Where has the summer gone? It went by so fast! It only took about two weeks for us to settle into a new summer routine. Allison was used to going to school three days a week. It was especially challenging for her at the beginning to find things to keep her busy. Together we took long walks, played at the park, went swimming at Ivy Wild and worked in the yard. Some of the highlights of the summer in clude:

Allison's Birthday Party

Allison turned 5 on July 16th. We had a special girls party for her at our house. We decorated treat bags, made necklaces, played games, and had cake and ice cream. Allison loves to be with her friends! She had a wonderful time.

Mason and Allison's Birthday
Mason turned 3 on July 14th, so he shared a birthday celebration at home with Alli. We invited Nana over for dinner and we had their favorite things, grilled chicken, corn on the cob and watermelon. Alli and Mason really are good friends. Anytime one of them is gone and the other is home with me they will comment that they miss each other. They get along and play well together (most of the time). It has been so much fun to see them grow.

New Scooters!

The kids got new scooters for their birthday. Mason's came with his own helmet and a complete set of pads. They have had such a good time riding their scooters together and Allison has really started to learn how to balance. We hoped that this would teach her better balance so she could transition to a two-wheeler bike. She loves to ride her bike, but she's still nervous to take off those training wheels.

Since Allison had a special birthday cake for her party, we let Mason blow out the candles on this cake. He sure is a big boy for being three....so tall!

In addition to celebrating birthdays, we took a trip to SLC to visit my family. The kids have quite a few cousins to play with in SL. They all had a great time. We went to the zoo, played at the park and had a lot of family fun!

This is a picture of Allison with her cousins, Christine (left) and Mary (right). They are in Grandma's kitchen doing some crafts.

This is a picture of Grandpa with his boys. Mason is quite fond of his grandpa!



One of the things we did in SL was ride TRAX into downtown. We explored some areas downtown, one of which is Gateway. This has tons of great stores for shopping, but my kids had the most fun playing in the fountains.



As for Andrew, he loves to ride along in the backpack and watch all the fun.

Andrew of course is growing like a weed. At his six month checkup he weighed in at 22 lbs and was 29 inches long. He's in the 95%ile for his height and weight.....he's even bigger than Mason was at that age. He has really started to get around. He started out with a little army crawl, now he's on his hands and knees going everywhere, eating everything in sight. He is still so happy and loves to laugh and smile. He only has one little tooth on the bottom. He is so much fun.