June 2016

Here’s what our June looked like almost three years ago (I actually started this post last year when I was still only two years behind, and then I started having a lot of problems with Blogger and none of my posts would upload, so I kind of gave up for a little while.  We’ll see how this attempt goes; my pictures and text keep moving all around and not lining up exactly right. The kids look so young and different to me in all these pictures now that it’s been so long!):

First, we started off our summer the only proper way to start a summer in Alpine: shaved ice from Snoasis.  If you live in Alpine, you know what I’m talking about.  Lines forever those first few days, but so worth it.

We went back a few days later, this time with Tristan’s good friend who was visiting from Texas.  Cindy’s red rainboots also made an appearance.   

I can’t remember why, but she felt it was really important to be dressed all in red for this special occasion, and the rainboots were her only red footwear option, so she went with it. 

Here’s another fun Cindy thing that I found in my phone notes from back in 2016 (she was 5):

Conversation with Cynthia:

Cindy:  Mom, how do you think you would feel if you were born with cat ears?

Me: blank look on my face as I try to figure out what kind of conversation we’re about to have

Cindy (with slight panic at the blank look on my face, decides to change the question):  I mean, wait, no! – what I meant was, how would you feel if you were born with helmet hair. . . AND only one leg?!

Me:  Wait, what’s helmet hair?

Cindy:  You know!  Like, metal hair!

Me:  Hmm.  I wouldn’t like it.  The hair would just be weird and probably heavy, and if I only had one leg it would be hard to run and jump and play and stuff like that.

Cindy:  Well, at least you could still go bowling.  Because you don’t need two legs for that.  You don’t even need any legs for bowling!  You just roll that ball down!

Me:  I’m glad we’ve had this talk

I have no idea how she got from cat ears to helmet hair and missing legs.  I’m also not clear when she got to be such an expert on bowling (I don’t think she’s ever been).  She was a pretty fantastic 5-year old.  Here she is cruising down our driveway on her trusty bike, living her best life (thankfully with two legs and no helmet hair!)

 Also in June:  A family get-together at our house with Daniel’s family.

We played foosball:

Snuggled with dogs:

Cooked lots of hotdogs:

And even more marshmallows:

And had a happy time being with cousins.  We love living close to family.  

Another fun June thing:  passes to Seven Peaks Waterpark.  We ended up going one to two times a week that summer, and the kids loved it.  The nice thing about having the passes and being able to go so often was that I didn't care how long we stayed or what the kids did - the first few times they tried to go down all the slides, but after that sometimes they just played around in the lazy river or the wave pool the whole time.

Here are some of the kids after going down Freefall.  I remember being super nervous about this slide when I was a kid.  I’m pretty sure I thought they hadn’t built the sides high enough and that every time I went down I was risking falling over the edge.  My kids are all a lot braver than I was, thank goodness.  

 

Happy kids (not quite sure what Cindy’s doing) and Rachel being mysterious:
























The cutest little sunbather you ever did see:

More sliding:

Seven Peaks with cousins:

So worn out.  I love how Henry fell asleep mid-Harry Potter (I also love that he even brought a Harry Potter book along for the drive.  Definitely my child).

Another fun June thing: Sister Trip!  Me, my mom, my five sisters, and one sister-in-law (this was back when only one of my brothers was married).  We all stayed at my grandparents’ house in Orem, and it was a wild and wonderful party the whole time.  I wish all my sisters lived close.

Generally the rule at Sister Trip is no kids except for nursing babies; some years this has meant tons of babies, and other years not so many.  This time there was only one baby and she was brand new! My youngest sister (standing up, back left) had just had a baby the month before, so there was lots of fighting about who got to hold her and cuddle her.  It’s always nice and relaxing to have a break from parenting during Sister Trip, but even nicer when there’s still a baby around to hold.

One of my favorite things that some of us did during Sisters was to go swim laps at the Orem rec center.  Most of us did swim team in high school, and it was crazy how many memories came rushing back as soon as we walked in.  

Me and my oldest sister eating healthy banana ice-cream and reading a Dick Francis book together.  We had both started the same book and kept stealing it back and forth from each other, and finally decided this was the best way.  Sisters, ice-cream, and good books – all on my “favorite things” list.

Also on my favorite things list – summer days spent at the pool.  My aunt’s pool in Orem is the best gathering spot whenever family is in town.  My kids love swimming, but swimming with cousins is always more fun.  

Playing around:

Sliding:

Jumping:

Diving:

Doing this kind of stuff:

 Being flipped into the air:

(Lizza)

(Rachel)

And just relaxing (Cindy’s face in this picture kills me – she wasn’t even upset! She was just resting very intensely for some reason):

(me, my mom, and my sister all in our matching suits)

Lizza was lucky to be able to celebrate her 10th birthday at the pool with lots of people who love her:

And then again at home with some candy bar cake.  I’m not sure where Oliver was – maybe Scout camp or something? It’s crazy to look back at Lizza as a 10-year old (she’s almost 13 now!).  She has always been a special girl full of light and love.  She’s such a hard worker and very responsible and generally just makes my life easier.   

Here she is working hard out in the hot sun selling the bows and hair clips and doll clothes she makes for the business she started, Bizzy Lizzy.

Last June thing of 2016: a camping and fly-fishing adventure at the Strawberry Pinnacles with the whole family.

Lots of fly-fishing, hiking, playing around in the water, climbing trees, getting dirty, and just having a good time in general: