A Smidgen of Summer

Since this summer was kind of a bust I promised my kids that we'd have an entire week of fun to make up for all of the time that I couldn't walk. This wasn't too awesome for my foot and left me kind of achy every single night, but it was worth it to have some kind of fun with my kiddos before I had to send them back to school the next week. This is a crazy long post, but it was a crazy busy week...just the way we like them. It sort of felt normal again.Summers are always our favorite times to hang out with our besties, the Tongs & the Hoens, since we don't see them too much during the school year because they live like a thousand miles away (or maybe just in Spanish Fork, but still). We were so excited that we could spend some time with them throughout the week. On Monday we all headed up to Discovery Gateway Children's Museum. The kids always love going there because there's so much to pretend and to do!
















We all love our friends!
















Do you know how excited these kids were about taking this picture? Not much.
After the Hoens headed home but we went with the Tongs over to play in the Gateway fountains for a bit.
These kids are crazy!
Somehow we mustered up enough energy to go mini-golfing for FHE that night. My foot was throbbing by the end of the night, but it was worth it for a fun day!
















Plus it was an absolutely beautiful night to be outside!
Later that night Kade finally got the mohawk he'd been waiting all summer for!On Tuesday we had a really special treat...going out to lunch with dad!!Afterwards we braved the craziness of Thanksgiving Point $2 Tuesdays and went to the Dinosaur Museum with the Tongs & Hoens. We went in the afternoon so it was a little less crazy, but still crazy nonetheless. It was worth it though. That place rocks & the kids have so much fun.
















The water/sand thing is always gross but the kids love it the most!








Every year that we go together we take a picture at the same exact spot. Man, our kids are growing up too fast!!
The Tongs came over to our house afterward and we BBQ'd and had fashion shows, of course.








On Wednesday we spent the day at Seven Peaks with the Hoens. We had a blast!!The last thing we did last summer before finding out Gabe had died was go to the Living Planet Aquarium. It's always hard for me to do things we did with him that remind me of those moments that I didn't know how much I should've been treasuring. Nick absolutely loves the aquarium though (so do I) and has asked a few times throughout the year if we could go again. When I saw a deal for an annual pass for the price of one day's admission, I decided I'd bite the bullet, get the deal, and go back. We went on Thursday. It wasn't easy. I still thought of Gabe the entire time (like I don't anyway). I still thought of a time, that last outing, where life just seemed perfect, before the horror of what we found out just a few days later. It was good though. We had a fun time and now the first time is over. We can go back throughout the year and I know I can do it.
















I love everything about the aquarium...besides the pirhanas! Seriously scary! My kids mock my fear of them every time we go. While we were there the kids got to see the anaconda eat it's weekly meal of guinea pig. They thought it was awesome!








Of course at the top of the list for the kid's things to do was camping so on Friday we went. We had wanted to go camping all summer but the beginning of the summer was filled with baseball and t-ball and after I hurt my foot camping was just a no go. My foot still wasn't great when we went...walking on dirt is a lot more iffy than a hard surface...but we managed and had a great time. We just ended up going up to Hope Campground by Squaw Peak which is always our go-to place when we don't have a lot of time for travel. It's beautiful up there!
















We love camping!
The firepit took a pretty good family pic of us!
On Saturday after we got home from camping and got all cleaned up we headed out the door again and went to Ogden to just do a little indoor skydiving at I-Fly. This was Ben's Father's Day present this year. I had no intention of doing it with him, but didn't realize the pass was for two people, so I ended up joining him. Don't we look like total dorks in our outfits?It was kind of freaky at first and Ben says I was completely out of control, but we had a blast doing it! Ben can't wait to do the real thing someday. I can!















Then we went to Logan to celebrate Ben's grandparents who both are turning 90. They had a carnival theme for the party and so much family came. It was great! The kids loved the bounce house, games, face painting, balloon animals, tons of food, and especially that there was an endless supply of candy! We were totally expecting some upchucking on the way home, but we survived. I think everyone was too exhausted after our long day to even puke.















Since school didn't start until Tuesday, we still had Monday to have some fun. We went up to Bridal Veil Falls with our friends, the Ellingsons. The boys had a blast climbing around and getting all sorts of wet. The girls were much better at just chillin'. We had a really fun time. I love that we live just a few minutes from these beautiful falls.






















So it wasn't the best summer...but we did have some fun...even if we had to squeeze a lot into one week. I love being able to spend this time with my kids and create memories that will last forever. I'm such a lucky mom to have such fun kids!!