July

July started with Independence Day Celebrations.  We watched the parade in Soda Springs and had a picnic at Hooper Springs.  We are kind of lame.  We didn’t even watch fireworks.  Theodore was in bed by 8 and Paul and I both fell asleep on the couches.  I am sure we will watch them next year.

Watching the parade.

Playing in the pool.  This is almost a daily occurrence.  Theo loves the water!

We spent a week in Island Park with Paul’s family.  The week was packed full of fun.  We went to Yellowstone and saw only one bison, floated down the river, played in the water, watched a play in West Yellowstone, and best of all, spent the week with all of Paul’s family (except Christopher, we missed him).  Theodore had so much fun with his cousins!

Old Faithful.  Did it seem a whole lot bigger when you were a kid?  Also, the highlight of Yellowstone was the ice cream.

We tried out paddle boarding in Island Park.  Don’t we look like professionals?

Theodore learned how to pull up on things.  This was a great day for him.  Look at that smile!

After spending a week at home, Theodore and I went to our annual Girl’s Week in Cody, Wyoming.  We went to Yellowstone again and of course, I pulled my camera out of my purse once the whole vacation.  Girl’s Week is always a blast even without the pictures to prove it.  The highlights of the year were the variety of demonstrations given.  This is what they were: oven smoked fish, tea towel aprons, vegetable lasagna, homemade gift bags, glitter nails, glass jewelry, braided headbands, horchata, root beer taste test, yo-yo's, cool decorative plates, cake mix cookies, boutonniere making, hot water chocolate cake, finger nail stamper...no wonder it was fun!   And then there were scones, my cousins Fiesta Birthday Party, rafting, museuming, shopping, trekking, the church mural, and...DOWNTON ABBY.  Why did I wait so long to partake of this wonderful show?  (Reminder to self, BUY the DVDs now!)

Here we are trekking on the 24th like a bunch of pioneers.

When we got home, the raspberries were ripe for picking.  And then it was the end of the month.

Our Summer

Summer is by far my favorite time of year.  Hot days playing in the water, the smell of freshly mowed grass, and lots of vacations.  We made the most of it this year.  Every week has been packed with summer.

This is what we did in June.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We bundled up and went on walks.                                                           We played in the tube (best toy ever)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visited with Grandpa Gene.

While I crafted, Theo discovered ribbon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went birding at Bear Lake Wildlife Refuge.  What? Birding is our new hobby. Refer to The Big Year. Completely inspiring.  Then we went to Bear Lake. It was really cold and windy.  We ate cherries and watched the gulls.

We splashed in the pool in Twin Falls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul celebrated his first Father’s Day with a candy letter from Theodore.  He helped by tasting all of the wrappers and squishing the soft ones.

I made this beauty for Girls Camp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theo played in his little pool.  He mostly likes to climb in and out.                 We went to the Pocatello Zoo and saw Idaho’s wildlife in a zoo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We said “Sayonara!” to our windows and got new ones. (These are the old ones, I haven’t taken a picture of the new ones.  That will have to wait until it cools off and we remove the classy air conditioner from our front window.)    And we went to a water party.

AND THEN IT WAS JULY!