The rest of July

July was definitely our busiest month of the summer! We had dance recitals, trip to Lagoon, a couple of boating days, two holidays with fireworks, some friends came to visit and we took our first camping trip as a family of 5.

My super talented sister in law Bridgette made some adorable accessories for the kids. The boys got matching bow ties and Brooke got a sparkly new headband. I couldn't resist doing a little photo shoot before church.

 Porter's attitude toward Grant runs hot and cold. He either ignores him or adores him. This was during an adores him phase. I thought it was so cute to see Porter feeding Grant his breakfast.

 Some more adoring of Grant.

 Another Sunday I was particularly proud of Brooke's hair do. I struggle with cute girl hairstyles, but have been determined to learn some new styles so Brooke's hair is out of her face but not always in a ponytail.

 We love watching our garden grow each year. It's been Brooke's job to water it.

 Brooke invited me to go on a bike ride with her. I had not ridden my bike in years! It was fun to ride with her and Brooke jabbered non-stop the entire ride. It was a good way to spend time together.

 Another lake day:

 Porter and Blake swam out to the dock.

 Brooke skied again.

 Porter rode the tube by himself and while riding decided to lay his head down and relax.

 Blake convinced Porter to ride the wakeboard with him. As you can see, Porter did not enjoy it. I think it was a combination of being cold/tired. If you ask Porter about riding the wakeboard now, he says it was lots of fun!

 We took our first family camping trip with Grant. Blake's parents let us use their camp trailer and we were so glad they did! That night, it was so cold! We enjoyed being able to get away to the mountains where we could take in all the beautiful scenery.

 I couldn't get enough of the sunset that night.

24th and Watermelon

 We celebrated the 24th of July with another parade. This time Blake got to come with us, so that always makes it extra fun. Blake had recently returned from going on a youth trek with our church to Martin's Cove in Wyoming. He spent 3 days taking care of the youth and their leaders as they pulled handcarts and reenacted the Mormon pioneers' journey to Utah. I am so thankful for my pioneer ancestors. On my mom's side, my ancestors settled in Cache Valley. On my dad's side, my grandparents are modern day pioneers, having joined the church when my dad was 3. There is no doubt that I am who I am today because of their faith and determination. Because of them, Blake and I now raising a new generation in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 Grant was so entranced by everything going on in the parade.

 At the beginning of the parade we told our kids to stand up as the flag passed by as a sign of respect. It's tradition to end the parade with tractors down main street. Porter saw the flags and stood up again. I was so proud that he felt the need to stand up. Plus, the tractors are just really, really cool.

 After the parade we had intentions of going down to the river to play in the water. On our way, we saw that a car dealership had a lunch-thing going on and that radio station was there so we stopped and ate. Then a man from the radio station asked Blake to participate in a watermelon eating contest. Each contestant had 5 pounds of watermelon and 5 minutes to eat as much of it as they could--without using their hands!

 Brooke got to be an honorary judge to make sure no one was using their hands.

Blake ended up coming in 3rd place. He ate 3lbs of watermelon in 5 minutes. We got a free oil change for participating. It was a fun and unexpected turn of events in our day...and we never did end up going to the river!

Lagoon vs. Disneyland

 About a month ago I got on this Disneyland kick. I really, really wanted to take our older two kids this winter/spring and I even got Blake to agree to some dates and I started doing some research into booking a vacation for our family. I was really excited and all pumped up to go and have this magical experience as a family. During this time of planning our DL vacation, we decided to take our kids to Lagoon for a day. We had a blast, but after 1 day at Lagoon Blake and I looked at each other and said, "There is no way we could do a Disneyland trip!" Our kids were exhausted after 5 hours at Lagoon and wanted to go home. We had eaten every food item I had brought (and it was a lot of food), Porter (who by this time was also very tired/hungry/cranky) was getting very impatient having to wait in lines for the rides and was attempting to push his way to the front. I was getting tired/annoyed at trying to make everyone happy and was honestly read to go home too. Lagoon is only a small fraction of the experience that DL would be, but it was a real eye opener for us! Basically, our family is not ready to take on a big trip like Disneyland. A small part of me is sad about this (I was looking forward to our trip as much as anyone), but really, the last thing I want my kids to do after we spend all the money to go to Disney is whine and complain they want to go home. We  will rethink our DL plans in another couple years. In the meantime, our family ill continue to enjoy our day trips to Lagoon each summer.

Waiting for daddy to finish riding the new Cannibal ride.

 The last time we were at Lagoon, Porter was only 18 months old so he didn't really get to ride anything or remember it. He was in heaven with all the car rides.

 I am not a roller coaster fan at all. You know that feeling you get in your stomach when you drop really fast? I hate it. HATE IT! So even this kid ride that had the kids laughing and giggling, made me cringe.

 The kids and I went on Rattlesnake Rapids once while Blake sat with Grant. Even though it was so hot outside, Porter did not like getting splashed so he waited with me while Brooke and Blake rode it.

 Grant was such a trooper! He pretty much spent the entire day in his stroller. I am looking forward to next year when he'll be able to ride a few of the rides with the other kids.

 Blake and the kids on the pirate ship:

 Brooke was so brave at Lagoon! She rode any ride she was able to. Blake even took her on the white roller coaster! But when it came to the swings, she was scared and cried.

 I love Brooke's expression in this picture:

 Selfie with mom on Puff the Magic Dragon--by this time Porter was in his cranky phase and it was time go!