My sister came to visit with her kids during the summer. They were here for a funeral, sadly, but we were happy to visit with them. (We had a lot of grandparents dying this last year between Derek & I and our in-law siblings... :(
One of the fun things we did was check out the new splash park in Springville. It's very, very similar to the ones we love in St. George, though not quite as large and not in the red rock style. Still extremely fun. The cousins all worked together to dam up the water, then made a flood with a good old-fashioned dam break...
After we'd been there for awhile, Dade came over to me nearly speechless as he tried to put to words something that he was really excited about. At not quite 4, he couldn't quite describe what was happening, so he finally led us over to this splashpad where he had managed to get a small foam football stuck and spinning in the center of the spray. I'll never forget the excitement on his face as he tried so hard to put to words what amazing thing had just happened to him.
Of course the football got so waterlogged at some point that it would no longer spin, but not before everyone had a chance to put it in and then karate chop it out... :)
Another fun fountain is the leapfrog one outside of the new Provo Recreation Center. The kids try to catch it with mixed success. I got lucky in actually getting a picture of it...
Remember how we took the puppy on lots of hikes? I don't know that there is another puppy in this world that got as much exercise as this one over the summer. And sometimes he would come home so tired that he would just collapse. With not one, but TWO treats laying on the carpet in front of him. That is how you know he is truly exhausted: his first love in life is food... (Particularly human food and doggie treats.)
A quick picture of how he spent the ride up to the cabin that should've been in the last post. He is amazing in the car, probably because he can look out the window and sneak human food. Oh, and we with his second true love (me)... Darn dog obviously knows I am a cat person.
And the shooting of small children continued throughout the summer. We had one particularly good turnout where my brother, a grandpa, Derek & an uncle took the kids on. If you haven't read prior posts, we like to target shoot the kids with nerf guns from our deck. The kids run from side to side of our rather wide yard (sort of like sharks & minnows) and try not to get hit. If they do get hit, they get to join the sharp-shooting fun on the deck. It's a win-win situation, especially for the adults if the kids have been whiny all day... ;)
Dade pretty much is in love with the trampoline. He likes to lay on it in the sun and feel the heat and look through the mat. He likes to jump and is an accomplished flipper. He especially loves to play crack the egg with mom & dad. It may be time for us to get a net around it before we put it back up in the Spring and he breaks something important like his head, or neck...
Continuing with the Dade-is-coordinated theme, he is ready to move onto a two-wheeled bike this year. He endured a year with the Princess bike & tricycle this summer but is so tall that he needs a much bigger bike. He grows so fast and is so much bigger than both the girls that it is hard to keep him in clothes and equipment. I truly dread all this when he hits puberty. I may have to establish a non-profit and accept donation simply to keep him fed...
Our cold storage in the basement is never going to cease being a novelty. The kids love its potential as a spook alley or green room, and I love it's amazing storage capabilities. Before we moved to Utah, the closest thing I'd heard of to a cold storage room was a root cellar. Like the red clay cellar we had under our house in North Carolina that I thought we would hide in during the tornadoes... Believe me when I say that this is one of our favorite things about this house.
Trafalga how we love thee! Despite eternally-broken rides, and smelly, a/c-less rooms, there are few laser-tag arenas as cool as this one. Especially for little kids.
This was Dade's first time playing. Note how well the vest fits. And how small his hands are on the gun. And yet he somehow manages to keep his hands just right on the heat sensor so he can shoot. He actually hit someone last time we played!
My brother & nephew joined us a couple times and we pretty much showed everyone how it was done.
I cannot get over how fearless my younger two kids are. Brynn looks like she's afraid of falling off and Ash & Dade have their arms in the air. I'm not really sure which is a better (or safer) mentality...
For Sedona's bday party, we took her and some friends to see the Croods at the dollar theatre. On the way in, they stopped to tinkle and accidentally ended up in the men's bathroom. Pretty much the best possible start for a birthday party of tween girls...
Adia started running X-country with the high school cross-country team and had her first meet in August. She pretty much dominated the freshman...and sophmores...and ran with the varsity during every training. She can only get better, especially if she continues to run in the summer with them as well as the Fall.
Had to throw this one in for your entertainment. When the girls were all small, they used to call bras booby-caps (probably had something to do with the Ariel Barbie who was perennially missing hers). As I was looking for some socks at Walmart one day, Dade called my attention and I turned around to see this. I promise it was not a set-up and it was definitely even funnier in person. Especially since there were other women all around watching. He's obviously never seen a bra this big at home!...
And for Dader's 4th birthday, we got him more of his marble run set. (We call it Marble Madness after an old PC game I used to play, but the brand is actually Marbulous.) It's as much fun for adults to tinker with as it is for the kids.
My baby brother lived with us for the summer while his apartment was being refurbished. We loved having him around even if he did drink a gallon of milk every two days. (He thought being in the ROTC was some kind of valid excuse.)
But the milk was nothing compared to when we went to Pizza Pie Cafe, and local buffet joint. That was just his first plate. I lost count of how many slices he ate...
While we he was away at various training camps, the girls made sure to redecorate his room so he would feel loved when he returned. My niece put the headband on Chuck which is probably the funniest thing that happened all summer...
They also gussied up his wardrobe for him. I'm just trying to figure out how to pass this picture around to all of his ROTC buddies for some much deserved teasing...
Our Santa Rosa plum tree outdid itself this year and we had more plums than we could possibly consume. We gave bags and bags of it away, and the girls sold the rest for nearly nothing.
No corner-side vending would be complete without a lemonade stand as well. We even got rid of a bunch of tomatoes (that the slugs didn't get to) before I gave up and started make spaghetti sauce and freezing it...
I got Derek this shirt for our anniversary. Probably one of the best joke tees ever created. And that's compared to his "Jack Bauer for President" and my "Heavily Medicated for Your Safety" tee...
Sadly, summer passes, and the girls went back to school in August. They have wonderful teachers and enjoy being with classmates, but the quiet at home sometimes gets to Dade and I. I shudder to think what it will be like when he's in school full-time as well...
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