Cascade Springs

We are finding all kinds of fun things to do this summer. It is the first time in a long time that we don't have to take a stroller or carry a kid in our arms and we are enjoying that. This morning we went to Cascade Springs just outside of Midway at the end of the Alpine Loop. It was so beautiful!!!

So many of the wildflowers were in bloom.

The kids love to hike and follow the trails ahead of us.
I thought what a great picture spot but of course Drew refused to smile.
Ethan's a homie! I kept fixing his hat to be in center but I guess hanging off to the side is the way he liked it. I'm not sure what they are doing here but it looks like Ethan is about to cause some trouble.

Slipping and sliding

We pulled out the slip n slide from the garage and the kids entertained themselves several times this last week playing on it in the afternoons.

Ethan didn't get to play with it the first few times because Madilyn and Drew played while he was asleep. He thought it was great!
And when he was thirsty, he drank! Oh and I do feed him even though his ribs are plainly in sight.

Ice cream with Gramme Sparks....kinda

So the kids got an ice cream card in the mail from their gram-me Sparks who lives in California. Beth is really creative and good at crafty things. She made this card. Isn't it cute!! The note inside said she wished she could take the kids out for ice cream and had money inside to treat them to something yummy. The kids were excited to go and get their treat and so we went this afternoon.

THANKS GRAM-ME!!!!

Madilyn's ice cream was strawberry mixed with gummi bears. Drew's was Raspberry with bubble gum or gubble bum to Ethan, and Ethan's was strawberry with rainbow sprinkles. It was definately a sweet treat!!!!

Enjoying the outdoors

For years I have been saying that we need an El Pollo Loco here in Utah and guess what!!! We got one!!! I heard one had opened in Lehi and we made the trip down to get some yummy food. May I also add that after Chris and I got married and weren't sure where to go next, we went to El Pollo Loco. So there's some sentiment there, I guess. Anyways, we went through the drive through and went up American Fork canyon for a picnic and some hiking. We are so blessed to have such beauty around us.

Isn't he the cutest thing? K so the kids bought some hubba bubba bubble gum at the store the other day and Ethan told them he wanted some gubble bum. "I want gubble bum! I want gubble bum"! So guggle bum it is. I Just thought that was so stinkin cute, I had to share.
My three cuties! My photogenic Madilyn
K so there's a story here. The water here is actually quite fast flowing but it is very shallow and fun to walk across the rocks. The water was also really cold and the kids weren't so sure they wanted to go in. I know I didn't, but I encouraged them. Madilyn went out a good ways and lost one of her flip flops. It was going high speed down into the resevoir and me with my quick reactions ran towards the flip flop trying to retrieve it before it was gone forever. As I reached down to get it, I hoped that I wouldn't be bending down in vain to not be able to grab it, especially since there were several people watching. Thank goodness, I was successful. Not so much because I'd be heartbroken about losing her shoe, but because I didn't want to look like a bigger dork than I already felt.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th of July everyone! Hope you had a great day! We went to our ward breakfast at our stake center in the morning and then went to a Bee's Baseball game in the evening. We wondered how much we would be enjoying ourselves when we pulled up to the stadium and our thermometer read 102 degrees. It did eventually cool and and we had a great time!
We bought general admission tickets and sat on the grass with hundreds of other families. It was a busy night at the ballpark. They gave the kids these wackie thingies that make a lot of noise when you hit them together. I'm sure there is a a technical term for them but I don't know it. Well I thought "how fun" when we first blew them up but my opinion changed when I heard the noise that came from them. The kids played sword fight, baseball, and ninja with their "bats and swords". If one thing positive was to be said about them is that it kept them busy and the kids loved them.
Madilyn spent some her time just chillin' out on the blanket. Ethan on the other hand was a total riot! He got so excited when the crowd cheered and well sometimes, even when they didn't. He'd grunt YEAH! AWESOME! GO!! and he'd throw out his little arm with his hand in a fist. He also was jumping around everywhere cheering on his team. It was so fun to watch him and he kept our blanket neighbors laughing.
There was a firework show at the end of the night and again Ethan was hilarious. He saw a few fireworks in the area before our show started and he got so excited. He was yelling FIREWORKS! and he'd grab my attention by poking me and smiling and yelling FIREWORKS! When the show started, he was just on cloud nine, excited at each blast. It was great. Our night of fun wore the kids out and this is a picture of them on the way home from Salt Lake. Ethan dragged that bag of popcorn all the way out of the stadium and to the car. He woke up once when the bag slipped from his hands. He cried for me to pick it up and after I handed it to him, he fell back asleep. So sweet!

Aunt Michelle came for a visit!!

I love my little sister Michelle! She came out to visit us last weekend and we had a total blast with her. She is getting ready to be married in September to her fiance Brad who she loves and adores and who I harass for taking my sister back to her home in Hermosa Beach. I keep suggesting that after they get married, they move to Utah but I don't think it's working (for some reason). The kids had a blast with Michelle. They spent a lot of quality time with her. We went swimming, flew kites, blew bubbles, made art projects, did lunch, had a movie night, and went shopping. It was a busy several days and we sent her home with a gift. Ethan's cold. Sorry Michelle! We love you and can't wait to see you in September!

So I havn't been that great at remembering to bring out my camera. These pictures of them flying kites are the only pictures I took the whole time she was here. I promise to get better!

No longer a 2nd Grader!

Madilyn finished up school last week and because we are on year round schedule, she starts the 3rd grade in just a few weeks. It's CRAZY, I know. Every year I pick her up on the last day of school knowing that she is going to be SO sad to say goodbye to her teacher. Mrs. Ostler has been wonderful and it is sad that they have to say goodbye to someone they love when they have spent so much of the last year with them. I also have to add, only because I'm a proud mom who thinks her kid is pretty great;), that she had a perfect report card.

The kids went to the Red Butte Gardens for a field trip the week before school got out. Madilyn's allergies were horrible and her eyes were killing her. We are still waiting for her appt with the allergist.