"Back to School" Party

August 16th 2014

 

We just had our 4th Annual "Back to School" Party with cousins. 

 It is always fun to hang out and spotlight these cute kids.

Adults just hanging out

More hanging out

Elementary Age kids - 5th grade through Kindergarten
Lizzie (5th), Trevor (4th), Vince, Afton, and Lilly (1st) Grey and Shaelynn (K)

Representing the Middle School group-
 7th graders Ethan and Andrew

All the cousins-
 in chronological order ranging from 12 years old to 9 months old

 

Lizzie's Playgroup

Lizzie and a couple of her friends have been hosting a weekly play group every Tuesday this summer  from 10 to 12.  It was something Lizzie and her friends came up with.  They made fliers, delivered them around the neighborhood, had themes for each week and planned the activities.  It was fun to see Lizzie do something like this.  Those who know her well, know it is currently not really in her comfort zone:) She and her friends did great though.   The girls also made some pretty good money for 10 and 11 year olds. I kept telling Lizzie all summer she had more money than me :)

    They just had their grand finale of "Carnival Day" on the 12th. Here are a few pictures from the summer. Most of the pictures are from Carnival Day. I did remember to take a few pictures for the other days but not many.

Water Day

 

Teddy Bear Picnic Day



 Cowboy Day

 

 

Carnival Day

They had different game stations for each of the kids to go to.  They could earn tickets at each station and then they could be turned in for prizes, popcorn or Dippin Dots.  At the very end was an appearance by a couple clowns.

 

Action shots of the different stations

Lilly in the egg relay

Logan helping to set up cups for the next round of "Knock 'em Over"

Popcorn station

What's a carnival day without a bounce house?

The kids thought it was so fun to get their own tickets

Oh yeah, and there was a place where you could sign a
birthday card for Chuckles the clown :)

Most of the kids with Lizzie and Chuckles

The hosts- Sarah,  Clown Lizzie and Sophie

Lizzie and Sophie as the clowns for playgroup

These three are currently ALWAYS together. 
 They are such cute girls

 

Timpanogos Cave

August 11, 2014

 

To end our "Trail Tuesdays" for this summer we decided to invite friends and go to Timpanogos Cave.  We had to change it to  "March Monday" since that fit better with everyone's schedule. :) We got to hang out with our friends the Sierer's and Christensen's for the evening.  After the cave we all went to the BYU Creamery for some delicious ice cream.  All of the kids did great on the trail (it was much steeper than I remember )and it was a nice evening hanging out with friends.

 

The group-
 5 adults and 11 kids

Beautiful views along the hike

The Moms (and some of my favorite friends)- Stacey, me and Michelle

 

Jack, Ethan and Colin representing the 12 year olds.
Do you like how insanely tall our son is? :)

We made it to the top!

The heart of Timpanogos

Most of the kids taking a rest break

Our Ranger showing us the heart

Selfie with some of the girls

The pictures don't do it justice but it was awesome inside the cave.
  I hadn't been in forever.

And that ends our "Trail Tuesdays" for the 2014 summer season :) 

Balloon Fest

August 8th and 9th was the Sandy Balloon Fest for this year.

 

I  went for a run Friday morning when they all lift up into the air.  It was so fun to see 10 or so hot air balloons in the sky while I ran around the neighborhood. Definitely a nice view for a run.

 

The Saturday night Glitter and Glow this year  was probably one of the best they have been able to have in awhile.  The balloons going up for the glow are so dependent on the weather and it almost has to be absolute perfect conditions.  Well this year I  counted at least 10 balloons up and ready to glow. 

 It was great!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swim Days

Maybe I am feeling nostalgic today that summer only has a few more weeks....
 I know our days of outside swimming are quickly coming to a close.

 

We go swimming a lot in the summer.  I love it! 

The kids are playing, exercising, and with sunblock soaking up some healthy rays. 

 

   I try to take the kids every Tuesday to an outdoor pool.  Draper is my favorite.  And then Thursdays we go to Cowabunga Bay.  Sometimes we have to do different days and sometimes we go more than that but we try to go at least twice a week. 

 

 I start work next week on August 13th.  Full time for 8 weekdays in a row!  Yikes! I guess the office is really busy right before school starts getting things ready.  Then I go back to my regular part time hours the week of August 25th.  Anyways, I told the kids we will go swimming as much as we can before I have to go back to work. This week we went swimming 4 times between Wednesday and Friday.
 It was heavenly. 

 

Here are some pictures from our last trip to Draper Pool.

 

 Usually when we go to an outdoor pool I let Ethan and Lizzie invite a friend.
Here is Ethan and his friend Tanner

Lizzie and Sophie

 

 

Swim Lessons

Then just to add more swimming into the mix I have my kids taking swim lessons up at Draper Pool on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. See my thinking here, same days we go swimming.   Thus my kids don't even have to change out of their swimsuits :) Afton and Lilly go first and then Ethan and Lizzie.  Here are some pictures I took of Afton and Lilly while we were waiting for Ethan and Lizzie to finish up their lessons.     

They like to dry off on the cement after their lessons :)

Sometimes they like to change direction and dry off while eating a Laffy Taffy.

Hanging out and chatting.

More hanging out and talking

My beautiful Afton