My Own Backyard

The boys were playing outside a couple nights ago and it looked so picture perfect to me. It's moments like this that sometimes even pictures are just not enough. I wish that I did know more about photography so that I would be able to do what I saw justice. I love my own little backyard! (and frontyard, and northyard, and southyard...)

Swim Time

For our last day of the way too short summer vacation, we went swimming at the city pool. The wind was terrible but the kids didn't complain. I didn't swim this time and I think that Gage played and explored a lot more. He tends to sit right with me and not do much when I'm in there. He had so much fun with his big brother. Hunter would float on his back and let Gage ride him like a surf board. Hayden had fun playing with Annie & Allie and she also had quite a few friends from school there. I would be fine if we had a few more weeks of summer before the school routine starts up again. Time just goes too fast!

{Camp Out}

Super Dad Steve was a great sport last night, giving in to the kids' pleas to sleep outside in the tent. They set up camp in the backyard. Gage was so excited to sleep in there with the dogs. But what is the sour look on Hunter's face....

...and why is Hayden covering her mouth & nose?

Cutting the cheese, breaking wind, tooting, making music or whatever you want to call it, THE DOGS HAD GAS! Gage didn't get to sleep with them after all. Steve put them in the kennel shortly after! The kids thanked him for it! Yep, that's why he did it, just for the kids.

ZIP-a-dee-do-da, What a Fun Day!

We watched our cousin Little Miss Allie yesterday & took the opportunity to go visit her daddy while he was working on a house that has a great playground! (Steve's done electrical work on the house & the owners have told him to bring the kids by anytime. I promise it wasn't just us showing up somewhere to play. Although, if you are ever bored.... It is quite entertaining!) They have a zip line that goes the length of their whole yard, which is roughly 200 feet. This was a FavOriTe of Hunter's. Gage loved the swings and slide & Hayden enjoyed the rock wall & playing in the playhouse.

On the video, I had to stop filming early because if you listen, you can hear Hayden yell "Mmoomm!" At the first of the video, you can see Hayden, Gage & Allie climbing in the back ground & of course, Gage goes down. That's a first...Not! Then Allie was a bit nervous so Hayden called for help. I promise Annie, she was fine. She wouldn't go up any further by herself.

Gage was showing Allie how to put on her "seat belt."

Fall Is Near

Every fall, (I can't believe August is half over) we look forward to seeing the spray planes going over the fields right by our house. Sometimes the pilot humors us a bit as we stare & gives a few fly overs that are close enough to hit with a rock it seems. Steve took the boys on their bikes this morning to follow it around a bit. Gage was there also, but it was difficult to get it all in the shot. Between him & the plane, I'm not sure which one moves quicker...

Activity Day Progressive Dinner

The Activity Day girls in our ward had a really great mother/daughter activity & invited Hayden & I to go. (Hayden doesn't actually go in until November .) It was a progressive dinner bike ride. We started at the church & rode to the first house and had veggies, the next house had fruit & the girls sang a primary song for a "thank you" to the hostess. We then moved on to the next stop which had some very needed bottled waters & soda. We then headed over to the next stop for hot dogs. The leaders told us to ride up the road & when we got to the corner, turn right until the next corner, then "choose the right" again, and then again and again. We ended up back where we started but were greeted with a delicious dessert! Well worth choosing the right! It was such a fun concept for the girls and VERY well planned by the leaders.

The Skate Park

Hunter has asked, aka: BEGGED, to go to the skate park in St. Anthony all summer & so we finally found a good day to go. The kids had fun and we each learned something new that day:

Hunter learned that skating with his homemade ramps made out of old plywood that goes for about 8 feet is easier to skate on than the big ramps at the skate park.

Hayden learned that the cute little sidewalk path just to the South of the skate park was quite a bit safer than all those ramps. (She did find one ramp that wasn't too steep that she really enjoyed. Such a daredevil!)

Gage learned that the ramps make much better slides!

And I learned never to let any of them wear white shorts to the skate park. Ever!

The "Candy Bar!"

Last week, Gage kept asking, "You member when we went to the candy bars?" It took quite sometime to figure out that he was talking about going to the good 'ol Sand Bar in St. Anthony. We went again yesterday with cousins and it was a lot of fun! Only in my perfect world would we have an entire bar full of candy instead of sand. The clean up would be much easier!!!!

Primary Activity

We had the Primary's quarterly activity yesterday, July 22. As a member of the new primary presidency, I had the "opportunity" to go. There is nothing quite like "hiking" just over a mile in the July heat (won't complain, took long enough to get here) with 24 children. We started out at the BYU-I gardens and ended up at the temple. A great way of teaching the "this is the place" idea. Hopefully the children got something out of it.

Gage pulled a wagon the entire way there. (And it was slightly uphill.) Hunter & his friend, Aaron, offered to help, but there was no way he was giving up that wagon! He cried the WHOLE way back down because I told him the other kids needed a turn. It's true, I AM the meanest mom ever!