Oh What Do You Do In the Summer Time?

As I contemplate going back to school and wondering where summer went, I can't help but feel like I didn't get all that I wanted to do accomplished. There were many projects and goals that I had this summer that kind of went by the wayside. However, this summer was very relaxing, fun, and provided a much needed break from my hectic life. This summer seemed to be one of learning for Peyton and a lot of fun for both Andy and I. We did many activities with him that seemed to be some major stepping stones. He just learned and did so many fun things. We can't wait to see what he has in store this coming year with school starting, piano lessons, and starting clogging with Patty. We are excited to see him do things and be excited for things. It is kind of sad and scary to send your child out into the "mean world". You hope he is ready and the world will be kind to him. You hope you have given him the skills he needs to make a successful start. This summer showed me how much fun it is to watch him grow.

This was from a rafting trip our whole family did at our cabin. I will be posting more of those pictures in another post, but I know that Peyton loved this trip. We all had a lot of fun.

One thing that Peyton really loved doing this whole summer was taking four wheeler rides. He actually can run one of these by himself and does pretty well driving. It is a little scary turning the reins over to a five year old, but he does it well.

T-ball was pretty miserable for me and for him I think. He had really fun and nice coaches and lots of little kids as you can see, but his mom wants him to learn right and he doesn't really want to do much. I had a hard time not wanting to yell at him the whole time to do it right while I watched him roll around on the ground or run the wrong way...etc... It was not too much fun for either of us, but he finished and hopefully next year, when he gets into some games and sports maybe start making a little more sense, it will be more enjoyable for both of us. He did love swimming lessons and really seemed to be at the right age for these. I would have loved to have him take longer, but driving into Idaho Falls every day stinks. I don't know how Andy does it. For some reason this was the highlight of the summer for him...swimming lessons and swimming in general. I think maybe we will try to do some more this year, since the Apple offers swimming all year. He learned a lot but still takes after his mom a little with regards to water in his face and nose and eyes...we both do not like this.
These two pictures are at one of the many cooking contests that Andy and I entered this year. So far we have won 500$ (we have two more we are participating in). My winning recipe has been on the cover of the Idaho Falls magazine, we have cooked and experimented with some yummy stuff and hope to continue doing well. We have really enjoyed these cooking competitions. This particular competition had singers as you can see Peyton is enjoying the guitar player and drummer, they had all you could eat ice cream, and we came away with some awards. Andy finally got a medal and two of my entries won prizes. I however fell from first place and had to settle for a second and a third! Peyton mastered the art of riding a bike this summer. I will admit it was harder than I thought to teach a kid to ride without training wheels. It was awful sending him riding and to watch him fall...time after time...but we stayed strong, took off the training wheels...did not cave and put them back on, nursed a few scrapes, overcome a few crying fits, and now he is doing awesome and is wearing his parents out to go on countless bike rides. He rode clear up to Debbie Ball's house and back with his dad last night after running around in the gym at the school for 2 hours. Oh, to bottle that kind of energy! He can stop and start by himself, he is starting to practice tricks and he has discovered a little bit of freedom that riding a bike provides. His mother worries a little but loves to watch him accomplishing things that are hard! We drug out our pool and as you can see from his face, he prefers a pool that is heated. This little guy gets cold really quickly and did not really enjoy the pool in the yard! But we did have a fun day of water fighting that day.
These next two pictures show a precious little girl who came and visited this summer. We are hoping that she will become a member of our home. We are trying to adopt her, but we don't know what will happen. As you can see it was a wonderful, stressful, learning, growing, amazing three days for us...we hope that she will join our home soon. Please pray for us if you need something to pray about! ha!

Peyts will be a great older brother, but there will be some adjusting on his part. This whole place has been his kingdom and he will have to share it. I believe though, just like this picture shows that he will great with her.

We of course took the traditional trip to Tautphus park, however, we didn't do the zoo. We got there a little late, so we just did the airplanes and miniature golf. Peyton didn't like either. He told the operater of the airplanes that he wanted to get out right now....and he got bored after one hole of golf. Needless to say, Andy and I wanted to play, but he just wanted to smack the ball around...it was a quick 18 holes. I must also say that we were very disappointed with the condition of the golf course and Tautphus park in general. It is looking old and run down. They could use some of the money they used in the skate park there to fix it up!

We also made our annual trip to Jackson...we usually do it in June around our anniversary, but we were busy then I guess???. We thought Peyton would like the wild west shoot out that I thought would be great, but was a little cheesy. However he loved it and even got a bullet from one of the "real cowboys" that he fired in the show. Of course then we had to visit the shops and we found a real cowboy belt that Peyton had to buy. He purchased it with his money he won from the parade....so I guess his mom didn't really have a say in that one.

For some reason when we go in stores, we love to try on funny hats and take pictures. This is just a tradition that Andy and I have done when we travel. I thought this was a pretty funny one.

Peyton wasn't too sure for a second if this thing was real or not! When he discovered it wasn't going to attack him, he thought it was pretty cool.

Of course, the traditional Jackson picture. We then went to the Playhouse which was featuring Grease. I love the Jackson Hole Playhouse because they just do such a great job acting and singing. We didn't know how Peyts would like it, but he loved it. He watched entranced the whole night. I missed the slow-motion fight scene and thought that it is getting more expensive each time we go, but I'm glad we got to fit this trip in....

So this is what we did in the summer time...with a few other things. I read a whole bunch and really got hooked into books about the Holocaust. I've never really been interested, but I read four this summer and really am intriguied...all from very different points of view, all fiction, but all based upon actual things that happened. I would love anymore suggestions of good books about this. I'm sad summer is ending. It has been for the most part a very peaceful, needed break. We have a lot of fun memories....