Sweet Summertime

Summer is in full swing! The heat is hitting hard, the water play abounds, and we are trying new things to keep ourselves entertained. 

Last Friday was Mike's work party at Boondock's. We drove the race cars and Ty kept asking when it was his turn, but he was too short.

We thought he might make it onto the bumper boats, as he was only a teeny tiny bit short, but no cigar.

Maddie made the cut to be an operator and it made her day! They thought it was a blast to drive their own boat and squirt Daddy.

Ty was sad to sit on the sidelines again. Poor guy.

He was cheered up when we took him inside and let him drive on the arcade games. Our kids are just getting big enough to enjoy a family fun center.

Saturday we broke out the new slip n' slide. Now that is how I spent my summers growing up! We could play on it for hours!

We tried the splash pad at the Gateway, but the kids thought the water was too cold. This was a cute moment with Ella taking Ty to try it. These two are usually picking on each other so it was sweet to see.

 We spent one evening picking peas. They are like candy they are so sweet!

 

 The most exciting thing that happened is that Ella got her training wheels off!!!

She was so ready and so brave! Mike helped her for a minute, but then she took off!

This sweet girl is having so much fun, she crashes sometimes. She's at a hard age because she doesn't "need" a nap, but with the long days of summer, she needs it! We need to try to go to bed earlier, but it's so much fun to keep playing!     

Birthday Time

I love having a June birthday! At breakfast that morning I was reminiscing about how many times Dana and I went swimming or had water related activities for our birthday growing up. We continued the tradition and spent the morning at Seven Peaks. Mike even took the morning off and joined the party.

Birthday Girls

Ella and Maddie were little fish. They tried a big slide with Daddy and are so excited we have passes this year to swim often.

Ty spent a lot of time on the sidelines, but by the end he was getting in and playing around more. Maybe next time he will warm up to it faster.

Per request, Mike made me an ice cream cake that night, and it was delicious!

My gifts had an exercise theme... incentive to get out there and get to work! I have no excuse now that I'm past the postpartum period, so I've been trying to go on long walks. A little running may be in my near future!

Today I was able to celebrate birthdays with two of my best friends, Erin and Joanna. We all have June birthdays and have developed a tradition of getting together at least in June and December for gift exchanges and gab fests. I love these ladies because they take me as I am and understand me better than almost anyone! We met as freshman roommates and have seen each other through dating, marriage, and now motherhood. In fact we each just had our fourth baby, all within a month!

In birth order, Lewis is the youngest, Hazel is two weeks older, and Jake is yet two weeks older. He looks like a bruiser compared to them with those chubby cheeks!

What's truly remarkable is how many kids we have all together... TWELVE! Thankfully they love playdates almost as much as we do.

Daddy Day

Happy Father's Day to my other half! He is a sweet and silly daddy and we are so lucky to have him. 

We served him breakfast in bed and gave him our little homemade treats and cards. The girls wanted to make the gifts in the Friend so that's what we did.

After church we had a delicious steak dinner with the Sherwoods and my parents, who were still visiting after coming to see the girls dance.

We ended the night enjoying the perfect weather and spinning till we walked sideways.

It was great to be with my Dad too.  He has influenced my life for good in countless ways. We reminisced about some fun memories... he always loved to tickle torture us until we screamed uncle, and he liked to grab our legs through the stair railings as we walked by. He gives amazing back rubs, is still trying to teach us to be healthy with his "tip of the day," and is always good for a great tight hug. He has always been so complementary and supportive of everything I do and I love him for it.

Cinderella Ballerinas

The girls had their dance recital on Saturday! After months of anticipation, they got to wear their lipstick and sparkles and perform on stage as a bunny and a palace maid. The production was Cinderella with leading parts cast from Ballet Utah, and it was actually pretty good!

The palace maids cleaned the royal castle before the grand ball.

The little bunnies waiting in the wings. You may be thinking, "I didn't know there were bunnies in Cinderella," but they were very important as they cheered up the sorrowing maiden while the prince was searching the kingdom for her.
 

We gave the girls each a rose to congratulate them on a beautiful job. They felt so special.

Grandmas and Grandpa came to witness the event. Thank you for the support!

It's just been a princessy week.

S is for...

Smoothies... sunburns... scrapes... SUMMER! This little cutie is living it up.

Some other things we have been doing: 

Tractors continued.

Olive hands!

Tummy time.

Bottle time.

Family bike ride time.

We tried the new Murdock Canal Trail that goes from Thanksgiving Point to Provo Canyon. Mike checked the structural drawings and wanted to see it in person.

Cool bridge Daddy!

Funny story... the trail starts a few miles from our house so we loaded our bikes and stroller into the van and went to find it. Mike had gotten all our tires pumped up and ready to go, but when we got there Ella's tire had gone flat. We wanted to go anyway, so she just rode on the front of the jogging stroller that I was pushing on roller blades.  However, we soon realized the trail went into a ravine, and I didn't have any braking power, so Mike rode back to the van and got my flip flops. I jogged the stroller down to the bridge and Mike and Maddie rode up ahead. After inspecting and enjoying the bridge, we started back up and Maddie's tire blew out. She skids to stop a lot and wore a hole completely through her tire! She pushed her bike all the way back! The family bike ride was so full of catastrophe we just had to laugh. We perservered!

Another great thing about summer... watermelon.

Yum!