School stinks!!

     We decided to do a little duck feeding after church on Sunday. One last little adventure before school starts.

Fun stuff and close to home.

    And then like a blink of an eye school starts again. And, if you ask me, it feels like it never ended. I feel like we've been doing school for months not just one week.

I'm not as clever as most moms with the signs of which grade each are in but Mark is starting 11th, Isaac is 8th, Carter is 6th and Brock is 3rd.

    I found my three youngest on the neighbors front lawn playing with a cookie monster toy earlier this week.

So cute!

    And sometimes we get lucky and this little girl falls asleep before us.

She use to be such a great little sleeper, now she's a 'hot mess' with her sleeping habits. 

     Next week will be the official start of the school year for McClane and then it will be just the girls home, at least for the first few hours of the day. Yay ME for surviving the first week of school!

Our final week of summer break 2016.

      For our last week of summer break we definitely kept things low-key. Here are the few photos I captured throughout the week of just random events.

Not once but twice, in one day, she fell asleep like this on the front porch.

Our only proof that we attended the Alpine parade.

Smalls likes to cuddle.

Fresh carrots from the neighbors garden. McClane only wishes he'd planted his own.

Friday night entertainment. These are a few boys from our "hood". (Mark is building side rails for the back of his truck.)

       We had "back to school night" this afternoon and the three elementary boys seem happy with their teachers and school mates. We had to make one change with Brock's teacher but thankfully it was done before we went to meet her. 

      It's giving me a knot in my stomach thinking about going back to school and doing homework and making lunches but I know the kids are kind of excited about it. McClane has an extra week before his official start and he's excited too. Lets hope we all survive!

Charlie is THREE!

      Not the most exciting week but we ended it celebrating Charlie's 3rd birthday and that was enough excitement for me. She got new clothes (that I didn't officially present as gifts but just had her wear them). She loves new clothes and insists on putting them on herself no matter how difficult it is. I also found these cute boots and at a great price so I'm not going to be too upset when she scuffs them up because she sure loves them and has already started the scuffing process.

All ready for church.

I wish I could find this outfit in my size.

    This morning she was up early and as soon as she realized it was finally her birthday she started singing 'happy birthday' to herself.

Cute birthday girl! (It's a good thing I took this photo first thing this morning because these balloons didn't survive past 11 AM.)

    We let her start her day with a birthday card and cash from G & G Baker and a birthday gift from big sis.

Thanks G & G Baker for the card and money!!

"Close your eyes while your brothers get the box open for you."

Her very own Ziggle! Thank goodness for big brothers with some assembly skills.

Now she can race McClane around the neighborhood. P.S. McClane has some mad skills on this ride-on toy. I'll have to post a video sometime.

       Then we went swimming!

Such a fun day! (Only missing Mark & Greg.)

      Then home for one more gift and a little cake.

A new Schwinn trike all her own! (Now she can stop stealing the neighbors.)

McClane is helping her display her new toys.

Ice cream cake makes my life a little easier and it was delicious.

    Now we have the Alpine parade and fireworks to look forward to tomorrow and only one more week of summer break to enjoy!

August!! What?!!

    We're starting August out pretty slow.

Nap time with babies are the best!

    We really haven't done much this past week. Kayli did take four of the boys to the water park but there's no photo evidence of that adventure. And we've also spent a little time at the splash pad this week but, again, no photos. I do have this photo of Charlie modeling one of her early birthday outfits.

She wasn't really in the mood for photos but she did her best.

     And just when I thought I wouldn't have much else to share here's a gem of a video I captured today while in the parking lot at the dollar store. Brock had no idea I was staring at him while he perfectly lip synced this song so I hurried and videoed the last few seconds of his 'performance'. He's pretty good I think!

       

         Not much else is on our schedule for the week/weekend but next week we have a few more things to look forward to, mainly Charlie's 3rd birthday!

Dreams do come true!

      I got a pleasant surprise on Monday when Greg decided to finally do the reclaimed wood wall in our bedroom that I have been dreaming of for quite a while now. I've been wanting to use the wood off the shed, which I know wasn't Greg's first choice initially but I have to say it turned out amazing!

Let the fun begin!

Before we put the bed back.

The finished product!

The top photo was taken at night and the bottom one is a day time photo.

      I was so happy this got done and we didn't have to spend a penny on it and it was done in a day! Unfortunately, as Greg was doing this project, I discovered some other ideas and projects that I'm anxious for him to do for me. Poor guy! This house will never run out of work for him.

      Luckily he does get down time every once in a while.

     And these weirdos were roaming the house and neighborhood.

Cute & Silly!

     We also had a fun afternoon swimming at a friends house this week but I neglected to take any photos. I burned my thighs really bad though so I've been remembering the fun all day everyday for the past couple of days. (And yes I did have sunblock on but clearly I should have reapplied once or twice.)

     It's sad that July is almost over and no words can adequately express my dread over school starting in just a few short weeks! 

A week with visitors

     We've really been enjoying our visit with my sister Marie and her family. Charlie has especially enjoyed all this cousin time and wakes up every morning asking for them.

Charlie thinks little Brigham is so cute and fun.

     We had a super fun time at Seven Peaks water park Tuesday. I failed to get even one photo but I think everyone had a good time.

A little time outside after our trip to the waterpark.

     We also had a fun visit with Heidi and baby Elsie, who was quite fascinated with seeing another person that was close to the same size as her. Maybe she was remembering him from 'earlier'.

Cute babies! (Only 2 weeks apart.)

    And I finally got a chance to take a photo of Mark and Marcus with their red trucks to compare with their earlier photo on their choppers. It thrills me that these two guys have been life time friends. Knowing someone your whole life is fun, most of the time.

Now we just need them to remake the photo of them in cowboy boots and shorts! 

    Only a few kids were up for swimming at Provo Rec. Thursday afternoon. I think some of the kids got a little stomach bug from our trip to Seven Peaks possibly?!

I told them to keep their eyes closed and to open their eyes on three. They mostly did it. 

     And we finished the day off with a Skype visit with our family from "Down Under".

We wish we could squish these cute faces in person.

     We also had another fun movie night with a few of the neighbors. We watched the original "Herbie". This week has definitely flown by. We've enjoyed having our cousins/aunt and uncle here and we hope they've had fun despite the sickness that has hit the household.

The other fun stuff I mentioned before

    Car cruise! Whenever I see small cool cars like this I think of my brother, Tad. 

Cute little Sunbeam!

    The parade in A.F. was fun as always!

We love snuggles with the 'littles'.

J.J. loves his "Char".

     No offense to the parade but the bike ride later the same day was the most fun!! Six Harley's chasing a Beamer for 185 miles, best time ever!! Kayli was a little annoyed with this 'biker gang' attempt by her non-cool parents but little does she know our true selves are finally coming through! The ride was from Alpine to a little place called Hanna and the drive was beautiful. Wolf Creek Pass was awesome!!

We just need a name for our 'biker gang' to really irritate Kayli!

Check out that smooth road on the bottom right!

      And while we were out riding the kids went to Picnic in the Park with Kayli and had a great time.

Kayli hooked me up with some cute photos.

     We made an impromptu but awesome trip to Seven Peaks waterpark Monday. For the first time ever we got there right when it opened and surprisingly it was a slower day than usual and it was awesome! We met up with Josh and Camille and their two kids and everyone had a great time.

Sun and water really take a lot out of you. She napped in the car, here on the front porch and in her bed.

     The next big event was a teenage moment that we still aren't sure how to handle! Mark had this monstrosity sitting in our driveway Wednesday night.

Seriously!

    We told the kid he could maybe buy a motorcycle after he got a quote from insurance and had $3000 saved for his mission but apparently that wasn't good enough for him. It's really too bad because now the likelihood of him getting a motorcycle while he's living under our roof is not likely. This bike doesn't even have a headlight or blinkers, brakes or even both foot pegs. Seriously, this is a prime example of how brain-dead teenagers can be. (Sorry mom and dad for my brain dead teenage moments!)

      So what should I do? Um maybe get my second pedicure ever?! Aren't you impressed, Jackie?

I love the flower details, totally worth the extra $5.

     And to finish off our week of fun......movie night!! I absolutely LOVE summer and outdoor movie nights are at the top of my favorite summer things to do.

We watched "Plane's Fire & Rescue".

      Now we're gearing up for Marie and her family to visit, it should be FUN! Stay tuned!