The End of Summer Part 1

Summer seemed to come to an end so quickly, that I couldn't find the time to blog all of the activities that we did as a family there at the end. So... I'm going to blog some of it now, and in a couple of days I will blog the rest, along with the first days of school.

August is an exciting time for our family. Not just because of trying to squeeze in as much late summer fun as possible, but also because we get to celebrate two of our kids' birthdays in August. On August 6, Kyleen turned 5 years old, and became an official kindergartner! She had a wonderful birthday,



complete with a pretty princess cake,



and a microphone headset so she can sing and dance to her heart's content! (And she sure does!)

She adds such a fun element to our family!

Then on August 24, Dallin turned 10 years old. It's hard to believe that I have two double digit kids!



First we had a combined party at Grandma's house for him and Kyleen. Here he is opening his favorite gift, cash!



Then we had a party at home. We didn't have enough candles, so we had to improvise with tea lights and votive candles. I thought it looked quite nice and very festive.

On his actual birthday we went as a family to Battleground Lake to swim. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a ball, as you can see from the pictures.



Kyleen and Tamsen having fun in the shallow end.



Breanne discovered a friend from school at the lake and they had a great time playing together.



Dallin and Jerrin and Brandon having fun out in the deeper section with the log. It was hard getting pictures of the older kids because they liked to stay way out in the deeper parts of the swimming area, but they all had fun in the water.

And the younger ones had fun in the sand...



Before...



And after! Luckily Brandon was able to help Kyleen get all of the sand washed off!





It was a great day and a great way to spend Dallin's birthday together. We truly are blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the country where places like this are only a short drive away. Hopefully we will be able to spend many more days like this together at the lake again next summer.