4th of July Week

HOT AIR BALLOONS

I had such high hopes about how magical the balloons would be, but Andrew and Kendall were total bears!  I had to wake them up around 6am, so I can't be too surprised.  Brandon opted to go to work instead, which was a good call.  Kendall complained about her shoes the entire time, so she finally went barefoot.  Andrew whined the entire time about any and everything.  Then we tried to go to Kneaders for breakfast, but Kendall had to wait outside because of the bakery smell or she would have barfed, she said.  None of them ate the french toast that they promised they were starving for.  Rachel was the only pleasant one - I will have to take just her next time!

FREEDOM RUN (7am start time)

The Murray cousins joined us too!  I was proud of Andrew and Rachel for running so hard by themselves.
Here were the results:
Rachel - 9:46 (7th in her division 8-9 year olds)
Andrew - 10:42 (21st in his division 6-7 year olds)
Kendall - 13:23 (ran with dad - 9th out of the 4-5 year old girls)

PARADE

Cade and his friends/Ethan and his friends all saved the parade spot this year. Brandon helped save the spot too.  Since I was pregnant, I got out of sitting in the heat - yay!  The parade is NEVER worth saving the spot for 24 hours, but we do it for tradition's sake.  Rachel took the best care of cousin Luke!  They are good buddies!  Scott Dumbrell (cousin from Australia) was in town getting ready to enter the MTC, so he joined us for all the 4th of July festivities -  he probably thinks his American family is nuts!

FIREWORKS

We met the Thompsons/Parkers right by the stadium - not our favorite spot because of all the Stadium of Fire traffic and parking is a nightmare.  Note to self:  don't do it.

WATERFIGHT

They showed me (super pregnant) no mercy at the Hale waterfight, and I wasn't surprised either.  They are ruthless.  It is good for the kids to get pummeled by pitchers full of freezing cold water to the face!  Brandon helped with the candy drop again, and I'm pretty sure it had to do with Donald Trump (again!).  

VISITORS

Sarah Tolman and her family were driving through, so they stopped by for a visit!  Love her!  Jessica Hawks and her family also were here for the week, so we met up with them at the Springville Reservoir and rented a paddleboard.  Andrew was in 7th heaven to be playing with Emmett & Fisher again!

(had to bribe them to get this shot!) 

Jam-packed first 6 weeks of summer (pre-baby)

- slip n' slides / trampoline

- fun with Milo

- Classic Skating - total success!

- Activity Day Camp

- birthday central (Luke, Chase, Brynn, Ryan, Rachel, Whitney, Papa)

- discovered ladybug sanctuary in front yard

- store returns at the mall and Kendall almost peeing her pants (the store was close to closing and I was stuck in line, so I had Rachel take the kids outside near the fountains to wait for me, and Andrew and Rachel spent the whole time chasing Kendall to keep her from peeing on the grass)

- backyard fun

- splashpad

- Aunt Marilyn's pool

- American Fork HS Marching Band practicing down our street!  It was SO fun!

- bubble baths

- mani/pedis

- play dates

- dress ups

- horseback rides

- Brandon went to high adventure with the Teachers to Zions

- Whitney creating a new songbook for the YW for girls camp (originally asked to be ward camp director, but was released when we found out we were pregnant and asked to serve on the committee)

- girl cousin sleepover at Gma/Gpa Hale's

- Brynn's baptism - we clean up nice!

- Nana & Papa's yard was featured in the garden tour and they received the Orem beautification award

- Kendall passed her hearing test with flying colors (much to my surprise! she actually can hear me, she just chooses not to listen!)

- Overnight Anniversary date to SLC - went to a history of Hip Hop concert (ran into the Dobson's!) and went to Melting Pot for dinner

- Chick-fil-A appreciation day

- Kids set up Ninja warrior courses in the house (including spider-crawling up the doorways)