july in review

I like the warmth of summer, and that the boys can eat their breakfast outside if they want to, because it's warm at 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning.

I like to see Avery enjoying the summer warmth, now that she can walk so well.

Or not.... doesn't Graham look a little mischievous?

I like the satisfaction of hard work outdoors.

I like cheesy grins.

I like that the garden is at the other end of our backyard. Apparently, Drake doesn't ("The house was just too far away Mom.")

I like that the boys got really excited to sleep downstairs in the guest bedroom. Graham didn't last through the night. Drake lasted a while until I changed the sheets and never put some different ones back on.

I like watching the kids play with their dad.

I like how Avery crosses her legs any chance she gets.

I think it's funny how Graham has the hardest time sleeping in his own bed at night, but will fall asleep anywhere during the day if he's tired.

I like having fresh fruit every day 'cause it's cheap right now.

I like watching Graham be a big brother.

I like taking pictures.

Okay, I'm done saying "I like" now.

Usually when I try to get a picture of all three kids, I get a somewhat decent one the first try.

But any tries after that just get worse.

Drake can be creative.

This is a bottle capper. We plan on bottling homemade rootbeer.

The kids have had a good time with Jake this summer.

Jake is my friend's son who I'm able to watch from time to time.

This was during one of our visits to Rexburg.

And this is Drake. He didn't know that I was filming him. If he did, he would have acted goofy on purpose. This is just him in his "normal" element, enjoying the music.

You should have seen him before I started filming.

some summer events

Drake planting a flower at a local nursery.

Our local pet store had a big shindig with a variety of things to do, including this fun little ride pulled by a 4-wheeler.

They also had a dog show where owners entered their dogs in contests for looks, tricks, or size. This was the local K-9 unit which did a demonstration showing how quickly the dog can sniff out marijuana. They gave out samples once it was found.... just kidding.

The city's T-ball had a big party at the end of the season with several different inflatable toys.

The library had a carnival to finish off the summer reading program. This was the clown show inside.

Outside they had a cookie walk, two inflatable toys, and several other goodies.

This was pavilion where a band was playing next to the farmer's market.

This is our neighbor's pasture.

One of their daughter's made up her own "Mini Lagoon" because she was so excited that her family would soon be going to the real Lagoon.

Each visitor had to go in the house and get a ticket, or they couldn't participate.

There were three different games. This was the sponge one--you only had one minute to transfer all the water from one bucket to the other, using a sponge.

This was kind of like Skee-ball. You had to stand back and try to throw the ball into the top or bottom part.

And this was the apple-catching station... using only your feet.

If you were successful at one of the games, you won a prize and/or food.

This one was almost a guaranteed win... except that you only had one chance to put your feet in the water and try. If you didn't grab an apple on your first try, the game was over. You could go try a different one and come back, but you couldn't just keep trying in the same sitting--against the rules, ya know.

Drake tried and tried and tried to get that water all transferred, but hardly made a dent before the time was up. He never won a prize for this one.

But it was his favorite one to try on.

And this one was just hit or miss. Graham didn't do too bad.

Another fun event this summer was our ward's water party for the kids (and adults). I'll spare you my comments and just let you scroll through the pictures.

And finally, we stopped by the flea market in Rexburg when we happened to be there at the right time. It was fun to watch this guy work. He had some nice clay pieces for sale.

This group played music, with occasional singing or dancing, the whole time we were there.

And we bought some "Crazy Corn" to eat while we walked around and sat and listened to the music. It's a cob of corn stuck on a stick and cooked.

Then they spread mayonnaise all over it (like it was butter) and sprinkle a parmesan cheese/chili powder mixture on top of that.

It was pretty good. Even Avery thought so.