This summer has just flown by! It seems like we go through cycles of being bored and being busy out of our minds. But we have finally found a comfortable pattern for the days we just kind of stay home and the strict school schedule attitude has finally worn off and they are able to relax at home and entertain themselves. Just in time for school to start again haha I had a nightmare last night about matthew missing the bus and I couldn't find the school and then I couldn't find Matthew. I woke up a wreck. I remember having nightmares when I was in school about not being able to find my classes or open my locker or couldn't read the tests. I thought it would go away once I was out of school but now that my kids are in it there is no relief!
Lots of pool time this summer!
Tanna and Hailey petting Eliza's rabbits at the family reunion
Matthew had a big fall on his scooter. It was kind of a funny story actually. We were just out for a family walk and he wanted to scoot. Coming back we were going down a street that was a pretty good downhill. He got going too fast I guess and his scooter caught the edge of the lawn next to the sidewalk. The scooter stopped and he went flying flat out superman like you'd see on a cartoon and slammed the sidewalk. He just laid there face down for a couple of moments until we could get to him. He wasn't crying or anything when I got to him. He was just watching his nose drip blood onto the sidewalk. All I can think is that he was dazed! We got him up, took of his shirt and wiped up his blood best we could and tried to get the nose to stop bleeding. Curt was sure his nose was broken but it doesn't seem like it now that he's healed. You can't see it in the picture but his nose was red like Rudolf from road rash. Also his elbow and knee got it bad. The funniest part though was when we were cleaning him up he was giggling and saying "This is the best day of my life!" I hope he's not an adrenaline junkie!!
Never finger paint with a 1 yr old. Just saying. Your walls will never be the same.
We went on a drive out to Kilgore area to pick up some obsidian for Curt's sister. We made a fun day of it. The kids had a blast and on the way back we stopped at Egin Lake in the sand dunes. I'd never been there but always wanted to go! It was a great day.
And it wouldn't be complete without a cookout! I didn't have any marshmallows on hand but did have some marshmallow PEEPS!!! Ever roasted those?!! cRay zay
Plenty of bug catching happened.
Hailey was going potty and I thought man she's been in there a long time. I go in and see lotion all over the girly and allllll over the mirror and counter and wall!!! WHAT?!!!! Kids are so fast it's nuts.This picture does NOT do her handiwork justice.
This is the look William gives when he's tired of performing "say mama. say cheese. look at the camera. smile! say uh oh...."
We also spent a different evening at the sand dunes just playing in the sand
There's "that look" again!
We love "yard sailing" (going to yard sales) all summer long! Hailey especially loves it because I'll usually give them each a quarter for the day and she gets to choose anything she wants for a quarter or less. Sometimes there's some real treasures!
Curt biked with me while I did a long run one day. I'm training for a half marathon in the end of august! my parents offered to babysit for a date night and it was my turn to choose what we do. I actually loved this date and afterwards curt went and got me a cocoa bean cupcake to replenish. haha
Swimming lessons this year were pretty awesome!! Except matthew was a little silly and couldn't really hear the instructor (obviously he can't swim with his hearing aid on) so by day 3/8 she kind of gave up on him and let him do whatever 85% of the time. Which was frustrating for me because we did pay just as much as everyone else for these lessons and she wasn't taking the time to actually teach him much of anything. Not that he didn't learn anything but most of his attempts weren't quite right, of course, he's just learning. But she wouldn't try to correct him she'd just shrug and say great job.
Hailey had a great time though! I think I could stick them in the same level next year because she's basically doing everything that matthew can do except bobbing her head under water and holding her breath for 10 seconds.
One day we drove to lessons but tried to go home after and had a flat tire! Awful thing was my mom had come to watch lessons and help with William but she drove away and her phone wasn't receiving calls for some reason very well so I couldn't call her to come rescue us. I had to call Curt and wait about 30 minutes for him to come get us. I would have just changed it myself but the jack in the trooper doesn't lift high enough for our larger tires AND we still hadn't repaired the tire from the last flat so the spare was being used and we had a flat tire in the back.
And it was raining. And the water park is not close to anything fun for the kids. Sitting in a car with 3 wired kids for that long isn't usually that fun.
I think the flat was our first or second day of lessons. Every other time I just biked. I was nervous that we'd get another flat because there was no reason for it to be flat. We got it checked and filled it up and it has held air since. All I can think is that haters going around letting air out of tires!
Biking these 3 for over 3 miles round trip is no easy task in the middle of a hot summer day!!! Their combined weight is almost exactly what I weigh.
William usually took a nice uncomfortable nap though.
So we were driving in town one day in July to pick up some pizza, a movie, and go drive by this CR-V Curt was thinking about buying. We're at the vehicle and it starts HAILING. really big hard chunks. Curt was out of the car looking in the windows of this CR-V and it's just pelting him. The hailstones were bigger than it looks in this picture because it melted a bit while I got my phone out. And then it was alternating between huge hail and drenching rain.
We got home and ate our pizza and it was still coming down. So we go outside and play in the rain and dare the kids and bribe them with quarters to go running through the hail. And it's still just coming down.
The neighbor comes over and we chat for a while and it's still coming down. We notice the side stretch on the apartment building that's technically a ditch was filling up with water. We turned on the movie and were watching it and then Curt hears a bunch of people talking just out side. Our apartment is on the end of the complex right next to the street. the rain had pretty much stopped by now and people were congregating looking out at the apartment complex just across and down the road. So we go check it out and it was SERIOUSLY FlOODED. A foot inside ground floor apartments and over a foot and a half in their cars and up to their waist in the middle of the parking lot.
I was putting William in his pj's. I thought man these are a little short and looked and saw they were 12mon size. haha
I ran my first solo race the middle of July at the family reunion in Utah. This is me with my Aunt Janice. She's my mom's twin and she's an amazing runner! I took 6th in my age division and I think 9th overall. I had a tough age group! I was surprised. I kind of thought I was getting in the older age group where it would be a lot of slower mom joggers but I was wrong!! Although the women's winner wasn't in my division 2nd-6th were!
We went to the fish hatchery while we were there too with my Aunt Nadine and her three kids. THAT was interesting! They had over 2000 little fish in this bin! And multiple others of different age fish just like it!
Behind Hailey in this picture is a container full of trout eggs. They keep them really cold and ship them off to other hatcheries.
Then we got to go in this big long metal building and feed the larger fish. Some of them were probably 2 feet long at least!!
William and Sam and the reunion. They got along pretty well. I like how my family had their kids in shifts. 2 girls close together, 4 boys close together, 2 girls close together, 3 boys close together
William got the trampoline all to himself for a while which is crazy with how many kids there were there! He LOVED it!
As we were leaving Matthew found this young bird that must've tried flying too soon and fell out of it's nest. Then he tried to feed it a brownie....
Hailey found my pettiskirt I wore umder my wedding dress
For Curt's birthday my parents watched the kids and we took a little mini vacation to Virginia City. On the way there was an expo in Island Park we stopped at for a long time.
Then we got talking and missed our turn and didn't know it and drove all the way to west yellowstone and around to Earthquake Lake. This picture is of the landslide and formed the lake and fell right on the campground by the river that used to exist. It buried 18 people that they could never retrieve. The lake is kind of eerie because all these skeleton trees are sticking up in it. Curt got a good picture on his phone but I don't have any.
This statue was in Virginia City and was made up of all metal parts welded together. You can't see it well in the picture but it was really cool.
William loves loves loves anything that revs. big trucks, tractors, motorcycles, fast cars.....
Spray park with my sister and her kids. Weird that this is the ONLY picture I took. But it's a fun one!
We biked to the grocery store and back while Matthew rode his scooter. It was about 2.5 miles round trip! I thought for sure he wouldn't make it but he did. The scooter Matthew picture got stuck up at the top of this post...I don't know why but I'm too lazy to move it.
Library all the summer long!!!
Rigby Lake. It was the most fun swimming I think I've ever had with these kids!
Crazy that it's almost half way through August already and soon Matthew and Hailey will be back in school! second grade and preschool! Oh man! My kids are getting so big I can't believe it.
