Classic Summer

I am finding the older my kids get the more they want to go out and do things, and the more they know that there is stuff to do. So this Summer I invested in Classic Summer passes.

The first time we went we decided to try the roller skating. The kids were really excited, because we actually own a couple of pairs of skates, but have not used them much. Josh wanted to try the toddler skates, and Emily now fits into mine.

Josh and Emily started out together, but after a few minutes they decided it was not a good idea to hold hands, because they were both pretty wobbly. After a while they got better and had fun.

Joe did not want to skate, but had a new scooter to ride to school, and was happy to get some practice time on it before school started. While they skated there were strobe lights and lasers at times. The kids thought that was cool.

Valerie was happy to watch and take a nap the first visit, but that was the only time she napped through it.

The kids loved the water park, and I did too. There was stuff for all of them. Emily loved the big water slides, and Josh and Joe loved the bounce house water slides.

After the first couple of visits, Joe kept talking about the HO 2 O Blast water slide. It was his favorite. Emily kept telling him that it was the H2O Blast, but he was sure it was HO2O. (like ho ho ho)

Valerie liked the kiddie pool, but her favorite thing to do outside was practice going up and down the little stairs. She practiced all summer and got pretty good at it.



Inside she love dancing to the music while the kids roller skated, but her favorite thing inside were the bounce houses.

The Summer passes ended up being great for us. Even if we just went for an hour or two, the kids loved it. I loved it, because it gave us somewhere to go and stay busy. (and not break the bank) I am happy to say that Video games were scarce at our house this summer, and when they did come on they were welcome, because we had been out playing all day.

I look back on our summer and am amazed at how fast it seemed to fly by, but I also feel like I have spent the last three months just playing and having fun with my kids. Just the way Summer should be. I hope they had as much fun as I did.

Getting Pretty

Last week before school started We had a couple of things left on our to do list. The first was getting haircuts. My Sister-In-Law's brother Clark is great at cutting hair, so I took the boys to see him. I had been thinking Valerie's hair was looking a little shaggy and maybe she could use a trim too, so when Clark asked I put Valerie in the chair. She was happy to be in the chair at first because that is what the boys did, but she didn't like it once Clark started cutting. (he just trimmed it up a little.)

There was not too much harm done, because after she was done, she was happy to sit and pose for an after picture.

That afternoon Ryan's mom invited the kids on a shopping trip so she could buy them a new outfit for school. While Grandma and I were helping the boys find something, Emily was walking around with Valerie.

Valerie got into the shopping trip and picked out a shirt for herself. The problem was it was from Emily's section of the store and way too big for Valerie. We tried to take it from her, but she had the death grip on it. There were decorations on the shirt and I was afraid if we tried to pull it from her it might get ruined. Grandma also did not want to make her cry.

So we went over to the baby section and tried to talk Valerie into switching. We would show her a shirt and tell her how pretty it was, and she would hold up the shirt she had chosen and tell us in her baby jabber how pretty it was.

She did like one shirt I showed her and took it from me, but then when we tried to take the big shirt from her she held on tight. Luckily Joe came to the rescue for us and found a shirt in Valerie's size, and the same blue color as the big shirt she loved. Valerie was pleased and let go of the big shirt to hold the new one.

She happily held onto the shirts for the rest of the shopping trip. We did not even try to put them in a bag.

It has been a week now and Valerie still loves her new shirt. Yesterday when I was folding her laundry she watched until she saw the shirt. Then she held out her hands asking for it. We will have to be careful when we take Valerie shopping. Apparently she knows what she likes.

Karate Test

Last Saturday Joe had his first Karate test. He did really well and was moved to the next level.

10KYU

When he was asked what his favorite part of the test was Joe said the KATA. This is a routine he had to preform for the judges. I was not sure how Joe would feel about Karate after the first few classes, but Joe loves Karate, and has a really great Sensei.

Way To Go Joe. We are so proud of you!

Chillin In The Backyard

Summer seemed to fly by and there are a few things I missed posting about. So I am going to play a little catch up.

It took a little while for the weather to get warm this summer but once it did our goal was to stay cool.

We set up the kiddie pool a few times. The boys think it is even more fun if we put the slide in it.

Valerie thought the pool looked fun, so she climbed in. I was right there to pull her out and amazingly enough I think she held her breath the whole time, because she did not cough at all.

After her little swim she decided she was happy playing outside the pool.

One day after a bike ride with Ryan's mom we stopped at the store. Grandma decided we needed a little more excitement for the summer so she go the kids a slip-n-slide with a cave attached.

Joe thought it was really cool and the next Sunday at church he told all his friends about it. They all wanted to come and play. His friend Max had been talking about it quite a bit so when we called and invited him over he and his mom were happy. Unfortunately for his mom, that just made it so Max talked about it even more.

When we got out the water toys the kids usually invited a friend or two over.




They all get along pretty well.

Even when the boys gang up against the girls in a water fight.

And what is summer without Popsicles.

These are staples at our house in the Summer!

First Day Of School

Emily is now officially a sixth grader.

She is really excited about 6th grade. This morning Ryan asked her if she was nervouse and she said no, because this is the first year she didn't have a bad dream the night before school started, so she figures it means it will be a good day. Emily got a teacher who is new to the school so we know nothing about her. I can't wait to hear what Emily thinks about her.

Joe is officially a first grader.

He does not really start until tomorrow. Today he had an appointment to meat his new teacher and talk to her a little bit. She seems really nice, and I think she is going to be a great teacher.

Cecret Lake

Over the past two weeks the kids and I have hiked to Cecret lake twice.

The first time we went with our ward Relief Society group. The kids friends Charlie, Sam, Owen and a few others came too.

It was nice to have so many other kids with us, because they forgot to ask how much farther and, and are we there yet. The hike was only a mile and not too difficult.

It was a little windy the day we went, but the kids did not seem to mind.

They had fun throwing rocks in the lake and even tried to stick their toes in it, but it was really cold.

On our way back down the mountain we saw a couple of Moose. They were really close to the trail.

The wild flowers were in full bloom and very beautiful, I can see why so many people go here to get their pictures taken.

The hike to Cecret lake begins and ends at a camp ground. The kids noticed people roasting marshmallows and asked if we could do that. Taking the kids up the canyon for a cookout had been in the back of my mind all summer, but it had not happened yet. So I started planning one. In order to do the hike and cookout we needed to go in the late afternoon.

I talked to a couple of my friends to see if they were interested, and we started planning. I was hoping the dads could meet us for the campfire part, but it turned out that on the night we could all go, all of our husbands were busy. (suspicious) We looked at a couple of different hikes, but in the end decided to do Cecret Lake again, because we were outnumbered (adults vs kids) and we were familiar with the hike and area.

The girls -Shelby, Me, Angela, and Liz

This group was a little younger than the first, but everyone did great.

This time the kids remembered that the water was cold and stayed out of it,

But they found some Salamanders in the lake and had fun watching them. Cute Little Ben (the boy in the yellow)also had fun playing with sticks in the mud and accidentally got some on his mother. It's a good thing he is so cute, and that we had wet wipes.

After the hike we found a picnic area and began setting up. This was a little tricky, because all of the adults were busy and the kids were interested in two things. The fire we were trying to lite and the little stream that was right next to the picnic area. Most of the kids were old enough to understand and follow the rules we set, but Valerie had no comprehension. All she could see was fun stuff. I asked Emily to watch her and keep her out of trouble. Shelby lent Emily her kid leash. Valerie was not very happy about that, but it made things easier for Emily.


Once the fire was lit and things were more under control I released Valerie again. She could feel the heat coming from the fire now and stayed away from it.

The kids loved roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.

A few caught on fire, but they all were eaten.

I would like to say that doing things this way kept everyone a little cleaner than if we camped, but Valerie attracted dirt like a moth to a flame. She even managed to get Angela's Diet Coke and dump it all over herself.

Luckily I had an extra outfit.

The kids asked if we could bring our tent next time and camp over night. I said not this year, but I was happy to pitch the tent in the back yard for them when we got home.

I kept my door open so I could hear them in the night, but they all slept really well and I did not hear a sound until about 7:30 the next morning.

So they had a camp out just the way I like them. Kids sleeping happily outside in a tent. Mom Dad and Baby sleeping comfortably in our own beds.

There are a couple other hikes in the area I would like to go on. I am hoping the weather is nice in September so we can go on them. It is so beautiful in the mountains this time of year.

Visiting Grandma

Tuesday we went to visit my Grandma.

She always had a project for us to help her with, but I do not mind because we visit while we work and I always learn a new trick or two.

This time we helped her freeze corn. Or at least we helped her get it ready to be frozen.


My sister-in-law Jenny, and my Nephew Jaxson also came to help. The kids were really great at husking. Josh liked breaking off the ends after they were husked.

Valerie just liked eating the corn.


After the corn was husked, the kids took the husks over to my Uncles horses.

Getting to feed the horses is a real treat for both the kids and the horses.

The kids played the rest of the time while we finished preparing the corn, and visited.

It is always fun to go visit Grandma and learn from her.

Cowabunga Dude!

Last Summer a new water park opened in our area. We did not ever go, because I was a little busy having a baby. This summer I was still not sure about taking the kids, because Valerie is still so little, but my friend Laura has season passes, and told me it was perfect for little kids. She also said they would be happy to go with us, and directed me to some great deals. (50% off an all day pass!)

Monday we went and had a great time. The park is very contained so it is easy to keep track of your kids. There are only two places for them to be. The waterslide structure, or the pool/lazy river. It also seemed to be geared towards young families, so the crowd was very clean cut and nice. The waterslides are put together like a big playground.

If you enter it or even get too close, you will get wet. Throughout the structure they have placed hoses and dump buckets, so even if you are just walking through or close to, there is a good chance you will come out soaked. I was really glad that I had taken my old camera, because it was crazy trying to get good pictures without getting wet. Kids (and some adults) do not care if you are young or old or even carrying a baby, they will still soak you. But that is all part of the fun.

The waterslides were perfect for my kids. There were very short ones, medium ones and big ones. The other great thing is that they do not drop into a pool at the end. I am never good at standing up at the end of those slides and always go underwater. So I have never felt like I could take Valerie. That was not the case here. There is water at the end, but it is not more than a foot deep and you just slide into it. So you can keep your head above water if you want to.

Josh was still scared about going on the slides, because the other slides we have been on this summer have all dropped into a pool. I knew if I could get him to go down one time he would see how great it would be. I tried to get him to go with me, but he wouldn't. So I took him to the smallest one and pretty much shoved him down it. After that he loved the slides. He stuck to the small to medium slides, but I pretty much did too. Joe had no problem going on the slides. He did want them to be a little faster, so he asked me if I would go down a couple with him so he could go faster. My friend Laura was a big help and took Valerie down with her so I could go with Joe. Joe loved going fast. He was also very entertained with the hoses and dump buckets.
Have I said how easy going Valerie is. I have never had a baby who will go places all day and stay happy, and still take their naps. She just wants to do what we are doing. I took her on a few waterslides. I couldn't tell if she liked them, but she kept climbing back up the stairs so she must have. My friend Laura was great and took her down a few slides too or watched her for me while I helped the other kids with things. The day would not have been as easy without her help.

Valerie gives new meaning to the saying "Will sleep ANYWHERE."

She loves floating around the lazy river and twice while we were there she fell asleep floating around the rive. Once for her morning nap and once for her afternoon nap. There were kids splashing and yelling and screaming, but it didn't seem to bother her.


Emily loves any water activity and she has been looking forward to this all summer. She was also great to help a little with Valerie and Josh if I needed her to, but most of the time she was off getting wet, and having fun.

It was really hard to get a picture of the kids all together, because they were not really together very much during the day. Every now and then I would catch a couple of them together under the big dump buckets getting soaked.

Under the biggest dump bucket someone had placed a row of chairs. Joe thought it was really funny to sit in the chairs when the bucket dumped.

My friend Laura and her family had to leave around 3:30, but we stayed a while longer. I had not gotten many pictures of Emily, so I started going around with her. It was then that I noticed the boy following her. I even got a great picture of him without even knowing it. He is in a white t-shirt standing right behind Emily in the above picture. I named him the Jonas Brother.

I was not sure at first, but after conducting a few tests like telling Emily to go on slides that were on the other side of the structure or having her go over to our chairs with me. I confirmed that this boy was not letting her out of his sight. I know it is a little creepy, but I could tell it was an innocent crush, and I found it amusing.

At that point I knew I had gotten him in a picture, because I did it intentionally. (however the picture I had taken on purpose was not as good as the one here) I also wanted Emily to be aware that she was being followed, or see if she already knew. So I said to Emily, "I got a picture of the boy that's following you."

Emily had no idea what or who I was talking about, So I showed her who it was. She laughed and found it as amusing as I did. Valerie was tired of being in the water, so I told Emily she could go play, because I was going to sit with Valerie. She headed into the lazy river. (Which was great because I could see her the whole time.) Of course the Jonas boy followed her. He tried to keep his tube right behind Emily's. If she stopped and he got ahead of her, he would slow down until he could slide behind her again.

I finally couldn't take it anymore. It was starting to get a little sad. I wanted to see what he would do if Emily acknowledged him. So I pulled Emily to the side and told her to ask him what his name is. She looked shocked and said "no way." Then I saw her talking to him. A few minutes later it was time to go. When Emily came over I asked her what his name was and how old he was. She didn't know. She said she said Hi to him and he just laughed goofily and then hung out with her. So he will forever be the Jonas boy.

Ryan did not find this story at all amusing, and said he will be coming with us next time to scare off any creepy boys.

I mostly pointed out the lurking boy to her, because I wanted her to be aware of him.

If Emily was not Emily I might have handled it differently, but she is not chasing boys yet. The crowd at this water park was also a nice family crowd. Which made me not worry so much. Emily and I laughed about it all the way home.

We will definitely be going back next year, and if I can find the deals I did this year we will definitely go more than once. It was a great day and the park was perfect for my kids.