In SUMMMMERRR!

Summer has been fun for us so far.  And going by so fast.  Although I know Mikey is ready to get back to school, and I think it helps that James has had Summer School for the month of July.  It is so nice and cool here compared to New Mexico that we have had a blast this summer, just hanging out and being outside. Here are some things we have done this summer so far: 

James lost his first 2 teeth.  He has been super excited about this all summer. 

Lost a tooth!

James' letter to the Tooth Fairy

Lots of parks.  All kinds of parks.

The Sports park splash pad is the best, it is right in the middle
of the playground so I don't have to chase kids back and forth. 

Brooke loves parks and everything about them.  She is way to
independent for her age!

Mikey showing off how strong he is.

 All kinds of water activities. We have been to splash parks, swimming pools, and had lots of fun with water in the back yard.  It's not summer without water!

Brooke found her brothers bath after he got out!

Snuggled up after some time at the Dinosaur park.

A snack after swimming!

Hanging out at the lake, "fishing" with a friend.

He may be part reptile!  Soaking up some heat from the rocks.

General silliness!  Everyone in this house is silly.  Brooke is one of the most.

Playing Peak-a-boo with Mom.  As soon as the camera turns
on we are in cheesy mode.

Reading buddies!  We have spent a lot of time at the library and James' reading skills are coming a long.  It is fun to listen to him sound words out and read whole books to us.

James reading a book to Mikey

Building forts and tree houses.  James really wants a tree house.  Two problems, we are just renting, and we don't have a tree that would hold a tree house.  That has not stopped him from putting the "kid ladder" next to a small tree and "climbing" the tree a lot.  We also made this awesome fort which we called a tree house.  James was convinced...for a minute.

Our make-shift treehosue

Riding bikes!  Billy wanted a bike for his birthday.  None of our kids can ride a two-wheeler yet so I was torn between a balance bike or another training wheel bike.  So Doug came up with the idea of make balance bikes out of thrift store bikes.  We made each of the kids one for a total of $15 including a can of spray paint to pair a very girly Barbie bike orange.  The boys have spent hours and hours on these bikes and I bet by the end of the summer we have at least one actual bike rider.

 Camping and camp firing.  James has been really really excited about camping this summer.  The boys have slept out in the back yard a few times and we have a few camping trips scheduled.  We have done a few camp fires in the fire pit and lots and lots of s'mores.

Look a picture of Mom!  It's a miracle.

Mikey relaxing at the fire.

Billy just chillin'!

A few other things:

• Golf lessons.  Mikey has been taking golf lessons during July.  He is learning a lot, but has a hard time with such a slow paced game!  
• Zoo!  Billy loves and zoo and now so does Brooke.  Last time we went we actually took her out of the stroller and let her see the animals.  She seemed to like it more when she realized we weren't just walking around looking at fences. 
• Mountains.  We got to go to Doug's family's cabin for Memorial Day.  The boys always love it up there.  We went on a 4 mile hike around Monarch Lake and James practically ran the whole thing with me right behind him.  He loved playing temple run.  They also went fishing several times and everyone caught a fish.
• Utah.  Mikey got to go to Utah with Grandma and Grandpa and Scott.  He loved spending time with his cousins and especially loved the trampoline place.  He now wishes we had a place with "hundreds of trampolines".