July in a Jiffy

So many things happened in July,
that I'm going to just post one
picture from each activity
with a short description.
****
Jason had some time off of work
so we had a bunch of "staycations"
or day activities instead of taking a
big summer vacation.

***
July 1st was Carter's 8th Birthday Party
He invited only one girl
and she sat close to him,
in fact a little too close,
 the whole movie.
We watched an outdoor movie.
We started at 9pm and had the kids come in their pajamas.
We watched, "Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief."
We gave the kids pennies and had a concession stand
where they could buy whatever they wanted.
The kids loved being able to stay up so late!

July 3rd we had the celebration of the 4th.

We started the morning off with the parade

and in the evening Jason took Carter and Dallin

to the Demolition Derby.

Carter's birthday was on Sunday this year.

He isn't too keen on birthday cakes,

but he does like hostess cupcakes.

This year his cake was a number 8

made out of hostess cupcakes.

Easiest cake I've ever made!

July 7th, we decided to take a trip up to Ogden

to check out the Dinosaur Park.

We told Carter that if he could get through

baseball without a melt down that we would

take him where he wanted to go.

He loves going to Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum,

but Jason and I talked him into seeing what Ogden had to offer.

It was so much fun, we even saw a snake!

In the middle of July,

Carter & Dallin had their swimming lessons.

This was Dallin's first year!

I signed them up back in March for their lessons

and Dallin was scared the day I signed him up

and about once a week he would say,

"Is swimming lessons today?" 

He was so nervous, but I knew Mrs. Debbie

would help him get his confidence up.

After the first day he discovered

how much fun swimming is

and he passed his pre-school aquatics.

Carter is a pro, this was his second

time taking level 3 and he passed with flying colors.

We drove down to South Jordan just so they could

have their lessons with Mrs. Debbie.

I'm hoping to get them in more lessons this

winter at the rec center. 

July 24th was a very special day.

It was Carter's baptism!

I have been so nervous all month.

It is so much pressure on me as a parent,

I kept on thinking,

"Did we teach him enough...

Does he remember all of our FHE lessons...

Does he realize how special this is?"
I don't think I totally understood when I was eight.

He is such a good kid,

he understands way more than I did when I was a kid.

I'm so proud of him!

July 26th was Carter's first ever Cub Scout experience.

They had, "Cub Country," which is their two day

Day Camp.

He loved every minute of it,

and because I'm a Bear Den Mother,

I got to go with him.

They got to shoot BB Guns the first day

and that was easily the highlight.

Then last but certainly not least

Lyla turned 2

She loves Minnie Mouse, so I attempted a cake.

Only problem was that I really didn't want black frosting,

so I ground up oreos and put them on,

so when I put the top layer on the bottom layer,

the oreo crumbs fell down onto the bottom layer.

Oh well, I tried to put a Happy Birthday sign

in front to cover up the worst part

 instead of writing it with frosting on the pan.

(Which was what I was going to do before the big spill.)

She didn't seem to mind and I do have to admit

it tasted way better than plain ol' black frosting.

What I learned in July
I'm OK with my kids getting big!
Carter is officially a member of
the only true gospel on the earth
and can now be accountable for his decisions.
Lyla is no longer a baby, she is officially a toddler.
From what I hear girls potty train earlier than boys,
but even if she waits until she is 3,
I only have to buy Costco diapers 12 more times!
That is 12 fast Sundays, woot woot!!
But even still, I'm hanging on to my little toddler
for as long as possible.
And since Dallin missed the kindergarten deadline by 10 days,
I'm hanging onto having him home for another school year.

Why didn't you tell me it is the end of summer and not the beginning????

I am having a hard time believing

summer is almost over. 

I knew I was behind on blogging

our family adventures,

but I didn't realize I was this behind!!

***

So rewind back to June and this is what we did...

LAGOON

Here is Dallin and cousin Mitch

Not only did we take our family to Lagoon,

but we also went with 2 of my sisters

and their families.

Here is Carter and cousin Robbie

Carter making the winning shot for a prize

The prize!!

Me, Mitch, and Robbie on the Tilt-A-Whirl

Dallin and Lyla

Dallin taking Lyla around the block

Dallin's favorite ride

Driving the boats

Jason & Dallin on the train

Carter, Me, and Lyla on the train

Here is our day in a nutshell:

After we put our cooler down in the pavillion

we decided to go on, "The Bat."

We talked Carter into going with us,

and he got whipped around pretty good.

We rode a few more rides

and Carter played the basketball game

then we walked over to watch Uncle Eric and his

brother Ben go on the skycoaster.

While waiting, we rode the scrambler.

It scrambled Carter's insides,

he got sick and had to lay down.

So while we waited and rode a few more rides,

Carter fell asleep in the stroller.

We decided to go back and eat lunch.

Carter slept through lunch and

we couldn't get him to drink much of anything

AND he was freezing.

All we had to cover him with was a towel.

Soon everyone was ready to move on, except Carter.

Jason took Carter and Lyla home for a nap.

(Luckily we live 10 minutes away, so no problem)

***

So with just Dallin and I left,

we went to the Mother Goose Land

to let Dallin ride the kiddie rides.

Sidenote:  Dallin did not want to go to Lagoon

he was worried because all he knew of Lagoon

was the big rides you see from driving by on the freeway.

He informed me many times that he

WAS NOT going to ride, "Wicked."

Dallin was in pure heaven!

He didn't know Lagoon had all of these

rides that were just his size!

He got to ride every ride with his little cousin, Janessa.

***

Then Jason brought back Carter & Lyla.

Carter was feeling a little bit better

and really wanted to go to

Lagoon-A-Beach.

While Jason took Carter swimming,

Dallin got to go on all of the little kid rides AGAIN with Lyla.

Dallin was in heaven!

Lyla was in heaven too,

she cried when I pulled her

off of the first couple of rides.

Then she realized that getting off of one

meant getting on another.

***

Lagoon-A-Beach was freezing,

so Jason and Carter met up with us.

Carter was still feeling sick, so he sat on the bench while

Dallin and Lyla finished up riding the rides.

Then we went on the train

and on the way out had to stop

and let Dallin play

Wac-A-Mole

so he could win a prize.

******

What I learned in June:

My family is growing up!

Carter was too big to go on the little kid rides.

Even if he didn't get sick, Jason would have

had to take him to go and ride bigger rides,

while I sat with the little kids in the Mother Goose Land.

It was a sad reality for me. 

Another example of that is

when we took the kids to the local pool this summer.

Dallin and Lyla loved being in the outdoor wading pool-play-area

and Carter wanted to be inside in the deeper pool.

I guess it has to happen sometime,

but its going to take me some gettin' use to.