Summer fun!

The beginning of our summer has been pretty fun so far. We obviously don't have any children in school yet, but the warmer weather these days tells us that its time for Summer FUN! The last few weeks we've been having some summer fun...

In May we had a fun day with some of our favorite friends (Thanks Z's!). They treated us to a yummy lunch and we let the kids play together. We also let the kids fingerpaint with homemade fingerpaints (edible). Merrilee had fun experimenting with this new art medium and Alice just liked to eat it...I think Alice also found a new crush...<3

Alice trying to hold hands with Baby Z. 

Enjoying this fun chair and G&G B's

On Memorial Day, Ben worked in the morning, and then we went out to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Brewer. After lunch we headed over to their house and just visited and relaxed out on their back patio. When we got home, it was Alice's bed time and then Merrilee and I had some nice cuddle and story time. It was a nice day!

The weekend after Memorial Day, my brother and his wife came to town. On Friday, the girls (my sister, my sister-in-law and I) went to IKEA. I got a few bins and baskets for organizing things, but had the most fun watching Merrilee play in the 'toy' section. She was quite the little cook! :) I love going to IKEA. I get so many ideas and just long for the day when I have my 'own' home to experiment all my awesome ideas on.  

We had fun going out to eat Friday night with just the adults (Tucano's never fails!). Saturday morning Ben and I took the girls to the first day of the Provo farmer's market just to walk around and take in the sights, sounds, and smells. The coolest thing I saw there was this guy playing the most beautiful, intriguing music on an instrument I've never seen or heard of...the Nyckelharpa...apparently a sweedish fiddle. It was so cool! After the Farmer's Market, we got in the car and headed up to Provo Canyon to meet everyone at Bridal Veil Falls for a little outdoor outing. We got there before everyone else, so we just enjoyed a nice leisurely stroll with the girls along the trail and then stopped in a shady spot to let the girls explore and wait for everyone to show up. Once everyone got there, we went to the falls and hung out for a while. It was a warm day and it felt nice to wade our feet in the cool water. Merrilee had so much fun throwing rocks. She spent the majority of the time just picking up rocks and throwing them!

After Bridal Veil Falls, we all drove up to Heber and ate at a local burger joint called Train Burger. It was delicious! They even had these awesome electronic soda dispensers...it kind of blew our minds. After lunch, my brother and his wife continued on to Park City and us and my sister's family drove home to Orem. We just rested and hung out the rest of the day.

 The Monday after this exciting weekend was really HOT. It was the first day in the 90's here. I pulled out the girls' little wading pool after their naps in the afternoon and we spent a couple hours having some water fun in the backyard. The girls had a lot of fun and they looked so cute in their tiny swimming suits. Can't wait for another really hot day to have some more water fun!




Yes, I realize these are the same picture of Alice, but I just love it so much in both color and black and white...

This past weekend was the Orem Summerfest. We went last year to the Summerfest, but didn't really do anything because the girls were so little.  It is a celebration of the city of Orem complete with food, entertainment, booths, and carnival rides and games.  I got to sing with the Orem Chorale on Saturday morning as part of the 'entertainment'. There wasn't much of an audience yet in the morning, which was good because somehow I got roped into singing a little solo part in one of the songs that morning. After we were done performing, Ben and I walked around with the girls. It was so nice because there wasn't any crowd at all! No lines, no people to maneuver our stroller around...just a few families here and there. I'm sure the crowds picked up later in the day. Merrilee was fascinated by all the rides. We thought for sure she would be scared of them, but after constantly saying she wanted to ride the cars and the boat and the airplane and the animals...we gave in and bought 6 tickets for her to ride some rides. She LOVED them! (all except the merry-go-round and the little 'pirate roller coaster'. It was about nap time at that point, so that probably contributed to the meltdowns). It was so much fun watching her laugh and enjoy herself on the [rickety]rides. Alice fell asleep in the stroller among all the excitement of the rides. After all the excitement, we took the girls home for their naps and I even got to sneak in a little nap too! :)  Later in the evening there was a parade...we didn't dare attempt to watch it...people had their blankets and chairs set up on the side of the road 5 days in advance (pretty ridiculous if you ask me). We didn't want to try to find a spot  or attempt to brace the strong winds that picked up in the afternoon/evening. The winds were so strong we were wondering if they would cancel the fireworks show later that night, but the show still went on! The girls were in bed and Ben and I just walked to the church parking lot for a good view (one house away) to watch the fireworks. It was a FUN weekend! 

Merrilee was holding onto me for dear life on the Merry-go-round. She HATED it! 

We are looking forward to more summer fun complete with (hopefully) camping, family, hikes, bbqs etc. etc. Oh how I love Summer! :)