Summer is coming to a close?!

Today I looked at the calendar and realized that in two days, I'll be flipping the page to August. What?! That means school is coming. That means there are only 3 more weeks of summer. That means Randy goes back to work. That means our lives will shift back into real schedule. For a moment, I was sad. I love summertime because we spend so much time together. We go on a million adventures, which most days I love. :) There are days when I drag my feet heading out the door, but in the end, we always have a blast. So instead of being sad and moping around because summer will end in 3 weeks, I'm going to show you all the fun that we've had. Most of you follow our other blog, so you have seen the adventures. I'll try to choose new pictures, but there might be a few repeats!

So here it is, our summer in a nutshell. Well, there are way too many pictures to fit in a nutshell. In no particular order....

Scheels 

Seth loved the zoo.

Nielsen's Grove park in Orem

Sandhill Cranes at Wildlife Refuge in Idaho.

Yellowstone

Tetons

Peppermint Place

Heritage Park in Cedar Hills

Seth's First Birthday!

Ensign Peak

Goblin Valley

Willow Heights Trail

Little Wild Horse Canyon

Capitol Reef

Dino Quarry

Gateway Fountain & Children's Museum

Mark's 7th Birthday!

Seth at the doctor--his first sucker!

Living Planet Aquarium with some friends!

Provo Splash Pad

Golden Spike National Historic Site

Sprial Jetty--do you like Mark trying to
 sneak in the picture? Dax hates that!

Trips to the Lehi Pool

Jordanelle State Park

Fairy Forest

Bees Game

Fossil Butte

Junior Ranger Programs EVERYWHERE!

Fort Bridger

Swinging Bridge American Fork Canyon

Riding the ponies at Frontier Camp

Days of 47 Rodeo

Boating on Utah Lake

Lots of tee ball and baseball games.

Hours and hours of playing outside.
Seth is partial to the dirt.

Thiokol Rocket display

Ogden Union Station

Ogden Nature Center

Ott Planetarium

Too many adventures for Dax.

What do you do with 1 kid?

My mom with Mark & Dax and their cousin, Abby.

My mom is an awesome grandma. She asked me earlier this summer if Mark and Dax could come and stay with her for a few days all by themselves. Just a little mini vacation for them at grandma's house. Of course I agreed, and off they went yesterday to grandma's. So then I sat here and stared at Seth and wondered what I used to do with just one child. It's hard to remember those days of just having Mark around. I remember crying the first few weeks when Randy went back to work because I wasn't going and what was I going to do with myself all day. But Mark and I made it.

So Seth is going to be getting a lot of attention from mom and dad for the next few days, if we can remember how to give 100% of our attention to a child. We're so used to dividing our attention. I think Seth will have the hardest time without his brothers to play with, but I'm hoping he'll learn a few new things like how to say some words and not throw a fit if you don't get your way. I'm also planning on getting some things done around the house that I never do because I am chasing three boys around--a little scrapbooking, some organizing of closets, and maybe I'll even take a nap when Seth does.

My mom threw Mark and Dax their own little birthday parties!

My dad and mom took us out to eat on Seth's birthday!

Grandma & Grandpa with all their grandkids, except Raymond who was just born.
Seth is not happy!

Side Note: After I wrote this post, I thought about how Randy's mom was an awesome grandma, too. She always made the grandkids feel special and she made sure to spend time with each one of them. I remember very few times when she wasn't playing cards with one of the grandkids. My boys never knew Grandma Ockey, but they will someday. I'm grateful for Grandma Ockey and how she raised my husband and all she taught me in the few years that I knew her.

Boating

Getting ready for his first ride!

On Saturday, Randy's sister and family took us out on their boat at Utah Lake. Mark has been begging to go tubing. I have to confess that I never believed that he would actually get on the tube. Last year, Mark and Dax went on the boat, but they wouldn't get out into the water. But this year, Mark said he would ride on the tube with dad. I guess I shouldn't have doubted him since he has been so brave at swimming lessons.

Mark had a lot of fun! He rode the tube with dad, with Ty his cousin, and at the end, all by himself. He even changed tubes mid-ride and put his hand and leg in the water while riding. On Mark's last ride, he wanted to go alone, but since he is so light, the tube submarined and down he went into the lake. He came right back up, grabbed the tube, and Ty had already jumped in to help get him back on. I was sure that he would cry and say he wanted to get in the boat, but I was wrong again. Mark hopped on that tube and rode all alone. I am slowly learning not to doubt my kids. He can't wait to go tubing again!

Randy rode the tubes and did a little waterskiing, but Dax didn't want to do anything except drive the boat. He was a pretty good driver! I'm guessing he'll be out on the tubes next year. Seth was happy at first, but then pure exhaustion kicked in and he cried for the last half hour. He hated wearing the life jacket and just needed a nap. Other than the screaming, it was a great trip.

Seth is still happy. We've only been on the lake for a few minutes.

Mark and Dax both love riding in the boat.

Dax driving the boat.

Randy waterskiing!

Ty doing lots of fancy tricks. Mark just holding on for dear life.

Getting braver...let go of the handle to wave.

Going alone! Wow!

Now he's on a different tube...he was so adventurous.

I am putting a video on of Mark's first ride and his last ride. It is about 1 and 1/2 minutes long. Seth is crying through the second half--sorry.