Carnival games

The kids had a blast playing all the carnival games at the city carnival. Look at Kate's expression as she got the sponge in the face. She was such a good sport!

Alpine Slides and Coaster

We had a fun day with my cousin, Megan, and some friends from Livermore who were here for a visit. We went up to the Alpine Slides and tried out the new Alpine Coaster. I love it. Maybe that is because I rode by myself and could enjoy all that awesome nature in SILENCE! That is a rarity around here these days.

Dylan and Megan.
Caryl and my mom.
Mariah, Megan, Kate and Dylan. (check out Kate squinting. She couldn't keep her eyes open for the life of her because of the sun. I love that funny girl!)

Cuties, aren't they!

Who Says 100 Degrees is Too Hot for Amusement Park Rides?

Let's just say this was not the best decision of the week. It was so hot! We were melting by 1pm. The little kids had fun with Cousin Megan, who was such a good sport (she's 16).
Dylan was the only one big enough to ride the race cars! He loved it!
Kate was jumping up and down to go on this ride. No one else was feeling as brave until...
after Kate got off and still looked happy the OLDER two (brother and cousin) decided to give it a try and loved it!

Madi could ride most of the rides, but she did enjoy the carousel!
You'd never know from this picture that Kate ended this ride in tears. She got soaked and couldn't figure out how to maneuver the boat so the employee-kid had to go get her. She quickly recovered.


We ended the day with three roller coaster rides in a row! They are becoming daredevils!

Hangin' at the Creepy Carnival

Our town has an annual tradition of holding a hometown carnival. It seems to invite all the finest individuals in the valley (few who actually live in our town, I was recently informed by a city leader). I think it was the last year for us, but the kids had fun nonetheless. Here's some snaps of the fun.
We all went on the giant slide together, even Madi, joined us!
This is Dylan's first scary roller coaster. It went round and round, and then hung upside down for a while too!!! He was so proud of himself for going on it. We didn't even have to bribe him.
You can barely see Dylan, Kate is next to him, but look closely and you can see the pure bliss on his face!
Even if she wasn't in the "driver's seat" she was thrilled to have her own steering wheel. She loves to be in control!

Happy Pioneer Day 2008!

Happy Pioneer Day!

Happy Pioneer Day!

Each year our ward does a Pioneer Bike Parade for the Primary children. The kids loved decorating their bikes (with a lot of help from Mom) and riding around the church neighborhood. The children didn't exactly "s[i]ng as they walked", but they did enjoy "smiling while they biked."
Dylan didn't want to dress like a pioneer so we opted for a pirate theme just to mix things up! He, He!!!
Kate loved her girly princess decorated bike.

How cute is this little pioneer?!!!

LuAnn is so awesome! What a great sport she is to dress up and join in the parade!

Madi's favorite part of the parade? ...The popsicle!!!

Kate the Hairstylist

Our friend, Kim L., is such a good sport! Kim L. worked as a nanny for our family for a while last year when I was working part-time. We love her and have loved including her as a part of the family. We had Kim L. over to Kim's parents to swim and have dinner. The kids adore her and wanted her to come over to our house for a "late over." Here's Kate with her bag of colorful elastics. She wanted to do Kim's hair and Kim graciously agreed.

Kate was very intent and quite serious about the whole thing. We were all surprised at how well Kate did at making pigtails, even adding a unique twist with the multi-colored elastics. I think she ended up with four different colors on each side.

Copper Mine Field Trip

Today we went on another Fabulous Fridays Field Trip. Our destination was the nearby Copper Mine. It was very informative, although all the amazing facts and details now escape me. We could hardly believe how large the hole in the ground is. I do remember hearing that it is the largest man-made hole in the earth. I believe it is nearly a mile deep and three miles across. The gigantic trucks that haul the ore look like miniature Tonka trucks from the Visitor Center viewpoint. It was something we've always talked about doing and now we can say "we've been there!"
Dylan's best friend, Justin, came along. They have been having fun this summer with "late-overs" and swim days.
Kate's friend couldn't join us so Justin and Dylan let her join in with them. Madi was trying to escape the stroller to join in too.

I don't know if Dylan was all that impressed with the mine. He expected to go down into it so he kept asking, "Is this it?" as if seeing the most enormous man-made hole in the ground was not all that he thought it'd be.

More Pictures of Our Belgium Trip

Pictures from our trip to EuroDisneyland & Paris

Bike Wash Anyone?

Kate persistently asked if she could have a "Bike Wash Sale" as she called it. She is such a doll that I couldn't resist helping her. If you know me you know that I am a sucker for a young entrepreneur and stop at nearly every lemonade stand. So after dinner she set it up with just a little help from me. She pretty much just told me what she needed, "Where's that little table, Mom, I need that table. Now I need the cash register." She patiently waited for customers and would exclaim, "Mom, here comes someone!" every time a child on a bike came remotely near our house. I gave her $.50 to wash the Jeep and when she was about the leave with Nana Sandy for a sleep over a girl came by asking if she could wash about 4 of her family's bikes. By then, Dylan and Justin had arrived and wanted in on the gig, especially now that there was a paying customer. They made $1.75 in all. Another summer memory in the books.

Dylan decided to scrub his skateboard while he was at it.

Even Madi got in on the action.
I don't know what she was holding but it was comical the way she'd put her sunglasses on her head (upside down, of course).