I'm Not Sleepy...

4th of July

My parents came up to visit over the 4th of July weekend. I was so glad to have them stay at my house so that I could have some company since Jason was out of town for work. Saturday, the guys went golfing and my mom and sister and I took the kids to a fun splash pad park, then to lunch. That evening, we drove up the canyon and roasted hot dogs and s'mores. Then we found a good spot to watch some fireworks. On Sunday, we had everyone over to my house to play games and do sparklers. I don't know why I didn't take very many pictures the whole weekend. I did go a little camera-crazy for these few minutes of Sparkler Madness, though.

Allary, Kevin, and Cody.

Allary and Megan.

Cody.

Paige.

Megan.

Jenna.

My dad helping Tyler and Chase.

Haley.

Trisha.

Tanner.

My mom.

It was a great holiday weekend spent enjoying family.

Girls' Retreat

My mom came up for a fun Girls' Weekend Retreat with my sister, my sister-in-law, and me. We left the kids with our husbands and went away for a weekend full of talking and laughing and shopping and eating out and more talking and laughing. It was so much fun!

Jason took Allary camping for the weekend, so they had a great time as well. They went fishing and on four-wheeler rides and she came home dirtier than she's ever been in her life. She loved it though and I was glad to see her and her Dad get a whole weekend together.

Fun Day Out With Cousins

Allary and I went to a fun park with Trisha and Jenna, Chase, and Paige. The weather wasn't all that great, but the kids had a fantastic time anyway. There was a petting zoo...

...A place to learn about the pioneers, tour their homes, and do some good old-fashioned hard work.

Paige and Allary teamed up to work the wheelbarrow and nearly ran me over as I was snapping the photo.

Just doing some laundry. They could pretend to wash, hang out, and iron these clothes. It made me very grateful for my washing machine, dryer and other such conveniences.



They got to ride a fun little train around a duck pond...

...Play on a ship...
...Check out some Native American living quarters.



...and even go on a pony ride. This was Allary's second time on a horse/pony and both times it has scared her pretty bad. She only goes because she sees her cousins wanting to go. Her horse was doing some weird snorting/coughing/shaking thing her whole ride and she was a little freaked out. But, she just held on tight and put on a brave face, at least until she ran out and got back over to me. I'm proud of her for being so brave and being willing to try things, even things that make her a little nervous.

It was a really fun day.

Dance Class

Allary started dance classes again last week. I can't even tell you how much she loves and looks forward to it. She found some ballet books at the library and has literally been studying them for weeks now. She is totally into all things ballerina.


And, I love it also because, Oh my gosh, how cute is she?!?!?

Summer Reading Program

I signed Allary up for the Summer Reading Program at the library this summer. We got her into the same class as her cousin Paige. Last week, they had a sort of kick-off party with games and activities and popsicles. The theme is "Make a Splash at Your Library," so the games all had something to do with water or fish or pirates or something.

Here are the two girls with their pirate eye-patches and their best pirate grimaces. They made those little necklaces which were also supposed to be their pirate names. Allary's was "Wreck Stub Bob" and Paige's was "Blind Wreck Sam."


Here they are tossing bean bags to sink enemy ships... at least I think that's what it was.


Digging for treasure.

After all that, we really did "make a splash." We went over to Trisha's house to play in the wading pool for awhile. I love Allary's face in this next picture... pure enjoyment. :)


Paige kept saying, "Let's sit down and enjoy." This would last for about 3 seconds, followed by more squealing and splashing and giggling.

Rice Krispies Treats

Allary and I made Rice Krispies treats together last week. I'm always looking for fun things to do and ways to entertain her and myself and to just get out and do something to stay busy. But sometimes, I find so much joy in just taking time out to be with her and enjoy her fun personality. This was a really fun afternoon of making treats, listening to music, silly dancing, and just giggling together.

(Notice the Rice Krispies treats are pink. When getting the marshmallows at the store, she would not allow me to get the boring white ones once she saw pink was an option.)

Her cute feet dangling off the kitchen counter. Just cute. :)