Home Again Home Again

LP 2011

Our week at the lake has come and gone again. It feels amazing to be home and in our own beds but we love our sunny, carefree days on the water each year. We had so much fun and way too many pics to deal with right now :)

cousin time on the speed boat

We hurried home a day sooner than normal so Joseph could race in today's Blackridge triathlon:

He did so well even after hurting his back at the lake (was it the cliff jumping? sea-dooing? endless wrestling with the kids?)

He had some great race buddies to start the early morning with:

Today

--My AC is finally fixed as of 6:00 pm. Phew.

--I am packing for a short girl's camp adventure. I leave tomorrow afternoon and will be home late Thursday night. I am mostly super excited to go and be there even for a short time, but I am a little nervous about feeling sick. I've had better days the past 5 days or so but not perfect ones. I guess I better pack great snacks to keep my tummy feeling settled.

--I made a packing list for our annual LP trip. We leave just this coming weekend and all 5 of us are getting so anxious--we love that trip!

--I made it through 1/4 of my newest Blurb book. I have a Groupon deadline looming and need to get it finished in about 2 weeks. Guess that's what I'll be working on at the lake!

And just a random question: what do you leave your thermostat set to when you leave out of town in the summer?

Lately

Olivia and Grandpa Neil at the park last night. We met up with John and Krista too and our kids played on the playground for nearly 3 hours. I heart summer evenings!

Livs and Grandma Bobbi after last week's bike ride

A wild water fight with Evie and Elijah before they moved back with their mom in CO.

A golf date with out of town brothers earlier this week.

In other news, the fan on our AC's motor started making crazy loud sounds Thursday night and the repairman told us yesterday we definitely needed a new one but that we shouldn't run our AC until he could get the replacement part in on Monday. Hmmm, no AC for 3 days in the middle of July?

So we are braving it. Last night, when we got home from the park, the house was warm (78) but not too bad. We put Cares and Beans to bed together in his basement bedroom and Livs in her crib and then opened every window and turned on our ceiling fans. Everything cooled down so nicely that we even slept in our own bed rather than in basement--so there's hope for us still! Love these Utah summer nights which drop down into the 60s after a hot 90 degree day.

Red Butte Gardens

Our day in pictures:

Smelling the heavenly lavender

Notice how the sun vanished behind some clouds?
Right after the cloud cover arrived we found ourselves in a downpour.
So we hid in this lovely, dry, willow tree "fort" complete with wooden chairs:

Much better shot of my Caresie than the one above.

We loved staying totally dry as the rain fell.
We were the only ones around and felt like we were in our own secret garden.

The sun returned a few minutes later

and Bentley took a turn with the camera.

Our last stop was in the thriving wildflower garden.

All 4 of us snuggled on this swing and just rocked for a bit. The air was perfect, my kids still and calm and the view stunning. I think it was my favorite part of the day and the girlies didn't want to leave the lovely swing.

Little flower girl
(who left a ponytail in her hair the whole morning! I was so proud of her :)

Biking Crew

Joseph rallied the troops on Saturday--between his family and mine we had quite a turnout, ready to ride the old Herriman hills.

Saturdays this summer almost always begin with one of Joseph's long bike rides. I am really so sad I don't feel good enough to join him yet. Soon?

Had to post the silly shot...

and Joseph's sweet helmet hair (this shot from his 4th of July ride up in Park City)

Cinderella

Joseph sent me this pic today and called it "Cinderella." My sweet Cares, she truly loves to work and do special jobs (which her daddy has been making up for her lately--nice role reversal in all honesty :) She was removing the hard water stains with a pumice stone. Works like a charm if anyone needs a tip getting that lingering ring off.

She also helped wash the car the other night after all our driving along the dusty cabin roads. Such a helper. I love how her siblings like to join her--she's just too much fun to leave alone.

2 Girls, 1 Dress

Olivia 2011, Caroline 2008

I could compare these 2 at the same age all day. Sometimes they look so much like sisters and other times they barely look related. But the same could be said of my sisters and me.

I feel so lucky to have these girlies in my life and wonder every day if Joseph and I have created yet another little girl to join her sissies. It is tremendous fun to see how our genes combine and make such unique little people every time.

Long Weekend

Saturday night fireworks before heading to the cabin (none allowed up there)

Livs adored this brownie and then cried after the first firework so we put her right to bed and she slept through all the fun :)

On Sunday we packed ourselves up after church and drove up to the cabin. It had been way too long since we were up there and the kids spent hours roaming the outdoors and the indoors too, rediscovering everything.

On Monday morning the Horsleys joined us for a huge peach french toast brunch and non-stop cousin playtime:

Love these patriotic kiddos

Bob and Brooke came up for a quick visit that morning (both in town from Chicago)
the girls cruising along on a jigsaw puzzle

the boys out on a hike

a few sparklers that evening (on the very flame resistant concrete)

Around 9 pm we took the big kids in to Park City for their fireworks show. We arrived just as they started and jumped out of the car in the Albertson's parking lot to watch. It started raining just as we got settled but the show was still vibrant and fun. The rich boom of big fireworks will just never get old for me. Love it every year.

On Tuesday morning we sent our husbands off to work and stayed in the mountains to play. The air up there was absolute heaven for me--nothing like crisp cool breezes and scattered rainstorms to ease any nausea. Plus, I hardly even saw my kids unless they needed lunch or breakfast--and even then they could hardly be pulled away from playtime to make themselves eat. They made forts and bases, jumped off the bunk beds into huge pillow piles, enjoyed a dip in the hot tub, ran around on the trails outside, played skee-ball and air hockey and mini Hot Wheels and created and performed skits and plays for all the grown-ups to see.

Cares and Maddie snacking on red, white and blue cupcakes out on the deck

Livs and Connor loved roaming the cabin calling after each other over and over again. Livs would call "Connor, where are you?" to which he replied "I right here!" And then Livs would say "OK. I coming!" and head happily out to find him. They held hands many times coming down the stairs and loved making each other laugh with silly faces or pretending to fall over. They also loved fighting over toys and claiming everything as "mine," so theirs is still a rocky, 2-year-old friendship :)

And what did I do at the cabin? Sit on the couch and snuggle Brigg or nap a couple times a day. I felt so useless and drained and still quite sickly. My mom and sister took care of everything from meals to kids to crafts and snacks and I was so grateful. Next year I will be more helpful! My caring hubby also came back up to the cabin on Tuesday after work to help look after the kids, make sure everyone got to bed, and (the critical part to me) wake up with Livs in the early morning to entertain and feed her while everyone else in the cabin snoozed on. He is my ultimate lifesaver. He also schooled us in "9's" so he got his due. And he can hardly resist spending an evening away from this blonde bather (luckily we have very cute kids that he misses terribly while he's at work :)

Pajama Party

Green and white polka-dotted PJs in assorted sizes:

Perfect for eating cereal out on the patio, snuggling each other on my big bed, and of course, breakfast at Wimbledon.

Hello July!