I had planned to run and get a pedicure for a girls night out with one of my girlfriends Cindy but Ali was complaining of not feeling well so I scheduled her a doctors appointment. So Ali ended up coming with me to the pedicure so we could still go but also get her to the doctor. In the end all was well with Ali and she had the prettiest pink four year old toes in the neighborhood. I know setting the standard too high too young but it just happened. She had a blast and was very helpful in rubbing my legs with the foot scrubber....ouch. My legs were as soft as my heels by the end of the evening though.....
My girlfriend Erin V. well, Erin C now had a Blessing Ways....ie Baby Shower to celebrate the upcoming birth of her little girl Grace. I had lots of fun making fun of the name Blessing Ways, but it is really a sweet concept. The whole idea is to bestow blessings onto the mother before she labors. We had a fun time chatting and giving Erin charms that we felt represented her in some way. She has been such a big part of my life I was excited to be able to participate in loving her. She did give birth to a beautiful girl a few days ago so we blessed her well.
We went boating with our friends from around the corner. Tyler and Ali had the TIME OF THEIR LIVES riding on that tube. Tyler was quick to pick up the thumbs up meant go faster and he was sending lots of faster faster signs up to Vaughn, who was driving the boat. Holly cow, we went fast! I don't think Tyler has grinned and laughed that much since, well, ever. A huge thanks to Nicki, Gabby and Kate for taking us along. That was one fun afternoon!
We were lucky to get invited to the blessing of Zoe. She is the stunningly beautiful daughter of Alex and Randy, Joseph and Hollie's sister and brother in law. We had a fun afternoon with them and especially enjoyed their new deck. Byron finally understands what a pergola is and maybe someday he will see the light and let us have one built in our backyard as well.
You know it is summer when you drive by our house and see the kids on the slip and slide! They just love going out in the garage and digging this old thing out. I really didn't know a slip and slide had a life expectancy as long as ours has survived. This was part of our mandated "no friends day." Some days you just want it or maybe need it to be you and the kids....I think a NO friends day should be a part of EVERY summer. We went for ice cream, saw a movie and did the slip and slide....they hardly noticed there weren't any friends around.
So in the photo below the kids are holding their PUPPY chart and the flier the boys used to market their pooper scooper business. The puppy chart was how we kept track of who had done what chores and how much they were worth. Also, it kept track of what the kids were planning on doing to meet their goal. They earned $150.00 to buy their cute pup Chewy. In July we officially adopted him and he is now ours forever. The kids couldn't be happier.
So, Ali loves to run in the sprinklers. This particular afternoon she was singing the Sprinkler Song she had made up while dancing in the sprinklers. She is way too cute!
My family got together and headed on a picnic up City Creek Canyon. Strangely I grew up two minutes away from it and had never hiked all the way up it. We drove further up the canyon than I realized it even went. It was a fun lunch listening to my parents tell us about their trip to Alaska and planning out later activity of Laser Tag. The Laser Tag was a total flop as they were sold out and we had to reschedule for another weekend.....there were tears of sorrow from our cousin Christopher who had been planning that day for weeks.
Okay, so what am I doing next to a huge RV? Byron and I went to the James Taylor concert and this was his RV parked outside next to his fleet of semis to haul their show around the country. We had an awesome time at the concert....we even learned a thing or two about one of our all time favorite singers.....like Sweet Baby James was written for his nephew that was named after him.....also, Carol King; who also performed that night, wrote a TON of the songs he performs. She put on quite the show for well her advanced age shall we say....???...hope she doesn't ever read this. (not likely)
Third of July Fireworks at the Eaglewood Golf Course!!! So we hiked up to the club house and got our usual places. The fireworks were so fun and Ali even stayed awake this year to watch them with us. Amanda and Sonja joined us for the festivities. It is always fun to have family come along!!!
This was a little trip to Silver Lake. It is right by Brighton ski resort and a perfect hiking area for youngsters. We launched our inflatable raft and the kids and Byron somehow all managed to fit in it. They floated around and fished while I sat on the edge and sketched. As you can see our Carter out fished his dad. Is there anything better than out fishing your dad....? I don't think so.Carter wavered back and forth on whether to keep the fish or let it go....in the end.....
he had dinner
and loved it!!!
Carter has become quite the gymnast this summer. This is him working on a round off. All three kids are taking gymnastics lessons and doing really well. They have perfected the round off, hand stand and cartwheel and are now working on their back handspring moves.
As I am the assistant Webelos leader I had the delight to accompany the boys on a day of Webelos camp. Lucky for us we got to go on the FUN day which included BB Guns, Archery and boating in the itty bitty lake. More like an overgrown pond. Throw eight boats full of boy scouts and couple of crazy teenage "lifeguards" and you can't help but have a fun time. The boys LOVED it. Ty and Ali joined me in our own boat. We didn't know the no swimming rule so I told them both to jump right in, the lifeguards did so they both did.
We had to seriously stake out seats for this stinking 24th of July Parade. You wouldn't believe the brake neck competition here for a seat to watch this parade. We finally got ourselves situated and got GREAT seats by the way....then the parade went on FOREVER. Can you tell I was having fun on this activity? Did I mention the parade lasted FOREVER....we could not convince the kids it would be okay to leave early because the floats were throwing candy and frisbees and water bottles, (yes these were thrown at you) and otter pops, etc. etc. Lets just say, the kids LOVED it and Mom, well not so much!!!
The kids really wanted to go camping. So we had to schedule it a month out to get it to fit in the summer plans. We went up by Heber to our usual place and found a really great camping spot...I can't convince Byron that camping where there is a bathroom and running water is a good thing. He likes the out in the middle of nowhere camping. So, we had fun hiking around, shooting bbs and letting our new dog Chewy run free without a leash. He did great staying with us! Byron is huddled in the tent ready to give the kids their good night Bear Tale....a traditional camping ritual for the Pollans. No jelly bean camper yet but the Bear Tales live on!
Carter's friend Payton invited him up to Pineview Res. for a day at the beach! So, we brought the beach stuff. The boys had fun snorkeling but complained of mirkey waters....can you believe it Pineview Reservour is not a crystal clear ocean bay.....
Ali is loving on her puppy Chewy! She just can't give that little rascal enough love. Luckily he has a sweet disposition and allows her to love him. Well, most of the time. Sometimes he gets too frisky, or is it Ali who gets too frisky.
Tyler is such a stud! Here he is enjoying the beach at Pineview Reservoir. He also figured out how to climb up the pole at Northcrest before the lifeguards caught him and told him he couldn't climb said pole. I got a shot off before the big dismount!
We have been having way too much fun this summer. As the last weeks of summer are upon us we are picking places to go and things to do....we have an official list of before school starts activities and we are making our way down it.Byron was loving Ali's outfit below. She was super goggle woman! Watch out villains here she comes.
One of our day trips was to Thanksgiving Point. My kids wouldn't go to the farm or the gardens but they LOVE the dinosaur museum and we spent the majority of the day there. One of the highlights is drilling out your own fossil. The fossils come out of Wyoming and you can just see a speck of a fossil when you start drilling. Then you get to uncover something wonderful. The kids had fun wearing their safety goggles and drilling away. We snuck away for lunch at Iceberg and the kids had WAY too much fun. It was a good thing it wasn't crowded because we laughed and giggled and got ice cream everywhere. Here is a glamour shot of Ali. She is a crowd stopper that is for sure.
Watch out! That shark is coming to get you!!!
It is so sad that summer is coming to an end. I love playing with my kids, they each have their own personality and I love spending time with them! Carter has his a few milestones this summer. He finished his Fast Forward program and couldn't be more pleased to never do it again. He finished level 6 of his Susan Barton program. His spelling is coming along nicely and his reading is amazing. Tyler has been working hard on a typing program this summer and he is getting to be quite the computer whiz. Ty learned how to do a back dive in his grandparents pool this summer and thinks that is pretty cool. Carter recently figured out how to flip off the diving board and is very pleased to continue perfecting that trick. He also did an inward dive the other day which was most impressive as I have never dared to even try one of those. Ali learned how to dive off the diving board and can swim all the way across the pool at Northcrest. She was so pleased with herself when she made it from the deep end to the shallow end. I was most pleased I didn't have to dive in and rescue her in the middle of her swim.
We will have one more summer update with our trip to West Yellowstone and Jackson Hole. Time too start packing!!!
