Summer Magic

It is nearly 10:00 p.m. and my children ages 12, 9, 6 and 4 are still going strong. They just started a movie. Actually, I can't be sure about the 4 year old who is at Grandma's having a sleepover. Thursdays are her days for sleepovers with Grandma.

And what am I doing? I am making popcorn.

Irresponsible parenting? Perhaps. I am pretty sure my husband thinks so. (He is in bed.)

Kevin told me the other day that he doesn't know where I get my crazy ideas of what summer should be. He said that summer is not a three month vacation, it is just a different season. Wow. I felt so sad for that man. When did he become so disenchanted with the nothing-can-be-more-enchanting season/vacation of summer?

Summer is a time for sleeping out in the backyard in a tent with your whole entire family. Summer is for watching movies on the front porch and eating ice cream in the middle of the day (preferably homemade ice cream). It is for eating on paper plates and having hot dogs three times in one week. Summer is taking late night walks to cause trouble in the neighborhood. It is spending the day in your swimming suit, eating popsicles and reading stories under the shade of a big tree. Summer is not even knowing where your shoes are. Summer is night games and roasting marshmallows over a fire and feeling sand under your feet as you walk across the kitchen floor.

And that is the kind of summer that I want my kids to remember. So they are sleeping out in the living room once again and I am counting myself lucky that they really haven't slept in their own beds enough in the past two months to warrant their sheets needing washing.

Tomorrow afternoon we will take a nap. Right after we eat some ice cream.

p.s. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for creating all my enchanting summers. I know you must have been very tired...

Fancy Nancy

Aleise Addison turned four last month and her birthday was all about fancy. She is my little girly girl and is so much fun! We celebrated with a Fancy Nancy birthday party. Everyone came dressed fancy and we provided fancy sunglasses and crowns. We made parfaits (that's a fancy word for ice cream sundaes :0)) She got barbies and a twirly dress for church and a new bike!

Here we are being fancy:

Emily
Pa and Noah

Timbri and homeboy Porter

Papa

Grandma Hurst

Daddy

Grandma Becky

Her cake was fancy, too. I tried my hand at fondant. It looked good but the frosting tasted nasty. Live and learn.

Oh, how I love my fancy girl!!

No more teachers, no more books...

As soon as we got back from Oregon, we boxed up all our school supplies to send back. School is officially out for the summer!!

Oregon 2010

I have a hard time blogging about vacations. So many pictures and what can you say that would interest anyone who wasn't there? But I have put it off for too long and now have lots more to share so here is our family vacation to Oregon. We spent a few days in Portland and went to the zoo and the temple grounds and hung out with Jessica. Then we went drove to Lincoln City and stayed for a few days at my favorite place to be -- the coast! We visited the aquarium and, of course, the outlets, but mostly we just hung out on the beach. It was glorious weather and my kids were wet to their armpits in the ocean! Here are some fun pictures of our little trip.

I was trying to capture the colors of the beach on this day. They were gorgeous!

The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport

Fuzzy picture, but here are Porter and Papa in the shark walkway.

The giant jellyfish tank is my favorite. They are beautiful!

The touch and feel tidepool at the aquarium

Yummm, smores!

I love weiner roasts on the beach!

Papa and Noah

No, this is not me at the beach, but close.

Porter referred to this as the "adult show"

Emily was so excited to visit the aviary at the Portland Zoo. The parrots will sit all over you to drink some nectar stuff out of a cup. Creepy.