June

One night, early on in June, I couldn't sleep.  I woke up and lay there thinking of my sweet Molly.  Thinking about how at the end of the summer she would be leaving us for part of the day and then after that for all day...she is growing up. Then I thought that this was our last chance to really live it up-to not have to follow a schedule.  So I thought that we had to make it extra good.  And, so far, I think we've succeeded.

Muffin tin lunches.

 

Justin ran the Dirty Dash in Midway.  His work sponsored a bunch of employees, whoever wanted to do it actually.  I wish they had sponsored the spouses too, but not this year.  He ran with his friend, Rich White.  They were nice and clean before the race started.

They didn't stay clean for too long!

We had planned to make a day of it as a family but Brynn and Stocky weren't feeling well so just Molly got to go.  I don't think she had as much fun as she thought she would.  She wasn't too keen on the mud like the other kids were so she just stood there until Justin finished (Rich's wife watched her).  Maybe she's happy that it's over?

Hobble Creek Canyon is super close to us which makes it really easy to sneak up there on any night of the week.  I think my kids could throw rocks in the river all day long.  

We walked/strolled/rode bikes on the trail too.

Molly has really been wanting to try gymnastics so I found a 5-week summer session so she could try it out.  They did floor, trampoline, and balance beam.  It was fun for her to try something new and she actually learned a few new things: backbends, cartwheels, handstands.

  

  

It's over now but she is constantly doing headstands on the couch.

She taught Stocky how to do them too. They like to do them at the same time and then crash into each other.

We had a science day.  We did the baking soda/vinegar/food coloring experiment.  It was fun.

 

 We made a chalk drawing for Justin on the driveway.

And just so you know, if you dip your chalk into water before you draw on the sidewalk, your art will last for a long time!  It took a good 3-4 weeks before the whole thing was gone.

Provo Canyon is a good place for us to meet up with Justin on his way home from work.  We like to roast hot dogs (or get Subways or something quick like that) for dinner and just enjoy being outside as a family.  It's very low key, which is what we like best. 

Gene and April's stake puts on a Family Fun Day every year.  This is the first year we didn't already have something going.  Justin had to work but I took the kids.  They have bounce houses, a climbing wall, dunk tank, crafts, face painting, snow cones, ice cream, popcorn, and lunch-and it's all free!

Justin decided that it was time for Molly to learn how to ride her bike without training wheels.  Her bike is big-18 inches-and her feet can't reach the ground so we started out with her old 12-inch bike.  She took right off!  Within 30 minutes she was cruising around all over.

Justin was so excited.  The next night he got home from work and took the training wheels off her big bike.  I was quite skeptical, I admit.  I didn't want to ruin the confidence she had gained from doing so well the day before.  But she surprised us and was able to do it!  Starting took a couple weeks of practice but she is doing great now!  Way to go Molly!!

We had a weekend where nothing was planned (we haven't had very many of those) so we headed up the canyon in search for a place to camp.  We found a nice little spot on the side of the road up Diamond Fork Canyon and had a great time.  We couldn't have a campfire since it wasn't technically a campsite, especially since we went during the height of all the fires.  But we made do and the bonus was that we didn't come home reeking of smoke.  We roasted marshmallows over the camp stove.

This was our trial run...would the kids to well enough to make us want to go again?  They did, actually.  Everyone slept very well.  Except for me...but that was due to the fact that sometime in the middle of the night I heard a very wierd, creepy animal noise.  It kept me up for a couple hours wondering what it could be and making plans if we had to escape to the car quickly.  My imagination was kind of going crazy on me!  Whatever it was, we saw no signs of it the next morning.  Although we got out of there as fast as we could when Justin found a rattlesnake close to where we were playing.  Yikes!

Again, the kids threw rocks in the river.  Brynn never tires of this.  Molly made a fishing pole out of a stick, some rope, and a tent stake.  She fished for leaves.  Some friends of ours joined us for dinner and marshmallows.  They have a boy Molly's age and they are great friends.  This was the conversation we happened to overhear:

Molly: Matthew, do you want to go fishing?

Matthew: No, let's play house.

We all got a pretty good laugh about that!

Here are Stocky and Felicity playing in the tent.  These particular friends are moving to North Carolina next week and we are all very sad here at our house.

Stocky fell asleep one day in the stroller. I knew if I tried to take him out he would wake up. He slept like this for a couple hours. (I laid the stroller back on the couch if you can't tell.)

Some girls in our neighborhood decided to put on a cheer camp for all the little girls.  It was so cute.  These girls are only nine but they came up with the idea on their own, made fliers, told them to wear white shirts and leggings, bought tutu's from the dollar store, held 4 days of camp and even had a popsicle party on the last day.  Molly could only go to the first day because we were in Bear Lake the rest of the week but I just thought it was such a fun idea!  I love our neighborhood!! (Molly's on the far right.)

We went to the SF splash pad.

Justin's branch had a barbecue in Heber.  They rented a bounce house but my little ones preferred the trampoline (probably because the big kids were occupying the bounce house).  Molly found a new friend, Brittany, who is probably almost twice her age.  She sure loves it when older girls play with her!

And this cute group of kids and their lemonade (ahem...Crystal Light) stand they did in front of our house.  They only had a few customers but they were all incredibly excited about the 14 cents they each got to take home! I think they drank most of the lemonade before they could sell it...especially those 3-year-olds.  They didn't quite get the concept.   

  

We also went to 7 Peaks three times but I have no pictures because water and our camera doesn't mix that well.  The first time Justin came with us and then I decided that I could take the kids by myself.  We bought the Pass of all Passes last year so I have been trying to get our money's worth out of it.  The other reason we keep going back is to make Stockton get used to the water.  The first time we went he was so scared-he was clinging to either Justin or I and wouldn't loosen his grip at all.  By the third time he was still timid but much better, even going down the slides in the kiddie area all by himself.  I'd say that's making some progress.  Hurray!!