More summer fun.... July

July was another fun month of swimming, extreme heat and a few trips. Here are some of the pictures from our adventures.

Peyton decided we needed to have a campfire one night. Once she gets an idea, it can be hard to change her mind. Since we can't have a real campfire in our backyard, she came up with a solution. She is a creative little one! We even had to have s'mores, those however were real, but cooked in the microwave instead of over a crackling flame. They were actually very yummy!!

Chef Peyton with her finished product. Mmmmmm.....

Sydnie enjoying the campfire.

Here was her finished fire. It was actually really cute. She cute construction paper for the flames and taped them around a flashlight, then added the rocks for the fire pit. We all had to gather 'round and eat our s'mores. Really, you just have to love her!!!

Here are some pictures of our visit to Utah. After about 10 days of 110+ in a row, I decided to pack up the girls and the car and leave town for the cooler mountains of Utah. On our first day the girls and I stopped at Thanksgiving Point to see the dinosaurs and the farm. We had a great time! We never visited it when we lived 20 minutes away, but I definitely recommend it. It was a lot of fun and very affordable. We also happened to go during their 10 year birthday celebration. All of the dinosaurs had birthday hats and there were lots of fun activities that were included in the price of admission (face painting, mask making, bean bag toss, etc..).

Peyton and Sydnie were so ready to get out of the car and so excited to see the huge dinosaur exhibits!

We will probably never again see a dinosaur in a birthday hat. :-)

Or one in a grass skirt with a flower lei.

Everywhere we looked there were dinosaurs!

Making dinosaur masks.

Aren't they cute!

The birthday hats made the dinosaurs look and seem much more friendly. They looked like they were ready to PARTY!!

This gigantic beast towered over us.

This was one of the girl's favorite stops in the museum. It was a GIANT sand and water table that had all kinds of little dinosaurs and trees in it. They played here forever, making islands, hiding the dinosaurs and making rivers with the water. I did find 2 little dinosaurs in my laundry when we got home. Sydnie had to write a letter to the museum apologizing for taking them home with us and we sent them back. She is a sneaky little devil!

Peyton loved making dams and ponds. She had a whole team of kids working with her at one point.

This was the other favorite stop. The girls love anything that is "hands on". In this one they got to climb in a big sand pit and use brushes to uncover dinosaur bones. Sydnie was giving orders to some of the kids in this area and they were working together to figure out what kind of dinosaur was buried there. (I love the little girl in her pink dress, it was so funny to watch her)

Peyton was very delicate and didn't want to harm the bones she uncovered. After all, they are very old....

We left with the kids covered in sand. It was even in their pockets, but they had so much fun!

Then we headed to the farm side to see some live animals. However, this is a fake cow that Sydnie needed to milk. Believe me, she would never get this close to an actual cow or it's utters!

We saw all sorts of fun animals. Here is an alpaca.

They had the coolest chickens and roosters. The girls loved this one with the fluffy head! They even had baby chicks for sale for $2-$5 each. Peyton tried really hard to talk me into buying some, but I stood my ground and we didn't bring any home.

There was the most amazing peacock with his feathers all fanned out, but the shadows hide his beauty. The girls stood and watched him for a long time. He was so beautiful!

The highlight of the day for Peyton was the pony/horse ride. Sydnie was so excited to ride a pony, but when the girl in charge made her ride one of the bigger pony's instead of a little one she was a little nervous. If you ask her the pony was ready to gallop away with her. The truth is, it was being pulled along against its will at a very slow pace. The rope that tied it to the "walker" was stretched as tight as it could go and I think he was walking in his sleep for most of the ride. Peyton on the other hand was ready to untie her horse and gallop away. Yes, she is in shorts and barefoot.... She had on flip flops and they kept falling off. She is a cowgirl at heart!!

A very timid Sydnie.

Peyton had so much fun she wanted to go again. This time she had a smaller horse, but loved it just as much! Sydnie couldn't get off the horse fast enough and wasn't going to have a second ride.

Once again she was barefoot..... Oh how I love this girl!!!

Here was Peyton's triceratops she had painted on her cheek. Sydnie didn't want any part of the face painting either. They are so different. :-)

Our trip to Utah included many other fun events, but my camera batteries died and I never replaced them so there are no more pictures. We enjoyed spending a day with Brenda and her kids in Heber, had a great time with all the family at a backyard bbq that included a slip n' slide, a kiddie pool and all of the cousins. We spent an afternoon at a movie and lunch with Grandma Judy and Aunt Heidi, we enjoyed the cheese fries at Training Table and our favorite pizza at Francesco's. We enjoyed spending time in Park City with Grandma Vickie and Grandpa Michael and loved the cooler temps and the fresh mountain air. We didn't love the flu bug that Sydnie got while we were there, but we were glad she didn't share it with anyone else. :-) And Peyton had a great time at the Silver Mine in Park City with Grandpa Michael.

Some of what we've been up to.....

I have been terrible about keeping the blog updated lately. Life seems to be whizzing by faster and faster these days and I'm falling further and further behind. Here are some of the highlights from the past few months.

Sydnie's class went on a field trip to a chocolate factory. She was convinced it was going to be just like Willy Wonka's factory so I was worried she was going to be very disappointed. Here she is waiting in line for the bus to come.

Once inside the chocolate factory, we were greeted by this HUGE rice krispy bunny. We learned all about how they make chocolate, caramel and lots of other wonderful treats.

The kids were very good to listen to the presentation, but really, they were just there for the CHOCOLATE!!!!!

This was a giant chocolate football that stood about 7 feet tall.

Finally, there were samples. Lots and lots of samples!!!! YUMMY!!!!

Then the activity we had all been waiting for...... We got to make our own chocolate pizzas!
But first here is a picture of eggs and bacon that were made at the factory. A few pretzel sticks made up the slices of bacon, white chocolate with a yellow M&M made up the eggs. So cute and so yummy!

Each kid got a tray full of goodies to add to their pizza. They had a bowl full of milk chocolate and then a variety of things to add to it (mini marshmallows, gum drops, M&M's, nuts, raisins, etc...).
Sydnie loved sampling the goodies and deciding what to add to her pizza.

When we were all done they packaged them in these adorable little pizza boxes! It was so much fun!

After the chocolate factory and all of the samples, we headed to the park for lunch and to burn off some of that sugar! The kids had a blast!

In April, Peyton got braces. This is her first of two sets she'll have to have. She was such a good sport at the orthodontics office. We had to take a picture of this crazy contraption!

Waiting for the glue to dry the brackets in place.

At the end of April we headed to SLC to visit family. Here is Sydnie with baby Emme. Oh how she's grown since we saw her last.

While we were in SLC we spent a few hours at the park with all of the cousins. Here is Sydnie spinning. She stayed in this one for at least 30 minutes. I don't know where she gets her love for spinning, it certainly isn't from her mother!

Nikky and Brylee sliding.
Peyton, Max, Chloe and Jake, right before Uncle Ben spun them all off of this lovely ride. After a few tears and a few minutes to catch their breath they all wanted Ben to spin them again.

Brylee loved the slides! We also were able to celebrate her 2nd birthday while we were in town.

Chloe spinning. Sydnie finally took a break to get her balance.

A very tired Peyton.

Both of the girls got to be the student of the month in April and May. Here is Peyton (on the back row) getting her award.

She was SO EXCITED!
Here is Sydnie receiving her award.

At the end of May Sydnie graduated from Kindergarten. She is getting so big! They had a cute program with lots of songs, then they each got to be announced, Principal Gillette said their name and what they want to be when they grow up. When Sydnie was announced he said that she wanted to be a princess. She was a little upset after because several parents laughed, but I explained that it was just because we all thought she was so cute.
Here is our little graduate with all of her classmates.

Savanna, Maci and Sydnie

Sydnie with Mrs Wason.


Are my girls the only ones that go to the dentist or doctor and come home with masks and gloves? They can't resist asking for them anytime we go into a medical office. They have to immediately put them on and wear them home. I can't begin to tell you about the strange looks we've gotten leaving the doctor or dentist office from the people waiting in the waiting room. :-)

On this day it was a trip to the dentist, so not only did Sydnie get gloves and a mask she also received a new toothbrush. However, she did not let them clean her teeth...... They at least got x-rays and assured me she doesn't have any cavities. She is almost six and has yet to have a complete dental exam and cleaning.

And here is how we've been spending most of our time this summer (when I'm not working)! Both girls are on the swim team this summer. Peyton LOVES it, Sydnie doesn't love it, but she still participates most of the time.

These are their "game" faces!

Peyton is a professional now that she has her very own swim cap!

The first few meets Sydnie wouldn't jump into the pool, she would sit on the side and slide in. Now she jumps right in.

These were Sydnie's ribbons from her first meet. She was so proud of herself!

Peyton with her ribbons from the first meet.

Summer is almost half way over, I can't believe how fast the time is flying by! We are looking forward to a vacation next month, birthday parties in July and August for the girls and maybe another trip to SLC to visit family before school starts the second week of August.