Summer Fun

It's hard to believe the summer is almost over! I always think we have so much time and it's gone in an instant. Ella had the opportunity to do a lot of fun things this summer. She continued dancing and performed in the Bountiful Handcart Days Parade. She was old enough to march this year, and while she was hot and exhausted at the end, she loved it!

She took an art class with her friend, Austyn. I was expecting the typical color projects but this class was amazing. She did things with tissue, colored tape, canvas, sand, clay and plexiglass. She was so proud of each one and couldn't wait to share how she did them. She also took several day camp classes at Bravo Academy where she did some more with beads and sand and learned a little about cooking.
The summer would not be complete without swim lessons. Ella was in level 2 this year. She is really improving and almost to the point where she can be in deep water without a vest. She loved floating on her back and showing me how she can go under without holding her nose - something her mom has yet to master.

While Ella was swimming, I took the boys to play in the splash zone. I thought they would be so excited but I think all of the shooting water was scary. Cole got smacked in the face with one of the fountains coming out of the ground and Cade was trapped in one of the toys that had water shooting everywhere inside of it. They were starting to get braver by the end though.

This splash zone also became the site of one of my most icky mom moments. Cole loved just walking around on the grass and playing by the fence. He was standing by the fence the last day of class and started to cry. I walked over to him and picked him up. I noticed that my shirt was getting wet but thought it was because he was wet from playing in the water. I comforted him for a minute and then let him down to play. As I did this, I felt something all over my arm. When I looked down, I was covered in poop. He had had a blowout! It was all over my arm and completely covered the side of my white shirt. And, of course, was all over him. Hmmm. . .what to do?! I quickly wrapped him up in a towel (I didn't bring diapers because we were only going to be 45 minutes - dumb!) and draped Cade's towel over my shoulder. Ella still had 5 minutes of class so we not so patiently waited for her to finish and then bolted to the car. With some Lysol, lots of wipes, a shower and bath, and one load of laundry, all was well again.

With all of this excitement, it's no wonder we had to sneak in a few down time moments. Cade and Cole discovered the movie Matilda this summer. Ella loves it and I still have yet to figure out what their attraction is to it but they are fascinated by it. Maybe they like Matilda's super powers! Whatever it may be, I have to admit I like the tidbits of peace and quiet it creates.