Ahhh....The End of Summer!

Most people are kind of sad when summer ends and it's time to go back to the grind. Not me, I love the grind! Summer for me means no routine and fighting off the requests to "play with friends" ALL the time. The only real routine we have in the summer is arguing every day about who they can play with first and if they have to wait until 10am to play and can they ride bikes while they wait and can someone come to our house and can my 16 friends eat lunch at our house???? So that is why I welcome the end of summer and the beginning of ORDER!

We did have a VERY fun summer however. You wouldn't know since I didn't post a single blog during the summer! I took a little hiatus and now I'm back!

School started yesterday for Cole so we have some darling pictures of our big 1st Grader. He had a fun day of school and thought it was totally cool to eat lunch there. He is getting so big! He did ask me though if he got to keep his school desk at the end of the year. I wish he could be this way forever. They do have great desks, I have to admit!

Here are a few first day pictures and I have also added highlights of our ENTIRE summer.....

Our 2008 Rich Family Reunion was very fun. We have it every year at Grandpa Rich's. There are fun games (usually involving some kind of water where the adults get wetter than the kids), YUMMY food and catching up with people you get to see only once or twice a year. It's so nice to have family close by and to have such a good time at get togethers!

Cole has discovered a passion for water balloons!
A little friendly competition?!? (my arms are totally bigger, its just not muscle!)

Here are some random summer shots.....

Cole and Macie dressed up Cole's desktop fan, the fan is sporting Cole's beloved Iron Man shirt, shorts and Optimus Prime briefs. Isn't it stunning?!?!
So cute in a shower cap!

Swimming lessons were fun this year, well fun for Cole anyway :) Cole is a little fish and loves swimming lessons. His friend Jared was in his class and they both are super swimmers. Macie is a fish as well and LOVES to swim. However, swimming lessons were a different story. Her friend Eli was in her class so I thought that would really help her just jump right in and love swimming lessons like Cole. That was not the story. Macie wouldn't get in the water with her class. She wanted to get in the pool but was not willing to participate in what the class was doing. I tried threats and bribes and having her feet get hot on the cement and nothing worked. After asking probing questions to see why she didn't like swimming lessons I discovered she didn't like her teacher, Brandon. She asked me twice during an inquiry if "that boy would be there," meaning her teacher! Next year I think I may request a girl teacher!!

I think this is how Macie feels about her teacher and swimming lessons in general!
This is how Macie spent swimming lessons, just playing in the corner while her class played games and practiced a few swimming skillsThis was our most successful swimming lesson, she almost looks like she is part of the class!
Super swimmers Cole and Jared (I love the goggles!)

Cole earned a pass to Seven Peaks water park for reading in Kindergarten and he was VERY anxious to use it (even though I don't think he knew exactly what Seven Peaks is). So on July 29th we went. It was crowded and loud but Cole and Macie had a blast. The funny thing is that neither of them went on a single water slide, other than the "baby" ones that is. No amount of convincing or bribery (we prefer calling it incentive, but it really is bribery) could change Cole's mind. So we just stuck to the kiddy areas, the lazy river and the wave pool. The kids had fun and that is what matters, right?!?!

Camera Shy!

So I went in to look at Macie before I went to bed and this is what I saw! Twizzler is not allowed in our beds but Macie evidently needed some company. I love how he is tucked right in to her covers too and their arms are both hanging over the bed!

Cole also has some funny sleeping habits evidently! I couldn't resist documenting this one, it was hard to tell at first if he was even in bed!

We had Derek, Britnie, Ellie and Hailee over for a BBQ on the 24th of July. It was a blast and of course there were more "stink balls" (aka smoke bombs) and sparklers. I got to hold Hailee (every picture that I'm in shows me holding her!) most of the time which was so fun and she smelled so good! The kids had a blast playing outside and even did a little dancing on the lawn, it was a real treat!

We had a very fun 4th of July. We went to the parade in Provo which was really fun. Tom and Lesa always find a good spot and are nice to save us a seat. The parade was good and the weather was great because it was a bit overcast that morning so we weren't sitting in the sun feeling like we were baking! An insurance company usually has free goodies and this year they had yummy ice cream cones that were a hit! Later that day we went to Grandpa and Grandma Rich's for a BBQ. When we got there one of their "deer" friends was napping in the back yard (they have deer year round at their house, one deer even came inside their house!). Cole thought it was sooo cool and had to get closer. The amazing thing is that the deer didn't even bat an eyelash until Cole was just a few feet away. Then the deer stood up but still didn't run away until Cole got almost close enough to touch it. Amazing! We had water fights (I think everyone was soaked by the end, especially Grandpa) and a yummy BBQ. Then we did some "stink balls" which is our way of saying smoke bombs, and sparklers. We had just one collision when Claire and Macie were running through the smoke and ran right into each other. Macie was sure her arm was broken! She recovered momentarily when the sparklers came out.

We took a little trip to the Thanksgiving Point Barn to visit the animals. It's a really fun place and you can see everything and ride a pony in about an hour -- Perfect! Macie and Cole loved the goats. They are VERY friendly and like to eat right out of your hand. There was a baby goat that Justin loved but he couldn't get a good picture of it, too bad!

This goat and Cole had a staring contest, I think the goat won!
".....please, take me with you!!"
This was Macie's first time riding a pony, it was a total success!
Cole picked the biggest pony because he wanted it to be like riding an actual horse, rather than a pony.

Another fun summer past time......Hanging out with our friends Eli and Jared!!

Grandpa played soccer with Cole at Derek and Britnie's house and we had fun watching and eating watermelon. Grandpa and Grandma and Shalisa and Evie were in town in anticipation of the arrival of Hailee, our new neice/cousin.

Macie and Ellie like to play soccer too (or maybe just Macie, Ellie is scratching her head like she's thinking "why am I doing this?")

And here, Evie is either thinking "I love my mom who gives me yummy watermelon" or "wow, this is the perfect napkin!"

The Saratoga Splash was a blast. It gets better every year. Cole and Macie love the inflatables but after an hour and a half even they were too hot and too tired!

Note: the girl in the bottom photo is not me (too bad, I do love giraffe print halters!)