July Summer FUN!!

Lest anyone think that this July wasn't busy, I have compiled all our non-holiday, non-family vacation, July activities into one post! I figured it would save me a little time to do it this way. From July 5-31, we opened our home to family and friends. We had someone staying with us nearly the whole month! Most of the month, we were hosting more than one person. It was busy, a little crazy, and a lot of fun! Our fun-filled month started with a trip to Top Golf on July 3rd. We met up with my sister, Nichole, Kate and Tyler (who stayed with us the whole month to work) and their in-laws to play golf. The kids had a blast. I was still intimidated by the whole "grab a long stick and hit a tiny ball" concept. I opted to just enjoy the appetizers and show.

The kids played pool & foozball while we waited for our suite to open.

Amber

Dallin

Daniel

Jacob

Tyler came to stay with us on July 5, but I didn't see much of him during the month. He is trying to earn money for a European trip next summer so he was busy working. Also on July 5, we were joined by two of my friend's daughters, Natalie and Alaina. They had finished a family reunion in St. George and were waiting to attend a volleyball camp at BYU so they stayed with us in the interim. On Wednesday (July 6), Natalie, Alaina, Danny, Jonas and I headed to the Museum of Natural Curiosity to explore. I knew it might be a little juvenile for the older kids, but they had a blast! They found different activities to participate in and exhibits to discover. Jonas loved it too. He has many more years to explore and enjoy this museum. For now, he mostly stuck to the toddler areas. The water world is still his favorite.

Daniel, Natalie, Alaina, and Jonas

Picnic lunch!

Saturday (July 8) I dropped off Alaina, Natalie and Daniel at the Payson pool. What's summer without pool days?! Danny is a little fish. I think he would have stayed an extra couple of hours, but the girls were ready to come home after two. It was fun to have them around for the long weekend.

Sunday (July 9) Nichole and Kate joined the fun! Or rather, we joined their fun! It's always non-stop activities when Nichole comes to visit. On Monday (July 10), we started our adventures with a trip to Lowe's Xtreme Air Sports and the Provo Rec Center. These are some of my family's favorite activities. They are often repeated, but always enjoyed!

Carter Enloe, Danny, Kate and Kaia

Danny, Jonas, Kate and Kaia

Auntie Co Co and Jonas

Tuesday (July 11), we (by we I mean Nichole, Kate, Daniel, Jonas and I) met up with Mel and Kaia to see Despicable Me 3. This was Jonas's second movie experience and he did great!...mostly because he slept through half of it. I still think he's a little young to fully appreciate a movie, but I did notice him paying attention to certain parts. The rest of the kids thought the movie was pretty funny...I did too.

After the movie, we headed to Funtopia to let the older kids climb. Funtopia is a small rock gym for kids. They have different themed walls to climb, a giant slide, and a couple places to jump. Jonas just ran around and watched the kids. Danny was of course the most daring, but Kate and Kaia weren't too far behind. I think they were letting Danny go first so if something happened it wouldn't be them! Finally, no outing with Nichole would be complete if we didn't stop at Swig for a drink and a cookie.

That night, Dallin and Tyler dressed up like cows to go to Chic-fil-A to get free food. What can I say? That is the extent of their summer fun! It was pretty funny though!

On Thursday (July 13), we celebrated National French Fry day! Yup...there is a national food day for pretty much any comfort food or guilty pleasure. Nichole, Kate, Danny, Jonas and I grabbed some burgers and fries at JCWs then headed to the new splash pad in Draper. It was a bit of a drive, but worth the time. It is HUGE! There is a park adjacent to the splash pad that Jonas enjoyed more. He wasn't too keen about the water shooting up at random intervals from the ground. Plus, the water was pretty chilly. Jonas and I did the zipline a few times while Danny and Kate got soaked in the waterfalls and fountains. Ultimately, I convinced Jonas to wade through the toddler pool with me. There was an area without any shooting geysers. He finally enjoyed making his own splashes and pouring water on the kids' heads. It's a good thing he has fun older brothers and cousins because I wasn't about to let him pour that cold water on my head!

Friday (July 14) was mostly spent outdoors. We started our day with a hike up my favorite Santaquin Trail, White Pine Hollow. I love this trail because it's never busy and always cool. Plus, it's fun to traipse through the water.

That afternoon, we headed up another canyon. We drove up Provo Canyon to meet up with Scott, Mel and Kaia at Sundance. They were delayed so we stopped at Bridal Veil Falls for another short hike. This trail was full of people, but the falls are worth the crowds.

Finally, we made it to Sundance where we took a ride up the mountain on the ski lift. It was nice to simply relax and enjoy the beauty of God's creations. We ended the day with dinner at the Strap Tank Bar and Grill in Springville.

The next day (Saturday July 15) was a little more low key. I started the morning out by taking the kids on a ride up the canal road. We stopped at a friend's house so they could pet the horses. Next, we all took Jonas to a toy store in the morning to pick out birthday gifts then Nichole took her kids school shopping. That afternoon, we headed over to Scott and Mel's house to swim.

The next few days were spent with the Southwicks in Colorado to celebrate what would have been Greg's 45th birthday. When we returned, Nichole and Kate came back to stay with us and the fun continued. On Wednesday (July 19), Daisy finally had her calf. Kate was in love! She is definitely not afraid of the farm animals. On Thursday morning (July 20), Danny and Kate helped Jeff make sure the calf was ok and even helped milk Daisy while we waited for Michael and Jenn to join us. Yup...more family! Mike and Jenn drove in from Idaho to join us for the weekend fun.

Michael decided to hang out with Dallin and Tyler before they had to go work at McMullin's fruit processing plant where they both got a job processing cherries. Jenn joined us back at the Provo Rec Center for another fun afternoon of swimming.

On Friday (July 21), we took the kids along with Mike, Jenn, Mel and Kaia to the Provo Beach Resort (not to be confused with the Rec Center). The kids were able to play croquet, arcades, laser tag, and so much more. Jonas even loved playing the car arcades, climbing around in Toddler Town, mini-bowling, and riding the carousel. And, of course, we couldn't leave the Beach Resort without a little ice cream.

For dinner, the adults left the kids to fend for themselves and we met up at Tadka's. I sincerely love being around my siblings. It is non-stop laughs when Scott and Michael get together. We missed Krystle though!

Later that night, Nichole, Kate, Jeff, Danny, Jonas and I went to the Spanish Fork Fiesta Days Rodeo. There is seriously nothing more American or more patriotic than hearing the National Anthem at a rodeo. I love rodeos. I think they remind me of my childhood. My mom grew up on a ranch in Mexico. Roping and riding were two of the skills they had to acquire. My maternal grandmother would take us to a rodeo to watch daring cowboys and cowgirls do what my mom and her siblings learned to do on the ranch. Granted, my mom and her siblings weren't competing or riding animals that were bucking, but I think it brought Grandma back to those blissful days on the ranch when her life seemed perfect. She loved rodeos...and now I do too.  I am always amazed at how quickly they ride or how skillfully they manage a lasso. I want to make an effort to go to this every year. It was fun!

Saturday (July 22nd) we celebrated Jonas's birthday with all the family in town. Prior to that, Nichole and I took Kate, Danny and Jonas to Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point to experience the Jigglefest! What is that you might ask? Well it's tons of baby pools filled with Jell-O that toddlers to adults throw at each other (the toddlers are in their own area but the youth and the adults are together). It is just one of those random things in life that make life interesting. Danny loved it. Kate disliked it. Jonas endured it. They all loved the blow-up water slides and the sprinklers that came on after the sticky slaughtering of sugary Jell-O.

Mike and Jenn left that night. Nichole and Kate left the following morning (Sunday, July 23)...but my cousin, Cherice, and her kids, Kai, Scout, Kassidy and Sadie came into town! It was sad to say good-bye to my siblings. I sincerely wish we all lived a little closer...then again, we may not appreciate each other's company as much. Still, it would be nice to have more family closer.

Nonetheless, it was really fun having my cousin in town. I haven't seen Cherice in over 8 years! She lives in Africa with her family (they work for the State Department at the Embassies). When she comes to the states, she mostly spends her time with her family or her in-laws, but this year Scout wanted to do a volleyball camp at BYU so we had the privilege of hosting everyone at our house for the week. The night they came in, I hosted a BBQ at our house for several other cousins who also live in the area. I think it may have been even longer since Cherice had seen them. We enjoyed an evening of good food and good conversation, which culminated with a fireworks display...then a trip to the ER. Poor Tyler wasn't able to dodge a firework display that had tipped over. He sustained a 3rd degree burn on his left foot. Luckily, that was all that happened. Yet I felt horrible! It was a complete accident, but somehow I still felt responsible. Fortunately, we got the right medical treatment and all is well.

Cherice, Cory, Alisha, Don, Scott, Tammy

The next generation: Jacob, Amber, Dallin, Tyler, Danny, Jonas, Kaia, Scout, Kassidy, Kai, Sadie, Stephanie, McKenzie, Sierra, Cooper, Luke

Even though Cherice was staying with us, she had several other friends she wanted to visit so for a few days I was able to catch up with errands and other obligations I'd been neglecting. Still, I loved hanging out with Cherice in the evenings. It was fun to catch up and reconnect. I am grateful for family. There is nothing more precious in life than family. On Wednesday (July 26), Cherice didn't have any plans so we all went to Lowe's Xtreme Airsports where we met up with more cousins for a couple of hours. Like I said before, this is a family favorite activity!

Cherice left for Africa on Friday (July 28) and Tyler finally returned home on Monday (July 31). The house is now quiet...er. The summer is winding down. I can't believe we're already in August. The kids will start school on the 22nd. There are still a few more activities (e.g., scout camp for Danny, youth conference for Dallin, a family wedding, etc.) to fill our time, but the fast-paced summer fun has come to a screeching halt. Life is slowly returning to normal...whatever that means.