Camping, family reunion style

So we are not big campers. We have gone camping only a few times since we've been married. The last time we tried it was at the ward campout, and we didn't sleep a bit. At 6am we looked at each other and both agreed that it was time to leave, so we packed up and came home to sleep in our own beds.

But we just bought a new tent and we kind of felt obligated to use it, so the family reunion was the perfect opportunity.

As soon as we arrived the kids occupied themselves by fighting this swarm of "poisonous snakes"

-- AKA a pile of branches.

Kids occupying themselves-- always a good sign!

(As long as they're not in trouble anyway.)

The spot for our tent was right next to this beautiful little stream.

And the kids had tons of fun playing with cousins they hardly ever see.

And the grown-ups enjoyed a few competetive games of Uno!

Here are the kids in the tent, they were so excited to sleep in here.

Julia loved playing with all of the dogs that family members brought.

She played quite a few games of fetch-- luckily she wasn't the one fetching.

And we squeezed in a little time for hiking too.

We had some great scenery.

All in all we had a great time,

even if we did need a nap afterwards.

We're starting to harvest

First from the garden: this giant cucumber.

And it was yummy!

Raingutter Regata

Ethan may not have had the fastest boat at the race,

but he still had fun.

And that's all that matters, right?

We love summer!

A few weeks ago we, again, spent the day at the lake.

This time we took our inflatable raft.

We took turns (two at a time) boating around the shallow parts of the lake.

The water felt great!

Derek and Ethan played a little catch.

And Ethan and Julia built some sand castles.

Isn't summer the best?!

Afternoon at the lake

We wanted to do something fun for the 4th of July, but we just weren't sure what. We went to the park and played tennis and let the kids rollerblade, but it was hot (finally!) and we really wanted to go swimming. We knew that all the pools would be super crowded, so after lunch and ice cream at Cold Stone we decided to drive by the lake. I knew there was a beach there somewhere (I had been there in high school), I just wasn't sure how to get to it. Luckily we drove right to it!

It was great! And it's only a couple of miles from our house!

The water wasn't cold at all.

I know Derek wouldn't have minded being on one of these, but we still had a great time.

Happy 4th!

From our house to yours...

(Doesn't our house look patriotic?!)

Happy 4th of July!

Cedar Hills Family Festival

Last week we got together with our friends Steve and Amy and their family

for the Cedar Hills Family Festival.

The kids spent nearly the entire time (besides a few minutes spent eating)

jumping on the trampoline.

Once the sun went down we broke out the glow sticks, enjoyed fresh baked cookies,

and waited for the fireworks.

It's amazing how much fun the kids have with these glowsticks!

(These photos are blurry since I had the camera on the night setting,

but I kind of liked the effect.)

We love summer!

Friends and Fun!

Our friends Mike and Jenny were in town from Ohio so we had them and Robyn and Eric & kids over for dinner.
We had such a great time! I was wondering what the kids would do for fun since we no longer have a swingset. So guess what they decided to do all night...

pick cherries!

I was surprised they had so much fun doing it! (I just wish I had taken some pictures.)

Derek and Mike even managed to squeeze in some time for basketball. :)