Summertime

Drew said to me the other day, "Is it summer yet?" Since it rained practically every day in June, it has seemed harder to get into the summer swing of things. But things have finally warmed up, and we have been enjoying the summer sunshine. Here is a little bit of what we have been up to this past month:

We were finally able to pull out the good old cheap plastic pool for the kids to play in. Hands down- best $7 I ever spent!

Here is Drew and his best buddy doing what they do best. These two play so well together- they can entertain each other all day long. Ethan's mom and I are both extremely grateful.

The kids usually get Otter Pops as a treat when we play in the pool. One day I was feeling extra generous and decided to give them ice cream sandwiches instead. About 5 seconds after this picture was taken, Allie dropped her half-melted sandwich onto the grass. (Of course I picked it up and ate it! Some things are too good to waste!) From now on, I will just stick with giving the kids the cheap stuff, and save the good treats for those who can appreciate them!

Why do my kids always fill the pool with as many non-pool items as they can find? It kinda drives me nuts.

Another thing that has been keeping me busy this summer is taking care of my yard. I am particularly proud of this pot of cosmos because I planted these from seeds back in May and they were only supposed to grow to 6 inches in height. Not sure who gave them steriods- but they look so pretty on my back patio.

I am also loving these daisies. I planted them last year, and, unbeknownst to me, they don't bloom until the second year. We are loving the second year! I cut some off and made a pretty centerpiece for my kitchen table. Gotta love daisies! The hanging one I also planted from seeds, they are morning glory, and are supposed to grow red, white, and blue blossoms, but so far all we have is rapidly growing vines and leaves. I was hoping for some flowers soon, but am still enjoying it nonetheless. (Except for the fact that this is the wussiest plant alive and needs to be watered at least 2 times a day to prevent it from looking super pathetic. It is high-maintenance to say the least.)

We had a fun-filled 4th of July this year. We have some annual traditions with Marshall's family that are lots of fun. Marshall's awesome parents got up at dawn to go save us a spot at the parade at 5 a.m. Bless their hearts! They are some of the kindest, most selfless people I know. We showed up with some donuts at 8:30, and sat and enjoyed the parade with the rest of the population of northern Utah. (What is the deal with parades, anyway? I have never understood why people go to all that trouble. I grew up in a one stoplight town, and at least all those ghetto-floats threw candy!) The kids seemed to really enjoy it, though, and even Allie didn't try to run away the entire time, and didn't protest to being strapped into her stroller. (Allie will usually make a break for it any chance she gets. I spend lots of time each day just chasing after her. And she can run really fast! She loves the thrill of teasing me as I try and chase after her. Little stinker.) Another of our annual traditions is to meet at Marshall's parents house for dinner, we get KFC every year and have a potluck, including my own tradition that I contributed- root beer floats. My in-laws live just a few blocks from Cougar Stadium where they have the Stadium of Fire each year, so we set up chairs and blankets on the grass in the park across from their house and light fireworks and eat treats while listening to whatever teenybopper performer the Osmonds happened to arrange for that year. Last year it was Miley Cyrus, and this year it was the Jonas Brothers. Then, as per annual tradition, we make the pilgrimage home at midnight along with the rest of the people of the Wasatch front. Normally it takes us about 10 minutes to drive the few miles to or from their house. Every July 4th, we make the trek at midnight, approximately 3 miles per hour, and usually arrive home in about 90 minutes. It good old fashioned Chamberlain family fun. We look forward to it every year.

Another fun thing we have done recently is go to the Hogle Zoo. I had actually never been, so it was fun to get to experience it for the first time with our kids. Here is Bubba the turtle man.

His favorite thing was the little train ride. That, and Drew and I both really enjoyed seeing the sloths asleep in their trees. (Sloths are a silly little inside joke we tease Marshall with because he is always late for everything. Drew says "dad is a slow, slow sloth." True to from, both sloths we saw were doing what they do best! I didn't take a picture because it didn't look like anything.

The elephants were cool. This one was pregnant, something like 20 months along...20 months?!? Yikes! (I think their gestation is 2 years or something?) Poor mama elephant.

Our little family.

Photo op with the Black Bear. Although Allie enjoyed seeing many of the different animals, if you ask her what her favorite part of the zoo was, she claims that "MickaDonald's" was her favorite. (We went off-campus for lunch.) Silly girl.

Marshall says that this lion fountain is one of his best memories of visiting the zoo as a kid. We tried to let Allie have a drink from it, but there was no way she was putting her head in that lion's mouth!

This giraffe really wanted to be in our family picture. We finally relented.

We are having a great summer so far. We have a few more fun things planned, and are excited to just enjoy the lazy days of summer hanging out with the kids and doing fun things with them. Drew taught himself (actually his friend kind of taught him) how to ride his bike with no training wheels, so we endured a few weeks of scabs on top of scabs. I figure, it's a rite of passage, we all went through it. Now that that part is over, he enjoys riding his bike around the cul-de-sac every chance he gets. He is also really into Transformers these days. He has a few little Transformer cars he loves, and likes to pretend he is a Transformer by putting his head and arms into his shirt, and making that awesome noise (remember the cartoons?) and "transforming." He still constantly gets asked the "If I had a nickel" question of where he got the curly red hair from, almost on a daily basis. We love his red curls. He is a lucky redhead to have brown eyes, and skin that tans, with just a few cute tiny little freckles across his nose. He is a little bit of a mama's boy (I love it how he gets tired in the afternoons and comes to me with his blanket and wants me to hold him. I cherish those little moments.) Then when I ask him if he will still let me hold him when he is a grown-up man he says he will, and that when I get too old he will come over and hold me. Be still, my heart!

Allie is my little mischevious one. She isn't the snuggliest toddler around, but she is very assertive and determined. I know these qualities will serve her well in her life. She is very well-practiced at doing the opposite of whatever I tell her to do, and insists on eating little more each day than some Carnation Instant Breakfast and a little fruit here and there. She is an excellent food-launcher. I think she is a professional two year-old! One thing that is nice is that she doesn't really throw tantrums. I guess she figures it won't get her anywhere. She loves to read, read, read! She would sit on my lap all day long and read book after book if I had the time. She talks quite well, and has a great vocabulary for someone who just turned two. She is a daddy's girl, and has been blessed with the most beautiful combination of tan skin, brown eyes, and light brownish blondish hair. Daddy is defenseless against her powers of cuteness.

Marshall is still working as a controller for a small company, and still serving as EQP in our ward. He is busy, but I think he does a pretty good job of finding balance between all of his responsibilities. I also put him in charge of the vegetable garden this year, because I just wasn't into it. He has done a great job. We scaled it back quite a bit this year, and I think it will be more enjoyable that way. I am doing well, too. I have taken my first piano lesson, and by an incredible tender mercy, was able to get a piano. Our home teacher had one in their basement that no one was using, and so they said we could use it for a while. So, we moved some furniture around and now I have a real piano to practice on. I am so excited! Not much else new happening. Just plugging along, enjoying the beautiful summertime. It's such a great time of year.