August 8, 2015. Sand Hollow.

We took advantage of the last weekend before school starts and headed to Sand Hollow. We needed to embrace the sun, the heat, and the freedom just one last time! We have been wanting to go to Sand Hollow for most of the Summer but it has never quite worked out. Saturdays are busy when you have just moved into a new house! We finally made it though, and it did not disappoint! The kids swam, played in the sand, and enjoyed being with one another. I sat down on the waters edge with Drake. He played with the sand and splashed in the shallow water, keeping us cool. It was so relaxing. There was no complaining from the kids. Just enjoyment. It was lovely! Just what we needed before the crazy that comes when the kids are in school!

May 30, 2015. Summertime!

Snow-cone date with my girl! She was so excited to get a rainbow one. Nothing says Summer quite like a scnow-cone! I'm sure it's the first of many!!!

July 20, 2013. Neighborhood Picnic and Parade.

Last weekend our neighborhood had its annual Neighborhood Picnic and Parade. I think this is the kids most favorite and loved activity that we attend. They look forward to it each July. This year they invited some new neighbor friends and I think that even increased their excitement being able to share it with them. The Primary plans this activity and with the help of many puts it on. Being that I am now serving in the Primary Presidency, this activity was a lot more stressful for me this year, but everything went well and a good time was had by all!

Some highlights include:

a trip to Hobby Lobby to by decorations for our bikes

washing and decorating our bikes

a bike parade where Sophie threw out our left over parade candy to the parade watchers

a yummy BBQ at the park

face painting

games

a candy cannon

a giant slip n slide

volleyball

prizes, treats, and popsicles +

good friends

July 4, 2013

We had a fun 4th of July this year. We started our day off with the West Bountiful Parade. We LOVE this parade! The kids always have so much fun and this year was no exception. Grandpa got us really good seats in the shade. It was fun having "Grandpa Sheep" there to share in our fun. We really missed Grandma though and it wasn't quite the same without her. After the parade, we had lunch at Grandpa's house and then headed home for some naps.  After naps, we went to see Despicable Me 2. The kids loved it! And then we headed home for some dinner and fireworks. Thanks "Grandma Polar Bear"!! It was a great day!

June 29, 2013. Fun at Station Park!

The fun outdoor shopping mall near our house had a grand opening for some of its stores a couple of weekends ago. I had heard that they were going to have Merida from the movie Brave and Iron Man there as part of their celebration. I thought it would be fun to take the kids but was a little hesitant because I was worried it was going to be so crowded. But we decided to go anyway. I am glad that we did. There was hardly anyone there and the kids loved every second of it. We might as well have told the girls that we were going to Disneyland. They were stoked! Sophie just had to bring her bear from the movie and she even printed out and colored a picture for Merida to sign. After we met the characters, we treated the kids to some candy from the fun new candy shop, watched a dog show, had our faces painted, met some neat reptiles, and got balloon animals. Such a fun afternoon!

June 26, 2013.

For months Sophie has been begging me to buy a coconut. Her third grade teacher had talked with the class about them and Sophie told me almost weekly about how sweet their milk was and how she couldn't wait to try one. So I decided to to buy one for her the other day while I was grocery shopping. She was so excited!! She could hardly wait for Logan to get home so we could break into it. She found out the coconut milk wasn't as sweet as she expected it to be. And when we broke into it the coconut was moldy so she didn't even get to try the meat. Bummer! But at least we got to feel like we were on a tropical island for a few minutes at least!!!

slip n slide!

One thing the kids have been really enjoying this Summer has been the slip n slide! This time was especially fun because they got to use the slip n slide that Sophie won in the coloring contest. They thought it was so fun to see if they could slide under the limbo bar on its lowest height without knocking it off. They got pretty good! Cute Ruby isn't quite sure of the whole sliding thing yet and chooses to crawl instead. And little Lyla prefers to watch and cheer the kids on! We are loving our Summer afternoons!!!

June 18, 2013. Ice Cream in a Bag!

In an effort to do some fun structured activities with the kids this Summer, we made some ice cream in a bag. I'll be honest, I thought they would LOVE it, but they didn't. They thought it was fun, but not really fun. And shaking that bag was HARD work after a while. In the end, Sophie was the only one that liked her ice cream. But hey, it got them off the couch and away from the TV for a little bit!

Queen Ruby

summer

the simple things

This weeks simple thing:

POPSICLES!!

The kids like to cool off each evening with a popsicle.

Usually Lyla is content to share

but on this night...she wanted her own!

I think she enjoyed it! {GRIN}

summertime!!!

I'm not sure when life got so busy, but it is.  Between my schedule, Logan's schedule, and the kids schedule...not to mention the house and the yard, life is busy.  But we have been finding some time to have some fun too!  One afternoon the kids were totally bored so I decided it was time to forget my list of to-dos and head out to the splash pad.  The kids loved it and it was the perfect reminder of what summer time is all about!!

the simple things

this weeks simple things:

flowers

I just love this rose bush outside my front door.

Pioneer Day

I have said it before, and I am sure I'll say it a million more times but we live in the greatest neighborhood. Our kids look forward to the Pioneer Day Celebration every year ... and it is always worth the wait!

Some highlights of the fun:

• hours spent washing and decorating our bikes
• the kids parade ... complete with police escort! {I think my kids look forward to being in this parade more than they do watching the real parades!}
• BBQ with good friends and neighbors
• cotton candy!
• candy cannon!
• face painting {done by the YW in the ward}, and the fish pond
• giant water slide
• playing with friends and running, running, running around like crazy!

Such a fun way to celebrate the pioneers who sacrificed so much and worked so hard to settle this great land that we live in today.

fun in the sun

Happy Independence Day!

We had a great holiday weekend

filled with lots

and lots

of fun!

{pictures from the parade}

parade with grandma and grandpa followed by a yummy lunch!

{where there was no shortage of candy and prizes!}

swimming

family bike ride

talks of why we celebrate the 4th

family home evening

{where we made a family flag}

family nap time

staying up late watching fireworks!!

...

So much fun we are still recovering!

QUEEN Ruby

I am not sure what made Logan call Ruby "Queen Ruby" on this particular night. It could be that she was sitting on this rock like she was the Queen ... but more than likely it was because she is the Queen of our family. What ever she says goes! At least for now. I am sure she will have to give up her throne to the new baby girl before too long!

Don't you just love Summer nights?

day camp

There were 4 rules:

1. Have Fun!

2. NO whining or crying

3. Don't play in the fire

4. If you catch a squirrel, you have to name it Georgia!

We had a blast!

We roasted hotdogs, made s'mores {mmmmm} , played in the sand, and the kids even tried to catch a squirrel so they could name it Georgia! {grin}

Adventures ...

... in feeding the ducks {greedy ducks as Sophie called them}

and exploring the world around us.

Tinker belle was there too! {although she didn't care much for the ducks ... she preferred pebbles instead}

At one point Sophie shouted that she saw a snake in this river and ran across it as fast as she could to get to safety. Then she decided she wanted to catch it and keep it as a pet ... but she couldn't find it again!

Thank goodness! I am not sure we would be good snake owners! {grin}

Summer

Summer is in full swing ... the kids are out of school, there is lots of free time, and already the kids are complaining of not having anything to do! Our days have been pretty low key {being 7 months pregnant will do that to you ... 8 weeks and 3 days left but who's counting! grin!} but we have been making good use of our Lagoon season passes. We {LOVE} them! And with the crazy weather we have had this summer our days at Lagoon have been perfect!

The kids take turns choosing what rides we go on ...

and we run {or waddle!} from one end of the park to the next over and over again!

Sophie would prefer to spend the entire day riding the {big} kid rides. Although she does still love some of the {little} kid rides too!

Collin isn't quite tall enough to ride the {big} kid rides ... but really wishes he was. He spends a lot of time with Ruby and I doing the {little} kids rides ... always wondering if Daddy and Sophie are back yet!


Ruby is a happy camper as long as she gets to ride the whales and the kitty cat round and round! She rode these boats for the first time on our last visit and thought they were pretty fun too!

No matter what we ride, we all have a great time! And sometimes we splurge and get ice cream ... what could be better than that. A day full of amusement park rides AND ice cream!

Every time we leave Ruby is begging us to go back! We {LOVE} summer and the time we get to spend together!