Vacation Part 1!

We went down to Salt Lake on Wednesday after swimming lessons and lunch with Grandma Barsness and Alex (they were here for the dance show). Teague passed out frog style almost immediately.

Our hotel was right across from a mall. Our kids were most excited about the escalators!

We ended up swimming 7 times while we were there! I was very happy to see the swimming lessons have really helped. I could just help Teague while the other swam around.

Carterman floating on his back.

Ave likes me to time her underwater.

This is the cutest picture!

Kyle was at training for the School Resource Officer position that he'll start this fall. While he was at class, I took the kids to a new aquarium. It was awesome! We were ready to see the penguins.

You can't really see the penguin here, but you could get right up to the tank. They had super deep water to shoot around in.

There's a cute little guy!

One was hiding it's head in it's feathers. A little boy next to us was very concerned about the headless penguin!

We saw the otters next. Always a favorite of mine. They always seem like they are having fun and playing together. I love how they swim upside down. You can see Teague's reflection in the glass too.

Ave is very protective of her brother. They look so cute here.

We went to an Amazon exhibit next. They had some awesome stingrays and catfish.

Always trying to get a good picture of all three!

A nice lady offered to take a picture of all of us.

The toucans were really neat looking.

They had a giant rope bridge you could cross 5 at a time. Me and Teagie followed these two. It was pretty fun - I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie!

The jaws of a megaladon - the world's biggest prehistoric shark!

We got to touch starfish and rays. Here is Carter touching a ray. He loved it!

Ave touched them quite a few times too. They were pretty slimy, but it was a neat thing to do!

They called this the Nemo tank. There were clownfish, cleaner shrimp, lots of anemones, and some Blue Tangs.

This was a shark swimming above us in aquarium tunnel.

Avers with a shark behind her.

They got to touch an old turtle shell and a nurse shark jaw (with very sharp teeth).

This view was awesome. There is a giant seating place to just watch all the sealife swim around. These guys didn't move from this spot for a good 15 minutes.

Not sure what these bubble head fish were called, but I thought they were cool looking.

They had a couple giant sea turtles. They were fun to watch swim around.

A huge eel! Reminded me of Flotsam and Jetsam from The Little Mermaid.

Teague loved everything there. I had to promise him ice cream to get him away!

We didn't end up getting this, but Ave looked good in this cuttlefish hat!

I liked all these giant things hanging from the ceiling.

This is what it was called "Loveland Living Planet Aquarium". Well worth it!

The aquarium, swimming, and Olive Garden wore this little man out!

Carter ended up picking out some snorkel gear the next time we visited the mall. Ave did too, but preferred her goggles. This is a nice photo bomb!

Just a quiet week before vacation

There is a bunny around the neighborhood that my kids have been stalking. Carter often takes my camera outside and takes as many pictures as he can. Here is an action photo!

Carter has been loving basketball lately (probably because he knows Landon loves it). Papa worked with him at open gym for awhile the other day.

Good form!

This weirdo kept marching through the pictures!

Just a girl loving her dog :)

Kyle and I power-washed our old disgusting garage/shed in the back. It worked pretty well. Now we need to paint it next week. Carter took a picture of us because he thought we looked funny. There were quite a few paint chips all over our faces and hair!

We also shampooed our carpets. They were still really wet, so we crashed at Grandma's and Papa's house. Teague and I slept on the comfy air mattress. He loved it.

It's an Avery sandwich!

Teague enjoys playing the drums on a big stack of pancakes. Who doesn't?

Carl and Jenny are coming in this week so we made pastys! Here are 3 awesome dough makers, and my strange husband in the background. The pastys were delicious as usual!

It's swimming lessons time again! I love this picture!

Ave was very methodical about cutting up potatoes. She's very careful.

Mom could not stop laughing at Teague. He's a stabber!

Carter was very helpful too, and this is a very cute smile! I'm glad they help now. They love to eat them that's for sure :)

Teague had a good time putting the potatoes back and forth and talking the whole time about them needing some flavor! He's so silly.

Avery had a brilliant idea. We filled the old sandbox with water. These two had a great time in there. Teague was doing this strange pose on purpose!

Pasty time in the sunshine!

Another bunny shot!

This girl always sleeps in the strangest positions. There is my late post. Hope you enjoyed and are enjoying summer!

Happy Father's Day!

I love a summer sunset. We have had some pretty spectacular colors around here lately. This one actually turned out pretty good!

Carter got this tent when he turned one from Loren and Sara Linnell. Every once in awhile we set it up in Carter's room. They have enjoyed sleeping in it lately!

A closeup. For some reason, Carter likes to leave his chest hanging out with button up pajamas. I can't explain!

I signed them up for another session of swimming lessons. I also signed Carter up for summer soccer. That should be interesting - it's a sport I know nothing about! We figured since we were there, we might as well swim!

They love the pool. I just wish we still had an outdoor one. Someday hopefully!

Two little fish swimming underwater!

Carter taught Avery how to play catch. She loved it! Unfortunately, they started at about 9:00 at night. It got dark pretty fast!

We had a picnic at C Street Park the next day. We also played some baseball with Papa. He hit me some flyballs to see if I could still judge them (luckily I can)! It was a fun day :)

On our way up to Carter's game, we stopped to pick up Kyle at the police station (he had been in court all day). He was outside talking to his friend Ben, who loves kids. He has 5 himself. He let Carter sit on his motorbike, and he was in heaven!

Teague found his friend Christopher at the park while we were at the game. They had a good time climbing together. Up and down a million times!

We went to the Ice Cream Social at the library on Thursday and signed up for the summer reading program. We checked out 5 books while we were there - a good start!

Carter getting ready to hit. He's enjoying baseball :)

A terribly blurry picture, but he got to pitch! It was hilarious. He makes action noises when he lets go of the ball! He did a good job while he was out there. They let another kid try halfway through the inning. He walked a couple, but I was so proud of him for trying it!

We went to our first story time on Friday at the library. It was all about Dads, and they did a cute project afterwards. Avery made that awesome castle out of blocks next to them.

Carter loved that he could watch some PBS kids while we were there. He's really smiling!

These two held some boards while Papa cut them. Notice the goggles and glasses (safety first). We rearranged the purple room. It looks much less cluttered!

Today is Father's Day! Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dads in our families! We took a nice walk on the trail this morning and took this picture. Kyle is an awesome Dad. These 3 are very lucky!

We saw a couple geese with goslings, a beaver, ducks, fish, and birds. It was a nicer day than we expected.

Avery thought this was a nice spot for a picture. She was right!

Carter wanted to take one of the rest of us! Teague was tired here if you can't tell...