Summer Fun- June

We have been having way too much summer fun. So much so that I have actually stopped taking pictures knowing how far behind I was on my blog! I'm almost caught up now!! 

Kimee did Soccer Camp with a couple of friends from the neighborhood, Natalie and Matthew. She had a great time. The younger kids had fun playing around the grass and on the bleachers while we watched Kimee.

That Friday was Huck Finn Days at the park. We love this tradition! We have been every year since we moved here. We had to start with the horseback riding, our favorite, before the line gets too long.

Then we did some carnival games like, fishing pond, bubble gum contest, and cake walk (yummy donut!!) While the girls ate their donut, we stood in line for face painting, which was a very long line. The girls LOVE that it is the rodeo princesses painting their faces.

We have gone to a couple of softball games down at the park by our old neighborhood. Dave has been filing in when the regulars on the team are on vacation or whatever. The girls and I spend more time at the playground, but it is fun to watch Dad, too!

 Kimee has been really into reading the books she has gotten from summer library.

 Jill and Jeremy came by the park for a little visit too. It's hard to see, but this is Audrey, Jeremy, and Maddi climbing.

Kimee and Audrey took swimming lessons and loved it!

Here is Audrey going off the diving board.

 Here goes Kimee!

 Nice trick!

 Audrey swimming.

Kimee and her friend Stephanie. 

Kimee doing the back stroke.

Kimee practiced her diving a lot.

 We picked a hot day to set up the water slide. Some of our neighbors came over and had a lot of fun (although there were some complaints of the water being too cold :).

We did our annual backyard campout on June 17. This year Kimee and I got the tent set up in the afternoon so they had lots of time to play in the tent. Maddi especially had SO much fun! When Dad got home, we had a yummy dinner of grilled chicken, baked beans, coleslaw, and cantaloupe and of course yummy marshmallows and Smore's for dessert. Kimee is getting so good at PERFECTLY tan roasted marshmallows... and she even shared them with her mom!!

We actually ALL slept in the tent through the night this time. It was great! In the morning we had Monkey Paws for breakfast. The kids played in the tent until it started getting hot. Then we packed everything up for another time. This is one of our favorite summer traditions.

The last Saturday of June, Dave took Kimee and Audrey fishing with his friend Jonathan and his boys. They had SO MUCH FUN!!!!

Kimee kept a tally of how many fish they caught- 21. When we went to the aquarium the next week, she looked all over the Utah section for the fish they caught.

They did get quite a sunburn, despite the several applications of sunscreen. But they ABSOLUTELY loved the whole trip. They've talked non-stop about going again and all the other friends they want to take with them so they can see how fun it is.

Father's Day

How great is Father's Day, when you get to do this...

While watching this...

IT'S PERFECT!!!

After naps, it was time to open presents...

 Cute shorts, a book, and a bird feeder!!!

A Handmade gift from Audrey.

 Kimee made a very special card too.

 WE LOVE YOU, DAD!!!!

At the end we were going to surprise Dad with some thing he has wanted for a LONG time, a hammock. But when I went to put it together, one of the pieces was defective. BUMMER! I was so sad, because I thought it would be such a cool surprise when he went out to put up the bird feeder. So, like 2 weeks later we finally got the part. EVERYONE in the family loves the hammock, surprisingly even me. I actually have said that hammock might turn me into a lazy person, it's so relaxing to lay in it and look at the mountain view in our back yard.

Maddi LOVES snuggling with HER daddy. And Dave can never pass up the chance to take a nap :)

 (These were taken on the 4th of July).

Thanks for being such a great Dad!!!

And as just a little bit more evidence how great Dave is, he lets the girls do his hair, quite often. Mostly it's just spraying it with water and brushing it, but sometimes it involves adding accessories.
This was Kimee's hairdo she did on Dad, June 28.

Lagoon

On June 11, we went to Lagoon for Dave's annual summer work party. We had SO much fun!! Seriously, they have so many family friendly rides that we were able to take Maddi on, it was AWESOME!

We always start at the Carousel. And since we got there so early, and there was no line, we did it several times before moving on.

 Then we headed to the kiddie rides. The lines can be so slow for some of these. We are excited that next year we can skip the baby boats (and most of the little kiddy rides)!!!

While we were waiting in line for some kiddy ride, Audrey decided she wanted to go on this...

The TIDAL WAVE. She LOVED it! And begged to go back again and again. Her and dad went several times. One time was when Kimee, Maddi and I went on the little swings, Dragonfly. Kimee and Maddi shared a seat.

We ran into Bonnie and McKay at the Jumping Dragon. We ended up going on that ride 2-3 times. Maddi sat with me. She was SOOO brave!

 Kimee was thrilled to get to ride with Kallie.

Puff the roller coaster has been a favorite.

But then we discovered the new roller coaster, Bombora (thanks to Bonnie and McKay). Maddi was tall enough to go so we all went!!! It was so fun!!!

Then we had to go on the train, but Maddi fell asleep while waiting in line. I was sad she missed seeing all the animals. Maybe next year she won't need a nap anymore and we can stay longer. It was so much fun!

I didn't mention the luncheon we had with Dave's work, and the ride on the ferris wheel. And there were other rides too that I just didn't take pictures of. On the way home, the kids were begging to go back to Lagoon. Next year!! 

aquarium

We took a trip up to the aquarium at the end of June. We have passes that are about to expire, so we had to get at least one more use out of them this summer. The last few times we have gone, we have noticed the stingray feeding, but have not been able to get tickets. I told the girls that next time we came, we would make sure we got to do that. Easier said than done. They don't do any kind of reservations for the feeding online or by phone, so you just have to show up and hope that you get there before they are sold out. We got lucky this time!! It was a pretty slow Tuesday, so it worked out perfectly.

This was the first time that we tried to go somewhere like this without Maddi in her stroller. Since it wasn't very busy, I thought I would brave it. It started out fine, but after a while she started running ahead and not sticking by us. At one time, we came out of the bathroom, she ran ahead, and we could find her anywhere. We quickly looked through all the exhibits. Just as I was thinking I might need to ask for help, I found her in the little photo booth they have by the gift shop. Great hiding spot!  (SCAREY!)

Here are Kimee and Audrey getting ready to go feed the stingrays.

 Listening to instructions...

 Maddi snuck in with the group...

They both ended up being to scared to hold the food in their fingers, so they used these little feeder tongs.

Maddi had a lot of fun playing in the little kids play area, and also in the party room reading some books and doing puzzles.

Wow, by the end I was pretty exhausted (from chasing Maddi)!