All of the Fun, None of the Stingrays

The last time Chris and I went boogie boarding was in June 2000. I remember this because the last time we boogie boarded was the day that I was stung by a stingray. Not wanting to repeat that horrible experience, I've been hesitant to get back in the water at that particular beach since then.

So I was very excited when a Flowrider opened this year just down the street. Chris and I spent an hour this morning with the Flowrider all to ourselves, which was awe-some! Chris, being the I-can-do-anything kind of guy he is, surfed. I tried the surf board once, wiped out spectacularly, and stuck to the boogie board for the rest of the hour. What you won't see in these clips is the time that the the force of the water yanked my swim suit bottom down to my knees and I mooned the entire city of Lindon. Definitely not one of my finer moments.

My Munchkins

My kids don't do well at portrait studios. The long waits, the hot lights, the posing, the shrill photographers ... the kids sit there with looks that say, "Why are you sticking feathers in my face?" and eventually give up only forced smiles.

Still, I wanted some nice pictures of the kids for the new house, pictures that would show what the kids were like when the house was built. So we turned to our neighbor Randy Nielson and had a photo shoot last Saturday. I'm so pleased with how these turned out. I think Randy did an amazing job of capturing the kids' personalities!

Haley, who loves to pose:Carter, who is exuberant:Adam, who stays close to Mama:
Drew, who is curious:I love this one even though the twins were obviously not happy. I think it looks so beautiful! (These pictures were not Photoshopped, by the way.)A few more favorites:

Hey, We've Got Ourselves a Hole!

I'm all about celebrating small victories.

My Favorite Things (4th of July Edition)

History lessons and steering the Mayflower,

Drawings in art shows and men of great power,

Symbols of freedom that wave in the breeze,

These are a few of my favorite things.

Toddlers in swim trunks and grown men on plastic,

Children who think slippery slides are fantastic,

Works made of fire and glow sticks on strings,

These are a few of my favorite things!

Story Problem

Question: If the Mity Lite indoor soccer team loses 11-8, which player scores seven of the team's eight goals?
Answer: This guy:Soccer players are hot. Especially mine.
(And maybe this one other British one.)

A Really Long Post About a Really Lot of Nothing

So, remember when I blogged

... our home plans have been submitted to the city, and building should begin in two weeks (knock on wood)!

That was 29 days ago. We still do not have a building permit. Aargh! Isn't the whole point of "knock on wood" that you quickly say it after you've said something that you don't want to jinx? 'Lotta good that did. So yeah, our lot is still an empty field of purple flowers. I don't have much hope that we'll get started this week either, thanks to the holiday.

In the meantime, I've been trying to keep us busy during our extended vacay in PG, mostly to keep myself from thinking about our house not being built. I bought an inflatable pool for the kids, which has proved to be a royal pain. (Did you know that a gust of wind can blow an empty inflatable pool half a block down the street, even if you weigh it down with a kiddie picnic table?) Still, the pool has provided the kids with many afternoons of wet n' wild fun, so it's been worth it. My SIL Kallie and her kids spent the day here on Thursday for a swim party and barbeque, which was really fun. We'll have to do that again a lot. Like, every week.Another activity this summer comes compliments of this cookbook; I let the big kids each pick one recipe per week for us to make together. I knew my plan was flawed on the first day, when Carter picked Ice Cream Sandwich Flying Saucers and Haley picked Chocolate-Dipped Pretzels. So now they have to pick a sugar-free snack every other week. Needless to say, they get more excited some weeks than others.
I'm also trying to expose my kids to all of the Pleasant Grove must-do's: Strawberry Days, Daylight Donughts, ice cream cones with plastic animals stuck in them from Taco Amigo ... wait, why does everything involve food? The kids even hiked the G with Chris on Friday (I stayed home with sick babies). I couldn't believe that they made it all the way to the G - that's not an easy hike! I'm having trouble remembering all of the PG rites of passage because it's been a while since I lived here - help me out, my fellow Grovers!
So, we've had a pretty good summer so far, but I am really missing our friends. Once the builders start on our house we'll have an excuse to head down there more often - hopefully we'll run into you!

Fathers with Strawberries on Top

I have no idea what that post title means, but we did have a fun weekend. We celebrated Strawberry Days at a very soggy parade:
Sitting in the rain was completely worth it if only to witness Carter's antics. (Apparently, the kid loves pretty girls and good tunes.)

We spent Saturday afternoon at my parents' neighbors' pool. Yay for rich neighbors! If anybody in our neighborhood wants to build a pool house like this one, we'll come and swim in it for you. We're generous like that.

Sunday we spent the day with our dads, it being Father's Day and all. I feel sorry for all of the rest of you, 'cause two of the three very best fathers were here with us. (We miss you already, Steve!) I'm so grateful for the amazing dads in our life. In fact, I love these two dads so much that I made their favorite desserts (cheesecake with raspberry sauce and banana cream pie) for them. I was in no way motivated by the fact that I would get to eat a slice of each myself.

We hope you all had happy Strawberry and Father's Days!

Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

Yesterday:
1. All clothes and pajamas laundered
2. All bed and crib sheets laundered
3. All floors cleaned

Today:
1. One bed wet; laundered pajamas and bed sheets soaked
2. One diaper leaked; laundered pajamas and crib sheets soaked
3. One diaper blown out; laundered pajamas and cleaned floors smeared with runny-something

Curse you, Murphy. Curse you.

They Could Learn a Lot from "Yo Gabba Gabba"

... if only they'd listen.

(If you can't hear the show in the background, they're singing "...that one is yours, and this one is mine ...")

Strike a Pose

Haley and Tatyana decided to play Fashion Models yesterday. They dressed up and did their own makeup, and then asked me to take pictures of them while they posed with their props. It was pretty hilarious. I especially love that Haley looks like a little Malibu Barbie and that Tat is throwing the Rock On horns. They're getting too grown up for their own good!