Bedhead

These two.

I love them.

And I love Cora's curly bedhead.

Outdoor Movie Night

It was outdoor movie night tonight, one of our favorite nights of the summer.  Mikayla and Guy were not with us because Mikayla had surgery (again!) on Thursday and they are in Salt Lake where Guy's parents are taking care of them.  But we tried not to let their absence ruin our fun.  We had lots of treats--popcorn, candy, candy, candy, and more candy, and soda--and watched Sing which no one but us had seen.  Everyone actually watched, the audio visual stuff worked, and we all liberally applied bug spray so we didn't get eaten by mosquitoes.  Hooray for summer fun!

A Mime

We have a mime living at our house.

She's very quiet.

Bubble Bath or Funny Children

Brandt called me from the house this afternoon.  I was around the corner visiting one of the sisters in our ward, and had been gone about a minute and a half.  Kent was even home.  He said, "Mom! Where are you?  I need you!"  When I asked what he needed he said, "You need to take my picture."  I told him I would home in a few minutes and would take his picture then.  Turns out, he needed me right then because he wanted me to take a picture of him covered in bubbles.  When I was unavailable, he took matters into his own hands.  He came downstairs covered in bubbles and nothing else, dripping water, and got the big camera.  He stood in front of the mirror at the bottom of the stairs and took a selfie of his front and back.  Fortunately, he self-edited so I haven't had to blank anything out.  As a side note, the window at the bottom of the stairs does NOT have the blinds drawn.  Silly boy!

Art in Nature

Too many days in the summer are filled with whiny kids complaining that they are bored and there is nothing to do, ever.  Or the days are filled with children sitting on the couch engrossed in the television, eating badly and getting grouchy.  In an effort to curb both these problems, I signed the kids up for week long day camps at the rec center.  Each camp has classes, outdoor activities, a field trip away from the rec center, and a Friday swim day.  I signed the kids up for afternoon classes, so I dropped them off just before 1:00 and collected them just before 5:00.  They have many offerings and everything sounded like a wonderfully good time, but in the end, two separate weeks and classes were selected and deemed adequate.

This week was the first camp, Art in Nature.  The enticing blurb said they would create nature-inspired art projects, and their field trip would be to Sundance to ride the ski lift and create art there and at Big Springs Park.   During the week they had a bird show and sketched different bird skulls, got to feel different animal skins and bones, created bird feeders from craft sticks, did leaf etchings and created a piece of art with leaves and other bits of natural stuff they found outside, go to Sundance to ride the ski lift, and swim all Friday afternoon.  They had a good time each day, made cute friends, and had something to do, away from home, that stimulated their brains.  It was a win!

Addi, Brandt, Blythe, and Lexee

The kids went on the shortest hike ever.

They walked from the ski lift which you can see in the background, 

to this spot right here.

Maybe 100 yards.

But no one whined about how far they were going.

A Family Swim

The DeMartinis gathered for Family Home Evening today at the Cutler's house for pizza and a swim.  The Cutler's pool is so much fun!  We had a great time sliding, jumping, diving, and splashing.  The water was wet, the company fun, and the whole evening an incredibly good time.  We're doing it again in July when Uncle Charles comes and we can hardly wait!

Kal's first swim.

Let's Go to the Movies!

Today was the first week we've been to a summer movie at the Scera.  I got tickets a couple of weeks ago, but  we haven't made it yet.  However, today we were available and I invited Mikayla and her crew to join us.  We got treats and watched Ice Age: Collision Course.  Most of us made it through the whole movie, but not all.  Cora had a fit and Mikayla spent a fair portion of the film in the cry room with Cora doing just that.  What fun!

Plantings

Eugene and Sharae are selling their house in Springville.  They are building another one, also in Springville, and living with Grandma Sue at the moment.  Part of the reworking of the house to get it ready to sell was sprucing up the front yard.  They fixed sprinklers, had new sod laid, and then needed to plant something in the front to give it curb appeal.

Today we went to Cook's and bought plants and mulch for the bed that runs along the front of their house.  We got some salvia, tickseed, several euonymus, and some annuals to add more color.  There were quite a few plants, but Brandt, Blythe, Luke, and Luke's friend were super great about helping.  The adults dug big holes for the larger plants, but the kids put the plants in and tamped down earth, and then were able to plant the smaller things themselves.  Many hands make light work, and we really got everything in the ground in record time.  It all looked so cheery when we were finished.

In addition to the plants for Eugene and Sharae's yard, I bought a few more things to put in ours.  Blythe rolled her eyes and said, "Mom, you aren't getting more plants, are you?"  I had to go home and spend a couple more hours finished off my planting for the year.  But our yard looks great, and planting brings me joy.

7 Peaks Silliness

I've not been entertaining the children as much this summer as I have in the past.  I've got lots to do--at home, in the yard, with Relief Society--and so I've been leaving the children to their own devices.  That has meant a lot of TV, a lot of eating of stuff they shouldn't, and a lot of mess making in their rooms.  I've made helpful suggestions about what they could be doing besides sitting in front of the TV, but I haven't had a lot of welcome cheer.

Today I decided we would get out and go to 7 Peaks.  It wasn't super hot today, only in the high 70s, so it wasn't very busy.  That meant we could do water slides quickly without waiting in long lines, and there weren't a ton of people in the wave pool or lazy river.  The water in the lazy river was very warm and we went around twice, but the wave pool water was chilly.  The kids didn't make it a full ten minutes of wave action.  I do enjoy being with the kids at 7 Peaks and am glad I only have two children so I can be and do with them.

I also intend on stepping up my game a bit, just because I think we all have a better time when we're active and involved in things off the couch and outside the house.

Post water fun basking.

Blythe specifically asked if we could "bask."

Strawberry Days Rodeo

With most of the DeMartinis, we went to the rodeo tonight.  I've decided I quite like the rodeo, once a year.  It's exciting and funny, and feels oddly patriotic and like a completely different culture at the same time.  The rodeo competitions are nail-bitingly intense and the athleticism of the competitors is impressive.  We saw mutton busting (small children riding sheep), bare back bronco riding, saddled  bronco riding, bull riding, barrel racing, steer roping, two-man cow roping, and my favorite wild cow milking, a truly wild activity where three man teams try to control a wild cow long enough to get a bit of milk in a cup.  Guys were being dragged around the arena and stomped on by the cows.  It was like watching a train wreck--both horrifying and mesmerizing.  A rodeo clown did a Michael Jackson impersonation and dropped his pants to reveal a fake bare bum in his rendition of the moon walk.  The rodeo queens were beautiful and their horses were even more so.  We ate strawberries and cream, got to watch daredevil motorcycle riders, and finished off the night with fireworks set to patriotic music.  The setting was beautiful, at the base of Mount Timpanogos, and it couldn't have been a more beautiful summer night.  Here's to a different way of life and the joys to rodeo!

All of us who attended, less me (taking the picture) and Kent (late because he had scouts).

You can't really see Brick or Luke, and you can't see a friend of the Dudes or Ava's who came, too.

Yeah for the rodeo!

You can see Luke in this picture.

The view from our seats.

We sat right across from the chutes.

Selfies with the children.

3 boys above: Gehrig, Crew, and Griffin

4 girls below: Makenna, Blythe, Ava, and Alison

Christopher, Rowen, Tysen, and Lyla

Brandt, Luke, Sharae, and Collin