Summer Adventure

We took the first week of July and went on a trip across the West.  We fit in visits to both sets of grandparents and had a lot of fun.

The Backseat Drivers

Utah



Every year for the 4th of July, my hometown has a hot air balloon festival.  It's really awesome.  You get up early and watch the hot air balloons get ready and go up as the sun rises over the mountains.  It's a really fun, patriotic place to spend the 4th.

 

We also celebrated Daddy's birthday.

Queen bee



There are several summer birthdays so we had a small celebration for everyone.  Jasper got a big dinosaur volcano cake, while everyone else got regular cupcakes.  That's how it usually goes with him around.



A pro of going somewhere else for the 4th is the fireworks.

The Zoo



We rode the train

My kids wouldn't look at the camera for a picture if their lives depended on it.

There are many ways to have your head eaten at this zoo.

Measuring up to the gorillas is something that must be done on every visit to this zoo.

We rode the carousel



Gma and little miss became BFFs

We saw this kind of turtle...



and this rare kind...

More fun

When I was little we would get these helicopter leaves off the tree in my mom's front yard and stick them to our noses, so of course I had to show Jasper the trick.

My children have no yard, so they were excited for the rare treat of running through the sprinklers.



Jasper bonded with Chet, my brother's girlfriend's dog.



My hometown also has a parade on the morning of the 4th, which Jasper really enjoyed...from behind his eyelids.



It's dangerous to fall asleep when Daddy is in the backseat with you.



L.A.
I got far fewer pictures in L.A. than in Utah, partially because we were only in L.A. for a short time.  And it was too hot to think about taking pictures.



Journey got a beautiful new dress for her birthday from Grandma.  She actually walks around flouncing the skirt and asking everyone if she looks pretty.

L.A. Zoo

We decided to have a zoo competition.  The Utah zoo won :) but the L.A. Zoo was fun too.  It was just hotter.



Jasper got a smashed penny, something Jon and I like to get as well.

Jasper practiced his crocodile hunter skills

Overall we had a really great trip.  It was nice to see everyone, and now we're going to hunker down and get ready for school to start, which will be too soon.

Journey's Birthday

Journey's birthday this year was kind of a mellow day.  Daddy had to work and we just decided to hang out and do things she likes to do.  We're hoping to make it a bigger deal next year.

She got a very cute nightgown from Jasper and a beautiful Rapunzel wig from our friends.  Journey likes to play with our friend Clara's long hair, so Clara wanted to give Journey a box of hair for her birthday.  It was very sweet....and an interesting look.

She got a new swimsuit/floatie from uncle Jerm.  We went swimming and learned that this floatie doesn't exactly keep her afloat yet :)

We finished the day with pizza and ice cream from the ice cream man; two of her favorite things.

Last Day of School

Now that school has been out for over a month, I thought it was time for a blog post about the last day.  I have a child who has completed kindergarten and I can't believe it.  He's so precious and fun and sweet and funny and growing up so much faster than I want him to.  They had a picnic pizza party at school and then went inside to get their memory books and say goodbye.

It was important to him that Journey be in the picture with his teacher.  She was wonderful.

After school we went to our friends' house for a water party.  I didn't take very many pictures of the water party for camera security reasons.

For being good at school for the last few weeks, he got a reward trip to Toys R Us and chose some new Lego sets.  He also got a new mohawk haircut, which has been really fun to have for the summer.

We finished off the day with waffles with strawberries and whipped cream.  It was a nice fun day.

School Luau

Today we went to the end-of-year luau at Jasper's school.  We had so much fun.  It was great to go to a school party that was so much like what I had when I was little, in this day and age of gluten-free-no-tag-at-recess schools.  There were tons of treats (some even homemade), games and fun.



$5 bought us a wristband good for unlimited slide rides and bounces in houses.

Fishing was his favorite game.

Awesome shark face paint.  He was thrilled, as this was his first time getting his face painted.

Sharing cotton candy.  I was really excited that it was real cotton candy, being made right in front of our eyes.  That pre-made stuff that comes in a bag is just gross.  Journey had to have at least 3 bites of every treat Jasper got.



He won the cake walk.  I'm pretty sure my mom made a cake or two for cake walks when I was little.



He got a balloon sword from the balloon man.  I've never seen a balloon man who also made a holster.  Of course, the sword partially popped before the day was over, but Jasper just turned it into a laser gun.  He's a glass-half-full type of kid.

He soaked the principal on his first try.

Throughout it all, Miss sat nicely in her stroller dancing around to the Hawaiian music being played over speakers.  She's too big for some things, but wasn't quite big enough for the fun.

Double up in a single stroller for the walk home.

The dirtier the feet, the more fun that was had.  He was carried immediately to the shower when we got home.

For goodness SNAKES

Yesterday we went to a special show at the library called For Goodness Snakes.  This guy has a snake breeding business and he also goes around to schools and libraries doing shows.  It was creepy but also very neat.  The animals that he brought are the ones he usually takes to shows so they were very gentle and calm and the kids just went crazy.  His intention is to make snakes and reptiles not so scary to kids and especially parents.  I'm still not a fan :)

I can't remember what this big thing is called but Jas thought it was pretty cool.

I love this picture.  This is a blue-tongue skink.

My other favorite picture.  I couldn't believe he was doing this, and I don't think he could believe it either.

He held this one around his neck too, but my phone died right before so I didn't get a picture.

Memorial Day Weekend

Grandma and Grandpa came up to visit for the weekend and we had a fun time at the flea market.

Sunday

He didn't get much higher than this, but for his first time he did great.

Journey went on the ferris wheel for the first time.  It was especially for littles and it wasn't very tall and it was just right.  She loved it so much.  Jasper sat by her the whole time and every time they would start to go down from the top Journey would start giggling.  It was so fun to listen to her.  It made me realize she'll be two in just a few days and she's not a baby anymore.

 Monday

Daddy was home so we decided to go use up our Golfland tokens from last time.  We didn't golf, just played games, but we had a fun time.

Jasper got a super awesome SWAT set with his tickets.