Summer Lovin'

June 2-22

Our first six weeks of summer was go, go, go! It's starting to slow down just a little, but only just a little. This is the scene many a summer night...the kids fall asleep in the car and we carry them up to bed.Here is just a little recap of the first 3 or so weeks. Keep in mind that we did all of this AND went on two family vacations. Whew!

We kicked off the summer with a day at the zoo.Justin's branch took first in a contest. The prize was dinner at Brick Oven Pizza and a movie. This was a late night since the branch doesn't even close until 7 and all the employees had to drive from the branch in Heber to Brick Oven in Provo. Needless to say, the kids and I did not go to the movie.

We swim a lot at home. Molly has become a little fish this summer and can't seem to get enough water! It was fun before but now it's even more fun thanks to the big slide Justin's parents gave to Stockton and Molly for a combined birthday present.Molly got to stay at Grandma Kay's all by herself for a couple of days so that she could go to Chloe's birthday party. Chloe had a pinkalicious party for her 4th birthday...oh how Molly was excited. She planned her "outfit" all week...it was pretty bad. Think old pink hand-me-down skirt with a hole in it, and some pink shirt. I finally talked her into a pink shirt and a denim skirt which I called her "party skirt." Apparently the party was a hit, with pink popcorn, pink popsicles, pink bubble gum, and pink cupcakes.While at Grandma's she also got to go to the Dinosaur Park with her cousins.

Some girls from my ward and I formed a soccer team in April. We played every Saturday morning with the tournament in mid-June. We were all pretty rusty but once we got the hang of playing again (and didn't feel like passing out after running for 2 minutes) we made a pretty good team. We ended up winning the championship in our division. It was fun and exciting...the season is over now, but not to worry, it starts again this Saturday. Can't wait!

Our family also watched any World Cup match that we could. Sadly, this was not many since we don't have any sort of cable. So mostly we watched the Saturday and Sunday afternoon games. Next time I think we will definitely splurge and pay for one month of cable so we can watch all the games. There is something really addicting about a World Cup match-I can barely peal my eyes away from the screen.

We have frequented Hobble Creek Canyon in Springville three times now, usually on a Sunday afternoon. We walk on the bike trail and end up at the river. The kids just can't get enough of throwing rocks in the river and we love getting out of the house and being in the beautiful mountains. I have told them that they can get as dirty as they want because we're just going to go home and get right in the tub. What kid doesn't love getting dirty? It is my opinion as a mom that I should let my kids explore dirt, worms, sand, all that filthy stuff (even if it grosses me out). Isn't that what being a kid is all about? Besides, they clean up pretty easy.Ali and Gavin came to visit for three weeks (Jeff went home the day after our trip to Jackson) so I went down for a couple days to stay at my parents with them. Of course it's always fun to see them but it was so fun getting to know Gavin better. I swear he is the funniest 2-year-old I have ever met. He had me laughing just about every minute. We miss him so much and are sad that we won't see them until next summer. Sigh.

One thing we did while in Plain City was visit the Trout Farm. What a blast! All the kids were able to catch 2 fish. Most the kids were a little wary to touch the fish at the beginning. They would bend down to look at their just-caught fish lying in the grass and would jump a mile when it moved. It was hilarious! By the end of the night Molly got brave...she went from poking it, to petting it, to actually picking it up and putting it in the bucket! Way to go Molls!Stay tuned for more summer adventures...there's much, much more!