Gracie's black eye

We have always known that Crew has a hard head but here is the proof. They were playing on the slide and one was going up the other going down, there was a collision and this was the result

It was bruised all the way to her hairline. It was the worst black eye I've ever seen. I wish I could've gotten more pictures but this one from my phone is the only one she would consent to. Poor girl. Who would want a bunch of pictures of her black eye? It did get worse before it got better. Luckily her teacher was very understanding and let her wear sunglasses at school for a week while it was at its worst and she was still self conscious about it.

Dress-up

I was working at my computer when the girls came in dressed like this .....

Layla said, "Don't we look beautiful!?" Gracie wanted me to take a picture. So here is the visual definition of beautiful, at least for my 5 and 3 year old.

Canopy Craft Project

We made 2 canopies: one for the girls and one for Crew. Crew's is made with Muslin instead of purple tule and doesn't have the pink butterfly clothes pins. They were cheap and easy and the kids have played with them a lot! I've been really pleased with how much they have enjoyed them. It's always nice when you make something and they actually like it.

To be a kid again ....

when you are so tired that you could fall asleep upside down, you can!

Lied Discovery Museum

This summer the Library had a reading program and one of the rewards were free tickets to the Lied Discovery Museum. I had heard a lot of really good things about this kids museum so I was pretty excited. We were not disappointed. The museum was great! The kids really loved it. They got so excited about the exhibits and there were quite a few that were really fun. We are even contemplating a membership.

Back To School

Crew started 2nd grade this year. He still looks forward to the first day of school. I wonder how long that will last.

His teacher this year is Miss Perone. I really like her and so does Crew. She is so organized!
Gracie has been waiting to start school for years. She was so excited! Our kindergarten is half-day which I like but Gracie was disappointed she can't go full day and even more disappointed that she doesn't eat lunch at school.

Gracie's teacher this year is Mr. Buono. He has been teaching kindergarten or preschool for 20 years. He is the most patient person ever.

Layla gets to go to preschool this year too. She absolutely loves it. She goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11:30 but she wishes she went everyday. It was really hard for me the first few days to have the house so quiet and lonely without any kids but it didn't take long for me to get used to it.

Her preschool teacher is Melinda a friend of mine from our ward. She is amazing and so fun! Now we have to play "Miss Melinda" with Layla all the time. Whenever I make Layla mad or sad she always says she wants Miss Melinda.

My Photo shoot

Jamie decided to shoot some pictures of me too. I was kinda nervous because I hate getting my picture taken, but it was fun to have her do my hair and makeup and I got to eat some ice cream too.

Gracie's photo shoot

My sister-in-law Jamie had a wonderful idea to use the dance recital costumes for a photo shoot while we were in Canada. Here are some of my favorites. It was so hard to choose. Jamie is truly the most talented person I know. She can do anything and it always turns out amazing.

Horseback Riding, Yee-haw!

This year instead of going to the Alpine Stables, we went riding with our friend Bruce Johnson. It was really fun to go some new places and as always it was wonderful. After the ride we had a picnic lunch in a grove of trees. Southern Alberta is so beautiful. We did have a little bit more excitement than usual. Crew's horse took off and he was yelling, "I don't think this is supposed to happen!" as he galloped pass. Luckily Bruce caught up to him on his horse and got control of the situation. At the top of this hill as we were looking out over the amazing landscape, Aaron's horse rolled over. He had to jump off so that he wasn't crushed. It was so strange. It was definitely more entertaining than trail riding in Waterton.

Hiking in Canada

Part of  Waterton Lake is in Canada and part is in the U.S.  Here is the border.  The kids always like to be the first to see the line when we are out boating on the lake. 

There's a nice easy little hike along the border that we took the kids on.  This year, since Emma and Rex didn't come up, we had to find another little boy, Josh,  for Crew to play with.
This year the border guards insisted on passports to cross into the States at Goats Haunt so instead of going on the hike to the swinging bridge and rainbow falls, we hung out at this outdoor lodge.  Here's a silly face picture.  We really do have a bunch of crazy kids.

Happy Birthday America!

We heard about this free 4th of July party from our good friend Omar and so we decided to go.  There were so many people there.  It was crazy!  I always enjoy fireworks so I had a good time. 

Layla waved this little flag they were handing out the whole time the fireworks were going.  She was so excited.
You may be wondering why Gracie wasn't with us.  She went ahead to Canada with Papa, Gigi, and Karly.  
Here's a picture from Gracie's camera at the entrance to Waterton, where we stay every summer.  Don't worry she didn't miss out on fireworks.  There is this little town in Canada that has the most amazing fireworks show that I have ever seen called "Thunder in the Valley".  You are right underneath them, it's so loud and they are raining down on you.  Truly awesome!  Definitely worth going to if you happen to be in southern Alberta mid July.  

Dance Recital

The twentieth of June Gracie had her first dance recital.  Alice in Wonderland was the theme and her class danced to the "Golden Afternoon".  She had a lot of fun dancing with her cousin Lily.  Gracie was so excited to perform.  It was fun to see her dance.  I was so proud of her, she did such a good job!  We were not allowed to photograph or video tape the recital but here are our lovely dancers after the show.  Gracie was ecstatic about her flowers and now she wants flowers for everything she does.  

Rockin the Mohawk

Crew decided that if he was going to have a mohawk it might as well be red. We had some red gell stuff that Aaron and Crew used to spike their hair up when they went to the Phoenix Coyotes Hockey games and it worked great for his mohawk too. He has really enjoyed his new hairdo. It kinda is a fun summer hair cut!

He even asked if I could take a picture of his hair to put on the blog. Kids now live in a totally different world.