Summer Fun

While Brent got to participate in the Air Force’s version of summer camp for grown ups (think flying a Cessna, being a firefighter, parachute simulators and other such fun), the girls and I headed off to Utah to visit grandparents and friends. Flying with the two girls was a whole lot better than I had expected, with particular thanks to the USO lounge in the Denver airport that we hung out in both ways.

We spent time with both sets of grandparents. At my mom’s house the girls enjoyed playing in the dirt in their princess dresses. I loved how Sammi held her dress out with one hand so she wouldn’t drag it in the dirt. Such elegance!

We also took a day trip to the Farms at Thanksgiving Point. The girls had a lot of fun riding the horses and playing in the little room they had to teach kids about the agricultural process from garden to market.

The girls loved celebrating their birthdays early. Each one got her very own cake with her name on it. Sammi put the right number of candles on each cake and they loved blowing them out. We sang Happy Birthday twice so I could get pictures of each girl with her cake. They loved it! They also adored their Disney princess Barbie dolls they got. Elli of course got Cinderella, her favorite, and Sammi got Snow White, her favorite.

We continued a tradition we started last summer by attending the Princess Festival. Elli was particularly excited this year because she was dressed up and knew she was a princess. They had so much fun meeting princesses and princes and helping them escape the evil witch’s spell. Elli charmed Peter Pan into pushing her on the swings and Sammi got her picture with Snow White.

We also revisited the Orem Public Library, one of my favorite libraries anywhere. We participated in Laptime and browsed through all the books. It was heavenly!

I think we had so much fun at Brent’s parents’ house that I didn’t take very many pictures. But the highlights included eating peas from the garden every day, playing under the tree in the front yard with the neighbors and going on walks with Grandma. We were also excited to see aunts and uncles and a cousin visiting from out of town. I was so happy our trips overlapped so we could see them, too!

The trip home had its own adventure. Just as we were boarding the first plane, Sammi tripped and hit her lip on the doorway of the plane. She got a huge fat lip and was so very sad. We got her some ice and Tylenol and she calmed down. She was a trooper for the whole flight. We got more ice in the USO lounge and by our second flight, she and Elli both fell asleep and were peaceful the whole ride. I got to read a new book and it was rather relaxing!