Backyard Blast

With the weather heating up we have been trying to find ways to cool down outside.  While Greg was gone to basketball camp the girls and I borrowed Grandma's Gecko sprinkler and paddling pool and got refreshed with that for a couple of days.

 The when dad got home we built the girls a water blob (it's like a bit water pillow slip and slide).  The girls had a blast especially on the night we let them play on it in their dresses.  Dad made sure it was safe.  And since we didn't have our big pool set up yet dad promised the girls he would swim with them in the paddling pool.  It was a tight fit but a ton of fun as you can imagine.

 Then a few days ago we got our big pool set up and it has been a lifesaver.  We can all fit in it together and it is the perfect temperature and we bought a cover for it this year so it is staying clean.  Oh thank heavens for this pool.

How we are staying cooled off while the weather heats up

I bought this toddler pool at the thrift store to use as an indoor ball pit but it was really too small.  When the weather started getting hot I decided to put it outside and fill it with water for the girls to play in.  I didn't really intend for them to basically swim in it but in the end that is what happened and they loved it.  Greg called me out with the camera to get some actions shots of the head dunking they were doing.

 At least they are getting over their fears of water on their faces.

 Dad hosing them off cause they were covered with grass and we had let them stand and pee on the lawn through their wet clothes which they thought was the greatest thing ever.

The Beach

School started on Wed (Aug 24th) and the girls were a bit bummed that dad was for sure going to be gone all day.  I decided to take the girls out to the beach (a big sandy area by the river).  I felt like I should call and see if we could find any friends to go with us and it turned out perfect because there were friends that wanted to come and so the girls had lots of kids to play with.  At first we thought that we weren't in a good spot for them to play by the water so they were just playing in the sand but they really wanted to get wet and so as we started walking we found the perfect spot with just enough sand for kids and a perfect place to get wet.  My girls had a blast and didn't want to leave.  I for sure will be taking them back as many times as I can before the summer ends.

Elise, Byron and the girls in the sand.

Allie and Katelin

Katelin thought it was so fun to roll in the sand.  I bet her mom's car had much more sand in it when they got home than ours did.

Brailie is a good copy cat these days.

What a fun morning with friends. 

Splashing with a friend

After we had set up our new pool Allie was really excited to have a friend come over to swim.  I called our neighbors to see if their daughter Katelin would like to come over.  She is one year older than Allie (and Allie wears all of her hand me downs which she LOVES) but they are cute little friends.  They had a blast in the pool.

Brailie acted slightly perturbed that someone else had come over to play with her sister and she wanted to have nothing to do with it. 

Sprinklers at the park.

I want to spend the summer doing fun and simple things, making memories and being with my family.  We took the girls down to the park on June 11th to play in the sprinkles.  Oh they had a blast.  They both don't actually want to get under them but they love running through them and splashing in the water.  When one goes off Brailie repeats "nother one" until you press the button again.  It was a fun little outing.

Swimming

The weather was in the upper 80's which is actually cooler than it normally is this time of year and we were dying to try out our new pool.  I found this in Canada-strange that a place that has highs in the 80's and 90's for the summer would have the best selection of outdoor pools I have ever seen.  Anyway we set it up and filled it in the morning so we could swim in the afternoon.  It was chilly but the girls didn't seem to mind.  The new pool is great because it has a deep end and a shallow end, it has a basketball hoop, a baseball hitting thing (technical terms I know), and even has a volleyball net.  It is perfect for splashing, stomping and playing.

Bring on the heat-we are ready!!!

Girls State Basketball in Review

It has come to an end-I can't believe it.  I still feel like it might be a dream.  I am no longer a basketball widow.  And, probably much to the shock of my husband and family-I am going to miss it a bit.  The girls on the varsity team were so outstanding this year.  They have really restored my faith in the American Teenager that is for sure. 

Well here are the highlights from the tournament (yep and not an actual picture of any basketball stuff-who had time when I was chasing my two munchins around).  Greg's team took 6th.  They could have gone all the way and deserved too but a terrible injury to one player 45seconds into the first game really hurt them.  Still they played so well and won on the last day which is a first for Greg's team.  We are very proud of them.  And now to the other important stuff: what did my girls wear?  I made them these outfits:

I found this shirt at DI and just added the words on the back.

This is pretty much how Allie spent all 4 days at the tournament-cleaning the floor with her own clothing.  She spent most of the time rolling on the floor and walking around barefoot.  I didn't even worry about it-it was not worth my energy to try and make her do differently.

I think Brailie was in a daze the entire time.  Poor thing was so sleep deprived and exhausted.  She did great though.

 Here are a couple of other highlights:
-Allie fell out of the hotel bed twice on the first night.  She has never done that before.  The first time was during a power outage.  I was in the bathroom and heard the thud and the screaming and told Greg he had to get her because I couldn't see to make my way back quickly.  He comforted her and eventually put her back to bed.  The second time the power had come back on so when I picked her up off the floor I noticed that there were two dark spots on her bed and so I took her to the bathroom by the light and saw that her whole mouth was covered in dry blood.  She had cut her lip open the first time but we didn't know because we couldn't see. 
-Brailie found her voice every night and entertained us with all sorts of mouth noises for at least an hour every time we put her to bed.
-Brailie found everything she could reach within minutes of us arriving in the hotel and had the phone buttons pressed, the tv on, the Kleenex box emptied and the buttons on the safe all pressed.  The phonebook was taken to unknown places and my purse was emptied.  It was really fun being in the hotel with a 16 month old.
-Allie pretty much disowned me as a mother and told me she would be going everywhere with the basketball team on the bus and I couldn't come.  She did decide I was cool when we went swimming.

 She even got brave and got out of her floaty ring and just played in the water without any floaties. 

I just think this picture of Brai is cute.

 Then the cousins came on Friday.  That was so fun for Allie.  She had a blast with them.  Here are some pictures I tried to take of them.  It was next to impossible to get one of them all holding still.  These are my favs.

 I love how they are all looking at Nathan in this picture.



Nathan, Rylee, Kinsey and Allie.



A little mid fall cool down

Well our fall temps have been put on hold for the return of summer for a few days leaving us with a need to cool off. I put the girls in their swimming suits and headed down to the park to play in their sprinklers they have for the kids. The cement pad they have to play on is pretty much totally nasty with wood chips and trash (as is the whole park but don't even get me started on that) but the kids didn't mind; I kept most everything out of Brai's mouth and they had a blast cooling off. Here are the highlights.

Only brave enough to stick her toes in.
And fingers

If she has a stick all is right in the world

Brailie walking on all fours to save her little knees.

Where is that water coming from?

Now let's put the stick in the water.

I love this one.

Couldn't get her to look at me for nothing, but I love this one too-I love her hands.

Swimming

Before the summer ended I wanted to have one more chance for us to go swimming in Castle Dale. They have an amazingly kid friendly pool there and Allie was in love with it the first time we went and she has become a much more confident swimmer since so I knew she would love it even more and I was right. We had a blast. Even Brailie loved it. We put her in this floaty tube where she could touch the bottom and she walked all over the pool. We couldn't believe it. She was everywhere all on her own. Wish my kitchen was a 1 foot deep pool. I would put her in this all morning long and let her roam free.
Allie swimming like a fish. After a while she asked to take the floaties off and swim without and did a great job. Last time we were here she threw up in the pool but this time we were barf free. YAY!!

Allie doing a cannon ball jump

What a beach babe.

Ready for the California beaches I think and she is as tanned as if she has spent her life on the beach (and yes I do use sunscreen).