Pioneer Day Ward party July 2012

Our Ward had a Pioneer Day party in 2012. Pioneer Day is July 24th, the day the Mormon pioneers first reached the Salt Lake Valley. We had a craft display, pioneer kids games, dancing and food. It was a fun event.

Princess takes pictures of herself with my phone

Baby blows kisses to the camera

Playing hoop games

Princess LOVED dancing with her dad.

Fixitman's funky shoes are visible here.

My contributions to the homemade stuff display

(My mom made me the quilt and pillow for me when I was a senior in highschool. The things I made are all crocheted - there is Dinoguy's crocheted blanket, the dress for Princess, the vest for Baby, some little stuffed toys and Trainboy's blanket in progress.)

July 2012 Activities

Baby at the park

Princess refusing to have a picture taken

Dinoguy in the tunnels

Princess with her cow spots at Chik-fil-a.

At the bowling alley

Kids bowl free in the summers!

Helping Fixitman put together the beds

Playing at the train table

First bonfire at our new house

 Pictures of some of the things we did in July 2012

Independence Day, July 4, 2012

Independence Day 2012 found us still moving into our new home. I wanted to spend the day at the beach, but we put together the swing set and trampoline for the kids instead.

Our new backyard

The yard already had this fabulous sand box in it that Princess & Baby enjoyed immediately.

 In the evening we headed to the city firework show. We were pleasantly surprised at the crowd size. It was a good sized crowd and yet it was not crazy busy like we were expecting. Adjusting to living in a smaller town is going to take us some time.

Baby found a better way to get around at the firework show

I guess the flash was too bright.

I have quite a few pictures where everything is in focus but her face. She has last minute moving skills I guess.

Flash too bright again?

Overall the kids enjoyed the fireworks set to music by the city orchestra. Riding the buses to and from our car may have been more exciting for them. Dinoguy and I had some interesting discussions about building and living in deep underground places while waiting for the bus.

June 2012 FHE Billion Graves

We had a joint Family Home Evening (FHE) activity with two other families where we used smartphones to take pictures of tombstones at the local cemetery for Billiongraves.com. This is a great genealogy activity that younger kids can participate in also. It went pretty well and was a fun experience. I have taken my kids to cemeteries several times to take photos since then. We may not do more than 15 minutes of photos, but it is service. :)

There was a stone table and benches that we used for treats.

Watermelon and popsicles and a quick lesson first.

Here is my friends' 7 year old taking pictures with her moms' phone.

Princess helped some and explored more.

Baby just followed me around mostly. He is such a cute little shadow.

June 2012 Other activity photos

Dinoguy is in the middle on the block about to dive

Waiting to swim a leg of a relay

Dinoguy was on the city swim team in May and June in 2012. It was a very positive experience. They swim every day and it is the only way I know of to help a child become fairly proficient at swimming. He earned the Most Improved award in his age group at the end of the season. He wants to swim again this coming year and Trainboy wants to join him.

Trainboy on a waterslide

Trainboy at swim lessons

Trainboy took two weeks of swim lessons that he enjoyed and that was a huge positive. He did not come as a natural water lover like Dinoguy. The fact that he enjoys playing in the water now is awesome. I tried mommy child swim classes when he was a toddler and he just clung to me the whole time trying to get out of the water.  So seeing him excited to swim and learning basic skills was fabulous.

I squeezed another summer out of this awesome baby swimsuit set I was given. Looking at pictures it was really a bit too small.

Time for a snack? Or just hating the water sprays?

We did go swimming at the city pool several times this summer.  Not as many times as I thought we would. Princess was surprisingly comfortable in the water, much like Dinoguy has always been. Baby did not like to leave my side most of the time, except when he was enjoying the baby water slide. But usually he was holding on to me for dear life, whimpering about being at the pool. Some kids love water, some don't I guess. 

Swinging at the park remains a favorite pastime of both Princess & Baby. They could do so for hours. All of the kids love to swing really, Dinoguy hangs out on his swing in the yard all the time.

What our new house looked like shortly after we moved in. I have gotten to cut down a lot of stuff. :)

We moved at the end of June out in a more rural area. The move was motivated by cutting our rent in half. I loved our house, but the rent was killing us financially. Really, Fixitman pointed out, I loved the yard. Our new home has an even bigger yard since we are in the country. Lots of trees, lots of land, lots of work. I have enough gardening projects to last me several years.

My foot in a lovely walking cast I borrowed. Ow.

Did I mention I badly sprained my foot on moving day? I could not put any pressure on it for several days. I was given a walking cast to borrow and that made it possible to sort of move in to our house and finish cleaning the old one. Being injured during moving week is not good timing. My foot hurt for months afterward, it was so weak and recovering. I think I tore all of the ligaments.

The rest of these photos are just random ones I took in June 2012.  Sometimes every day pictures are better than any thing else.

Dinoguy being cute

Baby is just cute all the time.

Princess playing cards.

Good morning wake up calls are free in my house.

How did this cute boy get so big?

Moreover, when did this one turn into a big kid?

Dinoguy and the first dinner I made in our new home. An enchilada casserole.

June 2012 Cub Scout Camp

I went to Cub Scout camp with Dinoguy for a week this year (2012) as a parent leader. Princess came along and went to the little kids camp. Trainboy and Baby stayed with Fixitman and sometimes with friends during the day. I really wanted to go with him last year when I was a Wolf den leader, but Baby was too young to be separated from me for that long and it wasn't possible to bring him. I loved the experience. I loved being with all the boys and all the fun activities. Dinoguy had a blast also. I didn't take many pictures, but we did have fun.The weather was pretty good most of the week too - the last two days got into the 90's but we adjusted.

Cub scout camp is like Boy paradise

Earning his silver bullet

Learning to play golf

Meeting some animals

He loved the BB Gun range

Finding bones in owl pellets.

Dinoguy has red shorts, and loves archery

This coming year I am planning to go again. It was that much fun. Also, Trainboy and Dinoguy will both be at camp and Princess asks if she gets to go again so we will almost all get to go have fun. I don't think Baby will be potty trained in time so he'll have to stay home with Dad or friends.