Here's a few highlights from May and June.
Sam's preschool graduation at Lilley Gulch Preschool. He had a great year. Some fun little tidbits: his teachers called him the preschool police, and were quite excited when he finally let loose and was a little crazy like the rest of the kids instead of being so serious, He loves taking selfies of himself, Ada a Simon also made a name for themselves on the drop off and pick up everyday.
Dennison and Sam went the the father son camp out at Devil's head with Mike. It's a wildfire lookout tower and has fantastic views. We added it to the list of destinations for the entire family later in the summer.
Mike was interviewing for a job in St. Louis and we took Simon with us (he's making himself at home in the king size hotel bed), but left the older three kids with Nana, They Loved their week going to the school carnival, playing with play-dough, and going to Jump street, a trampoline gym.
For Memorial Day we took the kids to Fort Logan, a military cemetery. Its was a humbling experience there among so many who served our country.
In early June, we celebrated Mike's Birthday, another year down!
Our first trip to Utah began our Epic summer fun. We know this would be our last summer out west, we we squeezed in as much as possible. Our first visit was to Dinosaur National monument, I'm pretty sure the grown-ups were way more excited about some old bones in a rock than the kids really were. Ada had a nice pout session when the security guard asked her not to walk in an area she wasn't supposed to.
After Dinosaur we were on our way to Papa's house in Midway where we relaxed, played in the game room, went swimming, and played on wiggle cars.
We spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa Bingham, Simon squeezed in some snuggles while the boys got to expericence "the treatment" from Grandma. Ada enjoyed some snacks with Grandpa.
Mike arranged a Timpanogoos cave tour with his family. We had quite the crew and were very excited to go into the cave after a steep and hot hike up the mountain.
After the cave we met up Brent and hit the river. Jenny watched Simon, and the rest of us squeezed in a run on the Provo river. It was gorgeous and could not have been more perfect.
Except for the little mishap under the bridge. There really is only one tricky spot on that run, and we hit it all wrong. The first boat went down and hit one of the bridge pylons and flipped (not a big deal because the water was only waist deep), i tried to avoid a collision by taking the other opening under the bridge, but the water was too shallow and Dennison and I bottomed out. The next three boat with right behind and had a pile up under the bridge and the boat with Mike, Ada, and Sam flipped and got wrapped on the pillar, Ada and Sam got dumped in the river. Luckily Mike and Brent were right there to grab the kids. Some paddles and the boat pump got loose, but Abel was able to pick them up. Everyone survived, albeit a little shaken up. The only casualty was our brand new waterproof camera that had been on Mike's lap. Lucky for us he waded out into the river and spotted it on the bottom of the river. He was only able to see it because its bright shiny red and it caught the sun light. The first picture below is right before the bridge, and the next is after the kids were pulled out. Sam and Ada were not smiling quite as much. Over all the experience was a great reminder of why we take all the water safety precautions we do, most of the time you don't need your PFD, but you never know when it will save you.
A fun family get together with Mike's family. Unfortunately I missed most of the party because I attended the viewing for my great Aunt Vivien.
One morning we hiked up to cascade springs, the pools and falls were beautiful.
Just a cute picture of this little guy on one of our many walks to a playground.
Lots of backyard water fun!
Dennison attended his first cub scout day camp. He shot BB guns, made lots of crafts, and played lots of games including jousting.
A young man in our ward was getting ready to leave on a mission gave the kids swimming lessons, it was the perfect arrangement!
Enjoying some lunch out back in a hammock.
We discovered a new favorite evening hike up Alderfer/three sisters Park. Very quite with nice views.
Little miss insisting she can do it, all by herself.
