Swim Lessons

Starting July 5 we did swimming lessons for 9 days.  It was good for the boys, and I enjoyed visiting with some of the ladies in the ward who had kids in classes with my kids.  Brady is a bum lately about getting in the water, so we didn't do the parent/child class cuz I didn't want to fight him about it.  Tanner always thought it was too cold.  He would sit with his arms resting on the side of the pool and shiver, then do what the teacher said, then resume position and shiver.   This year Tanner moved up to level 1 class, so it wasn't quite as fun as the polywog class.  But on the ast day of class the kids got to jump off the diving board.  Tanner wasn't nervous at all and just went for it.

  Colt on the other hand played and had a fun time.

Braden LOVES to chase seagulls.  He will chase those silly birds all over a park, running as fast as his little legs can carry him.  It is funny to watch.

One day before swimming lessons we drove out to Burbank and picked blueberries.  We picked 6 lbs I think.  They were big and delicious. We ended up going back out a few days later and picking 12 more lbs.  We decided these were well worth the $3/lb.

Happy 4th of July

We got invited by some friends to go camping for the 4th of July weekend.  We were very excited as we haven't been camping in a while.  The boys were overjoyed!  The plan was to go to Hell's Canyon in OR, a 3 to 4 hour drive.  But at the last minute the plans changed and we headed to La Grande which was only 1 1/2 hours away.  It was SO beautiful and peaceful.  The campsites weren't full, which meant more room to roam, and we were right up against the side of a hill so the kids could "hike" all day long and still be in sight.  And, the best part, there was a clean vault toilet.  No running water, but there was a toilet.

We got there Friday afternoon and enjoyed visiting and the men went to get fishing licenses.  We had fun gathering firewood, then that evening eating roasted hotdogs and mallows.  The other 2 families with us put their kids to be early, so our little family sat by the fire and told stories and sang songs and ate popcorn.

Our kids slept great Friday night, the only ones in our camp.  Both other families had such a rough night that they decided to go home Sat evening so they could get some sleep.  We stayed, much to Tanner's dismay.  He was really bummed that everyone left us and said he would rather leave than stay without them. 

Saturday we found a nice lake above LaGrande that we went to to take the kids fishing.  It was so beautiful with all the wild flowers around it.  We didn't catch anything, but Joe did, and was kind enough to let each of the kids take a turn reeling the fish in.  Everyone got to "catch" one except Colt.  But they had a great time skipping rocks and playing. 

Saturday after lunch we did crafts and tried not to melt...it was SO SO hot.  The kids had a wonderful time making shirts.  I found the idea in the family fun magazine.  We put contact paper on a white shirt, then sprayed it with fabric paint dilluted with water.  They turned out so dang cute.  Then the kids painted wood, and the moms did a project too while the dads napped.  For dinner we had a fantastic meal of dutchoven BBQ chicken, dutchoven potatoes, scones, and watermelon.  It was so yummy.

Then our friends packed up and we spent the evening at the fire again.  Then to bed earlier than the night before because we were all tired.  Again, everyone slept all night long. 

 We woke up Sunday morning and packed the van, then realized that we had a dead battery.  We must have left the doors open too long on Saturday.  So, we found a nice family camped nearby that gave us a jumpstart.  The boys really wanted to go on one more hike before we left, so we took a little hike up the hill.  Tanner kept saying that it reminded him of that place where Joseph Smith saw those 2 angels.  It was fun to talk about what happened in the Sacred Grove.

We had such a fun time camping.  I told Dave that we need to do that alot more this summer (although it feels as if summer is almost over already!)  The boys are the perfect ages to take camping - they sleep through the night and they are big enough to not put everything in their mouths and they are such good boys and good minders most of the time.  What a fun time we had!  And we even made it back in time for church (where they sustained me as the Secretary in the RS).

Monday Dave had to go out to work for the first part of the day, then in the evening we invited some families from the ward to come and have a BBQ.  It was fun.  We weren't sure what the max capacity was for our sandbox, but it is at least 12 kids.  Then we had a little "illegal" fireworks show, since all fireworks are illegal in Kennewick.  But it was so fun!

Happy 4th of July!

A fun Saturday

The last few weeks it has been so fun that the boys could go out to "check potatoes" with Daddy.  I got invited this week.  The fields are growing like crazy, and the boys love to pick off the baby potatoes on the plants that Daddy digs up to check on.  It is so fun to ride in Daddy's "cool truck".  We also stopped at the last cellar to stock up on spuds before they are all gone, and harvest comes in the Fall.  It is so neat to find potatoes as big as a foot!

Then we got pizza for lunch, and headed to Home Depot and Walmart because our Daddy finally decided that we need a swingset.  (Why is it that you can say something over and over, but until it is his idea it has no significance?)  But, due to the ease of online shopping, nobody carries such big items in stock anymore.  So, we ordered it online and it will be here in 7-10 days.  Then we headed home for a nap, then a fast dinner and we went to the movie theater to see Cars2.

 It was AWESOME!!  I had free movie tickets from cereal purchases that expired by the end of the month, plus I bought the awesome Fandango deal, so we all got to go to the movie and get popcorn and a pop and it cost $11 total.  So fun!  I love the stage we are at because everyone is so easy to take places.  We are lucky to have such good boys!

Other fun things we did this week: 
Monday - colt's bday
Tuesday - story time at McDonalds, KidsBowlFree after daddy got home from work
Wed - Free movie at the theater - Despicable Me.  Then swimming at a friends house (full size pool)
Thurs - picked cherries at a friends house, then rode bikes to the library to see the Pacific Science Center displays.  Fun hands-on activities.  That night Dave and I went to Ward Temple Night
Fri - cleaned the house.  Had a friend over in the afternoon to play.  Turned a movie on for the boys and had grown-ups over for a game night.  (it is fun to get together with friends we don't see often enough!)
Saturday - see above
Sunday- friends over for dinner, more friends for dessert, and the Home Teacher came during that too.  Dave taught a lesson in EQ - not his favorite thing to do, but he succeeded.