Best of Summer 2013

This is the last you will hear of my summer. I promise. 

Indulge me as I give you Best of Summer 2013:

Best Activity with the Big Kids: Hike and tour of Timp Cave:

Best Activity with the Little Guys: Thanksgiving Point Farm:

Best Mommy Daughter Activity: Taylor Swift Concert.  It truly was amazing:

Best Cheap Take-Out Meal: Cheesecake factory Skinny Asian Lettuce Wraps.  These babies are like $6.99 and they give you the yummy bread too.  Add a McD's Diet Coke and you've got a meal.

 

Best Event of the Summer: Ashley and her family moving back to Utah.  Ryan was in boy Heaven with his cousins.

 

Best Summer Date Activity: Alpine Coaster and dinner in Park City

Best Bike Ride: Wildflower Pedalfest in Mountain Green, UT.  Rolling Hills, beautiful scenery, fun friends, great food:

 



 Best Lesson Learned: Yard sales are not worth it.   I made 80 bucks and lost my dignity:

Best Extended Family Outing: Alpine Rodeo with Ashley's family:

Best Reunion: Seeing my favorite guys from my freshman year at BYU.  Already planning another one for the Fall and hoping my girlfriends can make it!

Best Treat: Hokulia shaved ice.  This stuff is as big as my head and totally lived up to the hype.

Best Parenting Moment: Driving home from Café Rio and seeing this homeless looking toddler roaming the neighborhood in a swim diaper.  Sure enough, it was my kid.  Luke was supposed to be babysitting.

Best New Addition: My brand new nephew Wyatt

Best Tradition: Fourth of July Parade as the Patriotic Pirates: It never gets old...at least not for us!

Best Vacation for the Kids: Going to Snow Mass, CO with Sam for five days

Best Vacation for Mama: Kids going to Snow Mass, CO with Sam for five days and I stayed home
No pics.  Just lots of trashy tv, dinners out with friends, and roaming the mall by myself. 

Best Shopping Find of the Summer: Slip Extenders.  These are a life saver for us tall girls. I bought one in every color.

Best Bang for your buck: Seven Peaks with the Pass of All Passes.  There are a lot of haters out there but it will always be my very favorite Summer activity.  I love this picture of my bff Susan doing the rope swing in Provo with Y mountain in the background.  Our boys make us do it every time we go.

Best Free Adventure: Alpine Sliding rock: I felt like a hero for actually going down it with the kids.

That's it folks.  Put a fork in me.  Until Next Summer...I'm done!

Goodbye Summer

Marjorie Hinkley has a fantastic quote:

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny spots car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long perfectly manicured fingernails.  I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.  I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children.  I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed some one's garden.  I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.  I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

And that is how I felt this evening when I pulled into my drive-way in my filthy mini-van.  I had four kids in tow, all wearing wet swimsuits.  We spent our last official day of summer at the pool with Ashley and her kids and of course we stayed until the bitter end.  We picked up chick-fil-a and ate it in the car on the way home. 

Every year at this time, I mourn the end of summer.  I am a Summer girl.  I live for warm weather, flip flops, bike rides, hikes and long days at the pool.  And we squeezed the life out of this summer.  We went non-stop every day.  Swimming lessons, hikes, Seven Peaks, parades, rodeos, amusement parks, birthday parties, t-ball games, bike rides, sports camps, you name it--we did it.

Summer makes me feel like an awesome mom. I don't say this to brag. You see, I am not that mom that does cute Back to School themed dinners for my kids. I don't put notes in their lunches, Heck! I don't even wake up with them most mornings before school.  But I am great at taking them to do fun adventures and I'm not afraid to get my hair wet! 

I will never get tired of Summer.  I will never be ready for school to start.  I will never welcome the routines and homework and freezing cold temperatures. 

But at least I have no regrets from this summer.  Now who wants to come deep clean my mini-van? 

Four Things Summer Edition

Alpine Rodeo

I much prefer Instagram to blogging these days.  But in case you don't follow me there, here is a little catch up on what we have been doing this summer:

Luke:

1.  Luke did two basketball camps--one at BYU and one at Skyline High School.  He loved both of them.

2.  Luke and Sammie have both been taking tennis lessons.  I am living vicariously through them.  I am dying to take lessons--just so I can wear the cute skirts.

3.  Luke turned 10 this summer and let his little brother blow out his candles.  That's the kind of kid he is.

4.  The big news is that Luke started tackle football for Alta.  We said no for the last two years and he finally wore us down to the point that we said yes.  He absolutely loves it.

Sammie:

1.  Sammie spends 90% of her time tumbling on the front lawn.  She taught herself an aerial and almost has a back hand spring.  It scares me to death.

2.  She started dancing at a new studio and spent a considerable amount of time dancing this summer.  She also did a cheer camp at BYU.

3.  Sammie went on a trip to NYC with Sam for five days.  She saw three shows and toured the city.  At the airport, she turned and barfed all over Sam's shoes and then exclaimed, "phew!  I was so worried I was going to get it on my clothes!"

4.  Sammie loves little kids.  She comes to the gym with me each morning so she can go to the daycare and play with the toddlers.  They adore her.  Too bad she wants nothing to do with her own little brothers.

Ryan:

1.  Ryan spends all of his time outside roaming the neighborhood on his bike.  Luckily, we have fantastic neighbors who basically let him live at their homes. 

2.  Ryan took swimming lessons again this summer.

3.  He also played on a t-ball team with his buddies.  He was the biggest and slowest kid on the team.  And just like with soccer, he thought he was awesome.

4.  Ryan, Luke, Sammie and Mitch all went on a vacation with Sam for five days to Snow Mass, CO.  They had a blast swimming and going on bike rides.

Buster:

1.  The big news is that Buster is potty training.  We are half way there and it has about pushed me over the edge.  After ten years straight of diapers, I am ready for this kid to be trained!

At Walmart in no pants.  When in Rome...

2.  We thought he broke his arm last week on my sister's trampoline.  After one horrendous trip to the ER, and a week of wearing a cast for no reason, we found out he is totally fine.

3.  Buster's favorite thing to do is go swimming. We did Seven Peaks, Cottonwood Spa, Alta Canyon and the gym pool.  He mostly enjoys puttering around the pool deck or sitting in a lounge chair eating treats.

4.  He loves going anywhere with the big kids. 

 

Churros at the Real Game

Me:

1.  The big anticlimactic news is that I got a job.  I am working very very part time for the Utah Senate.  I won't bore you with the details but I can do it from home and so far it hasn't been too much of a thorn in my side. 

2.  Still dating on and off.  Summer is so busy that I try to slow down the dating a bit and focus on the kids.  I do like dating in the Summer because you can get outside and do things like bike rides and hikes. 

Look at that view!

3.  My vacation was when my kids went to Colorado with their dad.  I managed to get Mitchell's baby book finished which was my only goal for that week.  I am still trying to lose the five pounds I gained eating out with friends for every meal.

My friend Kari and I at City Creek before we gorged ourselves at Cheesecake Factory

4.  I did a lot more biking this summer. I have some kind male friends who take me since I have a hard time finding girls to go on rides with.  There is a great new trail from Alpine to Provo Canyon.

The end.  I will do my annual Best of Summer post next week.  I am not ready for Summer to end!

Instagram is Killing my Blog (or Four Things About Each of Us)

This post is for grandmas and friends who aren't on Instagram and have no idea what we have been up to lately.  And if you are a guy and want to follow me on instagram, it probably isn't going to happen.  That is a place for me to post pics of me in my bathrobe driving Ryan to a friend's house at noon on a random Tuesday.  So I have to keep it to close girlfriends.  Anyhoo, here is what we are doing.

Buster:

1.  Buster loves to be outside.  Too bad mama hates being outside with Buster.  Thank goodness for good weather and big siblings who can keep an eye on him:

2.  Here is where Buster sits during Sacrament meeting.  I know.  I have officially given up.  I am hoping people are giving me the single mom pass:

3.  He loves Airbourne--all of my kids do.  We just discovered how fun (and expensive) it is.  I saw Bentley (from the Bachelorette) there recently (he owns it) but couldn't get a photo:

4.  He loves helping me bake cookies and will eat the dough even when it is just Crisco and sugar:

Ryan:

1.  Ryan plays on a soccer team called "Orange Crush" with his buddies.  He is the biggest and slowest kid out there but he thinks he is awesome.  Sam coaches:

2.  He goes to preschool and tries to make excuses every day for why he is too sick to go.

3.  Ryan is deathly afraid of the Chick-fil-a cow, Cosmo (he calls him "the Cougar") and the Jazz bear.  Here he is at the Jazz game hiding on the ground because he saw the Jazz bear coming up the aisle.

4.  Ry Ry spends most of his time at home in costume.  Sammie never cared about costumes the way my boys do:

Sammie:

1.  Sammie recently had a birthday party at the Lion House.  She truly has the cutest friends and they were so good.

2.  Sammie loves to dance and tumble.  If she is home, she is tumbling.  If she is outside, she is tumbling.  If she is at recess, she is tumbling.  You get the idea:

3.  She is obsessed with clothes.  Yes, this freaks me out.   Sam took her to Nordstrom to spend a birthday gift card and this is the outfit she picked out.  She told Sam he had no taste and to back off and let her shop.  Scary:

4.  She loved skiing this Spring.  She is my most adventurous kid:

Luke:

1.  Luke is playing in a Super League (competition league) for basketball this Spring and loves it.  Sam is coaching.  Luke spends a lot of time outside shooting baskets in the backyard. 

2. He went with Sam to Leapin' Leaners in March.  Luke was in HEAVEN.  He met all the Jazz players.  His favorite is Derrick Favors (I am too lazy to crop any of these photos):

3.  He got to interview Alec Burks and Luke asked him how much he makes per game.  Alema Harrington and Burks busted up laughing:

4.  Luke (and I) made this BYU football cake for the Blue and Gold banquet.  Much better than his cake last year.

Me:

1.  I have been having a lot of fun dating a guy named Cole.  He lives here in SL and has three kids.  He makes me laugh:

I tell him he looks like Paul Rudd (he will kill me for posting this):

2.  I still go to the gym most days.  I go in spurts for what I like to buy and right now I am obsessed with gym clothes and shoes.  I am currently looking for the perfect pair of fluorescent orange Nikes.  I know...the important things in life right?  Once again, glad no husband in the picture as I order and return shoes.

3.  I am in charge of making a yearbook for Luke's class for the end of the year.  Why oh why do I sign up for this stuff at the first of the year?

4.  Other than running kids to all of the aforementioned activities, I get to do lunches and dinners here and there with friends.  I went to Gourmet Dinner Night Monday night and laughed and ate the best food.  I am so lucky to have such good friends in my life.  They make me happy.