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. :)

Cousins!

Yay, we love it when cousins come to visit! Robyn and Eric have been able to come twice already this summer, and it has been so fun!

They get to visit again in August and we can hardly wait!

Summerfest

The amazing rainbow we got when the sun peeked between the clouds

The day of Summerfest was cold and rainy,

and it just happened to be my birthday as well.
We got this huge microburst and we weren't sure that the rides would still be open. We wouldn't have minded skipping this year, but the kids really wanted to go. When the wind and rain stopped we decided to go check it out. The rides were open (we were worried they'd have to shut down) so we got in line and Derek ran over to the ticket booth to buy ride tickets.

On the Ferris wheel

At the top of the ferris wheel



Look at all of those rainbow roofs!

The kids decided to go over to the more serious rides on the other side of the park.

Last year Derek took Ethan on those rides but Julia wasn't tall enough.

So now that Julia was able to go too he decided that I should go with them and he'd watch.

After riding the gravitron and the tornado I understood why he'd opted not to ride.

I was dizzy for a long time!

After that we were all happy to go sit and watch the parade.

The rainbow at the parade

We did leave a few minutes early since it started raining.

But overall we lucked out and missed the worst weather of the day.

And we had a great time!

And I'm glad we went, it has kind of turned into a tradition.

St George, and Zion National Park

We went swimming nearly every day while we were in St George.

It was the perfect way to start our summer vacation!

Every time we go down to St George we have to go to Zion's. It is so beautiful!

Catching tadpoles-- there were tons!

The kids look like ants in this pic

We spotted a few frogs along with tadpoles, and even tadpole eggs

The sand up at the Upper Emerald Pool is super fine and soft.

We really enjoyed the Riverside Trail too!

We had a wonderful trip!