Staycation: Lagoon!

 Took all the kids to Lagoon for the first time.  Carter was the exact height you need to be to ride all the big rides.  He was pretty much thrilled to be 46 inches tall!  And it's a good thing cause he's a total daredevil!  He rode rides I would never step foot on...and he loves them all!

 Matson, on the other hand, hated every ride and wouldn't get near most of them!  He didn't care for Lagoon at all and kept saying he just wanted to go home.  Poor boy.  :(  But, I understand just how he felt!  He did love this little car ride and went on it a bunch of time. 

 This is John's favorite ride...the swing one.  Kelsie, Emily, and Carter LOVED it.  They are daredevils and loved everything.  John convinced me to go on it and I thought I was gonna die.  After Lagoon, I decided I might have a little bit of a height problem. 

 Carter and me on the train ride.

 It was SO hot.  We tried to cool off in the afternoon with Icee's.

 Girlies sharing their Icee and trying to stay cool.

 The boys loved this shooting ride!

Riding the "Scary Wheel"  as Matson calls it.  It was almost dusk and so pretty.

This is what the boys looked like on the way home.  Super exhausted.  It was a fun day.  But, John and I agreed we were good to not go back for a few years.  Just don't tell our oldest three kids....they LOVE Lagoon!

Staycation Day 2: Bowling

Bowling in Lehi.  The first time the boys had been bowling.  Matson got SO excited when he hit pins down.  He would stand and watch and then jump up and down and cheer for himself.  It was super fun to watch him.  The other three were serious about their game and were pretty good little bowlers. Later, that day we went to Despicable Me 2 (it was super cute) and then ate at Panda Express (the kids favorite) for dinner.

Staycation Day 1: Cowabunga Bay!

Water slides, lazy river, swimming, splash pad, and Cowabunga pizza for dinner.  We loved it!  We would love to go back soon!  It was a lot cleaner and more manageable than Seven Peaks...and there weren't billions of people everywhere.  Super fun!

Imagination

Matson has always had an amazing imagination.  When he was one we used to peek into his room and find him entertaining himself with nothing but his hands.  He would be happily lying in his bed with no toys at all, talking to himself while he flew his hands around above him, ramming into each other with fighting noises.  With no toys to use, he simply turned his hands into the two teams that were battling.  It was hilarious to watch his little imagination in work.  He could make everything come to life in his little head and he was super easy to entertain!

Fast forward a few months to present time. 

We watched "Night at the Museum" as a family.  Big Mistake.  The next few nights Matson couldn't sleep and kept telling me that the big elephant was going to come and get him in his crib.  He would wake up screaming from his dreams and was terrified of some crazy elephant that was haunting him.  But, after lots of sleepless nights he was finally sleeping most of the night again.

UNTIL we went to see Despicable Me 2 during our staycation.  Super cute movie.  Matson enjoyed it and didn't seem scared until bedtime.  But, then he was terrified!  He insisted that the Minion Monsters were coming for him.  He must sleep in MY bed, with the covers over his head, and he insists that I lock him in the room and close all the blinds so they can't get in. 

Tonight, he turned to me while I was putting him to bed and he said, "mommy, are you scared of anything."  I assured him I wasn't.  :)  I was looking for the quick fix.  Then I said, "Why, Mat?  Are you scared of something?"  I was expecting a long journey through Despicable Me and Minions and Monsters.  Instead he said, "Ya, the wolf.  It's coming to get me."  No amount of persuasion was changing his mind.  The wolf was coming and his only defense was to cuddle up to me and pull all the covers up over his head.  Apparently, wolves can't find you if there are covers over you.  :)

Poor boy.  He is genuinely terrified.  You can see it in his eyes when he talks about these scary things.  Everything he sees becomes so alive in his little head and completely takes over him.  We sure love our funny boy with the wild imagination.  We just wish he'd sleep in his own bed at night....

T-Ball

Carter started T-ball this year and he's loving it! This is the first time we've had a child do T-ball and I couldn't stop taking pictures.  He was so cute with his hat and little mitt.  It sure is a lot slower paced than soccer though!  The first week he was upset because he said, "I don't even know the rules of T-ball".  Once John went over the rules with him, he was good to go.  He's got it all down and he loves playing...and we all love going to watch our little T-ball boy.

 

He plays first base  most of the time.  He loves it because he keeps busy and he has quite the arm for getting the ball across the field. 

 

Up to bat

Running into home

 

June Highlights

 We kicked off summer with the Saratoga Splash and Parade.  We sure love our community.  It's expecially nice that all the city days events are right by our house. 

 Happy Father's Day to John! 

 Slip and Sliding.  Matson loves it!

  

The girls went to day camp at Jeremiah Johnson and loved it!  They got to make rockets, shoot

bow and arrows, run obstacle courses, and more... :)

 Brothers at the park

 Water painting with Matson's new friend, Siri.  Water painting is our favorite summer activity.  Carter and Matson spend hours doing this.  Love it!

Kelsie's 11th Birthday

 

Happy Birthday to Kelsie!  I seriously can't believe she is 11 years old already.  Where does the time go?  She will be entering Young Women's in just one year.  I am not ready for that.  We are so grateful to have Kelsie in our family.  She is the best oldest child and loves to care for her younger siblings, babysit, make lunch, and she is extremely responsible.  She loves all animals and is eagerly awaiting the arrival of her baby bunny in a few weeks.  She enjoys planning events, starting businesses, and putting on shows.  She likes singing, dancing, and performing.  Her latest obsession is the sitcom, "Full House" and watching all "Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen" movies.  I can't help but enjoy this little obsession--I feel like I'm reliving my childhood as we watch Full House together.  She is a sweet, loving girl who likes to find ways to help others.  Happy Birthday, Kelsie.  We love you!

Birthday outfit from Grandma

Ice cream cone birthday cake

Her gift this year was a snow cone maker!  She was past thrilled and very surprised!!!  To make it even better John bought her two big containers of flavor and snow cone cups so she can start making and selling snow cones.  She loves setting up stands to sell things and LOVES thinking up business ideas so she was thrilled!  It was hardly unwrapped before she was planning out her new snow cone business!  She kept hinting that she wanted a set of the Full House DVD's (all 8 seasons)  :)  Instead, John bought her this and told her she can use it to earn money to buy the DVD's or whatever she decides she wants most.  She loved the idea and so did I.  He's pretty smart.  Now she has something productive to do this summer to keep her busy and entertained. 

As soon as the gifts were opened Kelsie wanted to try out her new snow cone machine.  She was past thrilled with it!  When John put the last founded scoop on top, the girls were thrilled with how it looked.  They exclaimed, "it is just like the real snow cone shacks".  They were so excited about how "real" is looked.  They are pretty easy to please.  :)

The first samples of snow cones....and then the business planning began! 

Happy Birthday to my cute, funny Kelsie!  Her very best friend, Brianna, was in town for her birthday and got to stay with us.  That made her birthday extra special.  She spent the day with Brianna, they had pizza, made snowcones together, and then had cake and ice cream...and smeared it all over each other in a food fight!  These two cute girls are total goofballs and SO happy when they are together!  It made her 11th birthday an extra special day!