Bridal Veil Falls

For our field trip today (yep!  I said TODAY!  As in I'M CAUGHT UP!!!) we went to Bridal Veil Falls up Provo Canyon with some friends.  After days of 100+ degree weather lately, it was much colder than we anticipated.  By the time the sun came out a little, the crowds were coming out, too.  Still, the kids had so much fun collecting rocks and exploring.  The freezing cold mountain water only deterred them for a bit.  They want to go back again soon.  

And since I'm actually caught up, I chose to take my camera on an outing for once! 

Summer Via Phone Pics

Oh, Summer.  How busy your days have been!  I hate dragging a camera around with me, so even though my phone camera is pretty bad, it's what has captured bits of our summer more than the regular one.

This is the first year I've tried a summer schedule with my kids.  They have daily chores (making bed, cleaning room, and one other) every morning.  They get rewarded the earlier they get it done, and punished with an extra chore if it's past 10 AM.  Then there's a family activity every day before lunch.  

Monday- Library

Tuesday- Splash Pad/swim

Wednesday- Art day

Thursday- Field trip day

Friday- Make up or free time

After lunch is quiet time which is my sneaky way to try and catch a nap while they watch TV or a movie together, draw, or read.  Yep, even the big kids get quiet time.  In the afternoon they're free to play with friends.  The schedule I think has been harder for their friends than them because they aren't available to play til afternoon.   I'm selfish and want time with them, too!  We've had so much fun together this summer making memories.  It's been wonderful, and I can definitely see us doing this again next year.  I think their favorite has been art day.  We've done some pretty darn cool art projects.  I don't have pictures of them all, just a couple.

Field trip day early on was to get donuts for good grades.  

We've also been to Farm Country, several new parks, snow cones, Curiosity Museum, BYU Museum of Art, out for ice cream, Classic Fun Center, a book store, and more.  There are still a few on our list to hit in the next couple weeks. 

Other random goodness:

(First dentist trip for Alice)

I've been busy on top of kid duties.

I'm still teaching Zumba 3x's/week at 29 weeks.  I also recently attended a fun Latin Pop class to learn some new dance styles and have been subbing classes more at a nearby gym. I look forward to the belly being gone so I can give 110% again.  It's hard to hold back when contractions and ligament pain strike.  

 I sorted through all my baby girl clothes and took out sentimental ones.

Now the rest are in my living room waiting to be given away.  I won't say how long they've been waiting.

I took my glucose test and passed with flying colors.  (Thank goodness!)

 Then there's always running errands with these monkeys to keep me busy.

Sometimes . . .

. . . Summer is just exhausting.

A Summer Necessity

50

My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in July.  Before the big event, I went out to a park with them to get some updated pictures they could use.  My little photobombers came along, too.

Such amazing luck I had finding a sloth in a tree that day at the park!

You never see those around here . . .

We had an open house to celebrate their anniversary.  The kids loved running around with cousins the whole time.  We didn't get back to our home til 11 PM that night.  Long day!

This little guy is their youngest cousin whom none of us had met before.

He was given a lot of attention from my kids who are very anxious for their own baby brother to join us.  

My Fishies

We look forward to swim lessons every year!  My kids love it, and I love scheduling it with a friend.  That way my kids have friends in their classes and I have a friend to talk to for 30 minutes a day for 2 weeks, kid-free!  Win win! 

I wasn't sure which level to put Alice in this year, but she did FANTASTIC in the one we picked!  It couldn't have gone better for her!  She LOVED it!

Another successful year in the books!  

We celebrated with ice cream with our friends at Macey's.  

Brick Slopes

We saw from a friend on Facebook some fun Lego Convention they went to at UVU.  We found out it was going to be there one more day, so off we went on a Saturday thinking we'd spend maybe a couple hours.  5 hours later . . . . .

 The thing that really kept the kids busy all those hours was the giant Lego pit in the middle of the convention with 2 million Lego pieces.  We didn't have lunch with us, just a few crackers per person, and somehow everyone stayed pretty happy and were sad when Mom and Dad finally said we need to leave and eat!

 This really opened our eyes to us needing more Legos!  Matty has quite a few sets, but they can be hard to just build and be creative with when there are so many specialized pieces.  So at the end of July, we chose not to go on a family getaway, and instead we spent some $$$ on classic Legos like plain bricks, wheels, windows, doors, and roof pieces.  They encourage family time, all 4 kids love them, and they allow creativity.  Plus if they keep everyone busy for 5 hours with no complaints . . . huge bonus.

Alice Turns 3!

When I asked Alice what she wanted to do for her birthday, she said go to Farm Country.  Funny, that's exactly what Lacey wanted when she turned 3!

That evening we had a little party for her with just our family.  We opened presents, had cup cakes, and watched her movie pick, Toy Story.  The next day, we had another celebration with extended family.

 

 Jossy gave Alice Starbursts, which she calls "star wars."  It makes us laugh every time she asks to eat star wars.  

Alice is the biggest source of joy in our family right now.  If you ask her if she's cute, she says, "No, I'm funny!"  If you ask if she's funny, she says, "No, I'm cute!"  Her sense of humor is hilarious.  Alice loves stuffed animals, especially puppies.  She loves playing "family" with her siblings, Barbies, or baby dolls.  Her favorite shows are Caillou, Daniel Tiger, George, and Doc McStuffins.  At bedtime, she always wants a song, and it's usually some strange version of the primary song "Daddy's Homecoming" but she wants the lyrics changed to "I'm so glad when _______ comes home."  The blank she changes daily from her fan or a blanket to even her door.  I sang the door version one night upon her request.  Afterwards she said, "But Mom!  Doors don't have necks!"  Yes, Dear.  I realize that.  You're the one who asked for some weird song, not me.