Our Lazy Days ...

*NOTE: Don't click on any links in this post! We've got some kind of spyware issue or something that's inserting false links in my blog.  I didn't create any hyperlinks in this post, so none of the ones you'll see are legit.  Grrr ....

With what felt like a shortened summer after moving and settling in, we were too tired (and too poor!) to do anything real adventurous, so the rest of our summer we spent doing pretty laid-back, relaxed activities, like ...

  splashin' in the water table ... we've got some real water babies around here!

 ... runnin' through the sprinklers (while trying to save our scorched lawn!)

 and of course drinking plenty of hose water in the process! I wish I had gotten a picture, but Zach's favorite water activity was crawling into the middle of the sprinkler and literally sitting on it, or at least in the middle of the spray, gasping and acting shocked the whole time.  As soon as I'd "rescue" him, he'd crawl right back for more!

 ... training to be future Olympic trampolinists!

(with Mom and Dad watching Olympics late into the nights while indulging on summertime treats like homemade ice cream or fresh peach dessert!)

... hangin' in the back yard with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, the sandbox & swingset

 ... soaking up some hot summer sun and watching little ones' hair go blonde

 ... reading, reading, reading for Mr. Eliot, who can't get enough!  He's a spectacular little reader, and we are way excited about our new Lehi library, which has ... backpacks, just like the ones we loved in Salem!

 ... harvesting crops from our very own fruit trees and "garden" (read: crop of weeds with a few planter boxes of tomatoes and herbs ... sigh ... next year!).  Thanks to very little, if any, effort on our part, we did have oodles of blackberries for jamming and cobblers, and just enough peaches for a batch of fresh peach dessert!

... and biking!  Eliot now rides his own like a champ, and Z has the proper gear to ride behind Mommy in the bike trailer!  

Eliot with "Hootz" the owl at an Orem Owlz game.  

One thing we really enjoyed this year (but hardly got any pictures of!) was going on family outings to ball games, fun centers, and water parks.  We bought the "Pass of All Passes" that got us into Owlz Games, Seven Peaks in Provo, Trafalga Fun Centers, and a bunch of other venues.  We didn't use them as much as we had hoped, but having the pass did get us out and doing things together.  

We are a little reluctant to say goodbye to summer!  We're more than a little excited to have the heat and fire season cool down a bit, but it's always hard to say goodbye to relaxed schedules, sweet suntan lines on little feet and arms, the smell of sunscreen, snowcones, watermelon, and grilling.  In contrast to last summer, which was so consumed with our sweet newborn, I really feel like we got out and had a lot of fun this summer.  It was a good one.  With the start of preschool, music lessons, and football season this week, I think we can officially say goodbye to summer and welcome in the fall!  Looking forward to crunchy, colored leaves (we will have plenty of them!), soup on the menu, baking again (it has been way too hot!), jackets, perfect walking weather, BYU football (Eliot goes to his first one at LaVell Edwards stadium this year!!), and Halloween costumes.  Can't believe it's all here again!