's blog and attempted to make a similar cake for Jack's birthday. Thanks for the idea, Brendi!! (I'd link to her blog, but it's private).
Jack tore into one present after another, many of which were inspired by, you guess it, Cars!!This is how he spent the rest of his party. He was in heaven!
Just a few days after Jack's birthday, the kids and I headed to Utah to watch Madison and Maren while my parents were otu of town. Before Grandma left she made sure Jack got to open all of his presents from Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Devin, Uncle Brennan, Aunt Madie, and Aunt Maren.
Jack with all of his loot! Not spoiled at all! ;)
We are having so much fun so far!! I can't believe we are already in August!! Time FLIES!! Next week Jason will be off and we have crammed every little thing possible into our week in an attempt to take advantage of his last week off of the summer. We're headed to Utah for a quick temple trip, to see a couple of friends, and to meet
Erin's new little boy!! We have a ward picnic on Friday, which will be tons of fun!! (We seriously live in the best ward EVER!!) Then Saturday we're hoping to spend some time out at Flaming Gorge Resevoir, then leave the kids with a babysitter for the night while Jason and I have a date night!! I really can't wait!
I was reading blogs the other day and thinking about how everyone seems to be doing so much this summer and I'd completely forgotten about all the fun things we've been able to do, most of which was close to home and free!! Yay!! I love that!!
I do have to say, though, that I am looking forward to the structure the end of summer brings. Back to school and routines and more to keep us busy. And all of the sudden we'll be hitting the holidays again! But until that happens, we'll be out in the sun enjoying every last bit of summer fun!!
