Summer Fun!

I'm writing this post for several different reasons. First, to celebrate that after living here for almost 5 years, my yard is finally just how I want it. Well...pretty much. Secondly, I want to document all the fun things I've done for my kids this summer so that I can quit feeling so guilty about what a dud I have been since the all-day-sickness started. There are going to be a crap load of pictures, so we'll see if I can arrange it in a way that won't make it look all crazy.

It's been a really long road getting our yard where it is now. We had to move a shed over our house with a crane, tear out and re-pour our driveway, rent a bobcat to remove a bunch of gravel, put in a sprinkler system, lay down sod, install a fence, and finally...set up a swingset! Oh yeah, and plant two trees, but they look like they're dying so I can't quite count that yet. If anyone has any tips on keeping newly planted trees alive, please let me know. It has all been so much work! Many thanks go out to my husband and everyone that helped him get everything done. We couldn't have done it without you! The kids love to play in the back yard, and I love to send them out there when they're driving me crazy.

Now, on to the bragging about how much fun my kids have had this summer. A couple of months ago we had a girl's day out with Randall's side of the family. We went to the Alpine Museum which has a bunch of stuff that used to belong to Randall's Great, Great...Grandma. It was so fun to be there and see things like a spinning wheel that his Grandma used so many years ago. We also heard a lot of stories about his ancestors. His Grandpa was killed trying to protect the people from Indians. He has the biggest gravestone on top of the highest hill at the Alpine Cemetery. We went and saw it later on that day. The view and the gravestone were so beautiful. I totally love to see really old things and stand in places that my (or in this case my children's) family members stood decades ago. It's just such a cool feeling. We also had a picnic and played at a park near the museum. It was a great day! The kids were amazingly good at the museum, and loved playing with their cousins at the park. Thanks Jacks for planning this for all of us!

I also spent the afternoon at a bouncy house place with my friend BreAna earlier this summer, and I blame the pregnancy brain for not getting any pictures of her and her cute kids. We were quite the crowd...me with my nausea, and her about to deliver her third child. Carter loves all the bouncy stuff. Lydia gets intimidated easily, so since it was a little crowded that day, she stayed pretty close to me and BreAna's grandma and sister-in-law. I'm really proud of the picture of Carter going down the slide. My camera's really slow, and it took me like 20 tries to get it. When you consider that he had to climb all those stairs in between each one, that's quite a long process. I realize that the kid with his bum in the air that's breaking the rules is more of the focal point, but I don't care!

We spent some time at Wheeler Farm with Tara, Jay, Laura, and their kids. I don't even remember the name of the event, but there were a lot of booths, a cute little train that drove around, bouncy stuff, and of course the usual farm animals for everyone to enjoy. This picture of Tara's boys on the train was taken before they started screaming in terror. Laura was even nice enough to take Carter to the Mommy and Me Day at the Zoo later that afternoon, and from what I hear, they got to eat all the ice cream they wanted!

Carter loves to "go swimming" in our backyard. I put it in quotation marks because I'm from Vegas, where a lot of people have real pools. Somehow this pool that I bought for $5 at Big Lots 3 years ago just doesn't seem to cut it. They have lots of fun, but I think it might be time to shell out the big bucks ($20-$30) and get them a better pool.

And last but not least...the crown jewel of any kids summer...Lagoon! Okay, so really it would be Disneyland, but we're too cheap to go there, so for our kids, its Lagoon! I was so nervous that I was going to be too sick to really enjoy it, but it was such a fun day. Carter and Lydia both loved all the rides so I didn't have to force any screaming children onto rides to make myself feel like I got my money's worth. Meleah wasn't a fan of the few rides we put her on, but she was perfectly content to sit in her stroller all day. I've discovered that it's kind of nice to be prego when I go to Lagoon, because then my husband can't pressure me to go on a bunch of rides that I'm terrified of. I think I was less nauseous at the end of this day than I was the la

st time when I went on all the crazy rides with Randall. Fortunately, Jay was there to go on the big rides with him. They even went on this big bungee ball, shoot yourself up in the air thing that I never would have gone on. All in all, I think my kids have had a decent summer so far, and we still have the cabin and a few

family reunions to look forward to. Hopefully these memories have helped them get through the last few weeks living trapped in the house every day eating goldfish crackers, string cheese, and frozen waffles.