A New Year!

We finally made it to the start of a new school year.  Can you believe it?!?!? I'm in third grade now and Sam is a first grader.

Here are our first day of school pictures.

Brothers - growing up too fast!

We had cub scout pack meeting this week too.  And I earned lots and lots of awards.

Mom is my cub master so she got to give me my awards. 

I earned:

* Bobcat

* Hiking belt loop

* Wildlife Conservation belt loop

* Music belt loop

* Science belt loop

* Good Manners belt loop

* Archery belt loop

* BB Shooting belt loop

* Astronomy belt loop

* Two Silver Arrow Points

* Astronomy academic pin

* Archery academic pin

Here I am with some of my Wolf pack friends - Ammon, me, Gavin, and Fistan.

After the awards ceremony we made rockets and had a rocket launch.  It was SUPER fun!!!!!!  Even Sam got to launch a rocket.

We got some yard work done this weekend.  We're never too old to help dad with our mowers.

We also got to spend a lot of time playing this weekend.  We got out the hot wheels tracks and raced for hours.

Here's Sam racing cars off the jump and through the loop.

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone - I've been working on my acting skills lately.  

First up - pouty Sam.  

And then - happy Sam!  Everyone says they prefer Happy Sam!  

OK - Sam out for this week.  Have a great one!

Playing Hard (Again)!

It was our last week before starting school for the year.  And we filled it with lots and lots of play. 

Our friend, Dezi, spent a few days with us - she brought marshmallow shooters and this cool bubble blowing activity.  Check out these bubble snakes we blew. 

Here's Sam with a super long bubble snake.

Mom got to spend a few days home with us as well.  She's trying to teach us to love summer thunderstorms.  We've had lots of rain this summer and we decided to play in the rain and be brave with the thunder.

Mom also took us to the bounce house place - we've been begging to go all summer long.  She took these cell phone pictures which don't turn right side up on the blog, so don't get dizzy as you turn your head sideways to see the pictures.  (Sorry!)

Here's Sam headed down a slide.

And a picture of me after a long bouncy obstacle course.

We love just playing around at this place.  Two hours is enough to wear us out for the day.

Here's Sam getting ready for another big slide.

And here we are with mom.

Sam is balancing on a mushroom.

And here we are climbing up a wall.  So much fun!  

We had school orientation on Friday morning.  We're getting very excited for school to start.  It looks like it will be a great year!

For the second year in a row, we found the Waffle Love truck after orientation and each had a super incredibly yummy waffle!

We each had a nutella waffle - mine had fresh strawberries, Sam had fresh peaches, and mom had fresh raspberries.  Oh my - amazing goodness!!!  What a way to end our summer.

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone - Sam here.  I love my family!  

Dad has been really sick this week - he caught a cold from Mason a week or so ago and the cough just won't leave him.  We all jumped into bed with him after he got home from work one night.  

And on Saturday morning, mom made her famous Buttermilk syrup and rainbow pancakes.  Some of our favorite things!  

We've had an amazing summer!  I'm excited to be a first grader soon.  

We've played hard so we can work hard!

Playing HARD!

We had a great week doing lots of fun things, spending time with people we love, and getting spoiled rotten!

First Aunt Jen Jen flew up to spend the week with us.  We played and played and played.

There were parks and mini golfing, shopping and reading.  Here's Sam reading to Aunt J and I one night before bed.

Of course I have to do some reading too.  Oh how I love to read!

Aunt Jen Jen left us on Friday morning and we were sad.  We did get to go for swimming lessons on Saturday morning.  Sam and I are doing really well - we love swimming!

Then on Saturday afternoon we got to go to Uncle Noley and Aunt Christy's house for a sleepover.  We played and played.  We did a little shopping and stopped for dinner and some play time.

We even went to church with them today.  It was fun to be the visitors.

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone - I have enjoyed spending my summer tending to my garden.  I planted lots of peppers this year.  And it was time to do some harvesting.  Check out my bright red peppers.

I have turned into quite the reader this summer.  This isn't the first time I've fallen asleep reading.  But it's one of the cutest!

OK - Sam out for now.  One more week of freedom to go.

Fun Fun Fun!

 We've been having so much fun as the summer winds down. 

Our friend Dezi has been playing with us and definitely teaching us new things and keeping us entertained.  We made our own cars out of cardboard boxes and then headed to the family room to go to the "drive-in movies".  She had popcorn and treats for us too.

We've been doing sidewalk chalk and making balloon hovercrafts and playing lots and lots of games with Dezi too.

 

Mom took us to the new splashpad that opened up just around the corner from our house.  It was sooooo much fun!  Here we are with the water canons. 

 

There were little rivers and water jets and water wheels everywhere.

 

 

We did our bug ice block activity - how long does it take to get all the frozen bugs out of the ice?

 

After hanging out with mom at work for a little bit one day, we went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity.  It is always so much fun - but still packed with people.

 

The waterworks area is still one of our favorites.

 

The wind tunnel makes us smile.

 

Even though it was super busy with people everywhere, we still love the rainforest play area. 
So. Much. Fun!!!

 

We even got to do xrays in the animal clinic.

 

And you must stop at the magic shop - floating heads and all.  Here's me.

 

And here's Sam - he went for the floating torso.

 

We both went on the zip line a couple of times. 

 

 

And the slides are irresistible. 



 

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone - Dezi helped us make giant bubbles the other day.  This wasn't even my biggest bubble.  I LOVE bubbles!!!  I could have played with this all day.

 

This is me in my favorite position in the middle of the splashpad time - soaking in the sun. 

Ah - only two more weeks of summer. 

More playing to come!

Around Town

We got to spend a lot of time with family over the last week.  We had a funeral and a wedding and that means lots of family time. 

We had a yummy breakfast out one morning - here are some of the nearly 20 people that were there.

Here I am with Aunt Cathie and my newest cousin Anara (her twin brother Brock is down at the other end of the table).

The restaurant had all these cool bear carvings all around - Here's me, Sam, and our cousins Hayden and Adele.

Mom took us to the Ogden Temple Open House this weekend.  It is a beautiful temple!  So many incredible details and the glass work was amazing!

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone - Here's a picture of me eating my chocolate chip pancakes.  Really - combine a yummy breakfast food with chocolate - - - what could be better?

This is how I fell asleep the other night.  Nothing like a good book at bedtime!

And finally - I got to harvest some of my crops.  I've been growing peppers and tomatoes.  Finally I had a pepper ripe enough to pick.  I ate it for dinner tonight - yum!  Mason has a pumpkin that is growing.  We're hoping for at least one more pumpkin on the other plant. 

Ah - Summer!!!!