More Summer Fun!

 We had another Monday Fun-day (see post below) and this time we decided to work on the girl's baby books. I am really behind on baby books and the girls kept asking me where their baby books were, so I decided to have them help me make them. We got a lot done, but didn't get quite finished and when it was all over, the girls said, "that's a lot of work mom." It is amazing how you realize how difficult things are sometimes, when you actually try them for yourself.

*Darin and I had been talking about getting the girls some kind of game system or something for our summer car trips, and we found these Android Jelly Bean Tablets at Wal-Mart for $70.00 a piece. Much cheaper than a DS or portable DVD players for the car or I Pods. The girls can play games, listen to music and watch movies, so they serve their purpose well. We haven't figured out all of the bells and whistles yet (like how to download music and movies), but the girls love playing games and it is a great bribery tool. I just take the tablet in the morning and tell the girls they can have it after all of their chores are done that day, works like a charm every time!

Can I just say that this little dude has totally stolen my heart! He is one active little guy and has loved cruising around the house in his walker. It took him one day how to figure out how to run and turn and now he chases me around the house. He is my number #1 fan and I am his!

Dance Camp

Abigail and Emily decided to do DSDS Summer Intensive Dance Camp this past week and they had a blast. Elizabeth is less interested in dance and just wanted to spend time with mom and Carson, which is just fine with me! Dance is a pretty expensive activity and I don't want to pay for anything that the girls don't just simply love. Emily was excited to have Miss Sierra, home from BYU for camp this week. * You actually have to click on the picture below to see Emily because it is a large image.

 

Liz didn't really mind missing camp until today. Today was hip-hop day and she wanted to go. Maybe I will just sign her up for hip-hop day in July if I can.

Getting Excited for Hip-Hop Class

Swim Camp

I have really struggled with finding decent swimming lessons here in South East Idaho and I knew with us not taking our annual trip to Texas this summer, I had to get my girls swimming. We have tried a couple of places and they were simply terrible. If only I  had a pool, I could have such a great impact on this community with providing top-notch swimming lessons. Anyway, I did some research and found a place about an hour from my home called Downata Hot Springs. They used Red Cross Learn To Swim Levels like Stocker Swim School, and they seemed to have experienced teachers and small classes, so I thought we would give it a try. We decided to camp there because I didn't want to drive 2 hours each day for lessons. It was a success! The girls liked their classes and they seemed to learn quite a bit. I really liked the twins teacher, Deb. Abigail's teacher was decent, but I liked Deb better. I think if I go back next year, I will request a private lesson with Deb for Abigail, she really needs work on technique. Lots of dirt, sun, and swimming was just what we needed after an intense week of dance.

Carson just loved the splash pad with 93 degree water squirting out of the ground.

Abigail and Emily braved the Dragon waterslide. Emily became quite the fish over the week.

Swimming with 4 kids under 8 is quite the job, at least Abigail can tread water a little bit now.

Sitting in the shade. It got up to 92 degrees during the day, pretty hot for Idaho.

Waiting for swimming lessons to begin.

Carson was pretty patient watching the girls swim. It was cold in the mornings, but the pool was 92-95 degrees, so as long as you were in the water it was pleasant.

 

Emily is quite the floater. She loves to float on her front and her back.

Swimming to Mrs. Deb.

Elizabeth is a lot more cautious when it comes to swimming, but she actually swam to the wall on her last day with out her teacher's help. YEA! LIZ!

Waiting her turn - Abigail

Working on the American Crawl and the Breast Stroke

Another Dance Season Comes To An End

Another dance season at DSDS has come to an end. The girls were pretty tired by the end of this year, but they have only been dance free for 6 days and Abigail is already asking when she gets to go back to class. Next year she has chosen to dance Monday through Thursday, which is quite a commitment for a 4th grader, but this is what she seems to love.

Jazz Dance to Who Done It? These girls are in 2nd and 3rd grade. She is the 4th from the left.

Abigail is on the right of the girl front and center.

Swingin' those arms and hips is what she does best.

She has such sweet dance friends. I hope these girls remain "good girls" throughout all of their years together.

Waiting Back Stage

More Dance Friends

Mrs. Whitney is the director at DSDS and has been such a positive influence on my girls. They  just love her.

 

Mrs. Dana is the founder of the dance studio and the ballet teacher. What a sweet, talented, high energy woman. We love Mrs. Dana too!

Fun Day Monday

I love Summer! We are having such a fun summer so far we have equal amounts of work and play in our schedules. On Mondays, we have Monday Funday and the girls get to choose some activities to do that we don't get to with our busy schedules during the school year.

We had story time in a tote with Dad.

I love this picture of these boys cause they have the same goofy expression on their faces.

One of the favorite activities we have done so far is making balloon flip-flops.

We also made Ice Chalk and Drew On The Trampoline with our colorful ice creations.

These popsicles are not edible - they are made out of cornstarch, water, and food coloring.

 

It was also really fun to jump on the trampoline and let the colorful ice chalk bounce around too. The girls tried to keep the chalk from touching them when they bounced. Whoever got tagged by an ice chalk was out and the last one standing was the winner. Emily was excited that she won.

On one of our Fun Day Mondays we went to the nursery and got tomatoes and planted them. I hope these do well.

 

And of course, family game night is always fun too.