Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime?

"Do you swim in a pool, to keep yourself cool?"

Jason-Levi

Lizzy-Abree-Jason

Levi

Taylee-Micaela

Jackson

Lizzy

"Is that what you do?.....

So do I!"

With Tuesday forecasted to be the warmest day of the week, we took advantage of our neighborhood pool and invited some cousins to join us.

Cousin Fun- Day 2

After breakfast we gathered, packed and swim-suited up for our short drive to Eagle Island State Park.

We had a BBQ lunch and then walked over to the water and beach area.

Julia and her boys found us and got in on the cousin fun.

Colton, Jade, Emma & Taylee
The kids discovered they could go all the way out to the yellow divider rope, still touching. The water was a bit cooler than the pool and took a few minutes to warm up to.

Jordyn
The kids made sand castles with motes...

and took turns burying each other in the sand.

Emma made a lovely mermaid... and Abree was her sidekick.

After having hours of fun at the beach, we went home for dinner then got ready for "Movie in the Park", at Settler's Park.

Jordyn, Cameron & Emma

As if they hadn't had enough water for the day, the kids started off in the splash park.

Colton, hoping he's in the right spot for the water drop.

Yep, perfect spot!

Emma

When it started cooling off, we wandered over to the play equipment.

Settler's Park is almost always a MAD HOUSE. It's big and has lots of fun things to play on... a kid's dream. But because it's so fun and has so much to do, it can be nearly impossible to keep track of your kids... a parent's nightmare.

Taylee followed Joshua around, leaving Julia only 3 to keep track of.

We only lost Matthew and Carson once.... that I'm aware of.

Abree

When the parent's couldn't take the "fun" anymore, we walked back over to our chairs and blankets, to get dressed and wait for the movie to start.

We've been enjoying "Movie in the Park" for several summers now. They blow up a HUGE movie screen and put speakers all around.

Each summer they seem to improve. This year, the sound improved greatly. We also appreciate the lights that go on after the movie. Last year, after the movie, people used cell phones and flashlights to try and gather their children and stuff. I remember leaving the park hoping that we got everything and resolving to be ok with it, if we didn't.

We ALWAYS came home with all of our children tough. :)

Joshua says,
"Bring on the movie treats!"

Abree and Taylee being creative in getting dressed.... personalized dressing rooms.

We watched, "Ice Age 3- Dawn of the Dinosaurs".

Not as dreadful as I thought. It made me laugh a few times. :)

The kids spent the night, in tents, in our backyard. It took them a little while to settle down, but we wore them out pretty good.

4th of July Weekend

We enjoyed a full weekend of fun with J.C. and Julia's family.

Friday night, we went to the movie in the park, at Settler's Park. It's a unique experience. It has a drive-in movie feel, without the car and tiny speakers. You bring your camping chairs, blankets and snacks and sit in the grass and watch a movie on a HUGE blow-up screen. The movies aren't new, but the experience and atmosphere make it fun.

The next morning, we went to our ward's pancake breakfast.

There were a lot of people in attendance, but our activities committee did a nice job feeding the masses. Joshua and Julia ready to eat.

Cameron the jack-o-lantern.

Abree

Taylee

Matthew's "Before" picture.

He had a late night, early morning and was hungry. Not a good combo. This picture was taken BEFORE the mini meltdown. Poor kiddo.

Treyson and Adam After breakfast, we enjoyed a flag-raising ceremony, including the Pledge of Allegiance, a patriotic musical number and a congregational hymn.Next, was the bike, scooter, stroller parade. The kids had decorated their scooters the night before and morning of, and were ready to show them off.

Slowly, but surely, everyone made the rounds at least once.

Abree taking her own sweet time.

Then we headed over to our neighborhood 4th of July celebration. We had missed the parade, but made it in time to play in the hose spray from the fire trucks. The mist was fine enough that you didn't HAVE TO get soaked, but many kids did.

This was such a fun time. The firemen were so kind and generous. They let anyone who wanted to, try their hand at spraying the big hoses. Cameron thought that looked fun and took a turn.

After lunch, when J.C. and Jason returned from work, we decided to go swimming at our neighborhood pool.

We played and played, until we were water-logged and hungry again.

We had a nice BBQ, including a potato salad, made from the bounties of our small garden.

In the evening, we went down to Storey Park, for live music, bouncy houses, and fireworks.

The Spiderman bouncy house was first on the boys agenda.

We also played in the park.

Abree enjoyed the swings.

Another thing the kids tried out was this.

What do you call it?

"Bop 'em and sock 'em"?

The kids said the clubs were kind of heavy and it didn't take much to knock them off their plattforms.

We did some sparklers and enjoyed the big firework display. Then went home for a few more fireworks of our own.

A very long, but fun filled day.