Summer Excitement

We have had quite the summer fun. It all began after our move from our first house together to a bigger place so we could spread out a little. Then we headed for the mountains in UT where we went camping with about 25 family members for an extended weekend. My boys LOVED camping and everything that went with it, the dirt, rocks, the food, hiking, fishing, camp fires, shooting guns (marshmallow guns and a few shots from the paint gun with dad's help), games and most of all, all the boy cousins to play with! (7 boys to e exact) I hardly saw Kaleb all weekend because he was always off somewhere having an adventure with Spencer and the other boys.

After our adventures camping me and the boys headed to Denver to visit with my sister for a couple of weeks. It was so much fun just hanging out with them. Mason has his dad's social personality, and loved having two boys to play with (most of the time). we went hiking a couple of times, went to the zoo, played games, watched movies and played in the back yard, enjoying the 80 degree weather and the showers that come almost everyday for about a half hour. Amber has a vegetable garden we watched grow and a trampoline that Kaleb and Mason would jump on for long periods of time. We set up a blow up pool where we all jumped in a couple of times to cool off. On the July 4th weekend, we threw a bbq party with a few of their friends, where we had great food and company. It really is great to have a sister that will take you in for a couple of weeks and make you feel so loved and welcome!

The next thing my Boys discovered was how much fun a parade can be. I tried to get them excited for the annual Tri-stake Pioneer day celebration but until we were about a half hour into it, my boys did not seem amused. Once they discovered that most of the people on the floats either shoot you with water or through candy they were hooked. After a hat full of candy, the parade was over and it was time for the other festivities. After digging for gold (finding pennies in a pool of sand), doing a spunge toss (through a wagon wheel), and a snow cone to cool off, we headed inside the church to see what other fun we could find. Most of all Kaleb wanted a spider web painted on his face, so after standing in line for about an hour, he was happy as a clam and we ready to go, but through some encouragement we made butter, a spinning toy, candles, and tried some great harvest bread. It really was a great celebration!




In between we have been finding ways to get out of the house. My boys love going to the pet store and choosing a puppy to play with. Of course Kaleb always wants to bring it home, then for the next few days he tells everyone he is getting a puppy for his birthday, I have no idea where he got that idea, because it is not happening, we are going to leave the animals at the pet store until my boys are old enough to take care of one.
We also did the summer reading program through the library. I was always kind of currious how much I actually read to my boys and without changing it too much we managed to read for 1200 mins this summer. My boys love going to the library and picking out books and playing in the kid area. That makes me so proud!

Every once in a while we go the chucky cheese to get some wiggles out put still stay cool. I signed up to be a part of their email club, so they send coupons for tokens and such which makes this outing not too expensive. It is nice because they have climbing for Kaleb and all kinds of ball games for Ethan. We love to take Tiffany and her kids with us between the six of us, we have quite the fun time.
Another outing that I like to do, is take my kids swimming at the M hotel pool. It is free for locals 21 and older and kids 6 and younger, so it does not cost a thing. The pool is really nice because it is rectangular shaped with lots of stairs and shallow areas for the kids. Over the summer my boys have learned to love swimming and they both with the aid of floaties like to float in the deeper part now too.
Another fun activity that has helped fill our time is our ward playgroups. Over the summer they changed it up, since going to the park is a little hot. One of the places we discovered is the Natural History Museum. I was a little sceptical because some museums to young children is very boring, but we ended up staying for about 2 1/2 hours and Kaleb still did not want to come home. My boys especially love the 35 foot long t-rex! It had a button that when pushed the t-rex would roar and move! Kaleb also spent quite a bit of time driving a submarine. There really is some cool things to see!