Summer Begins

  The other day Mom Peck came and took the girls out to play for the day. It was so nice to have some one-on-one time with this squish! We had fun on our bike ride. He's growing up so fast! He's fifteen months now and can say go, Lydia, nana, hi and momma. His laugh melts my heart and is such a fun, energetic toddler. Always on the go getting into everything! I'm always happily exhausted at the end of the day.

  Maddy and Daniel were able to be sealed over Memorial Day weekend. All of the family was able to be there which was so amazing! I forget how much fun it is to be all together. Sarah spent so much time teaching Lydia how to embroider. I think we've found a new hobby, she loves it!

  We had a beautiful Sacrament meeting together on Sunday.

Lindsay brought her boyfriend from California, Chandler.

Jon and Rachel came from Washington and Daniel on the right.

  After our Sacrament meeting we went to visit Charlie.

  Our family is growing! 

Sarah and Hudson (14 months)

  It wouldn't be a family get-together without Wacky!

  Some days it's hard to believe these beautiful girls are mine.

 

  Rachel showed Allie how to do silks. She is so talented at it and it's so fun to watch her.

  This pic is everything and accurately sums up Chai and Hudson's relationship. Chai was such a good sport and withstood Hudson's constant need to poke and pet her.

  Of course I had to visit sweet Kaleb over Memorial Day weekend too. 

  Yay for summer! I've been on a mission lately to find outdoor toys that will fit a wide age range and will last for years. They must also be creative and spark imagination. The water table was one and also cones, measuring cups and spoons, funnels, watering cans, a splash pad, bike road signs and more. I've been really impressed with the creativity the kids have shown. These cones have been used for holding "soup", watering the garden, obstacles and more. It's been so fun to see and I'm so happy that the girls and their friends can spend hours playing and being creative. 

  The splash pad has been a hit! Hudson isn't a fan of freezing cold water shooting in his face yet but maybe next year he'll like it better.

  Lydia finished school! I was so impressed with her teacher for making online learning so fun. Lydia never complained about having to do her videos and worksheets because there was always something fun hidden in somewhere. We definitely fared better than most and are sad to see the school year end. Lydia's so excited for six hours of school and three recesses! The teachers drove by and waved to all the kids. It was fun to see Mrs. Ramsey!

  Our Kindergarten graduate!

  We love Mrs. Ramsey.

  Lydia's soccer season has been a roller coaster. They postponed it a month to wait things out with the virus and then they decided to start. Then they paused it again for a couple weeks and are apparently starting back up again. The season might never end but Lydia wont mind. She's improved so much this year with aggression and ball control. It's a plus that she also loves it!

  Our Miss Model.

   We spent one afternoon at the Wellsville Reservoir with Dad Peck, Aaron, Kristen and her kids and Sarah. We biked around the water, paddled on the paddle board and had fun feeding the ducks. We had such a relaxing time.

  Hudson is obsessed with the lawnmower. If we can't find him the first place we look is by the lawnmower. He loves to climb, push and stroke it lovingly. All too soon, little bud, you'll be mowing and this momma will be so happy.

  Cam launched his new business called GreenMeGo smoothies. They are so delicious and convenient! I hope things go well and it's sounding like they're getting a lot of orders in. Once people try it they'll be hooked, I know I am now.

  Our summer days usually end up with all the neighborhood kids running around the yard.

  We had a fun play date with Atticus and Livy the other day.

  Allie loves climbing Grandma Rigby's tree!

  One day Hudson the kids were so grumpy that by the time Loren got home I was in tears. I went for a drive and decided to go to an overlook that Loren and I went to all the time while we were dating and first married. It's on the north side of USU campus down a little path that overlooks the Island. It was cleansing and healing to sit in silence all by myself. I remembered wonderful memories made down on the Island. Those years at college and as newlyweds seems like another life. I guess in a way it is. It's fun to think of how far we've come and what we've learned along the way.

  GreenMeGo's at the office were a hit!

  Last Wednesday we went for a bike ride with Mom and Dad Peck, the boys, and Davidson's around Mantua Reservoir. It was so pretty and a super easy trail. I can't wait to do it again!

  The kids and I went on an adventure to Denzil Steward nature park. This place is a kid's dream. There's forests and trails and a river to explore. I remember coming here as a kid with my cousins and we'd play and explore for hours. We stayed for a long time, longer than I usually would allow because everyone was having so much fun. I think we'll be coming here a lot this summer.

  The girls get pretty creative during quiet time. Remembering that a big mess equals lots of learning and imagination helps me to embrace it.

    We bought two trees! An Autumn Blaze Maple and Honeylocust. We're so excited, especially the girls as they got to work right away digging a hole for it. Lydia asks me everyday if we've watered it. It's been a fun addition to the yard and will hopefully give us some good shade soon. They are really big and it was somewhat of a nightmare planting the Maple but we were smart with the Honeylocust and had my dad come and share his planting wisdom. It was so much easier wish we would have asked him to begin with. 

 

  The girls were so excited to have a picnic in the "shade". 

  There's a blogger I follow who provided a free summer camp program. There's a different theme for each week and activity for each day. This was our first week and we started with art. The girls loved using q-tips to fill in the picture.

  Fun walk on the Stokes Nature trail.

 

  Before we could plant the Honeylocust tree we had to remove an old stump. It took Loren about an hour of digging and cutting up roots but he finally got it!

  Another day of summer camp was using tape to make shapes and designs and then painting them. Then we took off the paint to see a pretty masterpiece. 

  We loved getting free donuts on national donut day!

  We spent an afternoon at third dam with Kristen, Atticus, Livy and Maddy. Besides Lydia almost losing her sandal in the muddy water, we had a great time.

  Lagoon day! Landon will be going on his mission soon so we decided to party at Lagoon one last time before he leaves. We kept it a secret from the girls and when we got there they screamed they were so excited. They call it 'the fun place' and it sure was. We all had a complete blast.  A huge thanks goes to my mom for watching Hudson all day. We were required to wear masks in the lines and it was a little weird at first. But the kids were troopers and kept them on when they needed to. 

  This was Allie's favorite ride, the Ladybug Bop. I think she went on it at least seven times.

  Allie loved riding with Grandma!

 

 

  This girl amazed me. She was so excited to ride everything. So we started small with the bat and she loved it. The next step up was Wild Mouse and she loved it too. Then we tried the Spider and she couldn't get enough. She begged us to let her go on Colossus after that. Um.. well, I guess that's OK? I was nervous that it would be too much for her but she proved me wrong and loved it! I don't know where she get's her fearlessness from, certainly not from me. Then she told us she really wanted to go on the big red one, aka the Cannibal which might be the most intense roller coaster at Lagoon. I was really nervous for her to go on this one and by the time we got to the front of the line she was starting to have doubts too. But it was too late and she was on. As we started up the elevator she just stared ahead, gripping the handlebars until her knuckles turned white. I was really questioning our parenting at this point. I was nervous, I couldn't imagine what she was feeling! Needless to say, that one scared her pretty good. "I'm not loving this!!!" was what we heard when she could breathe again. I'm proud of our brave girl. 

 

  This was another of Allie's favorites, Bambora.

  Grandma and Grandpa were so nice to take Allie on rides while Loren, Lydia and I rode the big kid ones. She loved it!

  I'm not really sure how we ended up on Rattlesnake Rapids on a cloudy 58 degree day. It was sooo cold! We all got drenched, especially Allie. But we had fun despite all the chattering and shaking!

  What a fun, fun day! A big thanks to Mom Peck for putting it all together. We made some priceless memories and the girls asked today if we can go back everyday.

  While we were having fun on rides, Brayden, Mom and Dad were holding down the fort with this little guy. He had so much fun eating spaghetti, playing in the ball pit, going for walks and he even got his first haircut much to Loren's happiness. We're so grateful for wonderful family!