Little Valley Park

I realized last night I've been a slacker mom this summer. Last summer we did a lot more "fun" things. I tried to keep the kids entertained. This summer I've done next to nothing with the kids. Last night Shauna invited us to come hang out at Little Valley Park with her, Amy, Teena & all the kids.
The kids had fun on the splash pad and playing capture the flag with their friends.

Kylie learned how to do the monkey bars and was so proud until she fell and hit her side.

Didn't we go to the park to get away from media?? When the kids play Capture the Flag there always seems to be problems. Bradley got his feelings hurt and wouldn't play anymore so he ended up playing his DS.

Only One Month of Summer Left?

Where has the summer gone? The kids go back to school in 33 days.
Wow!
We're keeping busy with swim lessons, friends, chores and more friends.
Bryce has his scout campout starting Monday and then Brett has his the next Monday. We'll then have 2 weeks and then it's Back to School. I will definitely miss sleeping in! Time is flying by.

When Grandpa Comes

Grandpa always spoils us when he comes. Today we had pizza for lunch, went to see Toy Story 3 and then out to Wendy's for dinner.
And yes Toy Story 3 made me cry.
Tonight we watched the city's fireworks and then the kids set off fireworks in the street with the neighbors.
Happy Independence Day!

A Day At The Habels

Computers

Playing

Studying

More playing

Swimming!

One of our favorite places to swim is at Lee & Chloe Ross's home. They have a beautiful pool and an awesome waterslide. We got to go over twice to swim while we were visiting.

Kylie has her life vest on in this picture but after a while she took it off and she was able to swim without it. Hooray! All my kids can now swim. It will be a while before Kylie is good enough to not be watched every second but she's on her way.

This waterslide is the best!

Chloe brought us out chips, candy and drink. What a treat for the kids!

Isn't this a beautiful waterslide. Even I went down it. It's so much fun!

Vacation!

All packed and ready to go. We're heading out of town for a family reunion over 4th of July then we'll be back home for a couple days to do laundry and repack before we're heading to California.

The kids are really excited! Brian has the boat running again so we're taking it with. Should be lots of fun.

H2O Fun!

Brian got a kick out of taking this picture of me helping him on the boat. Bad news on the boat. It might be a lemon! There is water in the oil and it's not a good thing nor is it a cheap thing to fix!

What a goof! She had her "princess hat" on and was dancing around.

We headed over to Uncle Philips to swim tonight. He's got a really nice pool and he and Marva are kind enough to let us come whenever we want. My kids love it over there, a pool, cable TV & usually ice cream or some other treat. The beg to go.

The kids had a lot of fun. I enjoyed sitting by the pool with a book. The older 4 can all swim and Kylie is half fish and has a great life jacket that keeps her safe and lets her think she's a big kid so it's enjoyable for all of us.

Welcome Back Trekkers!

Saturday we drove up to Pinto to meet the youth from our stake as they came off the trek.

They had us line the road to welcome the kids. It was awesome to see the handcarts come in.

Here is Brett with his ma & pa walking behind him.

Brett had a good time and said he would do it again.

They had each ward gather for a picnic.

The kids had a great time on these mattress swings.

On the way home we stopped at the Mountain Meadows Massacre site.

2 weeks down... 9 to go

2 weeks of summer vacation have already past. We have 9 weeks left. I'm thinking I'll be ready for the kids to go back to school much sooner than 9 weeks from now! The novelty of summer has worn off already. Here's hoping for a great 3rd week of summer. I'm hoping for kids who do their chores without complaint, don't fight & quarrel with each other and don't complain they are bored because they can't find anything to do besides watch TV & play video games. Yeah right - this is reality not a fantasy! Guess I'll just pray for patience instead.

Lemonade Stand

My kids (especially Kimberly) have been begging me to let them have a lemonade stand. I always say no but finally let them today.

The first place they chose to set it up had no shade and very little traffic. I felt bad for them sitting in the hot sun. It was just Kim, Kylie & Shailee to start with and then when I brought Bradley & Brett to join them we decided to move.

I loaded them up in the car and took them to a grassy spot with a nice tree and more traffic.

A little under $20 earned and they thought it was fabulous!

Jumpin Jacks

We bought a summer pass to Jumpin Jacks. Today was the first day we could use it since it is good only in June, July & August. We had a good time going down the slides and playing a fun game of tag.

It was some great fun & exercise. Especially since Kylie wanted me to carry her to the top of the big slide.

Slip N Slide

I had a tour of the Humanitarian Center to go to this afternoon and Bryce was headed on a Boy Scout Campout so we opted for fun at home this morning. We opened up the Slip N Slide we bought and boy did our kids plus a bunch of neighbors have a great time!