Summer Fun!

I am trying to make the most of summer this year and thinking of fun, cheap things to do with the kids. Last week was full of summer fun. We had a Fireworks show, a Boise Hawks game, and on Friday I took the kids swimming at a local pool. And, in between it all, we got a new car!






They do a God and Country Fireworks show a week before the fourth. I love it because it gets us into the Patriotic spirit a little early! Here Trent and the kids are enjoying the fireworks




My friend Charissa and her daughters Lexi and Sydnee (one of Baileys best friends)!



Trent scored 4 free tickets from work to the Boise Hawks game, so we thought it would be a fun family activity. Nick got pretty bored so we left about halfway through the game, but it was fun and at least we didn't have to pay for only half a game!



And enjoying the warm summer evenings!


Bailey (in pink) with her friends at the pool. Can you believe it is only $2 to get in. Not too bad!




And here is my dear sweet AVI (Avalon) who I've had since BYU times. She has been a great companion. She is 16 years old and has over 270,000 miles...yes that's right, 270,000 and running strong. But between that and our little honda Civic Hybrid, our family is just tired of squeezing in (especially on trips). So we traded in Avi and got a .....



Toyota Sequoia. Now she's not a spring chicken either, but is not nearly as old or as tired as Avi! We can now bring a stroller on our vacations and Bailey can even invite a friend to join us on little excursions here and there. When you have 2 giants carseats in a little car, there is not much room in the back for anything (or anyone) else. Bailey is just like her mommy though and gets very attached to things, so she did cry on the way home because she missed her blue car!



It has been a pretty crazy week and maybe this week we can relax just a bit!

This has been an especially rough week for me. The hardest thing was the death of the 5 year old that we know. There have been a few times where I just break down into tears thinking about his poor mom and dad and just hearing the details, I just can't imagine. Luckily, they have a huge support group of family and friends around to help them get through this. The obituary is HERE if you want to read more.






Then I ended up getting the stomach flu and had Trent stay home from work and watch the kids so I could stay in bed. Let me tell you, I hate throwing up, I always have and I am not good at it. Let's just say that I am soooo glad to be better again.


So after all this doom and gloom, when I was feeling better, I told Trent that we had to get our minds off things. So where else to go, but the Circus. It was my first time ever going to one and we did have a great time. Bailey even got to ride an elephant, now how many four year olds can say that?

A balancing bear!


Nick enjoying the show with cotton candy on his face!


The elephants were my favorite part of the show





The elephant ride- Bailey is the 3rd little girl from the front in the green dress.


When she got off the elephant, I asked her if it was scary and she said, "it wasn't scary, but I was scared my shoe would fall off, but luckily ot didn't"


The kids playing outside the arena, enjoying the beautiful summer night!


As for today, I have to make food for the funeral, attend the funeral at 11, then hope my mascara isn't too bad for a wedding at 1:30 that I'm supposed to go to. To top it off, Trent just told me that he's not feeling well...uugh, What a week!

A bittersweet Father's Day

This year I decided to try and make Father's Day a little more special than I have in the past. Instead of a card and making him dinner, I actually had a "super Dad" theme (thanks to pinterest) and let the kids help make a cake and decorate the table, complete with Dads Rootbeer. It turned out really nice.





Yes, Bailey picked out a package of Fireworks...she sure knows what her daddy likes!


Cozying up while Daddy reads his special card!




But, we received some sad news today. A lady in our last ward who I knew fairly well, was in a car accident yesterday. She was in a minivan with her 3 kids stopped at a stoplight. Another car wasn't paying attention and plowed right into her. Her husband had to make the decision this morning to take his 5 year old son off life support and we just got word that the little boy passed. What a terrible Father's Day for him!

Just shows how fast life can change and how we need to appreciate each day we have with our families!

Happy Father's Day out there to the many great wonderful husbands and dads!

Cherry Days Parade

They seem to have a lot of celebrations and parades during the summer here in Idaho. Each city has some sort of celebration. Meridian just had their "Dairy Days" parade and festival, last weekend Eagle had "Eagle Days" festival, carnival and parade, and tonight was Emmet's Cherry Days parade thta ended their Cherry Festival. The parade was nothing spectacular, but it was fun for the kids. Almost every "float" or car passing by would throw candy to the kids. Some kids even brought buckets to put their stash of candy in...yes a stash!

They also have a wet zone where you get soaked from the firemen and other people throughout the parade, maybe next time we will venture to the section of the parade. Next month we have our Star City extraveganza with a parade and small celebration. And yes, they throw out candy there too! We love all the free entertainment around here!



Not the best picture of the kids, but they really did enjoy the evening! When we got home Bailey helped me decorate a cake for Trent for Father's day and she said "Mom, this was the best night ever!"






And this is how they roll... here in Idaho!




Next celebration (besides Father's Day tomorrow), fourth of July, Trent's favorite holiday! Let the fireworks begin!

Family movie night

The other day I saw this cool castle airbed on craigslist for only $15 that Bailey just had to have. We have a family movie night every few weeks where Trent sets up the projector and Bailey gets to stay up late watching a movie on the front room wall. The kids used it a couple times for our family movie nights, but unfortunately, it already got a few leaks in it and Trent threw it away! So much for that $15!

Lunch at the park

One thing that we enjoy in the summertime here in Idaho, are free lunches in the parks for kids. Unlike California where I think it is mostly for low income, here it is for any child (ages 1-18) who comes to the park around 12:30. It is so nice to let the kids play, then stay around and we can have a picnic. My kids love it when the lady hands them their own sack lunch and they get to pick out their milk and feel like big kids!


Here is the truck and a line of people waiting to get their lunch


Nick eating his string cheese



and Bailey enjoying her peaches!



Nick ready to go play


Oh how we love the summers around here. Hot enough to have fun and enjoy the outdoors, yet cool enough to actually go outside!

Nicks Achievement

We have been working on getting Nick potty trained the last few weeks. While he is still having plenty of accidents, we have little goals that we like to reward him with as he accomplishes them. Today he made one of his bigger goals and got rewarded with lunch at Chuck E Cheese. Way to go Nick!