Summer Wrap Up

Okay, so we spent a lot of summer indoors

 this year for a couple of reasons:

 1. New baby 

2. It was a record setting heat wave this summer and 

3. We have air conditioning.  

But before we hunker down for another Idaho winter we had to do something big to wrap up summer with the kids.

We took a lazy afternoon drive to this breath taking site.  This is cave falls.  It's located in the Yellowstone National Park boundaries but the only way to get there is via the back roads (aka try several dead end dirt roads till you get there).

The trampoline was a big hit this summer.  Addi and Lexi spent a lot of hours jumping, flipping and bouncing out some of their unlimited energy.  

The girls have grown up so much. They are constantly showing us that there is no feat that they can't master. Their lack of fear is keeping us constantly on our toes.  

We had some fun with the girls at the park and surprised them by calling their names through the yellow tube.  Once we got there attention we would tell them something funny and then they would come running to tell us the crazy thing they heard through the yellow tube. It was fun to see their reactions and be amazed by the 'magic' of the yellow tube.

Lei is obsessed with hair.  She loves to comb hair.  She is always combing Mommy's hair, her barbie's hair, her sister's hair and her own hair.  Here she is combing her hair while watching her reflection in the fire place.

I broke down and became a leash parent.  Lei is so fast and so busy, her favorite game is being chased so its hard to allow her to roam free because she will take off and just keep going. 

Handsome.

Ausi at his two month check up was weighing 12 lbs and 7 ounce.  

This puts him into the 60% for his weight.  He is a good sleeper and loves to smile and coo.  He has found his hands and likes to suck on his fists.

Love waking up to this happy face!

We love swimming.  The girls are so happy to be splashing in the water.

Addi shows off her swimming skills.

Ausi enjoys the fun in the sun.

Exhausted from all the summer fun?  We're not done yet!!

Lexi is so clever. She comes up with all kinds of funny antics that keep us laughing.  Here she picked out all the marshmallows from her lucky charm cereal.

Lexi found a toy sword in the toy box and it has become her favorite toy to carry around with her.

She makes it work.

She loves making night-night jokes.  She will try to get out of nap time by going to a window and pointing out side and say that she can't take a nap because the lights are still on.  She does the same thing at night time, if we get home late and she is tired she will point out side and tell us that the lights are off and it's time to go to bed.  And in between she will pretend to sleep and fake snore to get a laugh.

She's so funny.

Lei has figured out how to open door knobs, her favorite door seems to be the bathroom door.  We have had to lock some bathrooms to keep her out.  

Poor frustrated Lei.

  We always find her sitting in the sink, usually with the water running and always with her tooth brush.

Sometimes with Daddy's toothbrush.

It's always a good morning when you wake up to this happy face!

Family fun in a box.  Literally.

Love these blue eyes!

We also took the kids on an 'Out of this World' day trip to Craters of the Moon National Park.

This lava flow was really cool and interesting to explore.

Addi watched a video at the visitor center where she learned that the surface of a lava flow is often quite fragile and therefore very dangerous.  It stressed that you must stay on the trail to ensure your safety.  This was the beginning of Addi's paranoia and a full day of Addi asking with every step, "Can I step here?  Is this safe to walk on?  You have to stay on the path, you could get hurt.  Is this lava going to hurt me?  Is this lava hot?  Am I walking on a safe part?  Can someone carry me, I don't want to step on a dangerous spot.'  Addi is such a sweet little worry wart, and a great big sister.  She has grown up a lot in the last couple of years that sometimes I look at her and I wonder how she got to be so big.  

We even got to explore a lava tube.

These are not small rocks.

This is the way out.

Addi gives it a thumbs up.  This is a safe spot to step.

But she would rather be carried, just to be safe.

I think this should be our family's Christmas card.  Seriously, who does this with four kids ages 5 and under?

And that's a wrap on summer!