Soakin up the Sun

The end of summer is coming way too quickly...I'm not looking forward to sending Lucas back into the lone and dreary world of school. :( We're trying to fit as much fun family time in as we can in the next few weeks.

Lucas has been quite the entrepreneur this summer. Grandma Deru let him take a box of peaches to the Farmer's market a couple weeks ago and he made a whopping $5! Then he and his little friend Cannon stood on the side of the road the other day and tried to sell corn. He'd hold the sign up and wave and every car that drove by. People couldn't resist the wave.

Have you been to a drive-in lately? There used to be 30 in Utah and now there are only seven left. I'm afraid it won't be long before they're all closed down. I haven't been to one for probably 15 years and David never had so we decided it was high time we went. We went to the double feature Aliens in the Attic/Ice Age 3. I definitely could have gone my entire life without having seen either of those movies but it didn't even matter. We packed the cooler with picnic delights, threw the frisbee around till the sun set, and then climbed in the back of the pick-up and enjoyed the outdoor cinema. Lucas hasn't stopped talking about it since.

I made an attempt to get some patriotic pics of the kids in their red, white, and blue outfits. I get an A for effort and the kids get a A for non-compliance. This one was kinda cute.

There was an exhibit called Toadally Frogs at the Natural History Museum in Salt Lake and Grandma Deru thought that it would be fun if we all went down together. We decided to take the Frontrunner and make a little adventure out of it.

They all kept busy and had a great time on the train.

Anna

The frogs were a big hit with the kiddos.

Jamesy and Noah..BFFs

Doesn't this just send shivers down your spine?!

Afterwards Grandma brought a picnic

Lynette has the best summer salads. Yay, for fresh garden produce!

By the end of day the kids were BEAT. They both slept like rocks that night...I really should do this more often.

Girls Trip to McCall, Idaho

My good friends that I had growing up (none of which blog!!) and I have been wanting to have a road trip together for awhile now. Even though life has taken us all to very different places we've manged to stay really close through the years. Krissy bought a cabin earlier this year in McCall and we decided this would be the summer. Tauna flew in from New York to Salt Lake and me, Tauna, and Amanda jumped in a car and made our way towards Idaho for a fantastic get-a-way.

Even though it's just a cabin, of course, Krissy's got it looking fabulous.

Krissy

The only picture of the four of us...

I LOVE good food, but I don't really like to cook which is why I like hanging out with Krissy:) She planned the menu for the weekend...I'm pretty sure I gained five pounds.

Best Salmon ever

I don't even know what to say about this salad...strawberries, mangos, sugared almonds, gargonza cheese, huckleberries (that she picked), leafy greens, romaine, with an oil and vinegar/lemon salad dressing. It was amazing.

We left on Thursday evening so our husbands would only have to take one day off work with the kids. I, of course, brought Jane. What kind of mother would leave their brand new baby!?!? She's such an angel that I knew it would be fine.

Amanda is pregnant so I did my best to hide her behind something for most of the pictures...she made me promise.

Ponderosa State Park

Payette Lake

Krissy in front of the Gallery that is representing her.

I don't want her to sell this painting and give it to me!

Now that we're all grown-up it's really hard to find time for something like this, but it's so worth it!!

Wolf Creek

Every summer, for as long as I can remember, we've gone up to our condo in Eden, Utah. It's definitely a tradition that I always loved and now it's so fun to see my kids enjoy it too.
The water slide...it taunts Lucas every year. I think he's made it up the ladder the last two summers but he's never been able to go through with it. This year he wanted to give it another try.

The last minute butterflies were almost too much...

but to my surprise and delight, he took the plunge. A little bribery helped too...what kid needs bribery to go down a WATERSLIDE!?!? Seriously.

Goggles are a NECESSITY for Lucas...crazy kid.

Wolf Creek is always the same week as my birthday so we usually celebrate it up there. I'm starting to loose the love of birthdays though...one year closer to 30 :( What?!?!

the loot...(David brought me the flowers)

Nothing better than summer and a juice box I tell ya

little Lucas...wait, nevermind, Jane

Everyone takes their turn holding Jane. She's so sweet.

It's been a little trickier than I thought to get good pictures of Luke and Jane together. Every time I try to get something going it basically falls flat. When we were in Idaho Lucas had climbed up on my bed to give Jane some luvs and kisses. As I watched him I realized that the image in front of me was so much more meaningful and sweet than everything else I've been breaking my back to set up. I had the camera on the nightstand and was able to capture this sweet moment. I believe I'm going to love this picture forever.