LAGOON

 Greg's company that pays him (ISI) hosted a day at Lagoon.  We originially were just going to take the boys but then decided to take the girls.  I was unsure if it would be worth it, but if you look at their faces (especially Callie) than you will know that it was.  We headed up around 9:15 in the morning.  When I told the kids we were going to be gone from 9-9 they couldn't believe it.  They even fussed a little about missing out being with friends!  We hadn't been to Lagoon since Annie was a baby and so the boys didn't remember a thing.  Right away we split up.  Greg took the boys on some coasters while the girls and I did the merry-go-round and other kiddie rides.  If anything, that was the only sad part, I didn't get to go on ALL the roller coasters.  I wasn't too sad about it luckily, just a little.
The luncheon there was really nice.  It was nice not tohave to worry about buying food and we had a cool place to just relax and eat (and the kids got endless soda!).  We even won two things at the raffle-a frisbee with a Chipotle gift card and candy and then an Applebees gift card with some more candy.  We sure were lucky.  The candy was great to eat during the long line at Rattlesnake Rapids and we used the Applebees gift card for dinner at 7:30. 
We were together part of the time and separate the rest.  I got to go on a few roller coasters, one even with Greg while the boys watched the girls-I LOVE OLDER KIDS!  Most of my pictures are of the girls since I was with them most and you can't really take pictures of roller coaster.  Callie was hilarious!  On the ride she would start a little scared and then start laughing.  Especially on the Odyssey ride.  It was hilarious, I loved riding that with her.  After every ride she would say, "that was awesome! I want to do it again!"  She ended up going on 21 different rides.  Another things she said: "When we came into the park they said, 'Have a good day at Lagoon!', and they were right, I did!"  She also wanted to stay longer than anyone else and go on more rides.  She also said she wanted to move there and talked about how when she can drive she will drive there with her friends and no adults.  I love that she is not as scared about things as Annie.
Dinner was such a wonderful thing at the end of a long day.  Everyone loved what they ordered.  It was air conditioned and just relaxing.  It was fun watching the kids be awed at all the new things and not know what to expect with rides and other things.  Everyone behaved great and had fun--and no one was sad when we did end up getting home after 9 just as I predicted.  They all showered and went to bed. If it was so expensive we would go again, maybe in a couple years so it is exciting again.

Backyard Campfire

 While I am so happy that Annabelle has gotten into the Harry Potter series and I am happy that my voice won't get scratchy from reading, I am sad that Annabelle has decided to read #3 on her own.  Especially since I don't remember details from that one very much since it is my least favorite book.  Harry Potter land here we come!

 Friday night I decided we needed to have a campfire cook-out.  We roasted Brats on the fire and all the kids agreed that Brats are MUCH better than hot dogs.  Then we made orange muffins.  This is something I did as a Girl Scout and then taught to my young women leaders when I went to camp with them.  You take an orange and slice the top off.  Scoop out and eat all the innards.  Then mix together a muffin or cake mix and fill the orange about 2/3s full.  replace the lid and wrap with foil.  Ours cooked for about 15 minutes but I was really bad at rotating them.  Maybe more if you rotate.  Not everyone in our family loved them, but most of us did and I loved the memories they brought back.

 Since we had marshmallows lying around Greg decided to wow us with his skills.  We all k,now and love Greg's marshmallow skills and he was happy to make one for each of us.  He is very serious in the task.  When he handed me mine i had to take a picture because it looked so much like a piggy nose.

Central Logic Summer Party

 Balloon animals/people.  Obstacle courses through the bounce house. Giant water slides and amazing face painting.  We are always happy after a Central Logic Party.  This one was after a long day of orthodontist appointment, book club and swimming at the Provo pool with Sarah and Tomie's families.  The Provo Pool was awesome.  So much to do and only $4!  Callie is such a brave little girl this summer.  She tried all the slides and would have done more but I didn't want to wait.  I did get Annabelle on 1 slide so that was a success.  I'm so grateful for older kids that can deal with all the stuff we do so much better than toddlers and babies.  After the party we even headed over to Scheels to get Nathan a tent and backpack for Timberline.  The only silly thing that happened was the Nate forgot his shoes at the party and didn't notice until we were at Scheels.  Lucky for him it wasn't too far to go back and get them and we still had time to go on the Ferris Wheel before it closed.  Daddy and Annabelle just sat back and watched but the rest of us enjoyed going around and around.