Flower Pots and Caterpillars...

Since we don't have any open dirt in our yard, we never plant any flowers. So this year I decided it would be fun to let the boys pick out a flower pot and whatever kind of flowers they wanted to plant in them. Well we ended up having these flower pots already, so we just went and picked out their flowers one day, then came home and planted them.



They thought this was so fun! Then after we got done planting we did our caterpillar craft to stick in them. I found this idea in a magazine and thought they were so cute! And easy enough for Gunnar to have fun doing.

Ashton & Gunnar's first Lemonade Stand...

I have been looking forward to letting the boys do this for a long time...I think lemonade stands just say "SUMMER!" And I knew they would be excited about doing it. So a couple weeks ago I got all the stuff to do it and we made our sign, then they opened up for business. That first afternoon I think they made $10! That's a lot of cups of lemonade! They had so much fun with it. So of course they wanted to set it up the next day too. So I got it all out again and set it up. Not 5 minutes after they went outside and sat on their chairs, I hear some fighting, then they both came running and crying and I went outside to find the brand new pitcher of fresh lemonade shattered on the ground! In the midst of their little fight, they had knocked it off the table and broke it! So in the house they went to their separate rooms while I cleaned it up. Then I got them out and explained to them that they would have to spend some of their earnings from the day before to purchase a new pitcher and more lemonade if they wanted to start again. They of course did and luckily Aunt Kelli was in town and willing to run to Walmart for us and get us new supplies that they paid her for when she arrived. Then we were back in business again and had another fun day selling and made another $14 I think!

Time well spent :)

T~Ball!

Ashton played his second year of T~Ball this spring. He loved it! Mostly when it turned into coach pitch after the 2nd or 3rd game. He got really good at hitting this year and loved playing catch with Lars or me. After one of his games, we went home and were waiting for Lars to bring pizza home and Ashton and I played catch for a good hour. I love times like that with him since he's usually so busy playing with friends these days!

Anyway it was fun...here he is in action :)And here he is with his team and one of his coaches...he's the one on bottom right.

We bought a boat!

I guess it's been about 4 weeks ago now on a Friday, Lars called me from work that morning and said he was going to take the rest of the day off and we were going to Idaho Falls to buy a drift boat. So I said okay and got the boys ready and we took off after lunch. Lars is rarely spontaneous like that and it sounded better than staying home all afternoon, so I was happy to go. Plus one of my very best friends Mandy lives there and I knew we'd be able to go see her too. So when we got in town we went straight to the Hyde Drift Boats store. They actually make all the boats there too. We walked around for a bit, then Lars decided which one he wanted...one that had actually been traded in just the day before and is in great shape. So we did all the paperwork, picked out some free t-shirts and hats and became the proud owners of the "Luck O' the Irish"! Afterwards we drove over to Mandy's and had dinner with her and her little boy Dylan...it was a short visit, but fun to see her and of course Lars and the boys had never been to her house. Anyway it was a fun day and I was excited for Lars...for as long as I can remember he's talked about wanting a drift boat and he works so hard every day I was happy to see that dream of his come true. He deserves it! Oh and in case you don't know what a drift boat is for, it's for floating down rivers and fly fishing from it. But we will also use ours on lakes or reservoirs to take the boys out fishing until they get much bigger. We took it out that next Saturday to Treasureton in Idaho with our friends the Hansons and their boat. It was a fun day too...I think Ashton and Gunnar loved it. Well until Gunnar rolled off the dock at the end of the day when we were getting ready to load up. Thank goodness for life jackets! Oh here was the only fish any of us caught all day...and I thought it was appropriate that it was me since I'm the Irish one :)

A day at the "Logan Pool"...

After completing swimming lessons, one of the boys' rewards was to go swimming at the "Logan Pool", our local outdoor swimming pool. It is one of my least favorite things to do, but they kept their end of the bargain, so I had to keep mine. So we went and they had a blast! After seeing Gunnar so timid and shy at his lessons, it was a pleasant surprise to see how he acted at the pool with Ashton. After getting used to the water (the little shallow part), he splashed and played and dunked his head under over and over and over non-stop for over 2 hours! He absolutely loved it! And unlike mine it's one of Ashton's very favorite things in the world to do...he would go every day if I took him. I love seeing them loving it, it is just not my thing! But I'm sure it won't be our only trip there this summer...look at these faces!

Swimming Lessons...

That first week after school was out the boys started swimming lessons. This year we did them out at the Stang Aquatics Center in Hyrum. That was where Ashton took his first lessons and after our bad experience last year, we decided to go back to where we'd had a good experience and a nice teacher.They were both nervous to start...Ashton because he was pretty much terrified after last year, and Gunnar because it was his first time and because Ashton was nervous! But they got their suits on and got all ready when it was time to go and I heard Ashton reassuring Gunnar..."Don't worry Gunnar...I'm a little nervous too." :) Not gonna lie...that first day was hard. Mostly for Gunnar. He cried and I had to hide behind some lady so that he couldn't see me and come running. Ashton did fine once he got in and got used to it, but I felt so bad for Gunnar...so scared. But they both did exactly what was asked of them and did so well! I was so proud of them that first day. They knew we were heading to McDonald's afterwards if they did well, so that's what we did. The next day was still hard for Gunnar...I think it was the day he got out and came running to me and I had to go hand him back off to his teacher crying. But each day after got easier and easier and they both ended up doing great. They got 5 minutes of "free time" at the end of each class, so they loved that. Ashton would put on his noodle and go swim all around......and the little kids got to sit in this little pool with really warm water in it and play with their teacher. Gunnar was so cute to watch...I think this is actually one of his last days and his teacher is trying so hard to get him to smile and he's doing all he can not to! Funny boy! Anyway it was two weeks...Monday thru Thursday and we survived and they came out loving the water more than ever!

Dinosaur Park...

Wow that seems like a long time ago...I think we went a few days after Ashton got out of school. We took off for the day with my friend Aurora and her three kids and went to the dinosaur park in Ogden. We've been twice before and the boys love it, but they really had a good time this time. It was a perfect beautiful day in the 70's and not crowded!
After we had a quick lunch, we checked out all the big dinosaurs, played on the park... dug for dinosaur bones...... then the boys spent a good hour digging in this water for "gold"...they loved it! At one point I looked over and Gunnar stuck his head in! Then after we finally drug them away from that we wandered around inside the museum part for half an hour or so, then it was time to go. We stopped off at Baskin Robbins for some ice cream before heading home....It was a perfect way to start our summer!