Father's Day

Father's Day Lunch

Riding happily eating fruit loops and listening to Taylor Swift and singing out loud! Love hearing her singing, "We were both young when I first met you". Kind of ironic that she started singing that at age 3!

Just so you can all be jealous of our mini van ride! Kids, a dog, bikes, food everywhere. Uh-huh.....I LOVE my life! (Truly, I do!!! Wouldn't trade this for the nicest, calmest ride in the world!)

So Father's Day was the last day of mini Explore Idaho Vacation! We got up, ate a big breakfast, and the kiddos swam and swam and swam. I tell you, these kids can't get enough of a pool. Alex even started swimming under water like a fish with no floaties!  So now we have four competent swimmers! Although, I am still requiring floaties at times for the twins, when we our at our neighborhood pool and it is crazy!

After swimming and loading up the car.....I watched the kids swim, Scott loaded. He's a much better packer than me, and then we went out for a manly lunch at some wing place....can't think of the name right now. It was ummm....great......I think it is a great restaurant for Scott and Alex to go too though for now on. I'll take the girlies somewhere else. ☺ Actually the kids loved it...but they order mac and cheese or corn dogs anywhere we go...so as long as that's on the menu they are happy! But we did have a great day celebrating the best daddy in the world to these precious little ones!! And then it was time to come home and unpack. And take all the bikes that we never got to ride off the rack!

Shoshone Falls

I think Avery looks sooo cute here!

We drove through the town of Hailey!

Karis coming down a hill on her bottom! Nice and dirty!

The next day on our little mini-vacation we went to Sun Valley and Shoshone Falls. (We stayed in Twin Falls both nights since it was centrally located and much easier to stay in one place than pack up and stay in a different. We found a great hotel with fresh cookies, a 2 room suite with a sitting room, and free breakfast! Can't beat that! Also a fun pool that the kiddos spent a lot of time in.)

Our 2nd day was a little disastrous in that the night before Avery threw up! Thankfully, she was the only one. However, Alex ended up with a fever and near throwing up several times. We decided to make the best of it and drove to Sun Valley intending to bike when we got there. Let's just say that taking 6 bikes on a mini van is no small job. Poor Scott did all the loading and unloading, thinking it would be worth it as we would happily bike around Sun Valley enjoying the beauty.

Well, we got there and Alex started throwing up....but nothing coming out type throwing up and was burning up with fever. Avery was better so Scott took her and the girls to bike some and I stayed in the van with Alex. About 10 minutes into the ride, Hailey took a major crash. In fact the foam on her bike helmet even broke on part of it. Thank God she was wearing one. We always make our kids wear helmets for this very reason. So Scott returned with a crying and sore Hailey.

We put the kids in the van and started the long process of loading up the bikes. At one point 3 out of 4 kids were wailing in the van. I looked at Scott and we burst out laughing. He said, "Next time we should come here without kids so we can really bike." I said, "Umm...great plan....we'll try this again in 10 years." It was a little disappointing but just part of having kids! On the way back we stopped at Shoshone Falls and it was beautiful. The girls loved it but poor Alex was really feeling yucky. It was so pretty though and we had a nice time. Then back to the motel for some swimming!

City Of Rocks

So last summer, our first summer in Idaho, we did a ton of day trips. We went on hikes, to rivers, lakes, etc. This year we decided to explore Idaho even more. So last weekend we took a long weekend and went to a couple places we wanted to see. The first was City of Rocks. It was amazing. We could have spent the whole day there. Tons of huge rocks and little caves to explore. Our little rock climbers had a wonderful time!!!

Cricket And The Tea Party

Avery and Alex love to have tea parties. I make real tea, they pour it in their tea cup, add lots of cream and sugar, have a little treat, make a big mess, ask for more, and have a great time. Then they run off and play and Mommy cleans it all up. Oh the life of a mother. ☺

On this day they had a tea party and while I was cleaning it up, they brought down Crickie, the lizard. All was well until she started to poop. At that point Alex thought for some reason handing her to me would help. Well, I have never even held Crickie so I backed up and screamed. Alex and Avery then shrieked with laughter. Thankfully, it wasn't much poop to clean  up. And then right after that, or maybe it was before, the afternoon is quite a blur, we discovered that Gracie had thrown up all over Scott and my bedroom! I started to clean it up but starting gagging, so Alex grabbed the wipes and cleaned it! Avery was then yelling, "Alex is the goodest and the bravest boy ever! Alex...you are the goodest and the bravest Haiti boy ever!" It was hilarious. But I gotta admit.....he is the goodest and the bravest boy ever! In fact I also think Avery is the goodest and the bravest girl ever! (Besides 2 other little girls who live here too!)

Piercings and Bruin!

I know these pictures don't have a lot to do with each other except for the fact that little Bruin (and his mom) came to visit and while they were here Avery and Karis were super brave and got their ears pierced! Actually Karis had hers done when she was 2 but they got infected so we let them close up. She has been trying to talk herself into getting them since she was about 3! In fact we've already gone a couple times to do it but then she backed out. Well this time we went and she suggested Avery go first. Avery did and did great! Then, once again, Karis backed out. Well, we went back later that same day and she did it! She was so happy. In fact, both girls were thrilled! Avery kept reciting the Tangled line, "I can't believe I did this, I can't believe I did this!"

As you can see Bru is 30 pounds (the same weight as Avery) of total cuteness! The kiddos all were completely enamored with him! He seemed to enjoy being the little celebrity quite a bit! Except when his Mama put him in the shopping cart to keep him from pulling all the jewelry down at Claire's! But other than that, it was total bliss!

Knitting!

I am so enjoying my new knitting hobby. This is my 2nd big project and by far my favorite! It took way less time than the dress and I love the way it turned out. So cute I think. In fact I am now making one for Hailey. I used a worsted cotton yarn which was really fun to knit with....it just looked so good and felt really nice too. Hailey asks me daily if her tank top is done yet. No....it isn't! Although with all the time they are spending at the pool now, I am thinking I can get a lot done. (Since I mostly sit by the pool and soak up the sun and chat with the other mothers, I might as well knit at the same time. ☺)

Last Day and Kindergarten Graduation

Here is Karis at her graduation ceremony. So cute!! Of course I was crying. So proud of this little girl!!

As we were getting ready to leave today the teacher told the kids to say goodbye to Karis and they all surrounded her with great big hugs. It was so sweet. The teacher whispered to me how much the kids just love her, so much that all the boys this year had crushes on her, and she even had to have a little talk with them that they were too young for such things!

Here is Hailey....all done with 2nd grade!! How can that be? She had a wonderful year also with an amazing teacher. I tell you...these teachers go above and beyond and do such an incredible job. We are very blessed.

Here she is being silly at the end of the year picnic! Love this age of girls...so dramatic...all.the.time!

After school we went to Idaho's biggest candy shop! It is a bit of a drive but so worth it. They each got to pick out two things. Then tonight we went out to dinner to celebrate! It was such a fun day! Yeah for summer!!!!

Rocky Mountain Cheer Clinic

Last week Hailey and Karis along with about 200 other little girls got to participate in the high school's cheer clinic. The high school cheer and dance girls ran the clinic and did an awesome job. They ended the clinic with a performance and they looked so cute. It was so fun to see Hailey so animated and having such a great time. On a side note she is standing next to the "other Karis". A girl in our neighborhood with the same name.

A funny thing....the day we got there tons of girls were in a big circle playing a dancing game. The cheerleaders were trying to get the girls to come out with them, so they'd take them by the hand. Well for some reason a cheerleader came and grabbed Alex's hand. He was thrilled. Every time I tried to get his attention and get him back he scowled and me and said, "No!" and kept dancing as he gazed happily up at the pretty girl. I finally got him and we quickly left. I knew Scott would not be thrilled if I came home and said Alex had joined the Cheer Clinic also!