Grandpa Poulton's Birthday!

Surprise!  Happy Birthday Grandpa!

4-Wheeling

 Target Shooting!

 Tricycles!

 Good shot Grandma!

       We had so much fun in Murtaugh!  When we were getting ready to leave, Bridger was thinking of every possible excuse to delay going... he needed to go to the bathroom, he needed a drink, and then he ran to the back bedroom and held on tight to the covers on the bed.  Earlier I had teasingly asked him if he was ready to fly home and he told me, "No, I want to stay with my two grandma's!"
      I can't blame him.  We had a lot of fun and did a lot of playing with the Poulton's!  It was Grandpa's birthday... They threw a surprise party and we loved being there for it! We don't get to see them near enough and it was so fun hanging out.  Bridger got to play with his cousins.  He and Myra were so happy to run and play outside as they pleased.  Plus... shooting, 4-wheeling, bikes, and playing with the dog...  It's a little boy's paradise.  I think Bridger would love growing up a farm boy.

Messy Challenge, Hansen Park Reunion

      Jill hosted such a fun messy challenge!  We used to do these with all the cousins, and it was fun to watch all the cousins kids having as much fun with the challenges as we did.  Bridger LOVED that the challenges involved chocolate, gummy worms, donuts, marshmallows... all his most favorite food groups.  It was really so much fun!

We got to go for a day to my mom's extended family reunion at Hansen Park.  They are so fun and camp over every year!  I don't think I've been since I've been married, which is too long to be away from the Hansen Park reunion, really!  When I was little we would stay up and play night games, and eat s'mores and a table full of goodies!  We didn't stay for the night games, but my kids did love the table full of goodies!  (ha, I think I'm training them well, but when we go to parties, they realize what they have been missing out on!)

I love aunt Joan and aunt Betty!

Hugs! invasion of myra's bubble!

Dallin is a favorite

Love the babies! And my cousins!

Pucker Up!

      Myra has a habit of puckering up her lips!  And she talks with them puckered up too so everything has a little "ooo" sound.  It's really cute!  :)

My First Sprint Tri

    While I was in Utah I tried my first Triathlon!  It was in Layton and it was just a sprint.  It was a perfect first, I heard it called the "gateway triathlon", because it was set up as a mini, that repeated.  So I did a 300 meter swim, 5.5 mile bike, 1.5 mile run, and then I did it all again.  

      It was fun.  My family was so great too!  My mom, dad, and Amy (and Myra) all came out to support me.  They were there a long time too.  I had to be there close to 7:00AM, but there was some waiting around, and the length of the race, so they spent their whole morning in Layton, and cheered me on at every transition.  They were awesome support!

      It was fun.  I'll do it again probably.  The run and bike were a breeze.  Next time I need to really focus on my swimming.  I'd like to try a longer Tri.  I really liked this Layton one for my first... because of how it was set up, it was less intimidating, mostly because the swim didn't have to be so long at one time, but I felt like I was always in transition.  I am really glad I got to try it out though!  I'm not sure what a good time is, but I finished at 1:29:00.

Tony's Grove

     I decided to take a quick last minute trip to Utah, and as usual, it was packed full of fun! 

     One of the first days we were in Utah, we went to Tony's Grove.  It was so fun to hang with aunt Leanna (and all the fam!), dad taught us how to fish, and we hiked around the beautiful lake!

4th Celebrations

Ward breakfast, games, and firetruck.  Fireworks. Friends. Family.  Love.

Summer Activity Jar

...When Bridger wants to play, and I wish we had a new idea...

      I had checked out several of those books "Things to do with Toddlers and Two's" looking for some great ideas of things to keep Bridger happy, busy, and learning.  And I found some good ideas.  But in the moment when I need a good idea, I could hardly remember any.  So I decided to make up a fun jar.  I made up a list, cut each idea out, and Bridger helped me fold each slip in half and put them in the jar.  I think picking the thing to do is half the fun.  

      Some more creative things we've tried:

Sorting color paper

Finger Painting Shaving Cream Colors, for the tub

Dumping cereal on floor, okay not really, haha

      I made up a similar list for my Toddler Class that I handed out before our summer break.  Here is the link to My Activity Jar list: click here.  (Some of the ideas need certain supplies on hand, but not all.)  I know we're at the end of the summer, but I'm always looking for good ideas, so I thought I'd share anyway! :)

Banana Popsicles

Yummy Popsicles! (Watch the picture progression).

 Myra is so funny.  When she gets a taste she doesn't like she gets really upset, and she usually cries for a while because of it.  Sort of like she is offended that I would think to give her something so terrible.  She hates bananas, and banana flavored anything, which I sort of forgot when we got down to the end of our popsicle bag.  Funny.

King's Dominion

      Probably one of the very funnest things we did this summer so far was going to King's Dominion!  It is a Charlie Brown theme park with crazy roller coasters!  We went partly in celebration of Courtney's birthday. I haven't been on a roller coaster in such a long time!  I forgot how exhilarating it can be.  Wow, we had SO MUCH FUN!

Courtney and I on the swings

       My favorite was Volcano: The Blast Coaster.  It was super fun, I loved it so much I laughed the whole time, at least, when I could catch a breath.  Then we tried the Intimidator 305.  It is way, way, way fast!  So fast that we all started blacking out, I had to force myself to come out of it.  Crazy fast.  Devin loved it.  So we went on it again, because it was a short line.  Bad mistake.  I think it is too fast, it messed with all our insides.  Afterward we all felt sick!  We took a break to get some lunch.  Courtney and I were feeling better, Nicholas and Devin still didn't feel quite the same the rest of the time.  Amusement parks are one of the only places I know you pay to be sick.  Oh man, so much fun at first while you feel good, but I left with my head not working right, and concentrating on anything very hard was nearly impossible.
      It was so worth it though!

You Tubes: 

Volcano: The Blast Coaster

Intimidator 305