Summer - Week #1

This first week of summer break entailed a LOT of staying up late and sleeping in even later.  We were super lazy... isn't that how it should be the first week off?  It was nice to take things easy for another reason as well - I was sick this week, discovering later that it was walking pnuemonia; boo for illness during the summer.  Regardless, we did have a couple of highlights in our week:

Bradley's baseball team had playoffs during the last week of school and the first week of summer.  Their team was tied for last place during regular play but in the tournament they hit their stride and kept winning and advancing.  It was fun to see B play more but he had scout camp at the end of the week and we had to rearrange our schedule so he didn't disappoint the team... the whole situation was a bit frustrating (I was irritated with his coach - lots of details that don't matter) but, whatever...  Yea for a fun year on the diamond!

While Bradley played baseball the younger kids did a lot of this:

I drove Bradley up to the Sundance Resort on Thursday to meet up with his teacher's quorum.  He had a great time mountain biking, hiking, boating, and hanging out with everyone.  No pics. :(

After I dropped Bradley off I took the three younger kids a bit farther up the canyon to Aspen Grove.  We'd done some great hikes up there in years past and I wanted Will and Owen to experience them too. We hiked to Stewart Falls and had a wonderful time.  Lauren took pictures and dreamed up a story for the beautiful setting the entire way, Will never complained and was super strong for the whole hike, and Owen battled through the long hike on his little legs and kept up with his siblings like a pro... they all did great!!

End of School - Last Hurrahs

The last two weeks before school let out were busy and filled with lots of fun.  If these weeks are any indication, summer's going to be great!

Owen is officially ready for Kindergarten... he graduated preschool - hooray!

The kids above are his carpool buddies: Maggie, Sam, Owen, Chase, & Luke

Here are Bradley's lacrosse pictures I mentioned.  The season is over and yes, they were officially the worst team in the league. ;-)

Will earned his first scouting badge - now he's a wolf!  He commented loud enough for everyone to hear when he gave me the pin, "Why is my mom getting an award too?  I'm the one that did all the work!!" It got a good chuckle from the crowd. :)

For Lauren's birthday she received Taylor Swift concert tickets... here is realization of that gift...

It was an amazing night - I loved it just as much as she did!  She chose Chuck-a-Rama for dinner.  We parked at City Creek and did a bit of shopping before the concert, buying her that cute fedora.  The line to get into the concert was HUGE.  Luckily I saw a friend from high school and we jumped in line with her.  (For my hometown peeps, that girl was Jennifer Heusser Ballard, she's standing to the left of Lauren.)

Ed Sheeran was the opening act.  We really liked him.

This show was unbelievable!!!  It did not disappoint and I was really impressed with Taylor.  (I know Kim - she's cursed in your home, but seriously - she puts on an amazing show!!)  I love how she does pop music that teen girls love but she hasn't gone off the deep end like so many other stars - her show and costumes were in good taste she was so positive and upbeat.  I could not believe how many costume changes there were and how much Taylor was going and going... it seemed like she never got a break.  It would take a lot of stamina to put on a show like that and stay smiling.  Lauren and I were singing at the top of our lungs (along with thousands of other people) and we had a fabulous night together.

On the last week of school I decided to take Owen on lots of mom-dates.  Since Lauren was being home-schooled this year I'm afraid he's gotten a bit of the shaft (WAY too much screen time).  I've been promising him 'forever' that I'd take him on the train so that's what we did the first day.  We rode the front runner to the Gateway, got some lunch and treats, played in the fountain and then headed back home.  You'll notice these dates were also with his good buddy Sam.  Sam's mom is one of my good friends (Hilary) and she was helping her husband get a home ready for the parade of homes so we got to have Sam come with us on our adventures... great fun!

On day two I took the boys to get "the biggest hot dogs in the world!" Translation: I was trying to get them excited about grocery shopping at Costco with me... it's nice when simple exciting phrases make a grocery store magical. ;)  After we at our HUGE hotdogs we went to the splash pad near our home.  Our city built this park last year and this was our first time going there - super fun!  I read a book the whole time the boys played and it was quite enjoyable.

Day three, the final day of our adventures, we went swimming at Oakridge.  Lauren came along with us this time and we all enjoyed ourselves while Bradley and Will slaved away at school.  (Just kidding, Bradley and Will were having Boondocks day and Field day at their schools - we needed some fun just like them, right?!)  

And last, but not least, Lauren had a Disney medley performance for her CentreStage Theatre group.  It was so fun to watch her smiling face on stage.  She's in this group with her best friend Emily (in the first and second pictures she's on Lauren's left - she's got glasses and naturally curly brown hair).   And once again, for the hometown crowd... the girl that's second in from the right in the first picture is Misti Zundel Stevenson's daughter.  I didn't know she was in the class till I saw Misti at the performance - small world.  Anyway, it's been a great year with CentreStage and Lauren's excited to continue on with this group.  Great job Lo!

And there you have it... it is now officially summer break.  Can you believe I didn't get any pictures of the kids on the last day of school?  Oh well, we made it and we're excited for lots of sleeping in and enjoying ourselves.  We hope you had a great 2012-2013 year as well!  Bring on summer!!!