Lake Pleasant...Literally

Once upon a time, right in the middle of this toasty time of year that we like to call "summer," some friends from church invited us out on their boat for the day. I agreed somewhat reluctantly, as per my party pooper m.o., mostly because I was worried that I'd be stuck on shore all day with a busy toddler while Craig and the other girls went on the boat and had a blast. (Any other moms ever feel this way? Anyone?)

Wonderfully, my expectations were totally off, since the family we went with (minus the dad, Todd, and Savanna's friend, Kristen) actually waited on shore so that we could all go out on the boat at the same time. It was so. Stinking. Fun. Who would have thought that a place called Lake Pleasant, right in the middle of this scorching desert, could actually be...well, a very pleasant place to be. Todd was awesome and took us around the whole entire lake, took us tubing, gave the kids (and Craig!) turns driving the boat, and very patiently let us try water-skiing. (Well, Julia and I tried. Craig actually succeeded.) We had such a blast and were so grateful for the generosity of our friends. Spencer was a champ and was perfectly content the whole 3 hours we were out. Lex got stung by a bee right after we got onto the boat and only cried for a minute and then was completely fine. I'm telling you: it was as pleasant as pleasant can be.

I wanted to eat him up in this marshmallow-looking life vest

The girls got to get out and swim...the water was the perfect temp, too.

Check out Savanna's...jazz hands?

Love this boy. Don't mind my boat hair.

(Spencer's boat hair, on the other hand, is exceedingly cute.)

She is more beautiful every day, I tell you.

(Just in case you thought Spencer was being under-represented here.)

(Have I mentioned how adorable he is?)

Oh, baby, she's got a license to drive

And this cute guy, too

Twin boat hair

Trying not to fall out...we caught so much air it was crazy

Lex did not appreciate the air-catching and wanted to call it quits after a few minutes

Thanks, friends, feel free to invite us out anytime.

Food As Art

Well, if kids aren't supposed to spend their summer vacation arranging and photographing plastic food, then I just don't know what they are supposed to do.

I seriously love it when I find these little gems on the camera.

Master of Messy

 When he isn't swishing his bottle around in the toilet bowl or eating detergent out of the dishwasher, Spencer is leaving me little love notes everywhere in the form of paths of destruction.

Every day, people.

Every. Day.

The Lord sure knew what He was doing when he gave me a little boy for my last. Otherwise, this kid would have been an only child fo' shizzle.

Big K, Little K, What Begins with K?

You guessed it: Katie in a Kayak. K, k, k.

If you ever thought I was unadventurous, think again. I let Craig talk me into taking the girls on a kayaking trip down the Verde river at the beginning of June. (Groupon! Darn you!) Kayaking for the first time in a tandem kayak, down a shallow, mucky river, with a child who wanted to know why we were going so slow and Daddy was going so fast was definitely my idea of a good time. By the time we were almost done, the girls were holding an oar between our two kayaks and Craig was doing all the work. Next time, I think I'll just go with him and the girls can fend for themselves.

Hard though it was, and despite the heinous sunburn that I got on my leg, and the fact that I kept getting stuck and kept having to be rescued by our very nice tour guides, I'm really glad we did it. Craig is great at getting me out of my comfort zone and then still loving me even while I'm grumbling about it. I really would do it again. (I really would go in Craig's kayak, too. You know, so that he wouldn't have to hear me grumble from a distance.)

"I smile because I have no idea what I'm getting into."

"'Let's take the girls kayaking', he said.

'It'll be way fun,' he said..."

"I need a break. I've been helping Mommy."

 "Wait, what? How do I steer this thing again?"

"No seriously, guys, am I supposed to be getting the hang of this?"

"Uh, yeah, we don't want to hurt your feelings,

 Mommy, but Daddy's kayak was way funner..."

 "Whew. We made it, Now let's go get cheeseburgers."

So We Gotta Say Goodbye to the Summer...

Man alive, where have I been all your life? More importantly, where have I been all of MY life? Well, first it was Flagstaff, then it was Utah, then it was Flagstaff again. But mostly I have been trying (pretty unsuccessfully) to find a quiet corner to hide from my very adorable, very loud, very cooped up children. (It hasn't been a complete failure though...the seven books that I have somehow managed to read this month can surely attest to that.) My desires to keep my children supremely busy this summer seem to have fallen by the wayside, as I feared they would, and we have spent much more time at home than I hoped we would have to. But alas, the fact that we are in the home stretch (school starts in less than a week!) makes everything feel just peachy, and I can say with lots of naive confidence that it will be a cinch to do lots better next year.

Are you dying to know what I've been up to? I thought so.

We let the kids miss the last two days of school so that we could go up to Utah for my niece Fantasia's graduation. (What kind of high school has their graduation on a Thursday, I ask you?) I cannot believe that my wonderful niece, who was a beautiful baby not all that long ago is now a beautiful 18-year-old high school graduate with college in her sights. I am so proud of her for not only what she has accomplished, but who she has become.

 I could honestly just keep her in my pocket all day if only she would let me. 

And, in case you were wondering, yes, that's her 12-year-old 

sister Zariah to her left that's taller than her. At least 10-year-old 

Audrrina and 4-year-old Lincoln are still a little smaller. 

LaVerl, Z, Fan, Drina, Lincoln, Cyndie.

I love them all.

Fan and her boyfriend, Zac

We also hit the aquatic center, which Spencer was convinced 

was just a really big bathtub for him to play in.

And we had the rare opportunity to visit the temple in St. George

My parents and my brother Michael and his girlfriend Ruth joined us, too!

Goodbye to Cedar, but only for about a month...