Pioneer Day Parties!

Since we live in Utah, the patriotic partying doesn't end with the 4th.  We continue on with our excitement through the 24th, particularly celebrating our pioneer ancestors.

First, we visited a historic cemetery with Daniel's Cub Scout troop.

Then we went to the carnival.  It was fun but very hot.  

Benjamin enjoyed the little boats, although 

listening to the bells ring over and over was kind of painful.

The boys rode the kid roller coaster.

And I even rode a few rides with them.

On Friday, we went to Wayne's office party at a park in Lindon.  We had a barbecue, and then we went to the Lindon pool.  It has a huge play area for kids that looks like a shipwreck.

And they have a play area for the big kids.  It's called a flowrider.

On Saturday, we were in a parade, riding on the Families Supporting Adoption float.  

So, yeah, that was a pretty fun holiday for us.

Fun for the 4th

This is what we did for the 4th of July.  Well, we actually celebrated for the entire long weekend.  First, we had a neighborhood party on Friday.  There was a giant inflatable water slide and a dunk tank.  Daniel was a little wary of the dunk tank, but he did it!

Then we went to my mom and dad's house for a barbecue on Saturday.  The kids loved seeing their cousins.  They saw lots of cousins from both sides of the family during the weekend  Daniel looks sad in this picture because he was hanging from a tree limb and scraped up his hands.

We came home and had fireworks at our house.  Benjamin finally wasn't scared of them!  Bark Chip (our porch dog) had his Uncle Sam hat on.

On Sunday, we went to church.  Everyone decided to dress in red and white, but we somehow missed the blue.  After church, we went to Wayne's parents' house and had a nice picnic and some fireworks.

Summer Fun

Our summer has kept us very busy!  I signed the kids up for some fun activities.

First, there were swimming lessons:

Oddly enough, Daniel loved his lessons and his teacher, and Benjamin hated most of it, which was just the opposite from years past.  Benjamin pretty much clung to the side of the pool for two weeks, but Daniel was diving off the side.  At least Ben had fun when we went to Seven Peaks Water Park.

Daniel has also been doing fun activities for Cub Scouts.  He especially liked making "ice cream in a bag" with them.  And he loved Day Camp.  This is him, all ready to go.  Note that it's not even 7 a.m. yet.  Of course, my kids generally wake up about 7 anyway.

Daniel even earned his archery and B B gun belt loops at Day Camp.

Then there was a week of "Summer Fun" which is a program put on by my niece Cassie (along with various siblings and friends).  Lots of neighborhood kids attended it.  It's always well-organized and fun.  Each day had a theme.  I don't have pictures from each day but the themes were: Around the World in a Day, African Jungle, Anchors Away, Wild West, and the Carnival. 

Here's Benjamin ready for Wild West Day, where they played games and ran races.

Here they are with their prizes from the Carnival.  Benjamin got his face painted to look like a bull dog.

And Daniel had them paint a gear on his cheek.  Somehow, that suits Daniel.

Those are a few of the things we have been doing.  We've also been to the park at least once each week, played with friends, visited grandparents, participated in the library reading program, and who knows what else.  We love the summer!