it's been a summer!

i fell off the blog planet for a while. but oh my gosh. we have had such a fun summer. i usually spend a ton of time keeping my house really clean and laundry done, but this summer i have just let it go and it has been awesome. we have been going swimming non stop, playing in the sprinklers, going down the slide and swinging everyday. i think there has only been one real day we have stayed in and watched TV all day. which i am happy about.

best buds

huntsville park

 we went to kanarra at the beginning of the summer. we brought bentley with us because bryce and sal were in samoa visiting her parents. it was a pretty good trip. we went to the indian ruins on kanarra mountain and did the kanarra falls hike. we brought lady with us on the hike and it was so hot on the way back. she kept sitting down and we couldn't figure out why. turns out the ground was so hot she had to stop because her paws were burning. she would sit down and put all her paws in the air. brad was a good man and carried her part of the way back and then ran down to get the car for all of us to drive back home in.

at the petting zoo on the way to kanarra

you can't really see it, but there is a zebra right there..

dad on kanarra mountain

at the indian ruins

hiking kanarra falls

 we have been swimming a lot this summer. probably twice a week. since the beginning reese has gotten so brave. he goes down water slides, jumps of the diving board and even does flips off the side of the pool. i am proud of him, because he really isn't the bravest kid. jovi has turned into a little fishy too. we bought them these life jacket things called puddle jumpers and now jovi and reese can both swim by themselves. (of course we stay right there with them). but seriously it is amazing!

first time swimming this summer. now she is a little fish

same with him. he asks to swim everyday.

 brad and i each did a race this summer too. i did the color run with whitney, and he did the spartan. brad and the kids came down to my race to support me. love them for it.

color run

me and whitney

 we got a condo the night before the spartan. amber and andy stayed with us and of course bryce, sal, matt and jenn too.

night before the spartan race

spartan runners

 i was the only one that was up there that didn't run the spartan. i got tired of waiting around for everyone so i drove up to the course. you have to pay to get in and i was way too cheap for that so i ended up volunteering. it was awesome, because i got to work at the finish line and hand out the medals to all the people coming across the finish line. it is such a hard race that by the end lots of the contestants are really emotional. i loved getting to hug each one of my family/friends as they crossed the finish line. none of them were expecting it either. i loved it... that's it, i just loved it.

 we did our usual thing on the fourth of july.

my favorite picture ever

 after the parade we spent major time swinging on this swing. jovi loved it. she was like a little super hero. she bawled both times we made her get off it.

 then we went to debbie's for swimming and a bbq.

 so that is pretty much our summer so far. it's been pretty astounding. i am so glad that i have lightened up a little on myself and on my kids. life is happier. i used to want them to look and be perfect all the time. now i let them make messes, eat dirt, color on themselves and lots of other things that used to stress me out. i love them so much and i just want them to know that. especially despite my expectations, that i am trying not to have.

jovi is a little obsessed with ladders lately.