4th of July festivities

This year we decided to spend the weekend up at the cabin for the fourth. Before we headed up we had some other activities planned.

We set off fireworks in the driveway Friday night. I really should have gotten video of the starball we set off, they fly about 30 feet in the air. Also, my pics of the kids didn't turn out so well.

Saturday we got up and went to the parade with my family. Harriet spent most of the time "helping" the girls get candy! She was hilarious.

Kaite's favorite float...Bumble Bee!

My favorite float.

One of the best moments of the weekend. I wish I could have gotten a pic of Marianne's face when she first touched the snake.

We then went back and had a BBQ and packed up for the cabin. The girls found these in Marianne's room from Cali.

We had plans to spend the evening watching fireworks from the boat on the lake. Unfortunately, that fell through since we couldn't get the boat working. So, we headed to Lakeside lodge and sat directly under them. We were way close (actually we were closer but I insisted on moving) we could feel the fireworks booming. One of them even exploded right on top of us, I thought the blanket was on fire and poor Harriet jumped right out of her skin, good thing we weren't closer! Here are some pics. They put on a pretty good show. Ash and Kaite loved it, Kami just hid her face. Next year we will be on the boat, I am so excited for that!
Here are some other pics from the cabin.

Sawtelle
Ash up reading late.

Sparklers
Smores. Kami was way mad that she didn't get one of the first roasted marshmallows!

Here is a pic of the sparkler Kami threw in the fire. I thought it turned out really cool. Ky said I should enter it in the fair.

Fishing.
Kaite's first fish! She was so proud and only had her pole in the water for a few minutes.
Kami had to check it out too!

She really wanted to get in on the action.

Ash didn't catch any that night so Ky took her again the next morning and she caught 6! Then Kaite had to go back out and caught 5 more. So 6 fish for each girl!
If you look real close you can see my line where I snagged it years ago when me and Audra were fishing! There are some very funny stories behind that trip! I can't believe it is still there!
We had a good weekend. We took our bikes and road around some. Kaite learned not to ride at mach ten when she is on gravel roads! We spent some relaxing time together and played a few games. We never did get to boat...maybe another weekend when the boat is fixed.
Before we left we also went to the drive in and saw Toy Story 3. The girls loved it and Kami didn't scream through the movie! We also went to a S&R appreciation dinner at The Anglers Lodge, yum. It has been a busy couple of weeks but swim lessons are almost done! I will have more pics then!

Update

Since it has been forever since I have posted I have been trying to think of all the things we have been up to.

We had a great Father's Day. Kyle got the classic tie amongst other things. He really is the best daddy EVER! We spent the evening with Chris and Chantelle and enjoyed a good visit.

We FINALLY finished the Storage Room, I do still need to scrub the glue off the floor. We now have all the food on shelves but need to move the freezer downstairs. We actually have space for three freezers if we need that many.

We have spent some time at the park with George and Harriet.

We have been playing with ladybugs in the garden.

We got the garden completely planted and the tomato plants out there! I thought we waited way long to get them outside, due to lack of time on our part, turns out it was a good thing.

I finally got my bathtub back!

We have been hanging out at the carousel with Marianne.

The girls painted shirts, this one is Kaite's.

Marianne brought us home some cool stuff from California. She brought Kami this giant Minney that she has to sleep with every night. She also brought us some jewelry and I got more sand for my jar.

Some of the other exciting things: Kaite wanted to see if she could fly. She jumped off the swing set and (thankfully) only sprained her ankle pretty bad. We all got haircuts before Erin left for Florida and then Marianne put beads in our hair. And we have been swimming like crazy. Kaite is really quite the fish and has the crawl stroke completely down. Ash can swim the length of the pool and has an awesome backstroke. I don't know why I am surprised that summer is going so fast!
I will do a separate 4th of July post later.

*I also want to say that I think my last post was misunderstood. I was trying to get across that I felt like I had to choose between being a stay at home mom or all the other things I have dreamed of doing. I love being a mom and spending time with my kids. I was saying that now I realize I can have both. I can TAKE my kids with me and do all the things I have wanted to do. I don't have to be stuck in the "mommy rut" the girls love learning and seeing new things, now we will do it all together!

Finding Myself

I have been in a major rut lately. I am not sure why, the weather has been better and we are on summer break. Maybe it is all the craziness around me and the everyday errands, hmmm maybe. Anyway, James came and visited a week ago and we had a very good talk. My baby bro is not interested in settling down and falling into the rut the rest of us our in. We talked about his possible back-packing around Europe trip and his desire to want to see the Amazon to meet a real tribe. We talked about all the things he wants to do before he is tied down. This got me really thinking, and now I know why I am in a rut. I also have a list of things I really want to do. I want to snorkel in the Caribbean, ski the Swiss Alps, float down the Rhine, go to the Louvre, be in a place to meet smart influential dreamers, pretty much travel, learn, and see everything. I will give him kudos, he is trying to do it before he has to be responsible for a family, and there is my rut. I have fallen into the rut of doing the "mormon mom thing" I stay at home and take care of kids, everyday is pretty much the same. I love my kids don't get me wrong they are my life! But after talking to James I realized that my rut came from thinking I had to choose one or the other and here I am. This is so inaccurate and that is what I realized in our good conversation. I can still do those things and until then I can still hit museums and learn about everything else this world has to offer. Better yet, I can teach my children about them. I do not want my children to fall into this rut, don't get me wrong some people love it, but I want more. I want my children to know there is more to life out there besides our little town. Like James I energize being around different cultures and people. I actually feel uplifted when we go to big cities and museums and such. I love life and all it has to offer. I love white water rafting, skiing down a mountain, hiking to hidden waterfalls, going to zoos and aquariums. I love the Denver museum and I wish I could take my kids there everyday. This love for life is what I feel I lost in my "rut". I feel better now. Now that I know I don't need to give everything up just to fit in with a certain way of life. I can have and do both. Why did it take me so long to get here? Maybe the general mentality of things. There are so many people around us who do just what is planned. I don't know if they see anything different. I am extremely excited to go to London. I can't wait to see the countryside and meet the people, we have more things planned than what we can do. The guest list for the wedding amazes me more and more, and I will get to meet some of those great dreamers of the world. I am very energized now. I am out of my rut, and I think my kids are enjoying me more. I know I am!

Happy Birthday Kyle!

Wednesday was my hubbies birthday. He turned ** maybe I shouldn't say how old he really is, I think it is more fun to tease him on how old I want to celebrate. This year I teased him all day about turning 45 and I bought lots of "over the hill" stuff to celebrate. I think he enjoys me teasing him, but only because he is thinking about how to get me back! Anyway, we spent the day getting the garden ready to plant, this is what he wanted to do. We are tripling the size of the garden, yes we are crazy. Kyle has discovered a new passion for gardening and loves every minute of it. I always say if the mistresses (the tomato plants) in the bathroom die, we will be in real trouble. We pretty much got the garden ready, now we need to plant. We did enjoy one nice down pour while we were out there.

The rest of the day was spent like this. I had wonderful helpers helping with the cake.

Ash decorated the cake and if you look close it says "Happy Birthday Dad". The pict was too big to turn.

Opening presents.

Isn't she cute!

For dinner we had some awesome Kansas City style ribs, yum.

Then we had family for cake and ice cream.

Mahon helped me put on the candles, all the candles we could fit!

I guess we are lucky we didn't burn the house down! He even got help blowing them out.

Kami enjoyed the cake.
Happy Birthday Kyle! We love you so much!!!

New Dresses

Chantelle's mom picked up the cutest dresses for the girls in Dubai.

Aren't they so cute!

Saturday we made these.

They were so good! You can find the recipe here on Cindy's blog. I did just use the imitation cream cheese frosting for Kami's, but I made the real stuff for the rest of us. They were serious so yummy!