summer time and the living is easy

I love summer. 

Although the kiddos aren't quite done with school yet, officially, everyone is done on Friday,

we have sure been enjoying ourselves.

spending time outside, jumping on the tramp, going for walks and bike rides, just enjoying it!

We went to dinner at our favorite farm, ate inside and then went outside and let the kids play. There was a swing set, tires, a fenced in chicken coop, animals, and a nice summer night.

We love going here!

 G was impressing us leaping from tire to tire

 C loves it when daddy holds her

 The kids all in 'jail'

 Tire swings, of course G had to do it standing up! The most dangerous way. I think he actually helped write the most dangerous book for boys

 We fed animals.

 B was pretty worried being on the tire swing. Not his favorite.

 Two best buddies

This was such a great night. 

The weather was perfect and we all had a great time!

Franklin Institute

The scout group we are a part of planned a trip to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. J debated back and forth about whether she wanted to go or not, because she had also been invited to a birthday party, in the end, she decided to go and everyone had a great time! They got to play with static electricity, lean about force and gravity, test their reaction time while simulation car racing, C said it was awesome!

G wanted this pic in front of Benjamin Franklin's glasses

The kids loved walking through this GIANT heart

G coming out of a lava tube

The bus ride, the kids loved it!

K declared this 'the BEST museum EVER!!'

a sunday drive

Look at what this little one has learned to do! She is so proud of herself!

I guess ALL families use sunday to take a nice drive (just different modes of transportation

We went to a great spot not too far from our house. We had been there before, but explored the area a little more. 

There was a lake, picnic tables with grills, a sandbox, swings, horseshoe pits, pretty much a great place!

leave it to J to find the caterpillar

The kids were pretty pleased with the sandbox

These two babies just loved being outside. 

Great afternoon (C really did enjoy himself, though this pic would tell a different story)

our days

What we've been doing

Going to lots of author's tea. G had one at his school. They read to sisters in their home. G did an amazing job. K's is tomorrow.

We have been utilizing the bike trail by our house a lot! The boys both got new bikes (more than needed), and they tear it on the trail. J and Baby C ride in the bike trailer and B rides in a bike seat. Daddy pulls all the kids- that's love!

I love that we have found something that the boys LOVE to do and that we can do together as a family.

beginning of summer

School isn't even out yet, but it already feels like summer.

We went to our favorite local amusement park, as we walked in, there was a bunch of people at a penn state pavilion, a lady walked over to us and said they were wrapping their day up and had a huge box of penn state cupcakes, my kids were more than happy to take them off their hands!

Soccer season is in full swing.

Love this pic of J right after her team scored a goal. She LOVES soccer!

G also loves playing, here he is, showing us his sweet moves.

dc temple trip

We recently visited the temple. 

It's always an interesting feat. 

It is a nearly 3 hour drive for us (each way), so we try to leave around 7:30 am, we pack the kids in, snacks, movies, leapsters, ds-anything to help the time. 

When we get to the temple, one of us goes in, and the other tries to keep 5 kiddos entertained for the next 2 hours.

it is nice, because we get to walk around the temple grounds for a while. they are always beautiful

 This time, we even saw a park nearby and went and played there. we failed to include sunscreen for our travels, so we couldn't stay too long. we want to go back and explore

 

The FUNNIEST thing about our drive is this sign. 

It makes me laugh so hard! It has major cities listed and then Cove Fort, for anyone not from Utah, it is a tiny little city that most utahns dont even know about. WHY it's listed, I am still trying to figure out, but it makes the world not seem so big if DC can list Cove Fort Utah on their freeway sign

Another great thing about heading to DC, is making a pit stop at our favorite restaurant. THANK YOU for coming to the EAST!!!!

We normally try to go into DC and explore, but this particular day, we had  a lot we needed to do (including a trip to Costco), so we packed the kids back in the car and headed for our 3 hour drive home. I think we got home around 6. Even though it's a major day to go the temple, its always worth it. And we hope we are setting a good example for our kids.

Two cute kiddos at Costco. B was so funny, he was sharing his food with C. 

This is the newest addition to our family. K saw this, had money, and wanted it. Couldn't live without it. It was interesting getting it home.