Summer fun

Every activity is more fun with the hose!

Travis and Trey love exercising in the water. They jump on the tramp, then they run around the yard, then they dive into the pool. What could be more fun?

We're #1!

Another thing that the boys love is playing Nintendo!

Trey has switched to a 2- wheeler He loves riding his bike. He also thinks he needs to wash it every time he rides it! But, he only likes washing it at Grandma's house. He has the cleanest bike in town!

Fun at Grandma & Grandpa's house

One of Alyssa's favorite things to do is to put on other people's shoes. We have lost so many shoes this summer because she is always taking them! Another favorite pastime of all the kids is to go to Grandma & Grandpa's house. It's the first thing they ask me in the morning. "When are we going to Grandma's house?" So we try to get the house cleaned up, then we go. There is only one thing that could make this summer even more perfect, and that is that we could see both sets of Grandparents equally as much!

The kids love the hot tub! Lately, Charli will sit in there and ask Grandpa about all the things we will do at Disneyland.

They all love jumping on the trampoline. I think Alyssa loves the tramp the most. She says "Wanna jump!"

The boys have all mastered various "pool jumps." Here is Brody's kung fu jump!

They also love having water gun fights! Charli and Alyssa love playing in water too. They love getting buckets full of water and then dumping them out. They also cannot resist picking Grandpa's flowers. I always tell them not to, but they just can't help themselves! The other thing they love at Grandma's, is the food. Even if we have just eaten before we go there, they are always hungry. Even if I bring food, Grandma's food always tastes better!

Just me and the boys!

On Saturday I got to have a little "date" with TJ and Brody! It was so much fun! I hardly ever get to do things with just the two of them! We went to get their free books from Barnes and Noble and the library. They have really worked hard on their summer reading program and it was great to pick some new books. They got coupons for a free meal at Applebee's, so then we went out for lunch. It was such a peaceful lunch! Then we went shoe shopping! I just feel that I don't get to spend very much one-on-one time with the boys, so this was a treat! Meanwhile, Trav had taken the other 3 for a little treat at Wendy's. We ended the day with a fun little round of Monopoly. It was a totally unusual and fun saturday!

Funny Kids

Here are a few funny tidbits from the kids. First of all, Alyssa learns new words almost every day. She is at such a fun stage right now. When she can't open something, or she wants you to help her, she'll come up and look at you very seriously and say,"can't!" It's very sweet!

Today at church, Brody was surprised to see someone sitting on "our" row. Now luckily he didn't say anything to them. But they did move because I guess they found family they needed to sit by. When we saw this he said, "Sweet! We got our row back!" The people who were sitting there definitely heard him too because they said,"we thought we might be sitting in someone's seat!" Another thing about Brody is that he is getting really excited for his baptism. One thing he was very definite about was wanting this certain person (who he has a very big crush on) to sing. (It was the same girl who sang at Isaac's baptism). Anyway, this one time Travis told him to go over and ask her and he said," It's hard for me to talk to her because I love her so much!"

The other day Trey and Brody were kind of joking around with each other and Trey said, "Well Brody, you look like throw up for real!"

This isn't really funny, but lately Charli has been our little artist. Unfortunately, she has been using anything she can get her hands on as a canvas. She has colored on every seat in our car, has colored on numerous walls, has colored on the leather couches, and recently has "colored" on Lyssa with my makeup. I now have to lock my bedroom door & watch her very closely. I don't know how she always manages to find the permanent markers, but she does. I've got to find a better way for her to develop her talents!

4th of July

I'm a little late posting this, but the 4th of July sure was a fun day! We went to our ward's traditional 4th of July breakfast. It was at a park so there was lots of fun stuff to do. Alyssa couldn't get enough of the swings.

It was great spending the day relaxing with dad. YEAH! No work!

After we ate, there were games and a parade.

The kids worked really hard on blowing those bubbles!

Then we went to grandma's for a bar-b-Q and to swim. Then we actually went to a country club to watch the fireworks. It was a blast! There were rides for the kids, cotton candy to eat, and we saw quite a few people from our ward there! It was great! The kids loved the big fireworks, and oohed and aahed the whole time. Somehow Alyssa fell asleep through the noise. It was a great day. Well, any day that you get to spend with the whole family is a great day! The only problem was that they sure were missing their cousins and grandparents considering they were with them last year on the 4th.

From Caterpillars to Butterflies!

This summer we got to witness a caterpillar's metamorphosis to a butterfly. It was so awesome! My mom ordered this kit and it came with a jar of tiny caterpillars, with their food on the bottom of the jar. In about a week they became ten times their size, and then you got to see them make their cocoons.

Trey liked calling them their "cozy cocoons!" The cocoons were attached to the top of the jar lid, and we took the lid off and pinned it to the "treehouse."

Then we got to watch as the butterflies came out!

We released them a few days later and the kids had a blast holding them, and then watching them fly away!

What a fun thing for the kids! They watched the caterpillars so carefully, and were so excited for the next step.

All of the kids LOVED the butterflies!