Our Busy Summer

I’ve said it before, but I will reiterate it again…I LOVE SUMMER.  It’s my favorite time of year, and I particularly love my kids being home from school to do fun stuff with me every day.  Months before summer actually began I spent hours researching all kinds of summer camps and mapping the dates of such camps out on paper to try to see how we could best pack all the things we wanted to do this summer in.  I finally have it mostly perfected. It has been a pretty busy, but fun summer so far.  The very first day of real summer I caught the boys on the couch like this.  

I think that happened the first day of last summer too.  The kids mostly enjoy running back and forth between all the neighborhood kids’ houses.  We have put a ladder up next to our back fence and the kids over the fence have done the same to facilitate hopping over the fence to play.  Carter and Victoria have taken a particular liking to each other and I found this cute note from Victoria in response to a similar note Carter wrote to her.  

We did have to have one sit down talk with both boys about how we do not under any circumstances kiss girls in the neighborhood!  For the first time ever I got a pass of all passes.  This allows us into seven peaks all summer long (with all kinds of other additional fees for parking and tubes and food).  We finally went for the first time this summer after all Liv’s plays had ended.  The kids and I had fun riding the tube slides, lazy river, wave pool, and jumping off a swinging trapeze bar into a pool.  We still have the summer Art group going.  It’s getting huge, but so fun.  One week the kids made their own picture frames and Kabri Bishop printed off a pic of the group to put in it. 

We got our Scera summer movie tickets again.  This is fun, but seems like the kids would prefer to stay home and play with friends, so maybe this will be our last year of that.  The boys are taking swim lessons with Aubrey again.  This summer Liv is doing the orem rec summer swim team which meets every day at 11am in June and July.  She is not liking this much at all and always complains about going, but she is becoming a much better swimmer.  She does that with the Thorsteds, Rileys and Paskett kids, and we all take turns driving.    All 3 kids are playing on a rec coach pitch team together this summer and Derek is coaching.  Derek is a great coach and the kids are all improving their catching, batting, and throwing skills each week.  Summerfest happened to fall on the super busy weekend that Liv’s Les Mis play opened.  Babi and Paupo were in town thank goodness because I basically ran Liv back and forth between the theater and brought her food and did hair and make-up all weekend.  Babi and Paupo took the boys to the park one day.  

We all hit the rotary pancake breakfast on Saturday morning, then watched Liv perform on the summerfest stage, and then went to the kids coach pitch game (only the boys played).  

Though I vowed I wouldn’t do it, Babi and I took the boys to ride some carnival rides.  

Upcoming events for the summer include: All the kids doing a week long cooking camp and another week long rock climbing camp.  Liv was able to fit one week long theater camp in.   She also has 2 required COPA camps (one for dance and one for her vocal company).  Of course Liv and I have lots of theater plans.  

Liv and I saw Tuck Everlasting at the Hale Center Theater Orem (I loved this show), she and her Dad are going to use her season + guest tickets to see Million Dollar Quartet (I am green with envy).  Liv and I are going to see Mama Mia with Kenadie and Aunt Stephanie at Sundance.  Then Liv and I get to see both Freaky Friday and Cinderella at Hale Center Sandy.  We will probably catch also catch at least one Scera Shell show too.  At the end of summer we have our annual Marshall/ Thorsted (and this year Watkins) campout planned to Great Basin National Park.  So a busy, fun summer ahead…just the way I like it.