July 4th, Independence Day

Today we celebrated our nation's independence by hanging out with our family.  James was supposed to work, but then ended up not having any visits scheduled, so that was nice.

We went north again, though this time only to Ogden.  My cousin Jodi, her husband and new baby are moving to Roseville, California and decided to use the 4th of July holiday as a chance to throw a going away party.  We used to always have Petersen parties on the 4th, so it was fun to do that again.  Molly, Kate, Hyrum, and Jack played on the not-so-slippery and not-so-slidy slippery slide that my aunt LeeAnn set up.  Had bigger kids been playing on it, we probably would have had to move it to a steeper slope, but for the little kids, it worked great.

We left Ogden for Magna and my Grandpa's house, swimming, and a barbecue with most all of my mom's family.  The food was tasty, Molly and Jack had fun swimming, and it was a good day.

I feel bad because Jack got a little sunburned on his back.  I thought we had used plenty of sunscreen, but obviously not.  Molly is fine, but Jack's shoulders and top of his back are pink.  I guess we either missed a spot, or should have applied sunscreen a third time.  He's probably a little uncomfortable, but I think he'll be ok.

By the time we got things cleaned up and finished at my Grandpa's, it was almost firework time again.  Instead of going home, we (along with Annie and her family) just headed over to my mom's house.  The kids all had a bath and got their pajamas on and then we lit some fireworks.  Jack zonked.  Molly had her first experience with sparklers.  Quinn grazed on the grass.  It was nice to just sit outside and enjoy the slightly cooler temperatures.

When we got home, our neighbors had just started their fireworks display.  Molly and Jack had fallen asleep on the way home.  Jack stayed asleep, but the noise of the new fireworks woke Molly up and we went back outside and watched the neighbors for a little while.  They had tons of huge fireworks launching into the sky and they were SOOOO noisy.  They were setting each firework off inside and open Winder Dairy cooler.  I guess they were doing that because it was probably safer - can't explode and won't misfire into someone's garage - but, it made them so loud it was ridiculous.  I thought our house was being bombed.

Eventually it ended, Molly went to bed, and all is well.

I'm grateful for our country and for holidays where we get to sit back and appreciate the fortunate lives we have!

July 3rd, Independence Eve

For the 3rd of July, we headed to Garland, hung out with Grandma and Grandpa Binggeli, ate pizza, then drove to Logan to watch the fireworks.  We didn't go in the stadium, but instead sat on the grass across from the stadium where Jarrell and Whytnee had been saving a spot (though Jarrell is on call this week and had to leave before we actually got there).

Molly loved the fireworks.  Jack was super nervous at first but then really liked them. He held still for almost all of the 35 minute firework show.

We got home late, but had a great night!

The Zoo

We went to the Zoo for the first time this summer.  It was hot, but we had a lot of fun.  The polar bear was super active.  Molly and Jack were both really good!

Summer!

Summer is here, but it feels like it has been slowly coming.  (And pictures will come later).

The first week was spent in Yellowstone.  The second week was spent at home catching up on being gone a week.  The third week was spent with a babysitter (Miss Bethany) while I attended Common Core Training.  We are now at week 4 and it FINALLY feels like summer  . . . and it's already the 4th of July!!!  Ahhhhhhh . . .

Molly started swimming lessons this week.  She goes Monday-Wednesday-Friday for the next 3 weeks.  I was crossing my fingers and praying that she would be good and she was.  I hope to not jinx myself by saying that she did a good job, but she did.  She was genuinely excited to go and she cooperated with her teacher for the most part.  She did get out of the pool 3 times to try to run over to me, but I took her back and she did what she was told.  No crying.  No fits.  Smile at the end.  I call that success.  Keep your fingers crossed for tomorrow.

I still haven't posted this blog entry, so tomorrow's swimming lessons have actually happened and she did even better.  She didn't get out of the pool once, though she did have to turn and look at me and ask for a high five a few times.  She didn't always do what she was supposed to, but her hair was more wet this time than last, so I'll call that improvement.  She's not being a stinker, she's just nervous around the water.  She's good at blowing bubbles, but pretty freaked out about floating on her back.  She likes it, though!

Jack, of course, went to swimming lessons with us.  He was really good, too.  I strapped him in the stroller and tried to keep him occupied with yogurt, fruit snacks, books, and moving around.

After swimming lessons we came home, changed Molly's clothes and went to a park to play with some other kids from Molly and Jack's school.  I thought it was just a "play at the park," but there was water involved.  I didn't want to have the kids miss out on the fun, so I let them play around in the water with their clothes on. We just had to be creative for the car ride home.  We will be better prepared next time, but they had fun.

Tuesday morning we went to playgroup at the church and played with the kids from a few of the families in our ward.  Afterwards, we went to lunch at Village Inn with my mom and Willie (apparently it is their new favorite place).

Wednesday after swimming lessons we went to the zoo.  It was pretty hot, but still fun.

My plan for the summer is to do fun activities in the morning and then try to be productive while the kids are napping in the afternoon.  We'll see how it goes.