First Real Day of Summer

Okay, yesterday didn't count because it was a holiday for everyone. So I am counting today as the first real day of summer. Besides, yesterday didn't really feel like a holiday because Bryan left really early for Youth Conference at Aspen Grove and we went about our day as usual (chores, crying about having to do chores, finishing chores then leaving the house in a huff to play with friends only to return home after an hour because they realize that I am fun to be around...and their friends are leaving to do something "fun" without them!)

Anyway, today Courtney started Safety Town! She was super excited. It's a program that the St. George City Recreation department puts on to teach kids going into Kindergarten about safety. Ethan went through it and loved it. It's kind of hard to get into and was a pain this time around, but it's so worth it. There are 3 sessions and each session lasts 2 weeks and is 1 1/2 hours long each day. They are very safety conscious (as you can imagine) so we have to sign them in and out each day and "helpers" (which are really 12 to 15 year old kids) take them from your car into the school where it is held so no parents are allowed in the building. Police also are on patrol to make sure nothing happens.

Anyway, Courtney and her friend were both signed up and we asked for them to be in the same group (so we could carpool easily). They ended up in the green group and their name is the Green Butterflies, which is really funny because these two girls were on the same soccer team last year and they were called the Green Butterflies! But they both had a great time and Courtney came home so excited to go back tomorrow. I have to admit that I was a bit shocked when she went into the school without a problem, but she was so excited and Ethan had gone before that she didn't have a problem.

After we dropped her off, Ethan and I ran home and finished his chores then we planted our pumpkins for one of Ethan's cub scout requirements. He is going to take care of the plants (make sure they are watered and weeded) and we hope we will have some nice pumpkins in October! Usually we plant the seeds on the 4th of July, but the pumpkins weren't ready the last two years so we pushed it up. Then we played games and hung out. Ethan was super excited for his "mom time."

Courtney got a ride home from Safety Town and was happy to show us what she learned. Then we ate lunch (leftover pizza from yesterday that we bought because we found a coupon Ethan won at school that was expiring and he didn't want to waste it) then hung out until it was time to go to swimming lessons!

This was so exciting because the kids love their swimming lessons. We drive up to Diamond Valley (about 20 minutes away if you cut through Snow Canyon State Park) to a woman who has taught for years and teaches in her backyard pool. The kids learn so much and they love it! We left a little early because our pass to Snow Canyon State Park had expired and I love driving through there to get to swimming, so we had to get a new one. And, on the way through the park after getting the pass, we saw a dead snake on the road that was smushed all the pieces and Ethan made me turn around to he could look at it's "guts" a few more times. Ugh!!

While Courtney was at her 3:00 lesson, Ethan and I went to the Diamond Valley Elementary School and played tennis in the parking lot (it's a small town and they don't have a park) which passes off another cub scout requirement. (Ethan figured out that we can use the time when Courtney is swimming to do outdoor activities that pass off his requirements. He is really into this cub scout thing.) We then picked her up and had an hour until Ethan's lesson began so we went back to the elementary school and the kids played...urgh, fought...on the playground equipment.

Then Ethan went to his 5:00 swimming lesson. He has a swimming buddy that has been in all his swimming lessons for the last 5 summers and they live in Diamond Valley, so Courtney and I went to his house with his mom to chat while the boys swam. Courtney got to gather eggs from their chickens (which she brought home thinking we could keep them warm and have chickens of our own), freak out when their dog tried to say "hello" to her, checked out some 5 day old puppies born to the dog who freaked Courtney out, saw a lamb, and ate a popsicle. It was a full visit. Then we drove back and picked up Ethan and came home.

Both kids had no problem eating dinner and going to bed. I think they were pretty tired!