Last on our summer bucket list was to see the rest of the lego animals at the zoo before the exhibit left… kind of funny that we bookended the summer with the zoo (and didn't visit there at all in between!) We also caught a bird show… super cool… and tried out the new splashpad there (we'll be taking Meg and Carter back some mornings to enjoy it some more!) It was fun to have Grandma come along even when she had so much to do! Now it's ready or not, here school comes…
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This was taken at 10:51 pm… after she had convinced her Dad to get her out of bed (that is how it always works) and hung out with us till we were ready for bed.
It reminds me of this episode with Emma. -
We had a few things we'd been trying to fit in all summer that we finally got around to the last week:
Sandlot baseball with friends for Zach (while the other kids tried out the new amphitheater at the ballpark)
and an informal doll party with some girls from Emma's class last year. (note to self: the tiny muffin cups of sprinkles were a great idea… because 8 year old girls will use every last sprinkle available to them. Frosting to sprinkle ratio means nothing at all.)
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Headed south for another fun cousin's day at Dayna's, I thought I'd take the kids to hike the Y while we were in the "neighborhood". Turns out, not so much in the neighborhood. And it took a bit longer than I thought. But in the end, although it made us unfashionably late for the whole reason we headed that direction in the first place, it was a good adventure. (And some cute grandma at the bottom made sure we got a picture with me in it. :)
almost there… I think this was the point at which I received a text from Nate that said, "Tell the kids I said hi, but do not approve of BYU activities. :)"
view from the Y (at this point we could see how far from Saratoga Springs we actually were!)
And when you make it, you might as well touch the Y…
After that, we hustled back down (with Meg fast asleep in the backpack), and luckily we didn't arrive too late for the party with the cousins. We had a fun afternoon in the backyard – the little kids played in the pool and the big kids had a great time playing touch football and drinking out of the beach ball sprinkler. :)
And Meg could not believe her good fortune when Aunt Dayna gave her these cute ballerina mouse ears from her NY trip! We sure enjoyed these fun chances to hang out with cousins this summer!
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Making the rounds to check on everyone this night, I couldn't help but take some [very blurry but still very telling] pictures to document the way these crazies sleep sometimes!
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Remember these? Such a fun summer tradition that I love. Here are some of the ones we did this year!
Tour of Sweet's Candy Factory – unfortnately we didn't get any pics wearing the hair nets through the factory (too busy keeping Meg's on her head.) Zach didn't try anything but the rest of us got to taste delicious fresh taffy and other treats! Super cool.
Trip to the state capitol. We loved our trip to the MN state capitol and thought we'd give it a try here. With Meg at a not-so-into-tours kind of stage, we opted for the self-guided tour that had a fun bingo-type activity with finding cool things in the art/architecture. The kids loved it. And I am always impressed with the beauty of these buildings, and the way learning more about government and history makes us want to be better citizens.
(a not-so-successful attempt to capture all of us and the cool seagulls painted on the top of the rotunda)After checking out the insides, we walked around the grounds/statues and had a picnic where we watched an ant heroically carry away an enormous piece of peanut butter cracker. Unfortunately my phone was dead by this point. :)Another week we took advantage of the free day at the Natural History Museum at the U – when we headed up there there was nowhere to park – you had to take a shuttle from far, far away and since they only let in a limited number on this day I was certain we wouldn't make it in. What a surprise to not only get in, but that it wasn't crowded at all. We had a great time exploring everything from rocks and tectonic movement to dinosaurs and the giant models of cells. (It has been a long time since I thought about rough vs smooth endoplasmic reticulum!)
When the aquarium came for a program for Zach's school last year, they gave one free pass to each teacher to give away – and Zach's teacher gave it to him for great behavior/his overwhelming desire to learn new things, and Zach had been asking to go ever since.It was smaller than I had expected, but there was still lots too see and we could have watched the penguins all day!We ended up at the library just in time to catch the fun earth science guy make all sorts of volcanos – it makes me smile to see people who love what they do so much.Some of our Mom Wednesdays were as simple as a trip to the library to get books and a stop at 7-11 on the way home… but whatever we did, it is one of those things that helps me live up the time I get with these guys while they are home in the summer! Already looking forward to next years' adventures. -
my kids and the library. doesn't get any better than this.
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We attended a concert in the park downtown tonight, and it was awesome. It reminded me of the summer concerts at Mayo that we loved. Even though it was jazz (it was actually great jazz!) and even though Carter got a bee sting (finally paid off to have benadryl in my purse!) and even though we had to stop at a West Temple gas station bathroom on the way home for an emergency pit stop (don't worry, we made it out of there ok). A good night!!
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This summer has been so busy, but so fun. It is flying by and I wish it would last forever! I hate the thought of sending everyone back to school.
So for now, while I enjoy summer instead of writing about it, here is one of my favorite pictures from one of our favorite summer adventures….
Our "family tree" high up on the mountainside at Tony Grove.
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I have always wanted one of these, and was so excited when I found the one I was looking for. And when I read this conference talk again this past week, I realized why:
She talks about how the words we write can influence our children, and a great story about a POW in Vietnam that was only allowed 25 words to write to his family. I love to carefully choose the words to write on here (that change often) – and hope that they will stick in the heads and hearts of our family!
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