Camping at Timpanookee

Kevin got a chance at a last-minute backpacking trip with Pata. He wasn't planning on going, but when it looked like Pata was going to go by himself, and shortened his trip one day, it all worked out! Shad, and Parsnip, did end up going too. They backpacked just overnight in the Uintas. 

Kevin planned a few months ago to take the big kids camping this same weekend up American Fork canyon, at Timpanookee campground. We just haven't had great luck getting toddlers to sleep in a tent all night long, so Evelyn's got a year or two to go before she will be invited! The kids and I met the guys at the campground with the camping gear on Friday afternoon. It was a beautiful campground, with the spots farther away from each other than others we have been too. Evelyn and I were only going to stay a little bit, but it was so fun we stayed for a walk, exploring, dinner, and s'mores. 

 

 The kids all did so well with Parsnip, which was a relief. He was pretty tuckered out from hiking. Cora even felt comfortable around him, so maybe she is making progress with overcoming her fear of dogs. We've been working on it! Parsnip was so patient with the kids too-- even when Evelyn was trying to use him as a pillow!

 Evelyn and I spent Saturday morning at a farmer's market and at the farm at Thanksgiving Point. She loves riding the horses, and liked this white one most of all!

  The camping crew went on a hike Saturday morning and tried to go fishing, but it was too rainy. Maybe next summer!

First bit of August

Evelyn is just the right size now to wear this dress Kissie and Pata got Cora in Hawaii! I love the memories that come with pulling out a 'new' box of clothes!

 The school posted Cora and Violet's teachers and class lists for the new school year. Cora will have Miss Weber for 3rd grade, and we are especially excited that Violet has Mrs. Palmer for 1st grade (Cora had her for 1st grade and she is terrific!). Both Cora and Violet have a few friends in their class from previous years or our neighborhood. It will be wonderful!

 

 I had the best of plans for a Friday afternoon in Salt Lake. We were going to tour the Brigham Young House, meet up with Kevin, eat at the Lion House, attend my cousin's wedding reception, and go to one last concert in the park. Well, we found out that they shorten the tour of the Beehive House in the summer so we only saw part of it and it was short. The kids did have fun playing in the children's area of the family history center in the JSMB though. 

 And we got to stop by Pata's office, which is always a treat! But then a gigantic tour was right in front of us at the Lion House, so we had to change our dinner plans. And my cousin's reception started a little late and the kids were not behaving well so we just left early. And skipped the concert too. Oh well, sometimes things just don't go as planned! 

Luke was so excited to show me his sunglasses trick of... well, putting them anywhere except where they usually go! 

 Luke also got a much needed haircut! He might be a pound lighter now! 

 

 Either she is more strong-willed than my other kids, or I am worn down! Evelyn insisted on wearing her swimsuit to Cafe Rio, and it wasn't worth the fight. She has been wanting to wear it a lot lately! (She also loves putting her shoes on all by herself, just sometimes on the wrong feet!)

Other highlights of the week: Cora and Violet had their last week of summer tumbling camp with Miss Kara. Cora went into the bigger girls class, Miss Kara said it would be good for her to see what they are doing and have a visual on the goals she is shooting for. She really liked it! And Violet had a lot of fun tumbling and perfecting her backhandsprings. I attended the temple with a friend for the first time in years (instead of by myself or with Kevin). It was nice to go and not be in a rush to get home to a babysitter, and fun to discuss the new temple presentations with someone new. I've been lucky to make some good friends here in Herriman that last five years! And, finally, we did met up with Heather and her boys for a Welfare Square tour on Friday morning. It's been on my summer list of things to do the last few summers, so it was nice to finally make it there! It wasn't the best timing, we were in with a huge youth group so the tour was longer and it was harder for kids to see and hear. And they weren't making cheese-- one of my favorite parts! (And I forgot to take pictures!) But it was still a good experience, and fostered some great conversations with the kids about fast offerings, donations, humanitarian work, and food storage. The organization of the Church is pretty amazing! 

July Round-Up

"Mom, I can't believe that I found a moon rock in our garage!" (That's what a trip to the planetarium will do for you!)

 I already think Herriman is a pretty amazing place to live-- but it might just be perfect if this new Indian restaurant is good!

 Spa science day! The girls mixed up the mask and insisted on the cucumbers. 

 Shakes and burgers at Iceburg for family night--yum!

 Silly kids!

 We listened to the Indian in the Cupboard on the way to and from the reunion. It's so fun that the kids are getting old enough to enjoy some of my favorite childhood classics!

 We chose a new park to try and got there early to beat the heat. It was a perfect day for a picnic and play-- we even had the place to ourselves! 

 We went to the farm for a family night. The kids love feeding the goats and riding the ponies. There was even a sweet cow near the fence to pet!

  

 

 Some of these cuties look more scared than others to be in jail!

  

 First cucumber and bean harvest! And a few leftover peas too. 

Luke has been working hard at improving his reading. We do a couple chapters out of the big yellow book each week. He is doing great! 

 This is the first year that I've put time and (some) money into out front yard. I love all the color! It's been nice to have a cheerful yard. 

 We had a fun water afternoon and each of the kids invited a friend or two. Perfect summertime activity!

 Luke has been very interested in drawing sunflowers lately. He loves watching the ones in our backyard grow and can't wait for them to bloom! 

The last week of July was our first free week-- no lessons, camps, family activities or anything! Kind of crazy to have it all so open. So we picked a few outings and activities and had a lot of playtime with friends. 

We spent a fun morning at the Museum of Natural Curiosity with Amber, Samantha, and their kids. It was a little busy (and the rainforest was super busy!) but lots of fun. Evelyn got all dressed as a pirate by herself for a play.   

 Here's all the kiddos!

 Evelyn and Paisley were a bit on the tired side at this point, but they were still enjoying the water table. 

The kids spent a ton of time building structures and pushing the earthquake button to see them fall down. Their favorite setting was the most severe earthquake, of course. This museum has the coolest activities! 

The was an incredible summer storm going on when we left-- we got so drenched on the way to the car. Amber and her kids came over for a bit afterward and Cora introduced them all to plays (mostly to grab grown-ups attention I think!).  

Another day we fed the ducks (and Evelyn). It was a pretty day to do it too, nice and cool from rain the day before. We also went out to lunch with Kevin and saw his new office. 

 Making soap clouds has been on my idea list for a long time. If you put a bar of Ivory soap in the microwave you can watch it grow. It's pretty cool! We watched them grow, played with the funny textured soap, 

 crumbled them up into 'snow flakes', and then added a little food coloring and water, and pressed them into heart shape molds to make bath soaps. 

Then we grew more soap clouds and used pipettes and food coloring water to paint them.