And... the rest of June

This Buzz Lightyear Rocket is still a hit.  Even if it is broken and only goes half as high as it used to.  I wish I could find a replacement for this classic.

temple date night with dinner at a restaurant at the train station

Ragnar went right by our house this year!
The kids thought it was so fun to squirt the runners.  :)

Clara:  "mmmmmmwwwwah!!! Yea!!!"

Uhhh... I sorta missed pics of the Tripp men for Father's day.  Not sure how that happened.  Sorry George and Tom!  This pic will have to represent all 3 of you.  Oopsie.

chillin' on grandma's back porch

No matter where I hide it, this girl seems to somehow find the baking soda.  She loves the stuff!

We bought a popsicle mold and recipe book for the last day of school and used it quite a bit.  Lucy made these strawberry lemonade ones that were extra delicious.

Seven Peaks Salt Lake with the Cole crew.
I had to do some hard convincing to get Austin to ride the tube slide
 with me.  The girls loved hanging out with their cousins and
 I hardly saw them all day.

Cole decided he wanted to learn how to read a bit.

date night with my cousins.
This one was specifically to meet Shannon's new fiance, Chris.
He is a great guy and it was sure fun to chat with everyone!

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, unless one has dined well.

Lucy and her first loaf of french bread.
She is getting to be quite the baker!

This pic was sent by Tom.
He said Clara loved the Merry-Go-Round at Lagoon.
(They took the kids there during Benji's wedding... lucky kids!)

These summer days are going fast...

Wrapping up baseball

It was a great season of baseball this year.  Austin and Elise played their first year of machine pitch.  Their coaches were really nice and I felt like the kids really improved.  The machines were pretty different speeds on different fields and that threw Austin off especially.  He has a sloooow swing.  In the tournament at the end of the season, both kids got hits at crucial times which was so exciting!  There was still quite a bit of standing around watching things happen, but they improved and had a good time.  Important things.  Elise was the only girl on the team and I kinda wondered if I should have put her in softball, but K-2 softball is kinda painful to watch.  It moves even slower than kid pitch.  So... I guess we'll see.  The only video I have are of strikes so I'll spare you watching those.

catcher

hey... batter, batter, batter

fun fans

 Lucy really improved this year too!  Her games are getting to be lots of fun.  She got a hit almost every time she got up to bat.  Now we need to work on a little more distance.  :)  And she was one of the older girls so she played 1st base quite a bit as well as pitcher (at least in the position... the coach actually threw the ball) and shortstop.  She also got some experience in the outfield, but hated playing catcher.  The coaches really moved them around and it was fun for the kids.

Three cuties

Cole was lucky to have his dad as his coach this year.  I kinda begged George to do it because that way we were in charge of when/where practices were held.  I'm not sure George was overly thrilled with the idea, but he did a great job.  Cole got a lot better too.  The kids still tackled each other to get the balls at the end, but it was fun to watch.  The kids were kinda done by the end of the season.  I think one game we had 4 kids show up.  ha!

*yawn* :)

cousin Jax played the last game as a Red Sox... fun!

Way to go kids! (high fives are sometimes the best part!)

Little hike up Black Rock

Someone (Greg? Lacey?) suggested we take a little family hike up to Black Rock the day after Benji and Morgan's wedding.  They were still in town (didn't leave til Monday morning) so we invited them too, but for some odd reason they turned us down.  ;) ).  Actually, I think Benji may have turned off his phone immediately after the wedding breakfast.  Smart move. 

That's really us!  Chris took it from the freeway as he was in the later arrival crew.

We did the short hike up the rock at sunset.  This place was on the summer bucket list last year, but it didn't happen so we were extra happy to go.  George and I were engaged here (15 years ago!) so of course we had to remind ourselves of some good memories.  And boy, they are good ones.  The sandwich picnic without bread.  The poem. The shock and squeals and tears.  So fun.

 

Look... we're just as romantic ;) Ha!

 And then we took silhouette pictures... and I think the kids win for the best ones!

Ladies turn...

 And the men... let's be honest... couldn't time the jump.  But they do have big muscles!