play dough

Need to spice-up play dough time?

(look at these silly characters my friends daughter came up with)

We turned our Mr. Potato Head accessories into play dough accessories.

It makes for loads of fun...the kids enjoy it too!

This could be a good stand-by activity for when you have family in town this week.

Enjoy!

jump

I like to jump.

There is something about the weightlessness and the freedom that causes me to propel myself into the air and hope for a good landing.

Growing up I was a gymnast and a diver who was always bouncing off of something.

In college it was snowboarding, wake-boarding, and rock climbing.

Now I am a mom and I am mostly just looking to giggle like a little girl.

Below are some pictures of our jumpy weekend on the Oregon coast with good friends...enjoy!

I hope in some way that these pictures have inspired you to be weightless and free. But most of all I hope you go do something that makes you giggle.

FUN

When Ben and I got back from Vegas we decided to just have a day of FUN with the boys.

Sterling is not quite sure what he thinks of all the spinning, lights and music.

We road carousels, trains and even did some acrobatics with a trampoline and bungee cords (I LOVE activities that involve bouncing!)

I think Ben even had a good time!

If I ever saw these bungee rides as a kid I wanted so bad to do it. So when Walker asked if he could do it I said, "yes son, lets do it!"

Ben can easily entertain the boys with a crayon and some paper.

For dinner we went to a 50's diner that the boys have been wanting to try. It was surprisingly good....they even had sweet potato fries!

What do you do for fun?

tri-it!

I've been swimming a lot lately. Not the bob around the pool, Marco Polo kind of swimming. But REAL swimming....lap swimming. My motivation for getting into the cool pool at 6am is knowing I can hang out in the hot tub, steam room and sauna afterward. It's been a good way to start my day. So when my brother in law, Jason, asked if I wanted to do a Triathlon I said "YES!"

I kept telling myself I wasn't going to try to prove anything and that I just wanted to go have fun. Well, if you can't tell from the pictures I had a great time! Probably a little too good.

(Jason, Me, Travis, Celia)

(Just starting my 5k run)

(coming in from my 20K bike)

But now I can't wait to do another one so I can REALLY push myself and  see if I can't win it. I was only a couple minutes behind the leader and I came in 4th. Not bad, but not as good as First place. (Although, Ben keeps telling the boys that Mommy won her race :)

The open water swim was one of the craziest things I've ever done. Arms & legs flapping all around me, foggy goggles, sun blaring into my eyes, murky water... you get the picture. I can't wait to do it again!

Who wants to join me?

Side Note: While on the course I passed a face I hadn't seen for almost 10 years. "Dave Dance?" I said. "Hey Katie!" I hadn't seen him since BYU. And when I finished the race another friend I had not seen for a while met up with me as well. Too fun!

swinging carrots

 

Truman is a happy boy. These are some of my most cherished images from summer. Two years ago Ben had the brilliant idea to put a swing in our front yard tree. It has been Trumans favorite place ever since. If he ever gets bored he just swings and sings. It is especially fun to watch him in the summer because he will frequently find something in the garden to snack on while he swings.

 

These images also remind me of summer. Visits to The Fort, peaches from the Farmer's Market, and Ice Cream from the Ice Cream truck. We try to catch it at least once in the summer. This year it was while the boys were in their jammas reading night-time stories. As soon as we heard the music we all jumped up and ran to catch the truck. I had a bag of quarters waiting for just such an occasion.

 

Night-time stories are also a BIG tradition in our family. Ben is the resident night-time story reader. This Babar book was one that Ben's mother use to read to him as a child. The boys love it!