AF Canyon

We decided to escape the heat and go up in the canyon to roast hotdogs and marshmellows. My dad still remembered how to build a fire and the boys had a great time watching it and poking sticks in it. I don't know what gene makes boys love fire so much, but they certainly have somthing in their DNA that makes them love it. Lauren and Paige were the watchdogs telling the boys when they were getting too close or waving their stick too high with fire on it.

Dinosaur Dig (more gwenfest)

My parents have a "grandparents pass" to Thanksgiving Point and it's wonderful. They can get all their grandkids in and the parents (me) only pay 1/2 price. My kids have been to the dinosaur museum twice in the past couple of months. They love it and have a great time digging and playing and running. Thanks mom and dad!

Gwen Fest

My sister Gwen has been in town this past week. My brother-in-law, James, calls is "Gwen Fest." We pack as much in as we can. We had been planning for weeks to go to 7 peaks. The kids go non-stop. We got there a little after 11 a.m. and stayed until the majority of the kids were asking to leave around 7:30 p.m. They all slept good that night and no one got sunburned!

4th of July (2nd half)

We were lucky to get some Stadium of Fire tickets when they first went on sale. Lauren is such a big Miley Cyrus fan, Parley is a big Glenn Beck fan, so when we found out they were both going to be at the Stadium of Fire, we HAD to go. It did not disappoint. It was amazing and patriotic and fun! One of my favorite parts (and Parley's too) was when 4 f-16 jets flew over just as some fireworks went off. The dancers were amazing and the tribute to the soldiers was very touching.

The 4th of July is my second favorite holiday (next to Christmas). I love that it's warm and we can all hang-out in shorts and eat watermelon and watch fireworks. I think we all had a great time. Lauren had a headache after the jets flew over, but she was still able to enjoy Miley. I don't know which was louder, the fireworks or the stadium filled with screaming girls for Miley Cyrus!

4th of July (first half)

We started out our 4th of July by going to the big "Freedom Festival" parade in Provo. Parley has a friend/co-worker who offered to let us sit with them. They have kids that love to go down and spend the night and save a spot. They were so kind and let us hang-out with them. We had a great front-row seat under a big shade tree. The weather was perfect and the kids got candy(one of the most important parts) :)

Welcome Taylor

Taylor decided he wanted to try blogging, too. He's excited about it. Let's hope I can keep three blogs updated :)

Stay-At-Home Mom

One of the blogs that I "blog-stalk" often is Mrs. Dub. She's a friend of a friend of a friend. She posted this on her blog about summer and hanging out with the kids at the pool. Sometimes I feel guilty when Parley asks what we are doing for the day. I know it sounds like fun, and it is, but it's also sometimes scary to "be in charge" of three active kids. Sometimes I get tired of feeling like their personal cruise director, but it's almost worse to stay at home all cooped-up together all day. Hopefully were're finding a happy medium and they are appreciating their fun summer.

From Mrs. Dub:

"For My Stay-At-Home Mom's"

I've thought about this a lot, but what do you think is the greatest perk of being a stay-at-home mom, aside from the whole be-with-your-chittlins-all-day thing?After some consideration, I've decided it's spending more time outdoors. OK, in the winter this isn't really a perk - it's a punishment - but I still get a chance to see the sky a lot more than I did when I worked full-time.

In the summer, our life is spent outdoors. Last week, I put on makeup twice because we spent a huge chunk of each day at the pool or a park or another outdoor arena. Miss Dub and I are already sporting wicked tan lines. (I'm not proud of this. I'm becoming part-iguana with my nasty leather hide.)

Some days I feel guilty. When Mr. Dub heads off to work for another busy day of reports and meetings, I say things like, "Yeah, our day is going to be busy, too. We're going to swim in the morning, then have lunch with friends, then head to a park." As if he should be grateful!

It's not totally fair, but there are entire days in the winter when I don't speak a word to an adult and change 5+ diapers full of reconstituted food ... so I guess it balances out.

Plus, when I start to feel guilty that my life is largely creating fun experiences for my child - I remember that I would never forgive myself if I stayed home and focused only on myself. I'm not staying home to swim; I'm staying home to teach Miss Dub to swim. To show her the beauty of a blue sky. To teach her water etiquette. To point out the letters and shapes and sounds we see on the way to the pool. It's all part of a greater educational experience - and I'm lucky enough to be her teacher.

But it's pretty cool that we get to do it outside.