Random in July

This is some of what we were up to in July:

Watching this little boy get cuter and bigger everyday!

One day we ran tons of errands, had swimming lessons, and spent a few hours at the museum. They were exhausted!

 3 on 3 Tournament

Jonathan played in a 3 on 3 tournament. It was a lot of fun to watch until a huge storm blew in and they had to cancel the rest of it.

 Classic Fun Center Waterpark

We bought a Groupon last summer to go to this waterpark and we finally got around to using it the day before it expired! We tried to go later so that Jonathan could meet us after work and it didn't quite work out. He got stuck longer then he thought and it closed earlier then we thought so we were only there for about an hour. Luckily, they gave us passes to come back another day for free and we took advantage of that!

It was so cool that she could go down the waterslides by herself!

 Water party with Friends

One of my awesome friends hosted a water party and it was so much fun. There ended up being about 20 kids and we stayed for about 5 hours! The kids were having so much fun and it was nice to sit and chat uninterrupted while they played.

 Friends day at Tumbling Class

Abigale got to invite a friend to her tumbling class and I wondered which of her friends she would invite. I was shocked when she asked to bring Daxton, about the only boy she is friends with. I asked his mom and he was pretty hesitant at first but I think they ended up having a lot of fun together.

 Swimming Lessons

The girls took private lessons and it worked out great. They got to go at the same time and I was able to get in the water with them and Ryan. It was much easier then trying to keep him out of the pool the whole time. The first thing they had to learn was to float on their back. Scott would not teach them anything until they could float for 2 minutes. By the end Abigale floated for 4 minutes, could jump in the deep end and flip to her back and swim 4 laps. She came a very long way from her first lesson. Lydia was floating on her back by the end and starting to learn some strokes. It will be fun to see where they go next summer!

Floating away! Don't her legs look super long?

 Fun with Cousins

My sister was heading back to Chicago after her month long stay in Idaho and stayed with us her last night. It was sad to see her go but we had so much fun with baby Sam and Max.

 Art Projects

I made a list of crafts off Pinterest that I wanted to try with the kids and we finally got around to doing some of them.

 Pioneer Day

Jonathan surprised us and brought home a ton of fireworks. We started by going to the park and throwing the poppers, which they loved and then we waited for it to get dark so that we could do our own fireworks. There were so many fireworks going off in our neighborhood that we just sat on the corner and watched them on every street.

Little Excited!

 School Time

This summer we tried to spend time everyday doing some kind of school work. Lydia really came a long way. At the beginning she couldnt really write any letters and now she can write her name and every letter. It is so fun to watch her learn and get excited about learning!

 Wicked!

For Christmas Jonathan gave me tickets to Wicked and we had to wait six months but the day finally arrived! His mom took all the kids for the night so we made a weekend out of it. We went out to a great restaurant before and the next day we went to the temple and walked around City Creek and had lunch. It was so fun and the play was amazing! I played the music for the girls and now they are obsessed with it and its all we listen to in the car but I don't mind! I love it!

 Bowling Night

We had passes to a bowling alley near Jonathan's parents house so after we picked up the kids we took them bowling for the first time. It was a little difficult- trying to keep Ryan out of everyone's way and the girls would get a little bored when it was not their turn but overall they had fun and I am glad that we did it.

Love her!

I have to add this one! Jonathan was doing his P90X workout and Ryan was trying to do it too! So cute!

3rd Annual Independence Day in Driggs!

For the third year in a row, my whole family headed to Driggs for a fun week of celebrating. It is the only time all year (besides Christmas and even that doeskin happen every year) that all my siblings get together. Our family keeps growing so the house feels smaller every year but it is a blast and the kids LOVE being around their cousins!

Abigale went up a few days earlier with my sister so she had a lot of time with her cousins but Lydia and Ryan sure missed her.

Our kids of course woke up before anyone else so we had to keep them quiet somehow. Thank goodness for portable DVD players!

Cute kids on 4th of July. We tried out a new way of decorating shirts- you spray them with bleach and as you can see they didn't turn out quite as we thought but hey we tried and the kids still looked cute!

Waiting for the parade to start. 

Driggs has an awesome parade. The kids always get tons of candy and other good stuff but they were not waiting very patiently. Lydia kept crying because her foot hurt and Abigale said she felt sick. She fell asleep as soon as we got back to the car and slept for quite awhile. Luckily, she was much better when she woke up. No fun to be sick on a holiday!

Love this picture!

Ryan and William

All the Grandkids! Poor Abigale was so sick at this point but at least we got them all in there!

Ryan fell alseep on the way to the car but don't worry he still had candy in his mouth even while he slept!

After the parade my dad gave a little history lesson which was great and hopefully the kids learned something!

This is how a lot of time was spent! The kids running around and playing by the lake. We also tried a Family Olympics this year and it was a good first attempt. We will definitely do things different next year but it was still fun. My family is just a little competitive!

June!

Once June hit we were in full summer mode! We finally made it to the cabin, had more fun times with cousins, first ever dance recitals, finally made it to the lake, and lots of fun with friends!

In Park City they have a race called the Dirty Dash where you basically run a 5K in mud but also go over hurdles and slide down slip-in-slides and jump in a big mud pit at the end. As much fun as it sounded, (I actually really wanted to do it) I didn't participate this year but had friends that were running and Jonathan had to take pictures for work since some of his students were representing the school. We decided to make a fun weekend out of it and headed to the cabin Friday night. My sweet husband even made a stop at the outlet mall for me so that I could at least run into a few of my favorite stores while he got the kids dinner! Love him!

On the way to the cabin! So beautiful!

The kids love it there and even got to stay up late to watch a move!

Big boy exploring!

Love these pics of my tired boy the next morning. We were on the way to the Dirty Dash. We had to get there pretty early.

The race. It was in a beautiful location and really fun to watch all the people jump into the mud pit.

The kids had fun for about the first hour and then they got tired and bored pretty quick but they were troopers.

On the way home we stopped at Seven Peaks Waterpark in SLC. It was a lot of fun but we totally wiped the kids out! Abigale was half asleep when I was taking this picture but as soon as she saw the camera she had to smile!

 Recital time

Beautiful Ballerina

She was so cute but still pretty young. She basically did this the whole dance- watched the older girl next to her and did whatever she did. It was still cute. They did a dance to Summer Nights from Grease.

She is such a performer!

Abigale's turn! She took tumbling class this year and really enjoyed it. She has come a long way and has almost got her cartwheels perfected!

  

Treehouse Museum with the cousins!

We love the Treehouse Museum and love it even more with friends and cousins!

Typical morning in our bed!

 Heading into Seven Peaks!

 On the way home from Seven Peaks!

 Jonathan had to attend a conference in Las Vegas and at the last minute I decided to go with him! Now that I am not nursing I had to take advantage of being able to take a vacation without a baby attached! It was a much needed break. I spent a lot of time at the amazing pool and just walking the strip while Jonathan attended meetings. Vegas is not my favorite place in the world, especially at night, but it was still a great getaway.

This little guy wanted to sneak into my suitcase!

Pretty much the only picture I took. The view from our hotel room. We stayed at Mandalay Bay.

A few days after we got back from Vegas, Jonathan's family decided to go boating for the day and we of course jumped at the chance. It was such a fun day! Abigale would not leave Laurie's side and Ryan would not leave Grandpa alone so it was another nice break!

Fun with cousins and friends!

My sister and her kids were driving through Utah and stopped to play for a few hours. They always have so much fun when they get together. They were playing tag and then enjoyed a nice popsicle to cool down.

Abigale had a few friends over and they did the Just Dance for Kids on the Wii. It was so cute to watch all 5 little girls dancing away!

 Ryan and Lydia- they are so crazy together but I love it!

  Splash Pad