Although we haven't gone on any trips or done any epic summer activities, we've been having a grand summer so far. We're so blessed to have awesome neighbors whose home has become an extension of our own. No joke. Michael is usually there, or Eva is here or they are both somewhere in between. If Michael sees Eva outside, he goes outside. If Eva sees Michael outside, Eva goes outside. And if I see Sam outside, I also go outside, because, how awesome is it to have such an awesome friend next door?
At the end of May, they made this water pillow thing, so, even though they had friends from out of town over for a visit, our crew crashed the party--and Rachel finally got to wear this swimming suit.
I got this at her baby shower. The wait was so worth it.
The last weekend in May, Brian had a work conference in Salt Lake, so we rode the train down to meet him when he was done. While we were waiting, we hit up Temple Square.
We packed a sack dinner and ate it outside the North Visitors' Center. While we were eating, the kids were wandering around, snacking, but mostly enjoying the large, empty lawn. Rachel was climbing some nearby stairs when a group of Asian tourists walked by. I was talking with a couple of sister missionaries at the time while keeping an eye on my Crazies. This group stopped by Rachel and busted out their cameras, snapping tons of pictures of my little Redhead. One even picked her up---which made me a little nervous, and I was ready to run and get her in case they got any ideas about taking her home---and more pictures were snapped. I just had to laugh. She got so many oohs and ahhs as we continued to walk around Temple Square.
And it wouldn't be summer if there wasn't some kind of bike/trike and dirt involved:
This summer, I also decided to start teaching sewing lessons. I have a friend who taught sewing a year or so ago. I helped her a little with it, and so when she decided to stop teaching, she decided that I needed to take over for her. The first few times she told me I should take over for her, I immediately dismissed the idea. But, for some reason, the last time she mentioned it, I decided to go for it. After months of it simmering in the back of my mind, I finally took the plunge, researched local charges for sewing classes, wrote a curriculum plan, made a schedule, made a website (ish--thanks blogger!), and waited to see what happened. Within a day, I had my first student! I was so giddy! My kids were very patient with distracted, plotting Mommy. Rachel kept me company while I did my research:
Well, I only had one student, but she was great. She was enthusiastic, and very young. But, it was a good learning experience for me. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep doing it. We'll see what kind of interest people have this fall.
A random picture of Rachel that isn't necessarily summer related.
One day, while we were outside hanging out, one of our neighbors stopped by and told us that Batman, Robin, and the Batmobile were in town, and we needed to go check it out. So, after explaining to Michael who Batman was ("You know Batman, from the Lego Movie? That's Batman--except he's not a Lego guy.") and telling him that he could wear his Batman costume, we loaded up in the car and went to go see Batman:
And remember how I said that Eva's house is an extension of ours and vice a versa? We do a lot of front yard sitting:
Another random picture of Rachel.
And since sewing was on my mind (and it got too hot for our down comforter and Duvet set), I made new throw pillows and shams to go with our warm weather temple quilt:
And, to end this post, one more random picture of Rachel:
We are LOVING the warm weather, loving the freedom, and loving the prospects of Summertime adventures to come!
