Lazy days of summer? Not so fast.

Summer started off with a bang - meaning we jumped right into summer orchestra for Anna, rock-climbing lessons for Lily and Anna and gymnastics (continued) for Rachel and Anna.  Add in summer cooking classes for Rachel and Lily an awesome trip to Southern Utah and bam!  There went June.

Tim's token Father's Day gift.

Just one day's harvest of strawberries.

July started out a bit more slowly and we tried to fit in the usual trips to the park and pool (and beach, and aquarium, among others: see below). 

That is, until our family reunion at Aspen Grove Family Camp rolled around.  Tim was skeptical that the cost of this particular vacation would truly reap the benefits I had promised but, in the end, he was sold.  There was endless fun at our fingertips, plenty of time for building family relationships, gospel learning and delicious food - all in the picturesque setting that is Provo Canyon.  None of us wanted to go home.

The official winner of the horseshoe tournament.  That's my man.

Hike to Stewart Falls.

All you can eat at every meal.  Yeah, baby.

Love my family.

This is how Eve spent almost all five hours of the drive home.

 In August, we had Lily's cooking class, a few more trips to the pool and park, a bit of school shopping and BAM again!  End of summer.  Just like that.

Anna claims she is in grade 6 1/2, owing to the fact that she goes to the 7th grade math at the junior high before heading over to the elementary for the rest of her day.  She even has a locker so that makes her OFFICIAL, I guess.

Lily got her ears pierced.

So did Rachel.

 But first, the weekend before the official start of school,  it was off to Sun Valley for Tim and me to celebrate our anniversary - Lucky 13.

We ate at several of the local's favorite restaurants.  I even got Tim to use chopsticks - a true moment in history.

Did I mention it was August?  It rained almost the whole time.

That didn't stop us from scaling Mt. Baldy. 

Five miles up on foot.

A quick jaunt down on the chair lift and gondola.  We deserved it.

Bright and early at 7:30 for Anna.

My baby - off to kindergarten.

The towering second-grader.

Off to fourth grade for Lily.

Look at those dolls!  (They dress themselves and don't care about their hair - just like their mother, in fact.

Not a tear for this girl.  She's been waiting for this moment forever, it seems.

A couple of days into school and we had a few meltdowns from the schedule adjustment.  Tired enough to fall asleep in the bathtub, even.  What some people will do for a little "alone" time - jeesh!

I haven't wasted a precious bit of my "alone" time.  38 jars of peaches later....

The weekend after school started, we woke up early (again) to catch the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic.

It rained - no balloons for us this year.

 This blog post took me almost a month to finish.  Ever since getting an iPhone, I find that since my pictures are scattered between several camera/devices, it's that much harder to post them with any sort of order or organization.  But I'm committed to blogging, so I'll keep at it.