Summer 2010: Yep, another Mega-Post

All right, summer is coming to an end (already!) and I haven't posted one darn thing. I guess good intentions don't quite do the job...Anyway, summer has been nice and relaxing with a pretty flexible schedule, just what we needed!


Alli and Mary took horseback riding lessons from our good friend Maria. They loved it! Maria was so fun and knows everything there is to know about horses, and she was great-Alli and Mary think she is the coolest. They loved being on their own horse and knew exactly which horse they would be riding the next week and would talk about what they were going to learn next time.


Jack came along and chilled with me, while Hazel was generally all over the place. She loved to walk over to see the ponies in back of the house, look for the cat, and play in the little play house she dubbed the "tiny door".

















For the Fourth of July, our family drove down to Utah to see all of my family for together. It was a super fast trip, but luckily Quinn and I know how to cram in lots on trips. Our first day we all went to the Dinosaur Museum. It was at Thanksgiving Point, where we like to stay in UT.













Since Jack has a dinosaur bedroom, I took some pictures of the dinosaurs for him. We tried to get a picture of him next to one, but with little success. And I had to include this picture of Mary, who was struggling that evening and just wanted to rest.

















The next day was the 4th. We took the kids to the Hogle Zoo which was a lot of fun! Later that evening we met up with my family and did some sparklers in the parking lot at Adam and Melissa's apartment. They were really cool to let all of us come invade for the evening and even entertained kids with paper to color on, which wins my girls over anytime!




















This was one of the big attractions at the zoo: the baby elephant. I have to include a picture because who can resist a baby elephant? Which also leads me to what I wish I could invent if only I knew how to manipulate genes: a tiny elephant for a pet. A lap elephant, if you will. You can laugh, but then you envision it and realize how cool it would be. Still not convinced? Imagine a tiny trumpeting. Now you're sold!













Okay, back on track, July 4th:
























































On our last day in UT, we visited the farm at Thanksgiving Point. There were pony rides, animals to see and feed, and most importantly, this:





















The rest of summer has been pretty low-key. Hazel continues to eat her "pea balls" which are frozen peas. She thinks it's a frozen treat and I'm not about to tell her otherwise!
























Jack started solids




We are finishing up our summer with dance camp and (hopefully) closing on a house!