4th of July-2010

This year our 4th of July festivities pretty much consisted of church, food, board games, and fireworks. It was nice and relaxing.

Before church Eric took some pics of the kids.

If you enlarge the picture above you will see by the look on Megan's face that she is not thrilled. When we asked her why she was in such a bad mood, she replied, "Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is for someone my age to take a picture like this!" I laughed and laughed. I would have probably been embarrassed also if my parents made me take a picture with my hand over my heart gazing at the flag when I was 10 years old.

When it got dark it was finally time for fireworks! This is the first year in quite a while that we have been in town for the 4th of July. I had forgotten how fun our neighborhood is on the holiday. Everyone had bought quite a few fireworks, so the festivities went on for hours!

Sade's loved the sparklers.

In true form Jackson was cautious.

Megan was fireworks fearless just like Sadie.

The worms were a huge hit with the kids.

By the end of the night my kids were exhausted. I had to force Jackson and Sadie (and myself) to stay for the finale. It was late and they all fell asleep quickly, but didn't sleep in this morning!

Hope you had a happy 4th of July!!!

Swim Season

We have spent a lot of time this summer pool hopping! I have determined that I must subconsciously choose my friends based on whether or not they have pools, so I can insure that my children and I will not melt in the heat. It's basically survival of the fittest. Right? I am just grateful my friends do not choose me based on the condition of my backyard in the summer. However they are always welcome to come over and jump on the trampoline any time. I will even put a sprinkler under it.

Just a few swimming pics:

I know the white legs are shocking. I am approximately a half a shade darker now, after spending days outside.

Generally when we get home from swimming Sade goes right down for her nap. That means she goes to sleep with wet, sunscreen added hair. Yesterday she woke up with it looking like this:

It is quite the look!

I would now like to take a minute to complain. Tuesday night Eric was out of town so I decided to take the kids to family swim night at the Silver Mesa Pool. Here follows my list of gripes:

• When we arrived the line to get in snaked through the parking lot. Largely because they only had one person accepting money!
• After swimming for 5 minutes I heard the life guards blowing their whistles and telling everyone to get out of the pool. I then looked to my left and saw POO floating not even 5 feet from where I was standing! It was horribly disgusting.
• We then waited while they cleaned it up, and then waited another 30 minutes to get back in the pool. At this point I tried to convince my children to leave, but they insisted on staying.
• The all teenage lifeguard staff, who seem much more interested in hanging out together than in doing any sort of lifeguard duties.
• Now, I am really quite liberally minded when it comes to swimwear. However even I was shocked by some of the outfit choices. And I am not talking about the adults! I am talking about the pre-teens that were wearing some of the most unsupportive swimwear I have seen in some time. I saw a few body parts that I would not mind never seeing again.
• Sadie cried or whined nearly the entire time we were there!

But, Megan and Jackson had a great time!!

Precursor To Camping

Sunday, we took a drive to Camp Stimson. I have been before, but could not remember exactly how to get there, so I wanted to make sure I knew the way before heading up to girls camp next week. The Stake Camp Director from another Stake was there watching over everything, but she was nice enough to let us explore.

It was a little on the chilly side, but beautiful.

We did a bit of exploring, and then headed over to the rope bridge.

The last time I went on this bridge I was 7 months pregnant! It seemed just as hard this time.

Jacksey was next. He did great, but I am not made to watch my children do things like this. I smile and encourage them to throw them off that I am actually terrified they are in such a precarious position.

The bridge is long!

Megan was quite terrified the whole time.

Sadie on the other hand was completely fearless.

Here she is telling Eric to swing back and forth! Of course he obliged.

We headed over to one of the amphitheaters where Megan entertained us with a song and dance routine.

Sade's did a little dancing herself.

Of course we took a few family pics before leaving:

This is the first time Sadie decided to participate in the funny face pictures. I couldn't be happier!