Two Months of Summer - Gone?!?

July is over and done with - gasp! 

Here's how we spent it...

Watermelon smiles

The Logan fireworks show @ USU stadium on the 3rd
that my Uncle (waving from behind, in the red shirt) started clear back when I was a child....and I've loved going ever since!

Summer nights sunsets...

Fireworks...

...and family rounded out our 3rd of July!

Neighborhood party on the 4th of July - shaving cream and cheese puff game!

Summer cockroaches - bleh!

The girls and I went to "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" that my cousin was the Musical Director for!
And then out for shave ice - the BIG Kahuna - afterwards!

Kyle went on a High Adventure Scout Camp in the Tetons July 8-11.

Farmington Festival Days!

Hooray for the full-time missionaries in the Farmington Festival Days parade! 

(Sister missionaries in the red convertible behind the Elders)

Matt caught TWO shirts that they were throwing out at the evening festivities in the park - Brookelle immediately donned it as her new dress!

We {heart} our Farmington Festival Days

Family Night activity - climbing to the top of a neighborhood tree.

Annual read-a-thon and pizza picnic in our family room.

Katelyn got her long locks cut off!

Katelyn fed her obsession got crafty making bracelets

Katelyn & Brookelle were in the Days of '47 Children's Parade in SLC

Fresh Lime treats!

When the school supplies hit the shelves, we jumped on it! 

(Haylee's back pack pick) 

Lagoon

The new ride, Cannibal!

It's description: Cannibal lifts riders 208 feet and plunges them into a 116° beyond vertical free-fall into an underground tunnel

We ALL survived, although there WAS some crying and closed eyes involved. We also rode it while it was raining, so we were privileged to get pelted in the face with rain drops during our ride; the ride that was not open by Lagoon's season opening day because the dummies were falling out on the test runs; the same ride we noticed, as we waited in line, had a swaying/wobbling inverted loop when the coaster went around that section of the track  - Oh, my!

 

Road trip to St. George in the EARLY morning hours, as the sun is just coming up.

Nothing quite like the hot days of Summer, standing by Port-a-Pottys watching a Pioneer Day Parade!

Hooray for the full-time missionaries (again!), singing, "Called to Serve," in this parade in Washington, UT

Kyle got the silver medal running in the 16 yr. old foot race (because he was the only 15 yr. old who wanted to race, he "ran up.") and won In-N-Out Burger coupons, too!

Sparklers & firecrackers in the street to finish off the Pioneer Day weekend.

(including the "grand finale" that sent many of us RUNNING & SCREAMING, like last year!)  ;)

4-Wheeling in the property behind my parents' house

Our Annual Movie Marathon.  This year's titles: "Penguins of Madagascar," "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2," and "The Book of Life"

I attended the first day of this 2-day Women's Conference to close out the month of July.

The First of Many More to Come and Thoughts on D-Land

I've been looking forward to and making plans for various Mother/Daughter outings that I will do with my girls [when they are old enough] for years.   Well, I think we officially started this past week.  We went on our FIRST "Girls Trip."

Matt actually had a work conference at the Grand Californian Disney Hotel - and we tagged along.  

Why not?  Hotel room paid for?  Check.  Per Diem money provided for Matt & I by his company?  Check.  Discount Disneyland tickets offered by the conference?  Check.  Private Dinner Party/Evening of Entertainment/Priority viewing of World of Color included for the entire family?  Check.  

Fly for FREE on jetBlue?  Check.

 Matt spent all day in classes - poor guy!  :)

This MAY have been a mistake to start out so BIG.  Will the girls be satisfied with "Chick Flick" night out at the movies in the future now?  ;)

Now, a list of my random thoughts:

1. If I were RICH, I would always opt to stay at a Disney property.  We were spoiled to be there by "riding on Matt's work conference coat tails."  Not only was it such a nice resort (inside & out) but it came with "privileges" like Early Entrance at 7:00 EVERY morning.  The best part, though, is that we literally walked out our hotel room door, turned two corners, and we were right IN Disney's California Adventure!  To get to Downtown Disney, we walked out the hotel the other way...with Disneyland just a bit further up the way.  SOOO convenient (but also expensive!)
2. I have to say that I have officially "graduated" from the Tea Cups ride.  No more.  I really can't handle it anymore - I lose my equilibrium.
3. I LOVE my Disney Dream Reward Dollars.  I have the Disney Visa and earned about $150 to use anywhere in the park - no need to worry about packing in food.  But, we DID use it ALL in 3 days!
4. August is NOT my favorite time to go to Disneyland.  I've been at several different times through the years, and August probably lands at the bottom of my list.  (The HEAT.  The lines.  The crowds.  Even the cast members are a bit less "on their [magical] game" having to deal with all of the above.)
5. I need to wear "hospital shoes" or some other kind of super-duper orthopedic-bionic shoes while there - my feet were KILLING ME!  Seriously, I COULD NOT WAIT to get off my feet at night.
6. Dole Whip and Frozen lemonades are like manna from heaven!  (See #3 & #4)
7. We Americans are INSANE!  The first day we were there, the line to see Elsa & Anna (from Frozen) was a three HOUR WAIT.  3 HOURS!  So, I told the girls we would come the next day for our Early Entrance.  We were lined up outside the entrance gate at 6:45 IN THE MORNING to go in - and we still weren't the first in line!  What is wrong with all of us?  Who does this?  Isn't this a vacation?  Once the gates were opened, we walked directly to the Elsa/Anna house.....and the line was already starting - we ended up waiting 1 hr. 40 min!
8. Times have CHANGED!  Now, every ride is posted with a sign stating that children under the age of 7 (Brookelle) must be accompanied with a person 14 or older (neither Haylee or Katelyn) or they couldn't ride.  And they enforced it - our girls were denied entrance once!  Which meant, if Miss B wanted to do ANYTHING & EVERYTHING, I was the ONE to go with her.  Now let's go back 34 years, when my dad took me (then age 10), my older sister (age 13) and my younger brother (age 4) to So. Cal with him once on a business trip and he just DROPPED US OFF at Disneyland for the whole day.  I'm not sure, but I think that would be grounds for getting Child Protective Services involved these days?!?  Just a hunch.  ;)  AND, on that trip, my older sister (the one in charge???) got separated from us (the 10 & 4 yr. old) for HOURS!  We spent all that time looking for her - we eventually found her later and learned that she had just kept on going on rides the whole time - after all, she didn't want to waste her day looking for us! 
9. My bum sure doesn't fit the same in some of those seats as it used to!  Dang it!
10. I think it's time Disneyland establishes a "modesty standard" of some kind.  There was WAY TOO MUCH boobage (a lot more than just cleavage), backs, bras & bum cheeks showing!  For that reason, I was glad my teenage boys were not with us to see that.  It was still a bad example for my girls, though.  If the guests don't have enough common sense to cover themselves adequately, they should be policed.  No, seriously, they could make rules.  When we were at Hershey Park last year, this "warning sign" was out in the parking lot:
    

The fact that they even have to put up a sign.....Really?!!?