July Pictures

My summer has been a little crazier than I'd thought. Is it just me, or does this happen to everyone? I'd imagined all these peaceful moments, relaxing with a book or writing. But those moments only happen twice a week during swim lessons. I'm so glad I signed the kids up.

In between the crazy stuff, we have had a lot of fun. One of the fun things we did was go to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers museum in Salt Lake City. It's been a while since I've been there, and all I remembered was quilts and a stuffed two-headed lamb. So I told the boys they could see a two-headed lamb if they went with me. I had no idea how much they would love that museum. It's like a collection from Ripley's Believe It Or Not. We saw coffin dolls, a baby skull, and a 100-year-old cake, among other things. My oldest son said they had a better collection of swords than the Marine museum in Washington, D.C. Here's a picture of the two-headed lamb (I borrowed the picture from http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/6379):

We have also done a little hiking. A while ago I promised my second son that I'd take him to Donut Falls, so we finally went. Aren't I a great parent? Especially since I made that promise six years ago! It was a fun hike and just the right level of difficulty for our four year old. The picture at the top of the page is from our 4th of July hike. I'll let you in on a little secret we've discovered lately about hiking. Saturday around 5 pm is a great time to start a short hike. It's cooler, and there are more parking spaces.

Last month, we held a court of honor for our oldest son because he got his Eagle scout award. I'm so proud of Luke for all he's accomplished. I was a little nervous about the ceremony, but Luke said he wanted it to be super short. He didn't want to be bored. So all I really had to worry about was invitations and refreshments. Facebook makes invitations much easier. And rootbeer floats made the refreshments easier. 

Between the two of us, my husband and I have gone to four camps this summer. It's fun, but it can be stressful too. Why is it that all the really stressful stuff happens while my husband is out of cell phone range?

Oh, and since I haven't said much about reading or writing, I'll share a book I read last month that was great: My Loving Vigil Keeping, a historical fiction about coal mines by Carla Kelly. How about you? Do you have any good books or fun activities to recommend?