Ethan's chair

I bought this chair at a garage sale a few years ago and Ethan had it in his room.  Then he decided he didn't want it so we put it outside so people could sit on it and relax.  When summer started, Ethan decided he wanted it back in his bedroom so we cleaned it off and put it in there.  He loves to sit and read in his chair.  That is one happy guy!

Play Unplugged

Brag tags are all the rage.  The elementary school used them as rewards so every time a student did something great they were given a brag tag instead of a candy treat.  I loved them and the kids had a great time with them too.  Well, there is a company that makes brag tags that companies can purchase.  Kids can then log onto a website, find out what activities they have to do to earn a brag tag, do the activity and then go to the business and get their brag tag.  Courtney was so excited for this fun summer activity,  The goal is to keep kids active in the summer and give them free activities to do.

The first activity we did was to go to Grandma Tobler's and learn to decorate a cookie...for free. Courtney was in heaven and her cookie turned out pretty well.

Another brag tag was for playing the violin.  We made a video tape of her practicing one day and took it in to a bank for her to earn a brag tag.

She earned another from the health department for going on a hike and another for going on a bike ride.  She earned one for swimming lessons...and a bunch of other things that I can't remember.  It was a lot of fun.

Mini golfing

The kids were bored and we had coupons for free mini golf games so we decided to go to Fiesta Fun for the morning.  It was hot outside so we played a pretty quick game. I didn't do so well but Ethan got a hole in one and I happened to be video taping.  So...

Here is the proof that Ethan got a hole in one:

Courtney's try at a hole in one:

Swim lessons for Courtney

I didn't get the the kids signed up for swim team before they filled up so we signed Courtney up for swimming lessons with a teacher in Diamond Valley.  This is the same teacher who has taught them before so Courtney was really excited.

The class was pretty small so she got a lot of personal attention.  I couldn't believe how well she was able to swim.  She really improved last year because of swim team and it really showed.  She passed the level on the first try and was thrilled about it!  She's a fish!

Here are some videos from her last day of class:

sculling:

front dive:

side stroke:

Here are some photos of her:

Hot Ethan

June was REALLY hot in St. George.  It was well above the usual highs and it was annoying.  Ethan would go outside to hang out with his friends and he would come back completely soaked in sweat and exhausted.

Here he is after jumping on a friend's trampoline for hours.

Lazy Sunday mornings

Sunday mornings are kind of...different at our house sometimes.  Bryan sometimes has an early morning meeting, I usually have an early morning meetings and the kids usually wake up early so they get bored pretty quickly.

This was Ethan on a Sunday morning in July.  He was up but still tired and didn't want to go back to bed.

We went outside to look around and saw this beautiful butterfly.  He sat still forever so I got quite a few shots of him with my phone.

Ethan's happy

Ethan found a 2-for-1 coupon to Dairy Queen and realized he had enough money to buy himself TWO large orange julius.  He was so excited!  So while we were out running errands we stopped so he could get his fix.  They ended up not living up to the hype (he said mine are better) but he had fun buying them anyway.