Ahhh Summer...

We had a really fun fourth of July, (So I'm a little behind....BUT at least I'm posting about things in the same month!) we went to St. George and stayed with Tim's parents in the hot, hot, sun. The kids had fun swimming the days away. Dustin went from being afraid to jump into the pool, to finding out he can float with a life jacket, water wings, and an inner tube, to just swimming with water wings, to jumping in over his head without any floatation device whatsoever!!!! (I had to jump in and grab him and then give myself CPR from my heart attack---Dustin was completely unphased, he wanted to jump in again) All within an hour. I cannot get that kid to slow down! Audrey still prefers the stairs on the side, but she's starting to get braver. It was relaxing. My mother-in-law cooked, and gave me breaks from the kids, gave me more awesome clothes. Heaven.
We've done some fun things so far. We had our first family camping experience, in which we did all the packing and setting up ourselves (we went last year with my Dad and Robin, but they pretty much did everything). We stayed up by Elkton one night, and in Loon Lake the next night. And I must say, we did pretty well! My Tenderfoot husband ( I mean it, he never made it past Tenderfoot!) and I, managed to set up a tent and cook in the wilderness for 2 days. A big accomplishment for our little family! Dustin and Audrey had their first s'more experience, and their first fishing experience. Dustin was so excited, and he got the hang of it so quickly! It wasn't long before he could cast better than I could! We got him a little Spiderman fishing rod. We didn't catch anything, but it was still fun. The Becrafts took us wake boarding, and Tim tore it up!
We've been to Splash, had some free lunches at the parks, and have been loving the free wading pool by our house.
This past weekend, we went on a fun adventure to Bend. We just packed up, and left our hot house for the night. All I can say is thank goodness for our Garmin, because it made our impromptu trip so fun! We went to the High Desert Museum which was surprisingly really enjoyable for all of us. They have some neat exhibits, and our kids got to dig for dinosaur bones, get up close to a tiny owl, visit a homestead and saw mill from the 1800's, and learn all about bats and other animals in the high desert. I was worried a museum would be too boring, but they did great, and there were a lot of hands on activities to keep them entertained. The best part...4 and under is free! After that, we cooled off at the Juniper outdoor pool which was so much better than I was expecting. They have a great outdoor kiddie pool with a slide and splash pad and all kinds of water doo dads. If you're going to Bend with young ones, I recommend either of those spots. Oh, and if you get hungry, Pilot Butte Drive-In has some amazingly huge yummy hamburgers. Make sure you split it! Let me know what ya'll are doing to fill your summer days! I'm always looking for fun things to do!