Summer Lovin'

People are starting to say that summer is coming to an end and that fall is just around the corner. Every time I hear the word the fall I cringe a little. I'm not ready for summer to be over. We've had an awesome summer. I'm not sure what made this one different from all the rest but I think that my kids are at a good age makes a huge difference. We are out of the baby stage and my kids are a little more independent makes for more enjoyable outings. We've kept busy and I've loved every moment of it. Some of our outings have included:



The Tim McGraw concert. We went with my sister and her husband. Jared can't stand country but believe it or not he loves Tim McGraw. His concerts never disappoint (okay except for the sound system is definitely lacking if you have grass seating). Good music (and people watching) and a night out without kids makes for a nice relaxing evening.



Our summer has been full of swimming, which unfortunately has resulted is a few sun burns. :( We kicked off the summer with running through the sprinklers. It was a hit the first time but they weren't so interested in it after that. We are fortunate enough to have an awesome outdoor swimming pool at our gym. On many occasions we have packed a lunch and spend the whole afternoon lounging at the pool. This is where my kids age comes in handy. They are finally old enough to know not to go into the deep water. They are perfectly content hanging out in the shallow while I hang out on the lawn chair in the shade watching. This has been one of my favorite things to do this summer.






I love summer time and being able to spend time in the mountains. I'm not much of a hiker but I love going on picnics and having a camp fire and hanging out with family and friends. The kids are just happy to get out of the house.




My favorite summer outing thus far has been just this past weekend. Some of our friends invited us and few other families to spend the night at their cabin. I don't think I have laughed as hard as I did in a long time. It was definitely a good time. We hung out, went four wheeling, ate, played games, and watched wild life. These two little guys (okay maybe not so little) decided to pay us a visit on Sunday morning. They were fun to watch. We saw deer, bats, squirrels and humming birds all while sitting on the deck of the cabin.


Between 4 families there were 9 kids. Overall the kids did amazingly well. I loved the fact that there was enough for the kids to do around the cabin that they could entertain themselves.




These two love birds were hilarious. There was definitely a lot of love going around. :)







Thanks Millgates we had a blast!!


Summer is not complete without tinfoil dinners up the canyon. We started this tradition a couple years after realizing how much work it takes to actually go camping, and the fact that getting a camp ground isn't as easy as it used to be. This particular weekend we had actually made plans to go camping. We had hoped to wake up early Friday morning and head up the canyon in hopes of getting one of the few "first come fist served" camp sites. Unfortunately that didn't pan out. By the time we made it up the canyon and to the site there was already a waiting list. We decided to have a picnic that night instead. Maybe it was a good thing we weren't able to camp because we got rained out later in the night and had to call it a night before we could shove our faces with smores. Still a good time was had.









Ahhhhh Mill Hollow. Our family loves this place. It's the only place that I know of that you are almost guarantee to catch a fish, because we all know it's only fun to fish if you catch something (even if they are small). This was Boston's first fishing trip. He loved catching the fish. Londynn loved it the first time until she realized that after you reel the fish in it splashes in the water and swings towards you until you grab the line. She didn't so much like it after that. She would reel it in as long as you told her there wasn't a fish on the line.






It's been quite a few years since we have been to the Heber demolition derby. We were able to get tickets this year and went with my sister and her husband. It was just as exciting as I remember it being. The kids loved it but I forgot about all the down time there is while the cars are being towed off the field. Definitely a fun night.



....and there you have it. We hope to add a few more swimming sessions and a few more canyon runs before "fall" arrives. aaahhhhh how I love summer.

What gives

I took the kids swimming today, granted it was for 4 hours. I applied sunscreen at least 4 times thinking that I was being a good mom and preventing sunburns. However, when all was said and done my kids still got burned. Boston started out with a shirt on but the poor guy was freezing when he got out of the water so I took his shirt off and heavily applied sunscreen thinking he would be okay. I was wrong.
Here is Londynn's burn and Bostons back is just as bad. We won't mention my legs but lets just say I didn't apply ANY sunscreen. In my defense though I spent the majority of the time in shade watching the kids. Apparently it didn't matter thought because my legs are still pretty toasty.

I guess there goes my plans of taking the kids to the pool again on Friday. :( Next time I think we will all wear pants and long sleeve shirts with hats. I think that's the only way to prevent getting burned in our family.

Like father like son

Jared had a couple days off this week and on one of those days he decided to go to the apple store. He took Boston with him and I think I should be a little worried. He said Boston was in heaven and he had a picture to prove it.

Scaredy cat

So yesterday afternoon I sent the kids outside to eat popsicles and I sat down at the computer for a minute. A few minutes later I hear both kids screaming bloody murder. While I'm running to the door I'm thinking that maybe Londynn got stung by a bee or maybe they had a run in with a big spider or something. I get outside and ask them what was wrong and Londynn cries "there is a cat in our yard". Yup no bee sting, no big spider, my kids were terrified that there was a cat in our yard and instead of opening the door and coming inside they felt it was best to stand on the stairs and cry like they had just been hurt.

Look what I did

Well I finally finished my first furniture makeover. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be and I actually had fun doing it. I think I'm on the lookout for my next project.

here is the ugly before:

and after

I knew I wanted to paint his dresser orange to match the orange stripes in his room, but I wasn't willing to buy a brand new dresser only to paint it orange.

So the total cost for this dresser was $25. $15 for the dresser and $10 for the primer (I did it the easy way and spray painted the primer on). I already had the orange paint and the stain. I love how it turned it out.

Bad hair day

Sometimes I wonder where our kids come up with the stuff they do. This morning I was blow drying my hair curly and Londynn comes in and says "mom I don't want you to have curly hair today I want you to have straight hair and me have curly hair". After I was done doing my hair I asked her how she wanted her hair done (because heaven forbid I do it the wrong way). She told me that she wanted a flippy and a ponytail. So I attempted to do it how she said. Apparently I didn't do it right and she stormed out the the bathroom saying "mom that's not right and now I'm having a bad hair day". I'm not sure where she came up with that one because I don't ever remember saying that. We never lack the drama at our house that's for sure.

Big boy room project

Well it's official. My baby is in a big boy bed and is no longer a "baby". At the rate we were going he could have slept in his crib until he was 10 except for the fact that he'd just about out grown it. He's a good sleeper and at 2 and a half is still taking a nap most days and has never crawled out of his crib.

I've had the decorating and crafting bug lately so his room was my next project. I don't have a before of his room but it was nothing special. White walls and not much hanging on them. He had primary colors in his nursery so I wanted to go with something different. Brown and orange it is. Jared was mister handy man and made his bed (with the help from http://www.knock-offwood.com/) . I LOVE how it turned out. His room is still has a lot of work to do but here it is at it's current state.

Boston pretending to be asleep in his new bed.

My mom found this dresser at a yard sale on saturday and I picked it up for $15. It will be my first furniture makeover project and will be going in Bostons room.

I wanted to do something fun and bold so I'm painting it orange to match the stripes on his wall. Here is it with it's first coat.

More to come when the project is complete (what am I talking about my projects are never complete!)