The Good, The Bad and The Unfortunate

A few weeks ago we woke up to this.

Unfortunately, one of the last storms blew down a large section of our weeping willow tree.
After talking with a professional tree guy we realized that the tree could not be salvage. So we had it removed.
To make things worse, after talking with him about the rest of the trees it was apparent that 2 more trees needed to be taken out.
When the previous owner planted the trees he overlooked some very important pruning that needed to be done at the time the trees were planted. As a result we had one particular tree that looked like it would rot out and fall onto our house in the next couple of years.

Down it came.

Say goodbye to a little bit of our shade. . .






What's the GOOD news you may ask?

Removing 3 trees opened up a lot of space, and many possibilities for our backyard.
The new plan for the backyard includes a nice swing set/playground, fruit trees, a vegetable garden and maybe even a fire pit.

SMORES anyone?

The Disadvantage to having a Newborn with Ample Hair Part 2

You must DO her Hair.

Even at 6 weeks old, combing Avie's hair is an essential part of the day. If you don't her cute little curls dry into the crazy hair pictured above.
It's a good thing that head bands and bows hide a lot of things.


The bigger the bow, the better. . .

Catching the Last few Rays of Summer Sun

This past week and a half we have been running as fast and as hard as we can to catch the last bit of summer. This is what we have been up to. We rented a condo for the weekend in Bear Lake. We spent hours swimming in the pool at the condo.
Connor took a little break to work on his lego creations. I thought this ship was pretty cool. Even if I do say so myself. . .
We spent a good part of Saturday at the beach. We pitched a tent so that we had a nice little shady place for Avie to sleep. It was a good place for Jeremy to work on his accounting work books too.
The boys and I built a great sand castle complete with it's own little lakes, city wall, and a mote.
This is how Avie spent our weekend away. I know it is pretty predictable (and silly,) but I just can't resist taking a picture or two of her every once in awhile, even if she is asleep.
Who wouldn't enjoy spending an afternoon in Grace's backyard. It was a great way to celebrate one of the last days of freedom before the start of school. The boys enjoyed many of the activities that Grace's yard has to offer. They love jumping off of the deck to the playhouse and on to the trampoline. Geronimo!!!! However. . .
I think the pool is still the favorite.
See what I mean. . .
Looks like fun, doesn't it?
This hammock might be a close in the running of favorites too. Although not as exciting as the pool or the trampoline it is a great place to relax and swing the day away. Check out my Garden Geek blog for my favorite parts of Grace's garden.
A few days before that, we decided to go to Thanksgiving Point for Two Dollar Tuesdays.
You can tell everyone is having a good time at the Noah's Ark Fountain because there are so very few pictures where I could get the boys to look at the camera.
The play ground was pretty cool.
But I think the water features were the highlight.

Now that we have run, and played, and celebrated summer, I am ready for school to start again. Until next year. . .

Another 1st for Connor

Well if you thought it was mild weather this weekend (70 degrees in the valley today) it was much 'milder' at 10,300 ft. Connor got to go backpacking with Jeremy and his brothers (Jeff, Terry and Zach). They hiked in to Long Lake, which is two miles up the Crystal Lake Trail Head. He did great on the his first hike, as he learned to not complain and be a man. Connor caught his first fish and it is was a keeper (or close enough for a 6 year old). Parker was very distraught when his dad brought the dead fish home and told him that we were going to cook it and eat it. Turns out Parker likes fish cooked with bacon.

Our Week in Review

Sweet Success!!! Parker finally earned his monster truck. Way to go Buddy!
Connor got to go to Junior Golf Camp. It was 5 great mornings of golf with good buddies.
On friday he received his Junior Golf Camp Certificate. He was very proud of his certificate. It even had a coupon for a free round of miniture golf.
I just love this little outfit on Avie. She was so hungry that I never could get a good picture.
This is as close as I came to a good shot. Thank heavens for binkies. And yes, I did feed her right after.
This picture makes me so happy. I took it one afternoon after Parker came home from a spur of the moment cookie giveaway. He had been going door to door trying to give the neighbors some freshly baked banana oatmeal cookies. Who wouldn't want a cookie from a rag-muffin 4 year old that he was serving out of our old cement mixing bucket?


Goodbye old friend, we will miss you Altima. You have served us well for 8 years and 100k miles....hopefully your replacement (Maxima) will treat us just as well!

The County Fair

Yesterday, I took the boys to the County Fair. Despite the very warm, very sunny weather, we had a great time. It was really hot waiting for the "Kachunga the Alligator Man" show.

Connor was SO excited to finally have a turn for a pony ride.
Next in line for the pony rides. Look at how long the line was! They waited very patiently. (Sorry the pictures are out of order.)
The boys got to pet a 3 year old alligator. After going to this alligator show I don't think I ever desire to own water front property in Florida. I'll stick with the mosquitoes and garter snakes in my yard.
We had front row seats for the show. It is always fun to sit close enough to the action that you get wet. In the first picture of "Gill" the alligator handler is actually holding the jaws of the alligator closed with his chin. (I am glad that isn't my job. . .)

Parker loves horses. I think we have a little cowboy in the making. . .
Of course you need to stop for super sugary treats at the fair. It was so hot that the snow cones really hit the spot.
Cotton candy. A county fair favorite and must have.
I let the boys each choose a carnival ride. Connor chose the big slide.
Parker choose to ride the train. I love the look of pure pleasure on his face.
No trip to the fair would be complete without a balloon animal from a silly clown. Connor thought CoJo the Clown was HILARIOUS!
Parker loved his saber and belt.


Avie slept through most of the festivities. I did find it funny that she woke up when we went to see the 6-8 foot Albino Boa Constrictor. I loved the look of awe and fear on her face. It illustrated what I was thinking pretty well. It is always fun to explore all the fair has to offer. Until next year. . .

The Disadvantage to having a Newborn with Ample Hair

It is so fun to have a little girl with hair!
It's so fun UNTIL she happens to grab and handful and start pulling.

The harder she pulls, the harder she screams.
The harder she screams, the tighter her grip gets.
The tighter her grip, the more she pulls. . .

Get the picture?

Oh the things we suffer through for beauty.

An Evening of Fun. . .

Our summer has finally begun!!! (Now that it is almost over. . .) We spent a great evening at the Dam this week. It was nice to get out of the house and enjoy the sand, sun, and water. We took Cousin Melanie and her two boys with us. We had a great time eating dinner on the beach and enjoying each others company.

Here are my to boys showing off their "beach bodies." Oooo, so tough. So strong!

Logan, swimming around. . .

Connor, showing off his fabulous life jacket.

Needless to say, with 4 boys in the water there were countless water fights and other antics.

Parker loved running through the waves. It is days like this that I wish I was 4 and carefree again.

Connor and Payton and more of their antics. . .

Sand castles anyone?

I think the boys will remember this evening for a long, long time. I feel a little bad for them that we haven't been able to do many fun things this summer. It was nice to get out and run out all of our energy. It was such a simple thing to do. We just needed to get on our swimming suits, pack dinner in the car, and take off. It made for a super fun friday night.