Trying, and Succeeding, at Enjoying Summer.

We've been keeping busy, in  August.

From the exciting:  ie- trips to the Treehouse Children's Museum.

To the Mundane:
ie- trips to the Dentist.  The dentist trip was surprisingly uneventful.  No cavities, and the kids all behaved really well, and cooperated with the dentist.  Elsa sat so still, and kept her mouth open while the dentist filed down the chip in her front tooth.  I love our dentist.  He has TV's in the ceilings above the exam chairs.

We are on our 3rd iPad.  We bought the Apple Care the first time our iPad cracked.  That darn device has cost us a pretty penny!  Maybe the kids break it so that they can take another trip to the genius bar?  They really like that store.

Nick and I were able to attend the wedding of my cousin, Michael.  It was a beautiful day.

 The Kaysville splash pad has been my go-to activity during the week, when I need to save some money.  I love that it is free, and only a 3 minute drive from my house.  We have gone there a lot this summer.

There have been several playdates.  Reagan is excited to start Kindergarten.

And of course, there was Fruit Heights Founder's Day.  It was the same-old, same-old.  Train rides, Cotton Candy, a Fishing pond with prizes.

When it was time to leave, my kids threw a fit.  All 3 of them.  Dragging them back to the car was miserable.  Nick and I looked at each other, when we finally had everyone buckled in the car, and I told him that I felt like a failure, as a parent.  It was so discouraging to see my kids misbehaving, and acting like brats.  Nick and I decided that there were several factors that were contributing to their behavior, as of late.  The fact that they haven't been on much of a schedule, is a big one.  So, we've gone back to being strict about their bedtimes.  Also, we decided that Sunday's are now a "no-media day", in our house.  No iPhones, iPads, Computers, DVD's, TV.  We instituted this three weeks ago, and it's been surprisingly pleasant.  We read a lot of books, and take long walks.  It's nice.

Brian, and my Mom came with the kids and me, to the Davis County Fair.

The petting Zoo was Reagan's favorite thing.  Surprisingly, Elsa enjoyed it too.

Cohen, on the other hand, hated it.  He did not want those goats anywhere near him!  He walked around for all of 30 seconds, and then wanted someone to pick him up.  He was content to watch from a distance.

The big attraction for this Fair was: Elephants.  They advertised that there were elephant shows, and elephant rides.  I made a rookie-Mom mistake, and told the kids about the elephants before we went to the fair. When we got to the Fair the line to ride the elephants was a mile long.  And I saw that they were putting 10 kids on the backs of the elephants, and the "ride" consisted of a lap around a short track.
It was, yet another, hot day.  The last thing I wanted to do was stand in line for ages, under the hot sun; and then pay $16 for Reagan and Elsa to have a 30 second  elephant ride.  It took some smooth-talking (AKA- bribing) to convince the girls to do something other than an elephant ride.

They settled for a $6 carousel ride.  And then Grandma bought them ice cream.  On our way back to the car, we walked through the animal barns, and saw the horses, cows, and more goats.  The more I am around Goats, the more I am convinced I'd rather have a goat, as a family pet, than a dog.  Not that we'll ever have either...  But Pygmy goats are so cute!  Cohen's the one I would have a hard time convincing.