Pictorial look at our summer fun!

School starts one month from today!!!!!!! That means summer's 2/3s over. It feels like it really just got going, but we have been having fun. Here's a look at some of our summer fun thus far.


The girls have had a lot of time to bond this summer (a bit too much)! Here they're playing school together!
Eden LOVED being allowed on the swingset loft!
Samantha indulged Ella's diva side and painted her nails at a swim party!
Notice, most play happens in the sandbox during our swim parties!
We went to the Hutching's museum with Lynn. Braydon and Emily got pretty good at this pioneer game.
They got a free train ride around the block.
They had a giant woolly mammoth. Later they used it in the parade.
Emily was chosen as a helper during the Native American presentation!
It was a LONG presentation, but Eden was entertained by this bird most of the time!
Looked like a terrible place for prisoners!
Indulging mommy with another picture!
Love Emily's face!
7 Peaks day with the whole family! Eden was in hog heaven!
She's all girl carrying stuffed animals and dolls around all the time!
The girls have had fun while I've been rearranging and redecorating the entire preschool (pics to come...when I finally finish.)
We went bowling with Lynn's family. Emily and Ella showed serious skills as they each won a game!
Eden kept me busy. I got to chase her around the bowling alley making sure she didn't pull a ball off the racks, didn't squish her fingers between balls in the ball return, didn't join another group, and even got to chase her down the lane - all while scared to death that the kids at that lane were going to throw a ball at her!
Showing Emily's win.
We went mini-golfing at Liberty Land (now the new Trafalga Fun center.) It's more like a marathon through the course as the girls use any means to get the ball in the hole quickly!
American Fork Steel Days carnival! This roller coaster was just Ella's speed.
And this one was more Emily's style.
Riding the train together this time!
Ella was so excited to take Eden on a ride. Eden spent the whole time unscrewing the lightbulbs on the side of the ride. Ella would take them from her and she'd start on another one. The ride technician said she was bound to be a mechanic.
American Fork pool this time!
Emily was BEGGING to be a part of the Greenwood Elementary float in the American Fork parade. I finally gave in when I found out the person in charge was the YW secretary. It turned out to be fun. The big girls rode the float most the way, and Eden was content in her stroller. It was good exercise and I got to chat with a lot of my friends the whole time. A lot of teachers came as well, and Emily loved seeing her 1st grade teacher again.
This was one of my summer goals seen to completion. I finally gathered, sorted, and organized by date all the papers I've been saving for the girls.
Couldn't resist this picture!
Visiting Grandma and Grandpa Tanner for Grandma's birthday. Grandpa actually coaxed Eden over to him with my cell phone. As he struggled to pick her up, he said, "She's more solid than she looks!" Grandma wasn't very excited to be photographed! We had a great visit and wish we could get there more often.

4th of July

The 4th of July was actually the "3rd of July" here in Utah because the 4th fell on a Sunday. We sure are a strange people! So we spent Saturday with all the cousins, including Mark's family. We had a great BBQ and got to play and hang out until evening. Holly was going to dance in the Stadium of Fire and it was fun to see her get all ready for that. Talk about a chance of a lifetime! We went to Dan's realty office to use their parking lot for our annual PARKING LOT OF FIRE! Poor Steve was anti-social that day and spent the day at home working on retiling the basement bathroom. What a hard-working guy. Dan and Dustin put on a pretty spectacular show, even if they do use all legal fireworks. The kids loved the sparklers and pop-its as well!
(Eden had a 4th of July dress too, but missed all the fun due to naps!)

On Sunday we got together for yet more food and more fireworks! (This time at M&D's cul-de-sac.)
Eden just loved walking up and down the street with this stroller. There's nobody that loves outside more than her!
Emily's showing off her pretty curls!
Emily was brave enough to hold Jill's gecko (that she gave to Holly!)
(Which reminds me - I have a funny story about Emily. Hard to believe, but this girls is brave enough to get a tissue, pick up ants she finds in the house, and throw them away without any fanfare. However, she's too smart for her own good. Today she ran upstairs yelling, "There's a spider downstairs!! I know because it only has TWO body parts and has EIGHT legs!!" Darn that 1st grade teacher!) :)

Summer Camps

This summer's camp adventures included Pirate Camp and Fairy Camp. Since I didn't have very many boys enroll, Emily & Ella got to join the boys!! They had the time of their lives and the boys didn't care one bit. Once I accidentally called them girls and Ella got upset because, "Now they know we're girls!"
Captain Jack (AKA Steve) was a good sport again this year and taught the kids proper sword technique. Don't get me wrong, Steve secretly LOVES doing this! He's an actor at heart! The kids loved him and loved practicing their newly learned fighting techniques with their balloon swords on him!
Huntin' for booty!

Now for fairy camp, I filled up a morning AND an afternoon session, so I was a tired Fairy Godmother everyday (you know she must be several hundred years old now...) Here's the girls after they helped the flower fairies and made their own flower clips.
Dancing with the flower balloons they put together for the flower fairies.
Learning some fairy dance steps.
We dipped pretzel "wands" into the chocolate fountain one day. I was smart enough to do it outside and smart enough to make the kids wear smocks, but I will STILL never do this again!
Tinkerbelle came!! She read us the story of the magic moon scepter and gave each girl a glow bracelet.
Emily found her own baby animal to take care of. Each girl colored magical charms each day after helping the fairies that would magically shrink to fairy size each night. On the last day they made them into a charm necklace for their new baby animal they were going to help the fairies take care of. They all LOVED this. The bears even had their own wings and wand!
Fairy Godmother with two new fairies!
(Yes, my girls are lucky because even though the age limit is 3-5, I'll let them attend for as long as they think it's fun!)