The Shupester

I finally had a cute boy to take me to a Ryan Shupe concert. Jason and I saw them play at Founders Park the day before the Fourth of July. The Shupester and Banjo Boy haven't changed a bit. But it was a HUGE crowd getting ready for Centerville's fireworks show, and not one person in the audience besides me knew the words to any of the songs. It was kind of a rude awakening that maybe I'm not 23 anymore. When did that happen?

Anyway... same cheesy-with-a-slight-bite style of showmanship - and same great sound. I'll always be a fan of the Rubberband. Dream Big.

St. George Weekend

I don't want anyone to feel too bad that Jason and I stayed home and worked while the kids lounged about in St. George for a week. Jason and I were able to make a quick trip that weekend, so all's well that ends well.

When you roadtrip with me, you end up visiting Pioneer Museums and temple grounds. The kids actually enjoyed the museum tour and the visitors centers because of the air conditioning. Because St. George in June is hot. WAY. TOO. HOT.

We also escaped the heat by going bowling. We bowled two games and my total score was over 200, so I did pretty good for me. Disclaimer: I used the bumpers and I do not apologize for that.

Kids with Grandma and Scott. We learned this trip that Scotty is a decent bowler and that he fries a pretty mean egg. Also, he doesn't use the bumpers and thinks it's a little strange that a grown woman would. Whatever.

We ended Saturday with a sunset swim in the pool. It's not heated, but even I can brave a private pool in 100+ degree weather. Especially if there's also a hot tub.

Last picture. This one makes me laugh. Years ago, my family rented a house in Bountiful and we were surprised one Christmas when our landlords sent us a Christmas card of them sitting in their hot tub drinking beer with their dog in the background. It seemed like an odd Christmas card. (Although I'm pretty sure it's still in a family photo album somewhere because aren't you supposed to save photo Christmas cards?) Fast forward a couple of decades, and here's me posting a weird hot tub picture, minus the beer and the dog. Maybe it's the circle of life.

Grandma Kaylene's Resort & Spa

Mickey and Dahlia have been looking forward to summer when they could spend a week at their Grandma's new house in St. George. From the pictures, I'd say they had an ok time.

They spent hours and hours in the pool, played many games of Skipbo, went to Zions National Park, and had ice cream at an old fashioned ice cream parlor. They mostly loved having Grandma's undivided attention all to themselves... and also the pool.

 

Some Favorite Fathers

One of my favorite Father's Day traditions is inviting a large group of people to do something on Saturday so that my Dad can pay for everything. This year, we went to Sizzler.

 

Jason got a double dose of Father's (Satur)Day with breakfast at Cracker Barrel and lunch at Sizzler. He also learned how fun it is to have your kids post their favorite pictures of you on Instagram as a special Father's Day surprise. He didn't even know this picture existed. But we all know now!

Family Fun in the Summer Sun

Here's a catch-up post with some pictures I keep meaning to put up....

Dahlia loves playing catch with Jason. And vice versa.

 Brycie had a birthday!

Carly is a Kindergarten graduate!

Ethan is a self-proclaimed "bad cat." Is there any other kind?

Dahlia introduced her cousin to the joys of jumping on the trampoline with a sprinkler underneath.

Theo ate spaghetti and loved it.

We were dog-sitting for a week (add that to the list of phrases I never thought I'd say) and Rooney and Chester insisted on sleeping on the same couch at night. The people couch - not either of the two dog beds that were so generously provided for their sleeping pleasure. I think they both wanted to make sure the other one wasn't sneaking around eating bacon (Rooney's favorite) or hot dog buns (Chester's preferred snack) during the night.

Mick made the cutest cake for his cousin Val's birthday. 

And finally, another "oldie but goodie" that I just had to post somewhere. Mick, Dahlia, and their cousin, Caprie. I love seeing old pics of the kids that were taken before my time.

Sunday Dinner

Many things about this picture make me cringe.

1) That the tator tots aren't more evenly spaced.

2) That my piece (hold the tots) is not square.

3) That I've known Jason for 4 years and I just barely learned he and the kids love tator tot casserole. No peas, no onions, no green beans - just ground beef, cream of mushroom, and cheese.

But I'm glad they liked it. And, not surprisingly, Rooney did too.

Wheeler Farm

I keep a list in my phone of fun things to do when we have a free Saturday. It rarely gets used. But this weekend we had a Saturday afternoon where we could do something from The List. We were watching Jason's two year-old niece for the afternoon, so we decided to take her to Wheeler Farm. (Which is something I've wanted to do with the kids, but they thought they might be too old for, so we compromised and took a two year-old with us.) Which turned out to be a pretty good solution.

Val is right at the age where she likes to play, "What does the cow say?" It was pretty funny watching her try to match up the "oink oink" she thought the pigs should be making with the grunts the pigs were actually making. She kept everyone at the farm very entertained. Most of the afternoon went like this:

Mickey: "Val, what does the sheep say?"

Val, looking at Mickey, the sheep, and them back to Mickey, "Baaaaah. Say baaaaaah, sheep."

Wild applause. Repeat. We should have charged admission, because she was pretty cute.

We ended the adventure with "the big kids" taking a turn to milk Abby the cow. Mick wasn't sure about it, but Dahlia decided she wants to have a farm when she grows up, complete with chickens, a red barn, a tire swing, and cows that sleep in so she doesn't have to get up too early to milk them. 

She was very clear that she wanted a farm with lazy cows. It's good to have dreams.