Across the Pond

Although we live near Utah lake, that doesn't equal a nice place to swim during the summer. If there isn't an algae bloom happening, it is just kind of nasty to go in there. So we are forced to try other aquatic options. The pool is okay, but chlorine can be a bit overpowering and this last summer, many pools were closed due to Covid, or I was just hesitant to send my troops in with the masses. 

However when Beth invited us to Manila Pond, it sounded fun and the kids were in need of a good dip. It isn't summer unless you get your toesies wet a time or two.

I had never been there before. It was so lovely. It wasn't too crowded. There was a bit of a problem with wind. The Hulse's had a nice canopy tent that blew over a few minutes after we got there. So they put it down and we used the shade from some small trees. 

We brought a couple paddle boards, thanks to Camille. I think we need to get our own next Summer. The Hulse's had some kayaks and we had a great time playing in the water. I had such a good time that I didn't bother to get my phone out. (Remember, sometimes I like to enjoy myself without all the documenting.) However, Pearl was on the ball and she took some photos for me. They weren't the pictures that I would have taken necessarily, but slackers can't be choosers. 

You can kind of see the pond from this photo that Robyn took. You'll just have to trust me about the kayaks and paddle boards. 

The regular crew was there with a few extras. The brown dog is McCall's. His name is Archimedes. (Makes me think of the owl from Sword in the Stone.) The black dog is Beth's. Cute little Shadow. Do you recognize everyone?

That last one with the hair is Ember. She came with us. She actually stepped on a bee and got stung on her foot. Ouch. I pulled the stinger out. I've never seen a stinger stuck in someone before. 

No pictures of Daisy or June for some reason. June was at the end of her tonsil recovery. She was taking it easy, but she got in the water too. In fact, when she fell off the paddle board, she realized breathing fast isn't good for a tender throat.  

The sand was super fun. The kids spent over half of the time on the beach. They dug a couple holes and then connected them. Very cool. And then they decapitated Eleanor. Is it littering to leave your head on the beach?

Our last picture was on the way out to the parking lot. Robyn found this window decal that made her laugh.

I wish I were better at getting the kids outside to fun activities. I guess there is room for improvement and I can work on that.

Salute the Fourth

If you looked at the art from MOTION, you may have already seen our fun Salute video. But today we'll go behind the scenes and see some of the process in action.

I love a good dance or play, but some might say that I'm getting a bit old to be doing stuff like that. But when you stop acting young, all that is left is a bunch of old. So bring it on. Originally, Robyn and Daisy had the plan to do some hip hop and they were enlisting people to dance with them. However, some sisters weren't interested. June might have jumped aboard but she had her tonsils out and was keeping her feet up. So when the group seemed to be only two, I took a spot to make it a trio. 

It was actually really fun. We used a youtube tutorial to get the steps down. We changed just a couple moves and we practiced a lot. We worked hard to get our hands in the same position for our salute.

We had to find a day to film and it just so happened that the best day also happened to be the Fourth of July. So we decided to go watch fireworks and then film after. We did our makeup so we'd be ready. We went with the smoky look. Here is Daisy going from innocent to supreme teen.

I went from regular mom to zombie mom. I hesitated to put this on here, but it does make me laugh. I look pretty terrible. Don't worry, we didn't leave me looking like that. 

Here we are trying out some smoky on one of Robyn's eyes.

This picture is blurry, but you get the idea. Three hotties ready to rock it!

We took our usual spot up on top of the parking building nearby. There were actually quite a few people this year. It isn't our little secret anymore. But the truck was genius. It was high enough that we could watch comfortably all over the valley.

The fireworks were great this year. We had a fantastic time watching them. Snacks and good company make the whole experience perfect. And it was a good break from not doing much during the summer of quarantine. 

Then it was time to jam. Let's take a couple selfies and get this show on the road. 

We had a lot of fun. We filmed up on top of the parking garage. Then we filmed back at home on a trailer in front of our house and in the street as well. Even our neighbor came out and used his speaker (which was much better than ours) so we could dance to the music. 

In case you wanted to watch it again, which I'm sure you do, here is Salute.

What can I say? No matter how much dignity I may have sacrificed, it is worth every memory made with my kids.

A Summer of Repairs

One of the great things about Tyler buying a rental property was that it gave us something to do ALL Summer. And during a Summer when we didn't have as much to do anyway, there was always something to do on the weekends. Everyone took turns going up and helping. If someone had to stay home for something, I usually remained with them, but even I got up to the property to do some things.

The work was dirty, but the rewards could be great. Dad often included lunch or some kind of treat incentive to come back the following week. 

Lots of baseboards and lots of painting leads to tired girls on the way home.

Weekends included crazy hair, painting, fun little footprints in sawdust, more painting, spackling, and did I mention painting? Slowly the house turned gray. (Don't worry, that is the color we wanted it.)

I was not up there often, but I worked hard when I went. The girls were probably better at painting, but I weeded an entire outside section that was wickedly hard. It was a bit sunny, so the girls gave me a bag to put over my head. It wasn't the best sunscreen, but it was better than nothing.

Tyler said he knew he had been listening to too many true crime podcasts when he looked out and decided that the newly covered garden spots looked like four recently buried bodies. Well...he isn't wrong.

Mark came and helped out too. He did some spackling and some painting. (Big surprise right?) But when you are painting an entire house, including doors, baseboards, walls, ceilings, and trim, it takes a while.

It's exciting to put some hardware back on. That means this wall is done. 

Guess who else came? Karen, Mark's fiancé, also came and painted. She's a keeper. Maybe she needed something to do this Summer as well. More likely, she likes hanging out with Sparky.

There you have it. Adventures in renovations. Or you can also call it a grand exercise in character building. We parents are so kind to keep our kids developing all those essential skills.